In the six years that he was a writer for World Wrestling Entertainment, Ring of Honor producer Dave Lagana worked directly with Vince McMahon and got a good sense of what makes the legendary wrestling promoter tick. Lagana has posted a blog titled, “Hey Pal: What Does Vince McMahon Want From Wrestling?” .. Here are some highlights of what Lagana said about:
Know Your Brand: “Coke is a brand. Tide is a brand. You are a brand. Vince would always make this one point very clear: “Perception is Reality.” Vince McMahon is a brand. From how he walks, to how he carries himself, to the speech patterns he uses. What he does, works for him. Don’t believe me? Check out his net worth. Vince would sit down with talents to talk with them, to get inside their heads and find out who they are. The best characters always come from inside the person playing them. Vince prided himself with finding a little nugget inside a talent and running with it. All the great characters are a piece of themselves, with the volume turned up.”
What’s Your Finish: “No matter if it was a storyline being pitched to Vince or details of a match, he’d always ask ‘What’s your finish?’ He wanted to see if you had thought about where you were going, the goal. While this sometimes could be perceived as a power game, it also made you prepare differently for the next time.”
No Sneezing: “If there is one thing Vince McMahon hates… it’s sickness. “There is no such thing as sick”, was the usual response when someone would try to use it as an excuse. Vince is a workaholic and if anything gets in the way of his work, it makes him angry. Paul Heyman would joke that Vince would get angry with his own sneezes. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t control it. ”
To read the full blog, visit Lagana’s site at IWantWrestling.com.
