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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@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).
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!
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
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
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!!!
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...
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'?
@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 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
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!!
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.
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.
@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.
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.
@***** 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.
@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.
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
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!
@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.
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.
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....
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 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.
@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.
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......
@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.
@DarkReapersGrim A couple of others have said this too, but I also think he didn't make enough of an effort to separate the XFL from pro wrestling. Whether Vince, or anyone else, wants to admit it, there is a negative stigma associated with pro wrestling. It doesn't help to be pushed 3 steps back when you're already facing an uphill battle.
@spooksyaboy10 It was the World Wide Wrestling Federation when Vince Sr. owned it. Vince Jr. eliminated the extra 'W' I think as a marketing thing. WWF flows off the tongue much better than WWWF!
