In an exclusive for WrestlingNews.co, Steve Fall spoke with former WWE announcer Sean Mooney. Scroll down to watch the entire interview. Here are a few transcribed highlights:
Sean Mooney on how he got into the WWF in 1988:
“It was a pretty crazy route I took to actually end up in the WWF/WWE. I, at the time, was working for Major League Baseball Productions in New York. I was a producer there and also started doing some stuff on camera. There was a show that they put together called ‘Light Moments in Sports’ with Joe Namath. He was the host of the show and I was one of the producers. Joe of course didn’t have the best knees. He couldn’t get out and do a lot of stuff, so I raised my hand and was like, ‘Anything you need done’, and I would go out and do these crazy stories. I went out to this big fair in California where I rode camels. I went to a paintball camp. One of the stories we did was at The Monster Factory. I don’t know if anybody remembers that with Larry Sharpe. He let me come in and be that idiot reporter and get tossed around. The story goes that Vince McMahon saw it. It was on the NBC affiliates out there. I had a friend of mine who had been working up there in Stamford who said, ‘I know that guy’, and Vince said, ‘Well, get him up here.’”
On working for the WWF:
“It was one of the best times of my life. It’s helped me in every aspect of my career. I’m forever grateful to Vince McMahon for taking that opportunity with me and letting me have it.”
On his relationship with Vince McMahon:
“It was pretty awesome back then because the company was very small at the time. We’re talking 1988 when I first went there. Everything was based in Stamford. They hadn’t built the Tower. The Tower wasn’t done, so they still had offices downtown and then we had the TV facility. I always referred to it as Camelot because basically the McMahon’s owned Stamford. There wasn’t anything really that big there.”
On why he left the WWF in 1993:
“I was stupid. I think at the time there was a lot going on and I had this vision. I was thinking, ‘Do I want to be known as a wrestling announcer for the rest of my career’, and I was thinking I was gonna go and do all these other things, which I got a lot of other opportunities, but I look back and I say, ‘I should have stuck around there.’ I don’t know if they would have had me because things change, but I don’t think looking back I was really ready to leave.”
“I think it came down to things I wanted to do, other stuff, because I really loved doing things like more vignettes. I wanted to be at more shows instead of just The Events Center. I was throwing that out there and Vince was like, ‘Well, we really need you in The Events Center because that’s what you do and it helps us.’ “
“My contract was coming up and I was like, okay, I’m leaving. Vince was convinced I was going down to WCW. I’m like, ‘Nope. If I’m going to work in this industry, it’s for you.’ I don’t think he believed me. When I did leave, I ended up working at WWOR in New York and I eventually became an anchor there. I remember the first night I was on the air. The next day he sent me a telegram congratulating me. First of all, it was like, okay I believe you that you didn’t go down. I think the other thing is the legitimacy. You always want that legitimacy that this is real. For me to make that transition from being the wrestling announcer guy to being the news guy meant a lot to him to say that, yea, we’re legit. These people can go on and do other things as well.”
This interview is exclusive to WrestlingNews.co. If you use these quotes, please include a link back to this page. For exclusive news and FIRST ACCESS to interviews, check us out at WrestlingNewsPremium.com.
