David Sahadi, the former WWE creative director of on-air promotion, revealed on Busted Open Radio that Vince McMahon cried for at least 20 minutes after watching the WrestleMania XIV legends package for the first time, sitting on a concrete floor outside the studio in his suit.
Sahadi, who is promoting his new book Backstage Pass: Tales from Beyond the Squared Circle, said McMahon was initially furious about the concept. The package featured Freddie Blassie, Ernie Ladd, Gorilla Monsoon, Pat Patterson, and Killer Kowalski reflecting on their careers in an abandoned warehouse with a dilapidated ring, then passing the torch to the new generation of WWE superstars.
“Vince calls Kevin Dunn and says, ‘What the hell is Sahadi doing in Albany with the old timers? We’re not about the old timers anymore,'” Sahadi said. “And Kevin Dunn goes, ‘I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s gonna be good. He has a good track record.’ And Vince goes, ‘Goddamn it, better be good.'”
Sahadi said he was not worried despite the pressure because he believed in what he had written. He recited the opening lines from memory: “I can still hear the echoes cheering my name. Time has not silenced the crowd.”
The package showed the legends reminiscing, then transitioning to putting over the current roster. “Now they’re doing things like flying through the air, walking the top rope, doing moonsaults, something they never did,” Sahadi said. “They’re comparing themselves. ‘We were men of steel, men of courage. Today, they’re men without fear.’ To me, it was a passing of the torch from the legends to the new generation.”
Three days after the shoot, Sahadi called Kevin Dunn to set up the screening. McMahon arrived with Pat Patterson and Shane McMahon. Sahadi said McMahon’s body language immediately signaled resistance.
“He is not wanting to love the spot. I can tell. He comes in there, and he has his arms crossed. ‘Play that spot,'” Sahadi said. “Ten seconds in, it’s like, ‘Oh God.’ Then he’s like, ‘Oh geez, oh man.’ I’m not sure if he’s liking it or not. And before the spot is over, he leaves the room.”
Sahadi said he thought McMahon hated it. He turned to Shane and asked what it meant. “Shane goes, ‘Sahadi, you got him,'” he said.
Sahadi walked outside the studio and found McMahon sitting on the concrete floor in his suit, crying. “Vince is sitting in a suit on the concrete floor, and he’s crying hysterically,” Sahadi said. “He’s saying, ‘Thank you, thank you,’ shaking my hand as I’m standing up.”
Twenty minutes later, Sahadi encountered McMahon again in a stairwell, still crying, now sitting on carpeted stairs with Pat Patterson. “He’s still crying, sitting on the stairs with Pat Patterson. He’s like, ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,'” Sahadi said.
Sahadi said it took him years to fully understand why the package affected McMahon so deeply. “To me, the spot was a passing of the torch from the old generation to the new guys. I think for Vince, though, it was a passing of the torch from his father to him, and that’s why it hit him so hard on a visceral level,” Sahadi said.
Co-host Bully Ray agreed, noting that McMahon’s emotional relationship with his father, Vince McMahon Sr., has been well documented. “Vince always sought his dad’s approval, much like Shane has always sought Vince’s approval. You see that in the McMahon men,” Bully Ray said.
Sahadi was the creative director of on-air promotion for WWE for nine years during the Attitude Era. He produced every cold open for every pay-per-view during that period, including WrestleMania, as well as commercial campaigns and promotional packages. His new book, Backstage Pass: Tales from Beyond the Squared Circle, is available now on Amazon.
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