Bob Costas didn't pull any punches when interviewing WWF (WWE) CEO Vince McMahon on the HBO show, On the Record, March, 2001 -Their first interview together-. McMahon clearly gets pissed off
Honestly I think Vince did extremely well in what was a clearly one-sided attempt to attack Vince's character and the WWF/WWE. I've never really particularly liked Vince before but I got a lot of respect for him out of this.
You're damn right. I also can't stand when someone asks you something, CLEARLY a demonization / hit-piece / onslaught / ambush and then try to tell YOU WHAT YOUR ANSWER IS . Costas is a chickenneck jellyfish who gets off on bait trap questions..vOnly in America the completely crooked biased media
Precisely.. Allways thought he was an ass, then listened to his interview on the Howard Stern show and this and he seems a class guy, obviously a cut throat business man, but that's business. The interviewer was an ass, only had negative, attacking questions, sometimes asking repeatedly without allowing a full reply, I love when sudo-intellectuals normally interview idiots, and when they interview somone intelligent they look like idiots.
Same here man, never rly cared for Vince,but yu know what, that's just his WWF/E character.. he's a smart fkng guy. Humble as hell, honest answers, and nothing to hide. The Purpose of this interview was to basically make a joke of him,and make him seem like a bad guy. When really it backfired, and now I know Bob Costas is a pompus p.o.s. puppet..
this is one of the problems with so many interviewers... ask a question and then 5 seconds into the answer they interrupt and try to direct the conversation in a different direction.
+Torrey Green wrong bozo. a good interviewer asks a question and then sits back and listens to the answer. he doesnt interrupt because the guest isn't saying what you want him to say, like admitting he is "evil". you have a short attention span if you can't listen for more than 5 seconds. Costas looks like an idiot in this interview. he has his panties in a knot and makes it look as if he has a personal grievance with McMahon. and that doesnt mean I agree with what Vince says. an interview isnt about being proven right or wrong though, it's simply to allow the guest to express their opinion and to do that the interviewer needs to sit back and listen rather than making it into a confrontation.
@Ziad Khaled he was supposed to make a superhero like entrance descending from the ceiling similar to sting in wcw but something went tragically wrong and he plummeted about eighty feet to the ring
I like how Bob Costas quotes the Owen Hart tragedy as he died by maneuver so if you didn't know what happened you would assume a wrestling maneuver not the fact that he fell from the fucking roof before the match
Dr VR Wrong. Vince wanted him to use a dangerous, unvetted quick release system because it 'took too long' to get out of the safety harness that the company's top rigger put him in before. That rigger was not there that night and would not have allowed Owen to use the dangerous improvised quick release system--he had refused previously. Owen wasn't comfortable with the new system. 99% of the blame is on Vince, and the rest on Owen for not disappointing Vince by rejecting the aerial gimmick.
@Guyinthecommentsection i saw a segment with Hart's widow showing the clip that held him. It was shocking how small it was to hold a guy 240 lbs. I have been ziplining and the apparatus protecting you from a lesser height was much more secure
I don't like Vince very much, he's a fuckin prick who treats his employees like shit, but I have to say he is an extremely intelligent man and knows what he is talking about. He totally outplayed Costas this entire interview.
"he's a fuckin prick who treats his employees like shit" You do realize he plays a character on TV right? He does not actually treat his employees like shit, why the fuck would they work for him if he did
Joe Rawn Its well documented Vince has screwed several people during his career. He's fired people for missing dates due to family emergencies, injuries, etc, etc. But that's business.
CarloMagnoTV Vince hasn't just stopped people from making money, and ended careers through his politicking and backstage backstabbing, he's also destroyed entire wrestling federations, thus harming the economy and causing a decline in the jobs market, like when he destroyed the AWA and Jim Crocket Promotions.
@@fanofthebusiness2666 Either way, if I was Costas, I wouldn't have corrected myself. I would have reiterated "Bob Knight." Who is he, someone special, other than being a bully/asshole. Fuck Knight and McMahon.
Now that was an interview. Both guys holding their ground. Intense at times, but ultimately respectful. Not a Vince McMahon fan, but he was surprisingly humble and forthright in this interview.
@@jordandennis6794 YES/NO Benoit kind of did cause it, but i'd also say how soft the generation is. Everything is "family friendly" nowadays, and I bet Vince saw that money opportunity and changed up
I'm no fan of McMahon, but Costas and the producers really tried to smear him. And I think Vince was right. The ratings during the "attitude era" proved that there was a market for that. I also think McMahon was in the right about the media. No one will argue that the XFL wasn't a pile of shit, but the media focused on McMahon rather than the product. And I can't believe that Costas would infer that Vince would script or fix the games...
It's hard to tell whether Bob actually believes what he is saying or if he's just playing devils advocate. Either way Vince has the right to program anything he wants as long as it has an audience. It's the same low brow tactics that the major networks put on most of their reality programming. It's no less mindless to me than the bachelor.
that part always cracks me up because I can't tell if Vince is just trying to be petty and find an opportunity to get a leg up on Costas, or if it's because Vince is all about respecting people who've earned their spot it's probably a bit of both honestly lol
It's clear that little twerp Costas was being negative towards Vince the entire time. Even at the end when he starts to talk about Owen, he says: "He was killed". Making it sound like Vince killed him. LOL
Costas regressed into a parody of himself. It's sad because people ripped Vince for being a bully with a chip on his shoulder, when a subjective look at Costas would show that he spent the entire interview interrupting McMahon's rebuttals and generally baiting him into the response he desired at the end.
Vince is actually a very cool (but strange) dude. He’s still insane and really believes he’s invincible but he sheds enough humanity to connect with at times
Bob actually had some decent questions, but the problem was that most were unrelated to XFL (which I assume is what Vince thought would make up the discussion) and the answers are much more complex than the few seconds he gave Vince to respond. It's a shame because the resulting show was more focused on interruptions, snark, and half-finished thoughts.
This was a half hour interview. This clown kept it on the topic of the XFL for what, 5 to maybe 10 minutes? He then proceeded to find anything he could to try and diminish McMahons achievements and character, all the while asking dumb fucking questions like, "would you fix games to help ratings?"
I didn't like McMahon at first. But I gained his respect when talking about Andre the Giant, who had passed away, McMahon said Andre was"Special", and had tears in his eyes.
Costas had no idea how Owen even died in that clip, my god. Vince should have destroyed him on that question, suggesting that Owen died because of a "maneuver" in a match.
i've never been a fan of Vince McMahon, infact i don't like him at all. but i was rooting for him in this interview. Bob Costas was asking loaded questions, he clearly had an agenda to make McMahon look bad and he was being self-righteous and judgmental on top of that. very unprofessional..
This Bob guy may be part of the reason we have a PG era in wrestling. It's not all John cena's fault lol. Hopefully they bring back some old tricks and bring the ratings back up
Vince really blew this interview. He should've used a PR coach. I realize that at the time he was under a lot of stress (Owen's death, XFL) but he could've easily turned this into a real win with the right prep work.
Ridiculous how Costas waited to the interview had a MINUTE left to mention Owen Hart and was going to cut Vince off and make him look horrible without letting him explain. Just absolutely ridiculous and unfair. Owen died of an accident. Nobody is to blame. How dare anyone insinuate otherwise.
Vince McMahon could crush him like a bug...and he was probably tempted to do so, several times during this hit-piece that was supposed to be an interview. Edited to add: Anybody who is in any way associated with NBC should never criticize anyone else on ethics or standards.
Vince actually brought up major points that this person has not watched WWE. Vince was spot on how everything that was shown was part of a story line that ended up with Vince getting his just deserts. Also Owen Hart died when he fell during his entrance not preforming a wrestling move. This was a complete smear job that Vince was totally in the right with all the questions.
Costas also came armed with NBC inside info that they weren't pleased... and he still got owned. Shifting topics to WWE was dumb too. In the XFL 30 for 30 he clearly took it out on Vince (without him in the room of course). I think XFL would've had a place in sports today. They had little choice but pulled the plug too early. The game and pool of talent has evolved greatly since then.
Vince didn't handle himself extremely well during this interview (but neither does Bob in most of his interviews) However, Vince really did demolish any argument/evidence that was put forward.
