JBL recalls Vince losing it at Cole on the headset

[héad.casé]

“We were sitting in the back one time with Vince and Jimmy Snuka’s son Deuce, and Vince said, ‘Be sure when he tags in, that you say ‘that’s Jimmy Snuka’s son.’ Now later in the match we tried to say that but then Vince goes on to say, ‘Last thing you wanna say is he’s Jimmy Snuka’s son because he can’t live up to the fact that Jimmy Snuka was his dad’.

“But Michael Cole took copious notes. So he’s writing down, ‘Jimmy Snuka’s son.’ I don’t even notice it. Soon as the kid tags in, Michael Cole says, ‘In comes Jimmy Snuka’s son.’ Vince had just told him don’t say ‘Jimmy Snuka’s son.’ Well, when he says that, they’ve got the little God camera that can look at us. I start laughing because I realize Cole doesn’t know not to say that, Vince sees me laughing and thinks Cole is making fun of him in front of the whole entire company.

“Vince’s response was, ‘Michael, I’m gonna come down there and I’m gonna fire you. No, I’m gonna come down there and I’m gonna kick your ass. No I’m not, no I’m not,’ and he’s debating with himself at this point. This is during a live show and he goes, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I’m gonna kick your ass, then I’m gonna fire you! That’s what I’m gonna do! I’m coming down right now,’ and Michael’s just looking at the camera and I’m dying laughing and there’s no commentary.

“Then by the time the commercial comes around, there was no commentary in the match, Vince realizes what happened, that Michael did it by mistake. He goes, ‘Haha, I lost it a little bit there, didn’t I? Ha, yeah.’”

www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/12/jbl-recalls-vince-mcmahon-once-telling-michael-cole-he-was-going-to-fire-him-and-kick-his-a/

[Rudy Gobert Fadeaway]

Idk I think the actual ending of this is Michael Cole ripping his suit off, abs glistening, all like WELL KICK MY f***ING ASS THEN VINCE LINE UP YOUR BOOT WITH MY ASS AND KICK IT boiling red with rage

[pinja]

So in Vince's mind it's worse to get your ass kicked by him than to be fired.

[Bad Moon]

I'm sure in JBL's mind this is a funny anecdote about the fun times they had doing commentary together while to a sane person this reads like just another example of Vince abusing and threatening his employees for no reason.

Edit: I've read the rest of the article and holy shit even JBL acknowledges that Vince is an abusive asshole. This is how bad it's gotten with WWE, soap ass Bradshaw himself taking the moral high ground.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

I would love it if one day, an entire commentary team said 'No, enough of this' and got up and left mid broadcast due to the abuse they're subjected to via the headset.

Stories like this aren't funny, they're a window into Vince's unprofessionalism and the WWE's abusive workplace.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Dec 21, 2021 9:26:18 GMT -5 The Dark Order Inferno said:

I would love it if one day, an entire commentary team said 'No, enough of this' and got up and left mid broadcast due to the abuse they're subjected to via the headset.

Stories like this aren't funny, they're a window into Vince's unprofessionalism and the WWE's abusive workplace.

I’ll admit I laughed at the story, but I’m laughing AT Vince, not with him or the company. It’s about how cartoony and childish he comes off there. I don’t think anyone is implying that’s okay or that those practices shouldn’t stop, it’s just a ridiculous situation.

Also I’m just amazed at Cole’s patience there. If it was me I’d probably have snapped at Vince and just made the situation a lot worse.

[Hypnosis]

[warden]

Legendary Vince, hilarious stuff

[Magnus the Magnificent]

"Make sure to mention he's Suprfly's son, because we want to push the legacy, just don't mention he's Superfly's son, because he can't possibly live up to the legacy."

Bruh, whut?

[Allie Kitsune]

It will always mystify me how Vince's insanity didn't stop him from making buttloads of money...

[Deleted]

I hope he tried to cheer Cole up by taking him to a ball game.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Bryan Alvarez had a line a bit ago that absolutely nobody can do Michael Cole's job as well as Michael Cole can, and that with the Vince factor and all of the nonsense that's required of WWE commentators, it's probably harder to do bad Michael Cole commentary than it is to do good traditional wrestling commentary.

I friggin' believe it.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

And this story is going to be, what, 2005? Maybe a few years later? Fifteen years later, how much do yo uwant to bet Vince has become more erratic and more volatile in this role? It doesn't seem like he would have lightened up. WWE sounds like an insane place to work. We've heard the big dramatic stories like Titus's almost-firing/suspension. Dramatic situaitons with what is I guess in some eyes some kind of thing going on someone might have a strong reaction to. But this stuff? If this just up and happens sometimes because Vince is changing his mind live on air about mentioning who someone's dad is, this seems like it's a nightmare environment to exist it.

[Deleted]

What an asshole.

like, this isn't a fun story. This is a boss in a position of power threatening that he's going to beat up an employee. I'm not even going to pretend it doesn't sound all internet tough guy, if my boss ever spoke to me like this I'd be accepting the fight and saying goodbye to the job. Vince isn't a funny old man. He's a raging asshole. How can people support this guy? ugh.

[Mozenrath]

Dec 21, 2021 17:11:15 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

Bryan Alvarez had a line a bit ago that absolutely nobody can do Michael Cole's job as well as Michael Cole can, and that with the Vince factor and all of the nonsense that's required of WWE commentators, it's probably harder to do bad Michael Cole commentary than it is to do good traditional wrestling commentary.

I friggin' believe it.

Right, Cole's job is basically trying to turn Vince's bizarre whims into a coherent narrative, and he gets about as close as anyone can to doing that. It just sucks that peeing into a water filter is still going to get you some funny-tasting water.

[HMARK Center]

Dec 21, 2021 16:54:00 GMT -5 Magnus the Magnificent said:

"Make sure to mention he's Suprfly's son, because we want to push the legacy, just don't mention he's Superfly's son, because he can't possibly live up to the legacy."

Bruh, whut?

That's exactly it; I'd almost be able to understand Vince losing his shit at what struck him as a willful error, live performance creates a lot of tension and emotions run high in such a setting, but A - he literally says he's going to "kick his ass" over it, which is ridiculous, and more importantly B, as you say - Vince changed his mind with no warning whatsoever and Cole was just supposed to be able to keep track of his boss's random whims. That's @#$%ing nuts.

[Natural Born Farmer]

I like to imagine that Vince just starts doing the "HE'S GONNA PUKE! HE'S GONNA PUKE!" into the microphone sometimes to see what the announcers do.