WWE’s old corporate jet is on the market for $10.5 million, and John “Bradshaw” Layfield has stories from it. The one that stands out involves a pilot who did not want to land.
Speaking on Something to Wrestle, where he is filling in as host, JBL started with the seating chart, which never changed.
“Vince always sat in the first captain’s chair. When you walk in, Vince would always sit in the one to the left of you as you walk on the plane. Kevin Dunn always sat on the right with his back, so Kevin Dunn was flying backwards. That way, he and Vince could talk about things,” JBL said.
The catering was tailored to whoever was on board, which JBL found out the hard way.
“Vince asked me one day, are you sneaking beer on my plane? And I said, yeah. And he said, why? And I said, we don’t have Coors Light,” JBL said. Vince McMahon, a wine drinker, had no idea. “He goes, well, get Coors Light. So then we only had Coors Light on the plane. Vince would cater things to whatever guests. Vince was the greatest host ever. I mean, the greatest host ever.”
The sound system was McMahon’s own design, and JBL says he used it.
“He said he designed it himself, so I’m sure he designed the sound system. It would blow your eardrums out,” JBL said. “Vince had a song that he liked, and he was in a good mood, which was always fun when Vince was in a good mood. He would blow your eardrums out. You couldn’t hear anything on that plane. He’d be playing the music so loud.”
The song was usually AC/DC, and it usually got him out of his seat.
“He loved AC/DC. He’d get up, he’d dance to it. He’d go up and down the aisle, and just like you see him dancing on television, he can’t dance at all. But he doesn’t give a s*it. It’s like dance like nobody’s watching. That’s how Vince dances all the time. Vince doesn’t care. He just has a good time,” JBL said. “Vince is fun, man. He is so fun.”
He also never stopped working.
“Vince just loved telling stories. He always talked business. That’s what was legendary about Vince,” JBL said. “When he landed, a lot of times he might talk business for the next two or three hours on the tarmac. He’d just sit there and talk business, have copious amounts of wine, and then he’d go to the gym. It’d be three o’clock in the morning. He would go to the gym after all that, after a full day of work, drinking wine on the plane. We’re just wanting to go to bed, and Vince would go to the gym. It was nuts.”
The story JBL keeps is from a night flying into New York in bad weather, when the pilot came back to level with McMahon.
“The pilot comes back and tells Vince, he goes, Vince, look, I’m fearless. I’ve flown sorties in Iraq. He goes, I don’t have any fear. He goes, but I would not fly in this weather. He goes, this is bad,” JBL said. “And Vince, without even blinking, looks at me. Goes, so when you get that uniform, do you lose your balls? Like, holy s*it, we’re gonna die.”
McMahon then polled the plane.
“Brian Gewirtz is there. He goes, why is Vince arguing with the pilot? So Vince looks at me and says, Big John, what would you do? Well, Vince is gonna do whatever he wants anyway. I’m not gonna go down like a coward. So I said, Vince, I’ve had a good life. Let’s give it a shot,” JBL said. “Vince goes, well, there you go. He goes, Dusty, what about you? Dusty goes, let’s go, baby. Brian Gewirtz is like, why are you asking wrestlers their opinion about flying in an unsafe condition?”
They flew.
“We landed at Westchester. We were coming down, storm, storm, storm. Can’t see nothing. All of a sudden, land, bam, hit, and we’re down. Like, holy s*it, we almost died. I don’t know if we did or not. I don’t want to exaggerate, because it was pretty bad,” JBL said. “The pilot goes back, goes, that was the roughest landing I’ve ever had. Vince says, I told you, and that was it. Vince was fearless.”
One flight JBL remembers for a different reason involved a picture he never showed anybody.
“I remember one time they flew me, Michael Hayes and Road Dogg somewhere. Like, what are three rednecks doing on this plane? And I took a picture of Road Dogg sitting in Vince’s chair,” JBL said. “I said, I’m gonna show Vince. I don’t think Road Dogg cared, but I never did show him, because I don’t know if Vince would care or not.”
The aircraft, a 2008 Bombardier Global 5000 with the tail number N247WE, has been listed by the Hagerty Jet Group for $10.5 million. It was refurbished in 2023 and features black paint with red accents, a 13-passenger cabin and Starlink. The WWE logos come off before the sale closes.
