Lightning Count
Member
Just saw a trailer for the new TMNT movie - thanks youtube ads, that's the most screentime it will ever get in this house lol. I'll wait for a GAF read on it and Sheamus' involvement.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
June Wrasslin' |OT| Powered by Bluekaveli
- Thread starter blackaroni
- Start date
Youtube red is 99c for 3 months right now
You won't have to see a youtube ad til august
Lightning Count
Member
No thanks, google can get rich off everybody else. Not like they need the cash anyway.
Bluekaveli
Member
Taz all dressed up for SnH yet he has to work a match later, gotta look good I guess.
A synopsis with no full stops.
I'm not exactly brimming with confidence that the book will read any better.
Sweeney Tom
Banned
Day one
Great year for memoirs from great people. AJ Lee, Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Grace Helbig. (That's the full list because I know someone's going to sabotage it by quoting and jokingly adding Steph's name)
Lightning Count
Member
On a slightly shameful note, I have owned Bret Hart's book for five years and I've only read the first hundred pages.
I'll see myself out.
I'll see myself out.
Bluekaveli
Member
I hate how much they ruined Kane. This guy should've never spoke a damn word.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Kind of unfair to judge before reading it, you know.
I am sure her ghost writer will write a great fantasy novel on par with Tolkien.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
David Shoemaker, under the guise of writing something, collected a massive amount of Vince McMahon quotes and posted it on some website that's paying him to do so. Here they are, they're worth reading. Not sure why he collected them.
Most people think I was born with a silver spoon. I wish that were the case. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I basically grew up in an 8-foot-wide New Moon trailer  which was not bad; a little cramped from time to time. [The New York Times, 1998]
[A] trailer park isnt poverty. You dont have much privacy, but there are nice things about it. Everything is compact. And it beats some other places. Prior to that I lived in Manly, North Carolina, in a house with no indoor plumbing. That could get a little disconcerting in the wintertime. [Playboy, 2001]
You never forget the rainy, cold days when youd have to go so badly and the only place was outside to the privy. Likewise, you never forget the real hot summer days, either. It, was quite odorific, let me tell you. [Esquire, 2005]
I grew up dirt poor. When youre in that class, a lower economic class, everyone is, quote, above you. And there were a number of individuals who thought they were above me because of their economic situation. It always bugged me that people would think they were better than me. I developed a philosophy that no ones better than me, and at the same time Im no better than anyone else. [Muscle & Fitness, 2016]
My parents got divorced and I went with my mom, Vickie. She was in the church choir. A real performer, a female Elmer Gantry. Very striking, with an excellent voice. Lived with her and my real asshole of a stepfather, a man who enjoyed kicking people around.
I grew up in a very aggressive environment to say the least. That includes any number of individuals beating the hell out of me only because I had a big mouth and had to say what was on my mind.
You would think that after being on the receiving end of numerous attacks I would wise up, but I couldnt. I refused to. I felt I should say something, even though I knew what the result would be.
This one particular stepfather I did not get along with at all.
Leo Lupton. Its unfortunate that he died before I could kill him. I would have enjoyed that. Not that he didnt have some redeeming qualities. He was an athlete, great at any sport, which I admired, and I remember watching The Jackie Gleason Show with him. We used to laugh together at Jackie Gleason.
I think you have to develop an attitude. From the severity that I experienced, taking numerous beatings and things of that nature, I developed a defensive philosophy that has served me very well through the years. That is: If I lived through whatever the adversarial position was, I won. No matter what happens, if Im still breathing in and out, I won. So if you have that kind of philosophy, then failure is not a big thing. [Muscle & Fitness, 2016]
There are just no excuses for anything. I read about some guy who has excuses for his behavior because he comes from a broken home or he was beaten or was sexually abused or got into the wrong crowd or whatever the case may be  all of which have occurred in my lifetime. But those are no excuses. [New York Magazine, 1998]
This country gives you opportunity if you want to take it, so dont blame your environment. [Playboy, 2001]
The world is a complex place. Very complex. Often you will find that the people you think are the good guys arent. And the people portrayed as the bad guys arent that bad. Im not necessarily saying theyre good. But theyre not that bad. Theyre misunderstood. [Esquire, 2005]
My dad should have been canonized. He was a wonderful man. I didnt meet him until I was 12 years old, and I fell in love with him the moment I met him. It was like going from rags to riches when Id go to Washington, D.C., to see him. [Esquire, 2005]
There was just an instant attraction that my dad felt and that I felt. He was just a wonderful, caring, bright man. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
By the time I was 14, I was on my own. I was pretty much a man then. Physically, at least. In other ways Im still becoming a man. [Playboy, 2001]
Its frustrating for a child to know that youre different and you dont fit in. Maybe youre not quite as bright and youre made fun of. Kids will do that. I guess maybe I always resorted back to the one common denominator when I was terribly frustrated like that, and that of course would be physicality. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
When [my son] Shane had alleged learning disabilities in high school, we put him on Ritalin. When I was in school there was no Ritalin. Attention deficit disorder hadnt been discovered, so I was just a bad kid. [Playboy, 2001]
[I was] majoring in bad ass. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
I was always in fights, too. Theyd pull up and there we were, me and my group of guys, going at it with the Marines It was a challenge. Most of them were in great condition, but they didnt know how to pick a fight. Im not saying they were easy pickings. They got their testosterone going and they were all liquored up. Some of them were real tough. But me and my guys were street fighters. I mean, maybe youve been through basic training and you know how to operate a bayonet. Thats different from sticking your finger in somebodys eye or hitting a guy in the throat. [Playboy, 2001]
[I stole] automobiles. But I always brought them back. I just borrowed them, really. There were other thefts, too, and I ran a load of moonshine in Harlowe, North Carolina, in a 1952 Ford V8. That was a badass car at the time. [Playboy, 2001]
I could go to a state-supported institution, or I could go to military school. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
It was reform school or military school. I went to Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Military school is expensive. My mom was still my guardian and she couldnt afford it. So my dad was notified and he paid. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad was, in his words, able to spring for [Fishburne]. At 14, I had no reputation, so it was a new beginning, a great chance to start over and create a new reputation. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
Maybe I didnt completely reinvent myself. I was the first cadet in the history of the school to be court-martialed. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I was lucky and a little crafty  I wasnt caught for some stuff that would have meant immediate dismissal, like stealing the commandants car. Colonel Zinneker had an old, green, beat-up Buick, and he always left the keys in it. He also had a dog he was nuts about. I love animals, but one day I couldnt resist giving that dog a laxative. I put the laxative in some hamburger and the dog did his business all over the commandants apartment, which thrilled me greatly. [Playboy, 2001]
But I at least started to change. No one really knew who I was at Fishburne. I had no badass reputation to uphold. [Playboy, 2001]
The morning of graduation, I walked up to this old colonel we had and said, You thought I was going to fuck up finals. But now, wait and see what Im going to do. He recoiled, and then I said, Just kidding. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
That [my dad] was able and willing to send me to that school made an impression. It was a chance to start over. [Playboy, 2001]
Its funny how you dont know what youre missing if you never had it. Then when I met my dad, I fell in love with him. We got very, very close, but we both knew we could never go back. Theres a tendency to try to play catch-up, but you cant. You missed those years. There would always be something missing between us, but there was no reason to discuss it. I was grateful for the chance to spend time with him. [Playboy, 2001]
I would see him in the summertime and on the occasional holiday. [Playboy, 2001]
He would take me to [wrestling] shows at the old Uline Arena in Washington, and I remember the crowd response and these larger-than-life individuals. The passion was just so strong, I just knew that I wanted to do that as soon as I saw it My dad always knew that I wanted to be in the business from the first exposure. [New York Magazine, 1998]
The greater Washington metropolitan area [was] where my dad really began his start as president of Capitol Wrestling Corporation. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
Washington, D.C., that summer of 59 I was 14 years old, and my favorite wrestler was naturally a villainous type, Doctor Jerry Graham. [New York Magazine, 1998]
I would say that I idolized [him] He was a persona non grata as far as the fans were concerned. And maybe that gives you some insight into my personality. [Wilmington Star-News, 1986]
Wed be at a party  my dad, Jerry and a couple of the other wrestlers. Jerry and his girlfriend would be arguing and pouring drinks over each other. It was sheer entertainment. I was learning that you can be drawn to people for their charisma, but thats not all there is to them. [Playboy, 2001]
Im thinking, This is the life. So Id try to smoke cigars when I was a kid, and Id cough and sputter and spew. But it looked so cool the way Jerry handled it  something to do with his hands. Cigars were a big deal  performers, the booking office, heck, you could cut the smoke with a knife. Cigar smoking was a manly thing to do  if you could afford it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
He spent more money than anybody I know. He was a 300-pound guy with platinum blond hair and a thick, heavy beard. [Playboy, 2001]
He would run red lights, curse anybody he wanted to curse. And I just thought he was the coolest guy. He was a wild man, he would do anything he wanted to do. [New York Magazine, 1998]
My dad was very upset when he found out I was sneaking around town with Jerry Graham, because he didnt think he was a very good influence on me. That same summer, at a place right outside of Atlantic City while my dad was away, I talked my stepmom into peroxiding my hair, and of course when my dad got back he blew his stack. That same summer, Dr. Jerry Graham gave me my first set of weights, called Healthways. I had the red shirt, red pants, and also I bought the red shoes. I think my dad was probably a little afraid. [New York Magazine, 1998]
Damn, Jerry, he loved to drink. There was a time when I thought Jerry Graham walked on water, but he could be a mean drunk, and that turned me off. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad was incredible. I wanted to be part of his world. I loved the promotion business. Id hang with him at the wrestling; it was like being the kid in the candy store. I liked the roar of the crowd. I liked the charismatic people. I liked the entertainment. I liked all of it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
My dad didnt want me to work in the wrestling business. [The New York Times, 2008]
My dad was pragmatic. He remembered the bad years hed had. Hed say, Get a government job, so you can have a pension. [Playboy, 2001]
[At East Carolina University, I learned] that I hated economics. Sat in the back row, didnt like the subject. Its about numbers, not people. Wasnt wild about statistics, either. [Playboy, 2001]
I didnt do well scholastically. Had a grade point average of 2.001. You needed a two-point average to graduate. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad thought if I got married it would stop me from graduating. I knew that marrying Linda would ensure that Id graduate. Shes more structured, shes more disciplined. All Id learned from military school about discipline was how to get around it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
I walked into the church and as soon as I did you could feel the foundation start to shake, like what the hell are you doing here. In any event, I sat down in the pew and immediately saw these beautiful blue eyes and it was like, Wow! And then the choir stands up to sing, and then I saw this statuesque, relatively buxom young lady and I said Yeah, OK weve got some promise here. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I had no idea what a family was until I met Linda, and saw how [her family] lived. It was an Ozzie and Harriet life. There wasnt screaming and beating. You see, I thought, theres something else. I wanted some of that stability and love. And then I wanted more of it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
Pretty well what you see with Linda is what you get. She has always been my right-hand man in business and in life. The best move I ever made was marrying her. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
I had to go back to a couple of professors to get them to change me from a B plus to an A, or I wouldnt have made it. I guess they didnt expect a knock on the door from a student who wouldnt take no for an answer. Someone who was saying hes been here five years, and his wifes been here three and shes graduating and shes pregnant. Now they figure this kid has either made up a hell of a story or maybe its true. Either way, it didnt hurt them to change the grade. I delivered it with lots of conviction, because it was true. Not that I couldnt have delivered it with conviction had it not been true. [Playboy, 2001]
I [wasnt] good [selling] fucking machines. They have no personality. I went from there to a job selling cups and Sweetheart ice cream cones for the Maryland Cup Corp. in Owings Mills, right outside Baltimore. [Playboy, 2001]
One day Im at a Tastee-Freez talking about cups and cones and plastic seal, and the guys looking right through me. And I say, You dont care, do you? And he says, No, I dont. Now is this going to be a good deal or what? And I realized I didnt really care, either. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
All this time Id been pestering my dad to let me work with him: Come on, Pop. You know I love this stuff. [Playboy, 2001]
I always wanted to be in the promotion business. You have certain genes, I guess. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
My grandfather started promoting. Hes first-generation Irish. His dad came over and opened a saloon. You had one or two options if you were Irish and you landed in New York: you could either open a saloon, or you could be a cop. [Wilmington Star-News, 1986]
[He] was promoting boxing and wrestling back in New York City, principally in one of the old Madison Square Gardens. And, from there, my dad, having helped his father promote wrestling and, more boxing in those days, putting show cards up and selling tickets and whatever it may be, and sort of got in my fathers blood. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
[My grandfather] did business with some pretty tough customers, such as Frankie Carbo, but kept his integrity. My father did some boxing, too, and was more or less New Yorkbased, then opened up in Washington and did wrestling and some rock n roll back when that was first starting. He founded the WWF in 1963. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
Promoters didnt do much [back then]. Some were still doing studio wrestling, where youd bring a crowd of 60 people into a studio. Magazines were on a cheap paper, all filled with blood and guts. I had this instinct wrestling could be better, bigger. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
We had a promoter in Bangor, Maine, who was stealing too much money. [The New York Times, 1999]
[My father] said OK, if you make it in Bangor then you have a future, If you dont, Ill give you six months. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
He told me, If you dont make it, dont ever ask me again. [New York Magazine, 1998]
I went to Bangor, the northernmost outpost of my dads territory. Now Im hustling, promoting a product I love. People cheer and boo and have a good time, and I leave with some money in my pocket. Goddamn, life is good! Started making my way south, promoting areas that hadnt been promoted before. First thing you know, half my dads business is in New England. [Playboy, 2001]
[The company] was making more money than it had ever made, and so my dad was thinking it just cant get any better than this  and he was looking to get out. My dad was retiring, and it scared me to death. [New York Magazine, 1998]
When people would say, Do you think can you follow in your old mans footsteps? I would immediately say, No, and I dont want to, and I cant fill my dads shoes. I have to do things my own way. [Forbes, 2014]
In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadnt bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
I knew my dad wouldnt have really sold me the business had he known what I was going to do. The vision of an international point of view of our business was nothing new. I wanted to do that from day one. My dad thought I was nuts, and he was right really, but I didnt know I was nuts. And then we just went about doing it. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I really dont believe any of us thought I was gonna make that last payment, or even second payment, but I did it by using mirrors. [New York Magazine, 1998]
We began to compete [with all the other promoters], which had never been done before in professional wrestling. It was us against the world. And all the other regional and local promoters still maintain their alliances and allegiances and I would say perhaps somewhat monopolistic tendencies, and we then decided were gonna break the mold and were gonna compete with all of them. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
The local guys were lazy. They werent listening to the marketplace. We were so consumer-oriented. We never lifted our ears from the ground. We gave the public what it wanted. We broke the mold. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
Ninety percent of the major promoters flew to Memphis for a big meeting. So one day [former WWE announcer] Jim [Ross] was sitting on the throne in the mens room when a few of the elder guys come in, and theyre saying, How are we going to stop this kid? Meaning me. Theyre plotting to do me in. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad would get these phone calls from his cronies who had these little fiefdoms. Hey Vince, whats your kid doing? Hes coming into my territory. Hes gonna wind up dead. Im gonna crush him like a grape. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
Its like God, that damn kid, what the hells he doing? Hes coming to Kansas City, sonofabitch is gonna wind up in the bottom of a river. [Off the Record, 1998]
Ive been supposed to wind up at the bottom of so many rivers, its ridiculous. [Esquire, 2005]
Some of it was probably bravado from a pseudo-tough-guy. Some of it was real. They were the last vestige of the old school, and I wanted to change the whole deal. I had to go national. [Playboy, 2001]
Years ago, the promoters tried to tell the world that this was 100 percent sport. It was an insult to the audience. Professional wrestling has always been a show. When Abraham Lincoln wrestled, it was a show. [Esquire, 2005]
Its the greatest form of sports entertainment in history, and the audience loves it for that, but at one time, this industry was lying to the public. [Raw Magazine, 2001]
When I took over, I said, Why dont we just let the audience know what it is? An exhibition. Are these athletes? Without question, theyre some of the greatest athletes in the world. But l wanted to reposition who we were. It was the right thing to do. It was being honest with the audience. It was showing respect. And it didnt hurt business at all because they already knew. [Esquire, 2005]
We coined the term sports entertainment. People love it because its an escape from the drudgery and stress of their regular lives. They get charged by the action and the humor, and caught up in the drama, like a soap opera or reality show. [The New York Times, 2008]
Id like to discourage you from being a pro wrestler. Its a very, very tough life. Theres hardly any family life to it. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
The only time my dad told me he loved me was when he was dying of cancer. [Esquire, 2005]
I went to the hospital and I kissed him. Ive always been demonstrative. If I dont like you, Ill tell you. If I love you, male or female, Ill hug you and say I love you. But my dad was old Irish. The old Irish, for some reason I dont understand, they dont show affection. Thats not how I live my life. I started to go. I hadnt quite gotten through the door when I heard him: I love you, Vinnie! He didnt just say it, he yelled it. [Playboy, 2001]
He screamed it. Because he felt it was the last time hed ever see me. [Esquire, 2005]
Ill never forget [my son] Shane when he was just a little kid, he tugged on Lindas dress  and I happened to be home that day because I traveled so much trying to build the foundation for this business  and said, Mommy, can Dad and I go out to play? That was a rough one for me because of the way that he was looking at me. Im not trying to say, woe is me by any stretch of the imagination. These are sacrifices that people in the world make every day, in one way or another. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
Im not good at all at looking back. Im not good at that at all. I just dont do that. Its whats tomorrow, whats next year. How am I going to leave this to the next generation, although I dont plan to die. It may take a while for that. I dont know. I could have a heart attack right here. [Orlando Sentinel, 2016]
I have a voracious appetite, for life and everything in it. To a certain extent I will die a very frustrated man because I didnt do this or accomplish that. [Forbes, 2014]
No regrets. None. Not even the beatings when I was a child. I used those to learn and grow and benefit. I saw how dysfunctional marriages work and was not going to have one. And I dont. Linda and I have probably had five or six arguments in our 38 years of marriage. [Esquire, 2005]
You make mistakes in life and you need to be man enough to apologize for your mistakes and recognize your mistakes first of all, which is sometimes difficult for us as human beings to do. Recognize when youve been a jackass, if you have been a jackass, and say, You know what, I realize it now, I was a jackass, but Im not going to be a jackass anymore. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
Some would say Im still a teenager as far as certain aspects of my brain. Its like I refuse to grow up. I dont want to grow up. Now Im old enough to say Im not going to grow up. So what are you going to do about that? [Orlando Sentinel, 2016]
Were all just little boys here. Its just a blast to go out and be a kid in a certain environment. [New York Magazine, 1998]
Most people think I was born with a silver spoon. I wish that were the case. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I basically grew up in an 8-foot-wide New Moon trailer  which was not bad; a little cramped from time to time. [The New York Times, 1998]
[A] trailer park isnt poverty. You dont have much privacy, but there are nice things about it. Everything is compact. And it beats some other places. Prior to that I lived in Manly, North Carolina, in a house with no indoor plumbing. That could get a little disconcerting in the wintertime. [Playboy, 2001]
You never forget the rainy, cold days when youd have to go so badly and the only place was outside to the privy. Likewise, you never forget the real hot summer days, either. It, was quite odorific, let me tell you. [Esquire, 2005]
I grew up dirt poor. When youre in that class, a lower economic class, everyone is, quote, above you. And there were a number of individuals who thought they were above me because of their economic situation. It always bugged me that people would think they were better than me. I developed a philosophy that no ones better than me, and at the same time Im no better than anyone else. [Muscle & Fitness, 2016]
My parents got divorced and I went with my mom, Vickie. She was in the church choir. A real performer, a female Elmer Gantry. Very striking, with an excellent voice. Lived with her and my real asshole of a stepfather, a man who enjoyed kicking people around.
I grew up in a very aggressive environment to say the least. That includes any number of individuals beating the hell out of me only because I had a big mouth and had to say what was on my mind.
You would think that after being on the receiving end of numerous attacks I would wise up, but I couldnt. I refused to. I felt I should say something, even though I knew what the result would be.
This one particular stepfather I did not get along with at all.
Leo Lupton. Its unfortunate that he died before I could kill him. I would have enjoyed that. Not that he didnt have some redeeming qualities. He was an athlete, great at any sport, which I admired, and I remember watching The Jackie Gleason Show with him. We used to laugh together at Jackie Gleason.
I think you have to develop an attitude. From the severity that I experienced, taking numerous beatings and things of that nature, I developed a defensive philosophy that has served me very well through the years. That is: If I lived through whatever the adversarial position was, I won. No matter what happens, if Im still breathing in and out, I won. So if you have that kind of philosophy, then failure is not a big thing. [Muscle & Fitness, 2016]
There are just no excuses for anything. I read about some guy who has excuses for his behavior because he comes from a broken home or he was beaten or was sexually abused or got into the wrong crowd or whatever the case may be  all of which have occurred in my lifetime. But those are no excuses. [New York Magazine, 1998]
This country gives you opportunity if you want to take it, so dont blame your environment. [Playboy, 2001]
The world is a complex place. Very complex. Often you will find that the people you think are the good guys arent. And the people portrayed as the bad guys arent that bad. Im not necessarily saying theyre good. But theyre not that bad. Theyre misunderstood. [Esquire, 2005]
My dad should have been canonized. He was a wonderful man. I didnt meet him until I was 12 years old, and I fell in love with him the moment I met him. It was like going from rags to riches when Id go to Washington, D.C., to see him. [Esquire, 2005]
There was just an instant attraction that my dad felt and that I felt. He was just a wonderful, caring, bright man. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
By the time I was 14, I was on my own. I was pretty much a man then. Physically, at least. In other ways Im still becoming a man. [Playboy, 2001]
Its frustrating for a child to know that youre different and you dont fit in. Maybe youre not quite as bright and youre made fun of. Kids will do that. I guess maybe I always resorted back to the one common denominator when I was terribly frustrated like that, and that of course would be physicality. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
When [my son] Shane had alleged learning disabilities in high school, we put him on Ritalin. When I was in school there was no Ritalin. Attention deficit disorder hadnt been discovered, so I was just a bad kid. [Playboy, 2001]
[I was] majoring in bad ass. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
I was always in fights, too. Theyd pull up and there we were, me and my group of guys, going at it with the Marines It was a challenge. Most of them were in great condition, but they didnt know how to pick a fight. Im not saying they were easy pickings. They got their testosterone going and they were all liquored up. Some of them were real tough. But me and my guys were street fighters. I mean, maybe youve been through basic training and you know how to operate a bayonet. Thats different from sticking your finger in somebodys eye or hitting a guy in the throat. [Playboy, 2001]
[I stole] automobiles. But I always brought them back. I just borrowed them, really. There were other thefts, too, and I ran a load of moonshine in Harlowe, North Carolina, in a 1952 Ford V8. That was a badass car at the time. [Playboy, 2001]
I could go to a state-supported institution, or I could go to military school. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
It was reform school or military school. I went to Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Military school is expensive. My mom was still my guardian and she couldnt afford it. So my dad was notified and he paid. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad was, in his words, able to spring for [Fishburne]. At 14, I had no reputation, so it was a new beginning, a great chance to start over and create a new reputation. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
Maybe I didnt completely reinvent myself. I was the first cadet in the history of the school to be court-martialed. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I was lucky and a little crafty  I wasnt caught for some stuff that would have meant immediate dismissal, like stealing the commandants car. Colonel Zinneker had an old, green, beat-up Buick, and he always left the keys in it. He also had a dog he was nuts about. I love animals, but one day I couldnt resist giving that dog a laxative. I put the laxative in some hamburger and the dog did his business all over the commandants apartment, which thrilled me greatly. [Playboy, 2001]
But I at least started to change. No one really knew who I was at Fishburne. I had no badass reputation to uphold. [Playboy, 2001]
The morning of graduation, I walked up to this old colonel we had and said, You thought I was going to fuck up finals. But now, wait and see what Im going to do. He recoiled, and then I said, Just kidding. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
That [my dad] was able and willing to send me to that school made an impression. It was a chance to start over. [Playboy, 2001]
Its funny how you dont know what youre missing if you never had it. Then when I met my dad, I fell in love with him. We got very, very close, but we both knew we could never go back. Theres a tendency to try to play catch-up, but you cant. You missed those years. There would always be something missing between us, but there was no reason to discuss it. I was grateful for the chance to spend time with him. [Playboy, 2001]
I would see him in the summertime and on the occasional holiday. [Playboy, 2001]
He would take me to [wrestling] shows at the old Uline Arena in Washington, and I remember the crowd response and these larger-than-life individuals. The passion was just so strong, I just knew that I wanted to do that as soon as I saw it My dad always knew that I wanted to be in the business from the first exposure. [New York Magazine, 1998]
The greater Washington metropolitan area [was] where my dad really began his start as president of Capitol Wrestling Corporation. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
Washington, D.C., that summer of 59 I was 14 years old, and my favorite wrestler was naturally a villainous type, Doctor Jerry Graham. [New York Magazine, 1998]
I would say that I idolized [him] He was a persona non grata as far as the fans were concerned. And maybe that gives you some insight into my personality. [Wilmington Star-News, 1986]
Wed be at a party  my dad, Jerry and a couple of the other wrestlers. Jerry and his girlfriend would be arguing and pouring drinks over each other. It was sheer entertainment. I was learning that you can be drawn to people for their charisma, but thats not all there is to them. [Playboy, 2001]
Im thinking, This is the life. So Id try to smoke cigars when I was a kid, and Id cough and sputter and spew. But it looked so cool the way Jerry handled it  something to do with his hands. Cigars were a big deal  performers, the booking office, heck, you could cut the smoke with a knife. Cigar smoking was a manly thing to do  if you could afford it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
He spent more money than anybody I know. He was a 300-pound guy with platinum blond hair and a thick, heavy beard. [Playboy, 2001]
He would run red lights, curse anybody he wanted to curse. And I just thought he was the coolest guy. He was a wild man, he would do anything he wanted to do. [New York Magazine, 1998]
My dad was very upset when he found out I was sneaking around town with Jerry Graham, because he didnt think he was a very good influence on me. That same summer, at a place right outside of Atlantic City while my dad was away, I talked my stepmom into peroxiding my hair, and of course when my dad got back he blew his stack. That same summer, Dr. Jerry Graham gave me my first set of weights, called Healthways. I had the red shirt, red pants, and also I bought the red shoes. I think my dad was probably a little afraid. [New York Magazine, 1998]
Damn, Jerry, he loved to drink. There was a time when I thought Jerry Graham walked on water, but he could be a mean drunk, and that turned me off. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad was incredible. I wanted to be part of his world. I loved the promotion business. Id hang with him at the wrestling; it was like being the kid in the candy store. I liked the roar of the crowd. I liked the charismatic people. I liked the entertainment. I liked all of it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
My dad didnt want me to work in the wrestling business. [The New York Times, 2008]
My dad was pragmatic. He remembered the bad years hed had. Hed say, Get a government job, so you can have a pension. [Playboy, 2001]
[At East Carolina University, I learned] that I hated economics. Sat in the back row, didnt like the subject. Its about numbers, not people. Wasnt wild about statistics, either. [Playboy, 2001]
I didnt do well scholastically. Had a grade point average of 2.001. You needed a two-point average to graduate. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad thought if I got married it would stop me from graduating. I knew that marrying Linda would ensure that Id graduate. Shes more structured, shes more disciplined. All Id learned from military school about discipline was how to get around it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
I walked into the church and as soon as I did you could feel the foundation start to shake, like what the hell are you doing here. In any event, I sat down in the pew and immediately saw these beautiful blue eyes and it was like, Wow! And then the choir stands up to sing, and then I saw this statuesque, relatively buxom young lady and I said Yeah, OK weve got some promise here. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I had no idea what a family was until I met Linda, and saw how [her family] lived. It was an Ozzie and Harriet life. There wasnt screaming and beating. You see, I thought, theres something else. I wanted some of that stability and love. And then I wanted more of it. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
Pretty well what you see with Linda is what you get. She has always been my right-hand man in business and in life. The best move I ever made was marrying her. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
I had to go back to a couple of professors to get them to change me from a B plus to an A, or I wouldnt have made it. I guess they didnt expect a knock on the door from a student who wouldnt take no for an answer. Someone who was saying hes been here five years, and his wifes been here three and shes graduating and shes pregnant. Now they figure this kid has either made up a hell of a story or maybe its true. Either way, it didnt hurt them to change the grade. I delivered it with lots of conviction, because it was true. Not that I couldnt have delivered it with conviction had it not been true. [Playboy, 2001]
I [wasnt] good [selling] fucking machines. They have no personality. I went from there to a job selling cups and Sweetheart ice cream cones for the Maryland Cup Corp. in Owings Mills, right outside Baltimore. [Playboy, 2001]
One day Im at a Tastee-Freez talking about cups and cones and plastic seal, and the guys looking right through me. And I say, You dont care, do you? And he says, No, I dont. Now is this going to be a good deal or what? And I realized I didnt really care, either. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
All this time Id been pestering my dad to let me work with him: Come on, Pop. You know I love this stuff. [Playboy, 2001]
I always wanted to be in the promotion business. You have certain genes, I guess. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
My grandfather started promoting. Hes first-generation Irish. His dad came over and opened a saloon. You had one or two options if you were Irish and you landed in New York: you could either open a saloon, or you could be a cop. [Wilmington Star-News, 1986]
[He] was promoting boxing and wrestling back in New York City, principally in one of the old Madison Square Gardens. And, from there, my dad, having helped his father promote wrestling and, more boxing in those days, putting show cards up and selling tickets and whatever it may be, and sort of got in my fathers blood. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
[My grandfather] did business with some pretty tough customers, such as Frankie Carbo, but kept his integrity. My father did some boxing, too, and was more or less New Yorkbased, then opened up in Washington and did wrestling and some rock n roll back when that was first starting. He founded the WWF in 1963. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
Promoters didnt do much [back then]. Some were still doing studio wrestling, where youd bring a crowd of 60 people into a studio. Magazines were on a cheap paper, all filled with blood and guts. I had this instinct wrestling could be better, bigger. [Cigar Aficionado, 1999]
We had a promoter in Bangor, Maine, who was stealing too much money. [The New York Times, 1999]
[My father] said OK, if you make it in Bangor then you have a future, If you dont, Ill give you six months. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
He told me, If you dont make it, dont ever ask me again. [New York Magazine, 1998]
I went to Bangor, the northernmost outpost of my dads territory. Now Im hustling, promoting a product I love. People cheer and boo and have a good time, and I leave with some money in my pocket. Goddamn, life is good! Started making my way south, promoting areas that hadnt been promoted before. First thing you know, half my dads business is in New England. [Playboy, 2001]
[The company] was making more money than it had ever made, and so my dad was thinking it just cant get any better than this  and he was looking to get out. My dad was retiring, and it scared me to death. [New York Magazine, 1998]
When people would say, Do you think can you follow in your old mans footsteps? I would immediately say, No, and I dont want to, and I cant fill my dads shoes. I have to do things my own way. [Forbes, 2014]
In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadnt bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
I knew my dad wouldnt have really sold me the business had he known what I was going to do. The vision of an international point of view of our business was nothing new. I wanted to do that from day one. My dad thought I was nuts, and he was right really, but I didnt know I was nuts. And then we just went about doing it. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
I really dont believe any of us thought I was gonna make that last payment, or even second payment, but I did it by using mirrors. [New York Magazine, 1998]
We began to compete [with all the other promoters], which had never been done before in professional wrestling. It was us against the world. And all the other regional and local promoters still maintain their alliances and allegiances and I would say perhaps somewhat monopolistic tendencies, and we then decided were gonna break the mold and were gonna compete with all of them. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
The local guys were lazy. They werent listening to the marketplace. We were so consumer-oriented. We never lifted our ears from the ground. We gave the public what it wanted. We broke the mold. [Sports Illustrated, 1991]
Ninety percent of the major promoters flew to Memphis for a big meeting. So one day [former WWE announcer] Jim [Ross] was sitting on the throne in the mens room when a few of the elder guys come in, and theyre saying, How are we going to stop this kid? Meaning me. Theyre plotting to do me in. [Playboy, 2001]
My dad would get these phone calls from his cronies who had these little fiefdoms. Hey Vince, whats your kid doing? Hes coming into my territory. Hes gonna wind up dead. Im gonna crush him like a grape. [Headliners & Legends With Matt Lauer, 2001]
Its like God, that damn kid, what the hells he doing? Hes coming to Kansas City, sonofabitch is gonna wind up in the bottom of a river. [Off the Record, 1998]
Ive been supposed to wind up at the bottom of so many rivers, its ridiculous. [Esquire, 2005]
Some of it was probably bravado from a pseudo-tough-guy. Some of it was real. They were the last vestige of the old school, and I wanted to change the whole deal. I had to go national. [Playboy, 2001]
Years ago, the promoters tried to tell the world that this was 100 percent sport. It was an insult to the audience. Professional wrestling has always been a show. When Abraham Lincoln wrestled, it was a show. [Esquire, 2005]
Its the greatest form of sports entertainment in history, and the audience loves it for that, but at one time, this industry was lying to the public. [Raw Magazine, 2001]
When I took over, I said, Why dont we just let the audience know what it is? An exhibition. Are these athletes? Without question, theyre some of the greatest athletes in the world. But l wanted to reposition who we were. It was the right thing to do. It was being honest with the audience. It was showing respect. And it didnt hurt business at all because they already knew. [Esquire, 2005]
We coined the term sports entertainment. People love it because its an escape from the drudgery and stress of their regular lives. They get charged by the action and the humor, and caught up in the drama, like a soap opera or reality show. [The New York Times, 2008]
Id like to discourage you from being a pro wrestler. Its a very, very tough life. Theres hardly any family life to it. [Wrestling 86, 1986]
The only time my dad told me he loved me was when he was dying of cancer. [Esquire, 2005]
I went to the hospital and I kissed him. Ive always been demonstrative. If I dont like you, Ill tell you. If I love you, male or female, Ill hug you and say I love you. But my dad was old Irish. The old Irish, for some reason I dont understand, they dont show affection. Thats not how I live my life. I started to go. I hadnt quite gotten through the door when I heard him: I love you, Vinnie! He didnt just say it, he yelled it. [Playboy, 2001]
He screamed it. Because he felt it was the last time hed ever see me. [Esquire, 2005]
Ill never forget [my son] Shane when he was just a little kid, he tugged on Lindas dress  and I happened to be home that day because I traveled so much trying to build the foundation for this business  and said, Mommy, can Dad and I go out to play? That was a rough one for me because of the way that he was looking at me. Im not trying to say, woe is me by any stretch of the imagination. These are sacrifices that people in the world make every day, in one way or another. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
Im not good at all at looking back. Im not good at that at all. I just dont do that. Its whats tomorrow, whats next year. How am I going to leave this to the next generation, although I dont plan to die. It may take a while for that. I dont know. I could have a heart attack right here. [Orlando Sentinel, 2016]
I have a voracious appetite, for life and everything in it. To a certain extent I will die a very frustrated man because I didnt do this or accomplish that. [Forbes, 2014]
No regrets. None. Not even the beatings when I was a child. I used those to learn and grow and benefit. I saw how dysfunctional marriages work and was not going to have one. And I dont. Linda and I have probably had five or six arguments in our 38 years of marriage. [Esquire, 2005]
You make mistakes in life and you need to be man enough to apologize for your mistakes and recognize your mistakes first of all, which is sometimes difficult for us as human beings to do. Recognize when youve been a jackass, if you have been a jackass, and say, You know what, I realize it now, I was a jackass, but Im not going to be a jackass anymore. [Toronto Sun, 2002]
Some would say Im still a teenager as far as certain aspects of my brain. Its like I refuse to grow up. I dont want to grow up. Now Im old enough to say Im not going to grow up. So what are you going to do about that? [Orlando Sentinel, 2016]
Were all just little boys here. Its just a blast to go out and be a kid in a certain environment. [New York Magazine, 1998]
4 years is more than most women in WWE get and she had to overcome lot of backstage bs and misogynism to get there. Not to mention the Punk aftermath. That and the story of her childhood probably make for an interesting book I have no doubt.
Plus that she has no ties to WWE and no reason to pull punches so it should be quite candid.
sf2fanatic
Member
I smh'd after my wifes fav 5
Rome
Cena
Usos
Titus(Only Bright Spot)
She doesn't like the New Day.
Rome
Cena
Usos
Titus(Only Bright Spot)
She doesn't like the New Day.
UFC 199 press conference is live btw: https://youtu.be/y4W-TTZ7bHc
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Don't worry. He didn't write.
UFC fans........
Bluekaveli
Member
Dear warlord jesus, a gimmick battle royal.
The worst part is that these are the reporters hehe.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I enjoyed this. The pop for Doink was insane.
Lightning Count
Member
Long series of quotes but worth it.
Quality of the book is more important than quality of the career. Hogan is Hogan, and his book sucked.
Lightning Count
Member
I am a UFC fan.
Sweeney Tom
Banned
I'm so sorry
Do you have any tribal tats?
Affliction shirts?
And cauliflower ear?
If no then you are no real UFC fan.
Lightning Count
Member
No tattoos.
I did own one affliction shirt a few years ago.
Ears are normal.
Also fuck this measure of a fan bullshit, that's like the No True Scotsman fallacy.
Bluekaveli
Member
Dor hit detection system is very bady. It's up there with some of the first sd shit.
Lightning Count
Member
But the best thing about it is in triple threat matches or tag matches, you interrupt moves and it all comes crashing down.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Cena is a respectable pick.
All of the real wrestling fans here wear and bring WWE replica belts to WWE events.
They also know how to work a work.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I was a UFC fan for a few years after Brock introduced me to it. Then I lost interest. Last UFC event I watched was as you might suspect Brock's last fight. I will be watching one more time if and when Punk finally fights.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
I don't know anything about that ridiculous shit but if it's Scottish its crap, isn't that how the saying goes?
I agree though. Fuck that. MMA fans are good folks. UFC only fans, well, it's not unlike wrestling fans vs WWE stans.
FlammableD
Banned
how fucking dare you bawbag
Lightning Count
Member
On the replica belt point, I will admit I let my amazon checkout page linger on a replica belt for a few minutes just yesterday before commonsense overwhelmed me and I hit cancel.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Is that like boobs?
Lightning Count
Member
Bawbag is your scrotum.
Lightning Count
Member
Kimbo's a steroid user who was fed a bunch of jobbers and old over the hill fighters, fuck that guy.
I love the fact that Elite XC basically admitted to trying to fix his fight after he got KO'ed in 14 seconds by a guy brought into lose to him at the last minute.
I love the fact that Elite XC basically admitted to trying to fix his fight after he got KO'ed in 14 seconds by a guy brought into lose to him at the last minute.
Bluekaveli
Member
But the worst are tag matches, they never end because everything crashes down.
You must have missed Kimbo verse Dada 5000
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Same thing, then
He's as shoot as HHH is.
Kimbo vs Dada is like watching HHH vs Kevin Nash fight.
That's pretty much boxing today.