Tony Schiavone has revealed that a wrestling legend has expressed regret at how they treated Vince and Linda McMahon after he told them to “go f*ck themselves.”
After purchasing the WWF from his father Vince McMahon set about making the company the biggest wrestling promotion on the planet. This led to McMahon expanding his reach across the United States in the early 1980’s effectively dismantling the territory system.
In the process McMahon became a highly unpopular figure with many, as they believed that he had simply put his rivals out of business to further his own career.
One such figure was Ole Anderson. The star, who had been a founding member of the Four Horsemen was running Georgia Championship Wrestling at the time. Speaking in an interview in 2012, Anderson said that he and McMahon hated each other, as a result he wasn’t present when the Horsemen were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame that year.
During a recent episode of his What Happened When podcast, AEW announcer Tony Schiavone has now revealed that Anderson regretted how he acted. Schiavone explained that McMahon once came to the TBS studios in an effort to smooth things over with Anderson and the veteran told the former WWE Chairman and his wife to “go f*ck themselves.”
“In later years, Ole told me this story, but in his later years, he regrets the way he treated Vince and Linda. Vince comes to the TBS studios during the takeover and he wanted to extend the hand of friendship to Ole. He says, ‘and here is my wife Linda.’ Ole’s line was, ‘you and your wife can go fuck yourselves.’ Something to that effect. He regretted that. That is old school and a guy [Anderson] who loved the territories and loved the old school, and a guy [McMahon] who was changing the wrestling business. Ole regrets that, but that’s the reason why Ole wasn’t part of the Four Horsemen inducted into the Hall of Fame,”
Ole Anderson hasn’t been involved in wrestling since being fired by WCW in the mid-1990’s.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.