Speaking on Mic Check with Ken Anderson, Maven Huffman shared a humorous but intimidating story about an interaction with Vince McMahon following WrestleMania X8 in Toronto. Huffman, who defended the Hardcore Championship against Goldust at the event, recalled botching a specific spot involving a weapon and the immediate feedback he received from the WWE Chairman.
During the match, Huffman was supposed to perform a dropkick into a large gold trash can held by Goldust. However, the execution did not go as planned. Huffman explained that despite the chaos of the match, missing that singular target became the focal point of his evening, leading to an awkward encounter with his boss later that night.
“I’m in [Toronto]… it’s after my match. And I wrestled Goldust that night,” Huffman said. “And literally, the one spot, the one move I could do was throw a dropkick. So Goldust is holding this big golden trash can, and I go to throw the one move I can do, and I missed the trash can.”
Later that evening, as the roster prepared to attend the post-WrestleMania party, Huffman found himself sharing an elevator ride with McMahon. Despite the event featuring massive matches like The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan, McMahon’s mind was apparently still fixed on the missed dropkick from the Hardcore title match.
“I get in the elevator to go down, go down a floor. And wouldn’t you know it, Vince… He walks in,” Huffman said. “He turns [and says], ‘Good job tonight. Next time try to hit the trash can.’ WrestleMania is over. You know, Rock, Hogan, it’s just… he still remembered me missing that damn trash can. Oh, he caught me as soon as the match was over… [He said] ‘You can do one f***ing thing. One thing. You missed it.'”
Huffman and Anderson also touched on the anxiety performers felt when walking through the “Gorilla Position” to face McMahon after a match. Huffman noted that a reaction of anger was actually preferable to silence, but the best-case scenario was getting a physical affirmation from the boss.
“When you get done wrestling and you go back through Gorilla, they don’t care who you are. You’re looking at Vince sitting there, and you hope to get him to look in your direction,” Huffman explained. “If he has no thoughts on your match, that sucks… If he actually gets up and hugs you… I’m getting a new mortgage on a new house at that point because I got career stability.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Mic Check with Ken Anderson with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
