vince knew that kind of attitude towards the interviewer would get rating and reactions. he WAS a genius. he KNEW that controversy would equal ratings.
I agree completely and I am a huge wrestling fan. If there was bad blood between Bob Costas and Vince McMahon, why would Vince come back a year later to be interviewed? Vince, he could of handled the interview better but I think it was at a time when the league was failing and the stress of it that followed. As well as the countless criticism of the Pro Wrestling industry.
@spooksyaboy10 Because World Wildlife Fund had the initials WWF earlier. Remember, WWE was originally known as Capitol Wrestling, then WWWF, then it became WWF in 1979. World Wildlife Fund began in the 60s.
Don't know if anyone will see this but the ONLY reason the World Wildlife Fund came after Vince and Co. is MONEY. Plain and Simple. If not, why didn't the phuckers come after Vince Sr at all? Because they weren't big enough worldwide yet. Once they became juggernauts, the wildlife phuckers took their shot and Vince caved because it would have taken YEARS of litigation to pin down the shared acquisition of the WWF letter head. It would have been a shared acquisition ruling, especially due to the extreme difference in presentation from the Wildlife WWF logo to the Federation WWF logo.
You know what, I always had that theory as well. Vince McMahon is known to live by, "Any publicity, is good publicity". I think they are friends in real life as well.
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, better known as the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment. The XFL was intended to be a major professional sports league complement to the offseason of the NFL, but failed to find an audience and folded after its first season. Many football fans distrusted the league because of its relationship to pro wrestling.
Vince had it right. He said that he knew what we wanted more than we did and he was damn right. When he was making the show according to what he knew we wanted, we had the Golden Age and Attitude Era! Now he's giving us what we thought we wanted, through the constant bitching of mothers and anti violence advocates, we are forced to watch this PG era bullshit. Back then there was nudity, violence, swearing and hardcore wrestling. Nowadays they would censor a loud fart! Get the "F" BACK!!!
I'm a huge wrestling fan as well, and I see your point. I don't think Vince handled it that poorly though to be honest. I think both parties got their point across but also put on an entertaining show. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Bob Costas and Vince McMahon kind of planned this out to get more attention to the interview. Bob saying, "Im going to come real hard at you" and Vince saying he'll do the same. It also made his Mr. McMahon character hold more water.
I love Vince's aggressive attitude towards anything. Remember that WWE episode where Mankind visited Vince in the Hospital? "Turn that Frown Upside down!". So funny
@AJ36sXe But what I could never understand is why they BOTH couldn't have it. There are plenty of businesses out there that share the same initials and don't go threatening to sue the others for the sole rights to those initials.
I think it was partly that World Wildlife Fund reps would get off planes in airports and be accosted by rabid World Wrestling Federation fans. I think the Fund got tired of what they perceived to be BS and decided that the only way to end their frustration and headaches was to litigate against McMahon and his promotion.
I have come full circle on McMahon, he is a businessman who partakes in the action in an almost child like way, love for what he does. He unlike, Dana White takes good care of his employees, is loyal and makes them rich
Hey atleast it was entertaining. Would you rather a nice boring interviewer who ask obvious questions and Vince responding with obvious answers. I like this confrontation between the two. It was interesting to watch!
@TheGreenMark No, even if the XFL was the best product the media had doomed it from the start. No big player would have been allowed to sign, without them risking the wrath of Sports illustrated berating them. The NFL is a powerful sports lobby who has the media wrapped around it to protect its interests. Also the XFL made two mistakes that were unforgivable. 1: They put it on Primetime TV; 2: They did not make it different enough so it could coexist with the NFL (like Arena league).
All you need to know bout Vince K is this..He was due to be on the Larry King show back in the day with Phil Mushnick...He refused to go on with Mushnick and demanded he be dropped...so of course King and his people would rather have Vince so they did it...then Vince went on the show and said how gutless Mushnick was for not showing up!!! King had to smack him down...He aint here cause you didnt want him here!!
He repeatedly gets the announcers to call Eddie Guerrero's widow fat and he makes fun of Jim Ross's Bell's Palsy on live TV, are you seriously saying he's not 'the bad guy'?
I see what you're saying but he does have the final say and he hasn't done anything to prevent the decline of decent storylines and new main event talent
@Kozzy06 I don't think so.. the hardcore older fans that want to see blood and over the top angles have switched to UFC.. the wrestling business always re-invents itself.. I personally love how wrestling is today.. because the little kids that love cena are going to get older and just you watch.. edgier attitude era style angles will come back..
I will be the first to say I don't like Vince.But Bob Costas needs to stop throwing the XFL was a flop, in his face.Even though I don't like Vince,I give him credit.He rolled the dice & tried something new,& it didn't work.Like I said,I don't like Vince.I don't hate him.But I don't like him.But on this,I give him credit.
@***** Hogan is def more recognized world wide. Stone Cold and the Rock as well. No one walks past Bob Costas and goes ohh look Bob Costas!! Most people under 25 yrs old have no idea who Bob the jackass Costas is.
He isn't. It's the business, he doesn't mean those things. Yeah sure it's mean, but the WWE took care of JR's surgery, and look at Vickie Guerrero now, she's lost a lot of weight. He isn't as bad as he may seem.
whatever dude, i dont care, I still think its a success, hes still making millions and his events, no matter how many people say it sucks, are still making money, wrestlemanias are still being sold out in 4 minutes, etc...he may have killed other companies, because guess what...thats what happens when you are in competition. And if you want to say traditional wrestling is dead we might as well say the attitude era was a flop because traditional was definately not the main point of that era...
i think they incorporated the elements of the XFL into Arena Football, so i dont think it failed like people have claimed, it simply wasnt the right time for it to be around.
@spooksyaboy10 Yes. But it was the WWWF back then, not WWF, unfortunately. World Wildlife Fund won based solely on how long they'd been using the initials. The whole thing only became an issue because of internet searches pointing to the wrong organization.
Why is everyone on here giving Costas shit?? Every single one of his questions was valid, and honesty, if you a run an entertainment business that relies on violence (like every single pro wrestling promotion ever) you need to be prepared to answer these questions.
He was happy to play up that persona, though. You can tell when politician Vince is making an appearance (you know, the Vince we've seen in the media for the last five years), and he's a helluva lot different than the "Shut your mouth, pal" Vince you see here.
Yes it actually is...considering his business has been going on for decades and is still able to put 80,000 butts in seats is still an accomplishment....and im going to say it again, how did he kill wrestling if people like you are still around to argue about it, and people like me are able to defend...if it died, we wouldnt have anything to talk about now would we...just drop it, you have your opinion and I have mine, wrestling is in a slump, but eventually it will come out, its just how it is.
I remember Rod "He Hate ME" Smith with the Carolina Panthers in SB 38... he got the last play of the game.... the kickoff return only to be tackled by the PATRIOTS!
and we all know that was one of the greatest eras...so just drop it, you say my argument is weak, well I say i dont care, we have our opinions, just leave it at that
@PlayingWithMahWii I honestly have no legit idea why they did it, however I have heard a rumor. It was that the product that Vince was putting out there was giving the animal company a bad name, but I don't know the truth to that.
@Kozzy06 Vince may not do what's "right" for the older fans, but he does what's right for business and if that means to go in a different direction, than he might aswell do what ever the F~ he wants with HIS company.
The XFL failed because there was too much football within a year. I don't buy the belief that people can stomach football 24/7 AND all year round. Add to that America has a lot of other sports going on from Baseball to Basketball to Golf to Tennis and so on especially with the Olympics and the World Cup trying to get a piece of the action. It's too much for some people, I would even argue too much for viewers who watch these same sports.
@Kozzy06 Don't forget it was also terrible from 93-97 or so when Pat Patterson stepped down as booker and Vince was on trial. Also, don't understand all the Bret Hart love. WWE was terrible during Brets run as champ. Bret blames the terrible undercard during his run (which is true), but also says Hogan and WWE were so successful during Hulkamania era bc they had guys like Hart Foundation working on the undercard.......You can't have it both ways Bret......
Haha like I said einstein, pro wresling is still alive and kicking because of vince...and sure he hasnt put 93,000 butts in a seat lately but at WM23 there was about 80,000 plus people and thats sure as hell close enough, and no I am not a sports entertainment idiot, I actually appreciate good wrestling, the reason I'm still watching is in the hopes that one day they can reach glory again...its just how it is, you rise, you fall, then eventually you rise again, it doesnt mean hes killed it....
@vincentrich bob costas is easily one of the most respected broadcasters today. obviously if mcmahon thought costas was being an asshole, he wouldnt have agreed to come back on his show.
@spooksyaboy10 Because Wildlife fund had the upper hand, they were founded before THE! wwf. and because of all the media scrutiny vince had at the time.
Saying stupid things is bad enough, saying stupid things and trying to look like some kind of insider is just pathetic. If Jerry Lawler was a heel and Vickie was a babyface I would have no problem with Jerry getting heat by calling her fat. That clearly isn't what happens.Same with Vince making fun of JR, he does it thinking that the crowd will find it funny - not to gain sympathy for JR.
Vince is always on never out of character
i love how mcmahon is so independent and straight forward with the guy
When I see McMahon interviewed,I can never really tell if he's serious or in character
The XFL was a failure, but they did innovate that sky-camera the NFL now uses. Gotta give them at least that much credit.
always wanted to see this...cheers
Vince was in full-on Mr. McMahon mode here lmfao
Vince loosing tens of millions of dollars is like me loosing a quarter.
“Just because I inject something…” That’s still an interruption. Let him finish.
vince knew that kind of attitude towards the interviewer would get rating and reactions. he WAS a genius. he KNEW that controversy would equal ratings.
Vince is a legend
Is he ?
Vince is really dedicated to WWe and it shows with the kind of humiliation and beatings he puts himself thru all the time
where the hell did the First interview they did go? it use to be on youtube. that interview was the BEST!!
I agree completely and I am a huge wrestling fan. If there was bad blood between Bob Costas and Vince McMahon, why would Vince come back a year later to be interviewed? Vince, he could of handled the interview better but I think it was at a time when the league was failing and the stress of it that followed. As well as the countless criticism of the Pro Wrestling industry.
@spooksyaboy10 Because World Wildlife Fund had the initials WWF earlier. Remember, WWE was originally known as Capitol Wrestling, then WWWF, then it became WWF in 1979. World Wildlife Fund began in the 60s.
Don't know if anyone will see this but the ONLY reason the World Wildlife Fund came after Vince and Co. is MONEY. Plain and Simple. If not, why didn't the phuckers come after Vince Sr at all? Because they weren't big enough worldwide yet. Once they became juggernauts, the wildlife phuckers took their shot and Vince caved because it would have taken YEARS of litigation to pin down the shared acquisition of the WWF letter head. It would have been a shared acquisition ruling, especially due to the extreme difference in presentation from the Wildlife WWF logo to the Federation WWF logo.
Don't let Vince fool you. He was ready to tear Bob Costas apart.
Vince McMahon...LIKE A BOSS
vince looked so happy and energetic then. now he seems very bored, tired, and old. he's not nearly as cool as he used to be
Yep thats called aging lol
Welcome to life and getting older. It sucks.
He’s old af lol and this reply is even 9 years later. Lol my bad
Dude he’s like 80
He is 145 years old.
@RyanMellor1 but isnt wwf (world wrestling) a 65 old compeny?
Vince for President!!!
where is the original interview!?! can anyone find it?
You know what, I always had that theory as well. Vince McMahon is known to live by, "Any publicity, is good publicity". I think they are friends in real life as well.
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, better known as the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment. The XFL was intended to be a major professional sports league complement to the offseason of the NFL, but failed to find an audience and folded after its first season. Many football fans distrusted the league because of its relationship to pro wrestling.
Vince had it right. He said that he knew what we wanted more than we did and he was damn right. When he was making the show according to what he knew we wanted, we had the Golden Age and Attitude Era! Now he's giving us what we thought we wanted, through the constant bitching of mothers and anti violence advocates, we are forced to watch this PG era bullshit. Back then there was nudity, violence, swearing and hardcore wrestling. Nowadays they would censor a loud fart! Get the "F" BACK!!!
I'm a huge wrestling fan as well, and I see your point. I don't think Vince handled it that poorly though to be honest. I think both parties got their point across but also put on an entertaining show. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Bob Costas and Vince McMahon kind of planned this out to get more attention to the interview. Bob saying, "Im going to come real hard at you" and Vince saying he'll do the same. It also made his Mr. McMahon character hold more water.
I love Vince's aggressive attitude towards anything.
Remember that WWE episode where Mankind visited Vince in the Hospital? "Turn that Frown Upside down!". So funny
@AJ36sXe But what I could never understand is why they BOTH couldn't have it. There are plenty of businesses out there that share the same initials and don't go threatening to sue the others for the sole rights to those initials.
I think it was partly that World Wildlife Fund reps would get off planes in airports and be accosted by rabid World Wrestling Federation fans. I think the Fund got tired of what they perceived to be BS and decided that the only way to end their frustration and headaches was to litigate against McMahon and his promotion.
the first interview is gone
I have come full circle on McMahon, he is a businessman who partakes in the action in an almost child like way, love for what he does. He unlike, Dana White takes good care of his employees, is loyal and makes them rich
Costas should have asked if Vince intentionally killed Owen
who's got a link to the first interview??
Hey atleast it was entertaining. Would you rather a nice boring interviewer who ask obvious questions and Vince responding with obvious answers. I like this confrontation between the two. It was interesting to watch!
@TheGreenMark
No, even if the XFL was the best product the media had doomed it from the start. No big player would have been allowed to sign, without them risking the wrath of Sports illustrated berating them. The NFL is a powerful sports lobby who has the media wrapped around it to protect its interests. Also the XFL made two mistakes that were unforgivable. 1: They put it on Primetime TV; 2: They did not make it different enough so it could coexist with the NFL (like Arena league).
"How close were you to popping me?" Ugh, it almost seems like that douche was trying to tease or get under Vinces skin there.
All you need to know bout Vince K is this..He was due to be on the Larry King show back in the day with Phil Mushnick...He refused to go on with Mushnick and demanded he be dropped...so of course King and his people would rather have Vince so they did it...then Vince went on the show and said how gutless Mushnick was for not showing up!!! King had to smack him down...He aint here cause you didnt want him here!!
He repeatedly gets the announcers to call Eddie Guerrero's widow fat and he makes fun of Jim Ross's Bell's Palsy on live TV, are you seriously saying he's not 'the bad guy'?
Bob Costas will probably be guest host sometime soon. It would make sense
Anyone got the first interview.
@wrestlereview1 additude era was copied from ecw
stone cold copied sandman
Had Vince gotten fighting mad, it would have been ugly for Costas.
I see what you're saying but he does have the final say and he hasn't done anything to prevent the decline of decent storylines and new main event talent
@Kozzy06 I don't think so.. the hardcore older fans that want to see blood and over the top angles have switched to UFC.. the wrestling business always re-invents itself.. I personally love how wrestling is today.. because the little kids that love cena are going to get older and just you watch.. edgier attitude era style angles will come back..
How was that cold?
@spooksyaboy10 hate to say this but it's for the copyright issues. i wish it continues like that.
Costas sounds a little like "Mean" Gene Okerlund
@Krazyk007x2 ook i get it now, what dose wwwf stand for?
props to vince for not smacking this clown
I was passionate Bob, Im strangling you, but Im passionate!
Kudos to Vinnie Mac for doing this. :)
I will be the first to say I don't like Vince.But Bob Costas needs to stop throwing the XFL was a flop, in his face.Even though I don't like Vince,I give him credit.He rolled the dice & tried something new,& it didn't work.Like I said,I don't like Vince.I don't hate him.But I don't like him.But on this,I give him credit.
Who did he shoot?
Vince never walks down the sidewalk and talks to the fans on the streets. If he did that, then the WWE would be so much better.
what is the xfl?
@***** Hogan is def more recognized world wide. Stone Cold and the Rock as well. No one walks past Bob Costas and goes ohh look Bob Costas!! Most people under 25 yrs old have no idea who Bob the jackass Costas is.
I am going out on a limb here and say that there will NEVER be an actual "Shoot Video" with McMahon... but thats just me...
Vince is the best.
He isn't. It's the business, he doesn't mean those things. Yeah sure it's mean, but the WWE took care of JR's surgery, and look at Vickie Guerrero now, she's lost a lot of weight. He isn't as bad as he may seem.
whatever dude, i dont care, I still think its a success, hes still making millions and his events, no matter how many people say it sucks, are still making money, wrestlemanias are still being sold out in 4 minutes, etc...he may have killed other companies, because guess what...thats what happens when you are in competition. And if you want to say traditional wrestling is dead we might as well say the attitude era was a flop because traditional was definately not the main point of that era...
i think they incorporated the elements of the XFL into Arena Football, so i dont think it failed like people have claimed, it simply wasnt the right time for it to be around.
During the March 2001 interview, I would say that Vince McMahon was "Out-Maned".
Wow....way to be professional Vince.
@DimebagVision Natural means not taking steroids doing things the natural way, like training hard and eating right. I don't train on machines.
one day he will be sitting there and he will talk about the wwe like this..
@spooksyaboy10 Yes. But it was the WWWF back then, not WWF, unfortunately. World Wildlife Fund won based solely on how long they'd been using the initials. The whole thing only became an issue because of internet searches pointing to the wrong organization.
I love Vince. He just hates when da media trys outsmarts him.
Jeez Vince, chill!
In Pro Wrestling, that's called getting heat.
01:05 he thought he was interviewing Vincent K. McMahon but that's actually Mr. McMahon X3
he's mssively smart daamn, when vinve speaks you get what you see nothing more.
Why is everyone on here giving Costas shit?? Every single one of his questions was valid, and honesty, if you a run an entertainment business that relies on violence (like every single pro wrestling promotion ever) you need to be prepared to answer these questions.
By the way: The head of the creative team is his "lovely" daughter...
Have to say I'm more fond of Vince McMahon rather than Bob Costas...definitely taking his side
:]
Fully agree.
He was happy to play up that persona, though. You can tell when politician Vince is making an appearance (you know, the Vince we've seen in the media for the last five years), and he's a helluva lot different than the "Shut your mouth, pal" Vince you see here.
Yes it actually is...considering his business has been going on for decades and is still able to put 80,000 butts in seats is still an accomplishment....and im going to say it again, how did he kill wrestling if people like you are still around to argue about it, and people like me are able to defend...if it died, we wouldnt have anything to talk about now would we...just drop it, you have your opinion and I have mine, wrestling is in a slump, but eventually it will come out, its just how it is.
is that vince? vince the sham wow guy?
If he took the theatrics out of the league and made it real football we'd still have the league and not worried about the NFL lockout.
Same! Thats why I'm watching it! lol
I remember Rod "He Hate ME" Smith with the Carolina Panthers in SB 38... he got the last play of the game.... the kickoff return only to be tackled by the PATRIOTS!
It almost seems to me that right at the get go, Bob Costas is trying to get under Vince McMahon's skin again.
and we all know that was one of the greatest eras...so just drop it, you say my argument is weak, well I say i dont care, we have our opinions, just leave it at that
vince was ready to SNAP his fucking shit up
nah! not in these interviews. he knows fans and doesnt intend to insult their intelligent, as he says..thats not ttrue.
@PlayingWithMahWii I honestly have no legit idea why they did it, however I have heard a rumor. It was that the product that Vince was putting out there was giving the animal company a bad name, but I don't know the truth to that.
@CodeIamx 2 words which was the genius of ECW
PAUL FREAKIN HEYMAN
does anyone have the original interview from the year before (that had confrontation
V.M is a genius... like him or not. I hate him... but i love him!!!
I thought that was rather civilized. Tell Dr. Schultz to his face that you think wrestling is fake. That's some real controversy then.
@Kozzy06
Vince may not do what's "right" for the older fans,
but he does what's right for business
and if that means to go in a different direction,
than he might aswell do what ever the F~ he wants
with HIS company.
The XFL failed because there was too much football within a year. I don't buy the belief that people can stomach football 24/7 AND all year round. Add to that America has a lot of other sports going on from Baseball to Basketball to Golf to Tennis and so on especially with the Olympics and the World Cup trying to get a piece of the action. It's too much for some people, I would even argue too much for viewers who watch these same sports.
@Kozzy06 Don't forget it was also terrible from 93-97 or so when Pat Patterson stepped down as booker and Vince was on trial.
Also, don't understand all the Bret Hart love. WWE was terrible during Brets run as champ. Bret blames the terrible undercard during his run (which is true), but also says Hogan and WWE were so successful during Hulkamania era bc they had guys like Hart Foundation working on the undercard.......You can't have it both ways Bret......
Haha like I said einstein, pro wresling is still alive and kicking because of vince...and sure he hasnt put 93,000 butts in a seat lately but at WM23 there was about 80,000 plus people and thats sure as hell close enough, and no I am not a sports entertainment idiot, I actually appreciate good wrestling, the reason I'm still watching is in the hopes that one day they can reach glory again...its just how it is, you rise, you fall, then eventually you rise again, it doesnt mean hes killed it....
HAH! VINCE coming back shows that he truly is a business man. f*** business men
Mr McMahon is fucking real
what the hell kinda comment is that to make? so, the entire wrestling product would be better if Vince shook hands with people??
@vincentrich bob costas is easily one of the most respected broadcasters today. obviously if mcmahon thought costas was being an asshole, he wouldnt have agreed to come back on his show.
I have the byte this interview in my bulliten box. Check it out, its a bit more up to date than this interview but similar
yeah vince wasnt mad bro
@spooksyaboy10 Because Wildlife fund had the upper hand, they were founded before THE! wwf. and because of all the media scrutiny vince had at the time.
Saying stupid things is bad enough, saying stupid things and trying to look like some kind of insider is just pathetic. If Jerry Lawler was a heel and Vickie was a babyface I would have no problem with Jerry getting heat by calling her fat. That clearly isn't what happens.Same with Vince making fun of JR, he does it thinking that the crowd will find it funny - not to gain sympathy for JR.
@Kozzy06 WWE wasn't on top of the world, they were gettin their ass kicked every week during that era.
It was actually good football in the playoffs