While his legal troubles dominated the headlines in recent years, former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was best known for his quirks surrounding the professional wrestling business. on the latest edition “Something for wrestlingConrad Thompson and WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield looked back The 25th anniversary of “Invasion”. when McMahon bought WCW and JBL talked about those oddities that could be detrimental to McMahon’s company.
One of these may have come from McMahon’s destruction of the often-perceived territorial system as he moved to expand the then-WWF. When creative mind Vince Russo infamously switched sides and left the WWF for WCW, JBL offered a possible explanation for why McMahon didn’t bring in some other bright minds.
“Vince had a perception of southern rasslin’ that he didn’t like,” JBL said. “But then he brought in Bruce (Pritchard) and brought in a lot of creative guys that were from the South. I’ve never understood why (Jim) Cornette isn’t creative. I never understood why Dutch Mantel didn’t get a chance, he was very creative. I never understood why Kevin Sullivan… Back then people thought the world of Kevin Sullivan. Kevin had a great reputation. People knew how smart he was. People knew what he had done in Florida. People knew what he had done and where he had been.”
Despite the notable absences, there were many minds working together in the WWF’s creative department during the Monday Night Wars, helping the company overtake WCW in April 1998. McMahon bought the company, cementing its dominance in the industry, in March 2001.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Something for Wrestling” and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.