One of WWE’s worst kept secrets is the fact that Vince McMahon enjoys control. It’s an incontrovertible truth that has been apparent for decades. His thirst for maintaining that control over the WWE Universe extends to the very language that is permitted by his roster and on-air talent.
Catching up with his friend “Diamond” Dallas Page on his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho shared a number of terms currently banned within WWE.
The conversation was sparked after Jericho accidentally referred to DDP’s fitness programme, DDPY, as “yoga.” This prompted Page to correct him. That then caused Jericho to remark that DDP sounded like Vince McMahon and his list of banned words.
Common terms, once accepted, are taboo as far as Vince is concerned.
Jericho explained further, using championships as an example: “‘Hey Vince, I don’t know if I should lose the belt. [Puts On Vince McMahon Impression] ‘The what?’ ‘Sorry, the title,’” Jericho joked.
Trying to justify Vince’s logic — the “Vince verbiage” — Jericho added, “You couldn’t say ‘belt’ because a belt is what you use to hold up your pants.”
As far as WWE’s fanbase goes, they aren’t ‘fans,’ per se. Instead, they must always be referred to (by all on-air talent) as the ‘WWE Universe.’
“You couldn’t say ‘fans’ because it’s the ‘WWE Universe’ — and never say ‘marks’ because [Puts On Vince McMahon Impression] ‘They’re not marks, they’re our fans!’”
What do you make of Vince’s banned words? Does it make for a unique product or is it totally unnecessary?
