AEW star Chris Jericho has opened up on his relationship with Vince McMahon and explained what it is that makes McMahon a “genius.”
Vince McMahon has been the beating heart of WWE for decades, taking the company from regional promotion to a global sports entertainment powerhouse in that time. Recently, his future looks uncertain due to serious allegations levelled at him that have led to him stepping back as WWE Chairman and CEO, at least for the time being.
Chris Jericho worked for McMahon as part of WWE for the best part of two decades and now speaking on the True Geordie podcast, the first-ever AEW Champion has lifted the lid on his own relationship with McMahon and why he loved working for him:
“Deep down he is just a dude that likes to joke and likes to drink. He is surrounded by yes men, as most guys in that position are, but he doesn’t want yes men.”
“I had a great relationship with him, I don’t have much of a relationship with him now because I don’t work for him, so there is a little bit of a career issue, but if I texted him right now he would text me back in 5 minutes, always.”
“I loved working for Vince McMahon, and I would love it when he would challenge me and push me. I also laugh when people say things like oh Vince has lost it and oh look at Vince, he is a terrible booker. Maybe it’s not great, but he has been doing this for 40 years.”
Chris Jericho then elaborated on the tweaks and minor changes that Vince McMahon can see in a good idea to make it great:
“I remember when I left in 2005 because I needed to get away, he said to me ‘I wish I could get away sometimes, but I can’t.’ Of course, it is hard to do this job, and what he does best, a lot of people don’t know this unless you are close to him. I would say ‘How am I supposed to do this?’ And he would say ‘I just book the sh*t, you make it work.’”
“OK, so then I will come back with an idea, I will come back with the perfectly formulated idea. Let’s see this water bottle is the idea ‘Here is this water bottle, it is half full, says Evian on it and it will make us a million dollars.’ Most people, if we were talking and I started thinking, after 30 seconds you feel compelled to jump in, don’t do that with Vince. Don’t jump in and let him think.”
“He doesn’t want to hear small talk, he will just sit there. Sometimes it is 30 seconds, sometimes it is a minute, it is very uncomfortable. Then what he will do is take the water bottle and turn it 180 degrees. Then you see this idea that I came up with that I thought was brilliant, then this one little twist makes it go from a good idea to a great idea. That’s the genius of Vince McMahon. I would come up with the genesis of the idea, but he would add the one part that would make it great.”
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