Former WWE writer and Hollywood idol Freddie Prinze Jr. has recalled the bizarre incident when Vince McMahon stormed off after several WWE Superstars couldn’t convincingly act like dogs.
Freddie Prinze Jr. was the star of movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer and She’s All That but the star also spent two spells as part of WWE, firstly on the SmackDown creative team where he helped elevate Jeff Hardy to the WWE Championship and then as a producer and director.
Now speaking on his Wrestling with Freddie podcast, the star of Scooby-Doo reminisced about some other canine based antics in one of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s more eccentric episodes involving former WWE Champion Sheamus and NXT announcer Wade Barrett and a promo class:
“[McMahon said] ‘Now you’re going to show me what you got. Let me get some volunteers.’ A few people put their hands up. Sheamus gets up and walks to the front. He takes initiative. He doesn’t wait for someone to say yes. He takes initiative and Vince likes that. That’s an Alpha move. Wade Barrett gets up next. We have an Englishman and an Irishman. This should be a really easy promo for these guys to cut.”
“Vince said, “I’m going to give you a premise. You’re a dog and you’re a dog. Now make me want to watch you fight.’ My heart stops and I’m not even the one doing it. You can feel the panic. Everyone got tight. There was so much tension. You can see sweat beads all over Wade Barrett’s forehead. Sheamus is stone quiet. He doesn’t move.”
“They’re frozen. 30 seconds go by. Not a sound. 45 seconds go by, nothing. I’m dying. I want to jump up and say, ‘Stop.’ It’s like watching a murder. A minute goes by. Sheamus says by accident out loud, ‘I think I’m having an out-of-body experience’, and no one laughs because they can’t believe that it just came out of his mouth.”
With the tension reaching unbearable levels, Barrett blinks first but the former leader of the Nexus’ response is not what Vince McMahon had in mind:
“Wade takes the first step. He growls, and as soon as he growls, and Vince gets up and yells, ‘Not an actual f**king dog. Son of a b*tch.’ and he storms out of the room. He came back and said, ‘Let’s try again.’ Sheamus is going to be the babyface dog and he starts talking. He said, ‘I’m a good old dog. I’m loyal’, and Vince said, ‘Just forget the whole damn thing’ and storms off. Promo class is canceled.’’