Former WCW President Eric Bischoff spoke to AlternativeNation.net this week about a number of topics, including David Arquette’s WCW Title win, how Vince Russo analyzes ratings, Triple H’s leadership in WWE, Randy Savage’s fallout with WWE, Global Force Wrestling and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

Randy Savage’s Fallout With Vince McMahon:

“I think the general attitudes, and feelings – I don’t want to suggest I know Vince McMahon, because I don’t. I’ve met him, I’ve worked with him, I’ve had some good conversations with him. I have what I think is a pretty good perspective and read on him, but by no means do I really know him or understand him completely, but I think at his core, Vince is a very loyal person. He understands the nature of the business, and the mentality in it. There have been so many times where people who have left, or left under good circumstances, or in many cases have done things that were pretty shitty to him, he’s brought them back, and given them a soft place to land. But, you don’t know that, until you land there (laughs), you don’t know until you come back. For the most part, I think the feeling was that once you leave Vince, and go to the competitor, that you had burned a bridge. I think in retrospect that’s not true, clearly, but at the time I think Randy’s perception was that it was over, it was done, and Vince would never bring him back.”

Similarities between Vince & Stephanie McMahon:

“Vince was very, and probably still is, demanding of Stephanie. I think there’s one thing that I saw in Stephanie that made me think that she probably at some point could be Mini Me (laughs), so to speak, and I don’t mean that derisively, but she has a lot of Vince’s same personality traits and characteristics. She’s super-intense, she has an incredible work ethic, she is very strong willed, and she knows what she wants, and what she likes. I saw that when I watched her produce segments, I saw that when I watched her produce my segments. I watched that when I had her rehearse me over and over and over again, until she heard an inflection exactly the way she wanted to hear that inflection. That part of her personality is very similar to Vince’s, it was very very particular, so I saw indications of that early on, but I didn’t have an occasion to see that same thing out of Triple H, because he was probably 75 percent talent, and 25 percent in the circle so to speak.”

Comparing Hulk Hogan’s nWo Heel Turn To A Potential John Cena Heel Turn:

“You’ve got to put everything in the proper context. There were no NWO shirts for sale before I turned Hulk Hogan heel. One disadvantage I had when I launched Nitro, compared to WWE, is that they had very sophisticated licensing and merchandise, WCW didn’t have any. This is one of the reasons I had to guarantee contracts, because if I didn’t guarantee how much money somebody was going to make, there was no chance in hell they were going to make enough to live off of if it was in part based on licensing and merchandising that didn’t exist. It is what it is, and was what it was, based on what I inherited, when I inherited it. But it was also an advantage, because I didn’t have to risk the same type of financial impact that for example WWE might be analyzing, ‘Okay, what happens if John Cena merchandise goes away?’ I didn’t have that challenge, because I wasn’t making any anyways. I had nowhere to go but up.”

The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with Drew Galloway (aka Drew McIntyre):

Was there a fear of leaving WWE and going on the indy scene? I guess you have that on the back of your mind. After I got the call, I sat down and said I am 29, I been in the WWE for seven years and I been wrestling since I was 15. I am going to go out and make stuff happen. I didn’t want to be like everyone else when they get finish from WWE and be like ‘Oh I am young I’ll be hired again and they just fly under the radar’. I don’t want to do that. I want to go out and make as many bombs go off as I can. We are living in the social media age and it is a great time to be a professional wrestler because people can follow you and people are following what I am doing.

Does it feel like wrestling is becoming almost like a curse word to a company like WWE? I wouldn’t put it that way. WWE is like a different animal these days. It’s a multi-million almost billion dollar juggernaut. It has a particular style. It won’t have that typical long match. It has certain things to stick to and products to sell. That is why WWE is now sports entertainment. Like independent wrestling they don’t try to be like WWE because nobody can compete with it. It’s a big difference. WWE labels themselves as ‘Sports Entertainment’. When I was in WWE I was a Sports Entertainer but I am not anymore I am a Professional Wrestler.

So there really is that division with what you’re doing now in pro wrestling and what you did at WWE with sports entertainment? Yeah, absolutely, I didn’t think much of it. It is a completely different animal now. They have phone calls to answer to, sponsors to answer too. It became a completely different thing and that is why it became Sports Entertainment because it’s not pro wrestling as we know it. What I am doing now is pro wrestling and that is what I want to do as long I am young enough to do it. I’ve been in America since I am 21, I just want to wrestle for a few more years and maybe start doing the 3MB thing when I get older. (Laughs) I just want to get the wrestling out of my system.

I don’t understand how a guy goes from the Chosen One to 3MB to gone? I don’t know. That’s wrestling I guess. I wish we stuck with the story line a little longer because we were on the right track with it. I remember the pinnacle of it with myself, Kofi Kingston, and Teddy Long at ringside. I remember how into it the crowd was getting and it was a lot to take in. It was such a big show and we were strictly on Smackdown. It was a process getting the character across and then suddenly we started pulling back. Then we had something with Edge & Kelly Kelly then we pulled back. Suddenly I wasn’t doing anything and it was disappointing. I wasn’t the only guy that happened too. I wasn’t doing anything when they came up with the 3MB thing. The writers had to take me to the stands to tell me. I don’t know what they expected me to do like I was going to flip out and attack everybody. I wanted to take an opportunity and run with it, but the first week in I had a broken wrist and had to get surgery. Vince was so invested into 3MB. The first week the main wrestler of the group had a broken wrist so it kind of killed it.

Was there somebody on that roster that you wished you had a program with and could have made a lot of money with? Yeah, I said a million times, it is always Sheamus. He and I came up together from the independent scene. We had such a big feud in Europe we have boat loads of footage working together. We came up together, we went through development together. We won the developmental titles together. When I won the Intercontinental Title and he won the World Heavyweight Title on the same night. It is kind of like the big brother thing of one ups man ship. It is such an easy big brother, little brother storyline that can make money because it is real. People like real.

What was it like working for a guy like Vince McMahon? Lifelong dream and it was all I wanted to do. He created modern day wrestling into Sports Entertainment. That’s his baby, he created an image and he made himself so much money with so many hours of TV a week. That is why I didn’t go crazy about wins and losses and I see why they make they focus on the main story lines, because that is where the money comes. I see everyone else going crazy over wins and losses. Just take a step back and relax and wait your turn. That’s what I did with 3MB we went out there and did our best.

Check out the complete interview at BustedOpenNation.com.

– Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are featured on the latest edition of WWE’s “30 Second Fury,” which you can see below.

– WWE will debut the first ever edition of SmackDown on the WWE Network next week as part of their “SmackDown Week” special, which promotes the 15th anniversary of the show. The first SmackDown episode will air after Tuesday’s edition of Main Event, and immediately afterwards, a 30-minute special on the April 9, 2003 edition of SmackDown will air. The official description for that special reads as follows:

“Rowdy Roddy Piper brings back ‘Piper’s Pit’ after 14 long years with Mr. McMahon as the featured guest.”

Vince McMahon tweeted the following about Monday’s RAW guest hosts, Kathie Lee and Hoda:

The day of October 6th will be a day the @TODAYshow hosts never forget. #RAW pic.twitter.com/Dy7KWrh1QD

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) October 3, 2014

He also tweeted this one, which includes a photo of her and “Mr. Baseball” Bob Uecker backstage at the WWE television tapings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

To know him is to laugh and to love him. #MrBaseball pic.twitter.com/zu7w72ftkj

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) October 2, 2014

Linda McMahon spoke at the Real Simple/TMIE Women and Success Panel in New York City on Wednesday. Below are some highlights of what Linda had to say.

On building WWE with her husband Vince McMahon: “I’ve been often asked, did you never dream you would be where you are today? And I say no, because you were too busy building, doing, step by step… As the company grew, and all of those different departments began to mesh, we kept looking at great success in the things we were doing, I would step back and say ‘where are you now compared to where you were before you did this thing?”

On how she measures success: “My measure of success is how many jobs and lives we have affected internally, within the company… and having an opportunity to mentor some of the young people who have come along. The first success was about building the company. And then once you’ve built the company, how do you continue to do that? So to have success today is to look around and see that we’re continuing to put smiles on people’s faces.”

For more, visit TIME.com.

Regarding reports that Vince McMahon doesn’t want a cast member of WWE Total Divas to become WWE Divas Champion, it’s said that it was merely behind-the-scenes chatter until Total Divas cast member Cameron spoke out about it.

Cameron said the following regarding the alleged “rule” during her recent appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast:

“The whole thing we have been fighting is being on the show (means) not being able to have a chance at the title.”

As far as the rule itself is concerned, most believe that WWE officials do not want the Divas title to be confused due to the several month delay in Total Divas being taped and actually airing on television.

Recently released WWE writer Kevin Marshall called into Wrestling Observer Live earlier this week and gave some fascinating insight regarding the creative process involved in producing WWE television. In light of ongoing reports that WWE (specifically, Vince McMahon) is constantly rewriting scrips for RAW, even while the show is the air, Marshall vented about Vince McMahon “micromanaging everything to death” –

“Basically everything is micromanaged to death and I know there is a lot of talk of ‘they’ over there when we talk about the writing process for the show. It is no secret that the buck stops with Vince, but when I was there, and I guess that this started sometime before even I started there back last October, he was micromanaging everything to death. Basically you’re sitting there trying to write for him and you’re trying to figure out what he wants. The job became very quickly trying to figure out what Vince is thinking and then having him tell you he’s changed his mind. So when we talk about the show being rewritten as it’s happening, what I need people to know is that that show was likely written well in advance and there was an attempt at it, but either nothing was approved or everything got scrapped and rewritten by the man himself.”

Marshall said that the creative team works under a constant aura of uncertainty, knowing that they are writing specifically to please Vince McMahon, not necessarily what they think is the most compelling material. He described Vince McMahon’s reaction to finalized scripts “a crapshoot.” Sometimes, production meetings go smoothly and are done in under an hour. Often, extensive rewrites are made.

Another big issue is that the creative team has become fragmented into two main groups. One group of writers works full time at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, while another team is constantly on the road with WWE and assists with the production of the shows and the ongoing revisions. Marshall believes the creative division needs to be overhauled and streamlined.

When asked about the biggest misconceptions that fans have of the creative team, Marshall explained that the writers don’t pick and choose who should be pushed and who shouldn’t – and said fans need to realize how difficult it is to create at least 7+ hours of fresh programming each week.

“Well, I think the biggest misconception is that we sit around and we decide who gets pushed and who doesn’t, that we sit there and lay out what the tent poles are going to be for the year, like ‘hey, John Cena should win the title, blah blah blah’. We don’t make those decisions, we don’t make those calls on finishes, we don’t sit there and hold talent back.

I think that’s the biggest misconception is the idea that we just sit around and we bury talent and we try to come up with ideas to make everybody look stupid. That’s certainly not the case! Just speaking from a writer’s perspective, I never met anybody who was in the business of trying to make somebody else look bad. I think it’s very easy when you watch our product, and I think just when you watch professional wrestling in general, to get the impression that wow, they’re really going out of their way to make this guy look stupid.

It’s really just a combination of things: 1) There’s a lot of politics that goes on behind the scenes that the creative team is not in control of; [and] 2) There are certain guys that probably are their own worst enemy, as we all are, myself included.

It’s a lot, lot harder than it looks, especially when you have a limited roster, which when you thumb through it on WWE.com that roster looks huge, [but] when you lay it down on a piece of paper and you have to fill like sixteen segments for Monday and then twelve for Tuesday, which is Smackdown, and then you have Main Event and Superstars and everything, it’s really, really hard.”

The word making the rounds these days regarding Total Divas is that Vince McMahon reportedly does not want anyone on the cast of that reality show to hold the WWE Divas Championship. People who know Vince, however, claim that this is one of those Vince “rules” that could change at any minute.

Speaking of Total Divas, it is said that there is a lot of booking frustrations regarding the reality show recently. McMahon reportedly goes through “phases” where he wants the storylines on Total Divas to synch up with the storylines on RAW, however the reality show is taped so far in advance that it has become problematic in that there are communication issues as to what content airs when and people have trouble all being on the same page.

As noted earlier this week, as a result of Roman Reigns needing unexpected emergency surgery for an incarcerated hernia on Saturday, the script for Monday’s RAW ended up being heavily changed very late in the normal process.

Apparently, Vince McMahon decided to re-write the entire show at approximately 6:30pm on Monday evening. When RAW began on Monday night, the WWE creative team was reportedly still in the middle of writing the show and finishing up the script, despite the fact that the live broadcast had already started.

Vince Russo sent along the following …

Last night, Vince Russo officially kicked off the #DearVince campaign on his Pyro and Balyhoo website and he is giving YOU a platform to make your voice heard by Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and the entire WWE Universe.

Wrestling fans have become increasingly jaded and bored with the current WWE product and the lack of intriguing, addictive stories that keep them on the edge of their seats. Everyone has complained and vented,but nobody has figured out how to tell Vince McMahon directly. Until now.

Has watching three hours of Raw become a chore for you? Are you bored with the storylines? Are you disappointed with the stop-start pushes and feuds? Are you overall just sick and tired of having your intelligence insulted?

The #DearVince campaign encourages ALL wrestling fans to take to social media – tweet your frustrations on Twitter, post your ideas on Facebook, even upload a video to Youtube or Instagram with the hashtag #DearVince and get involved!

They can’t ignore us all, and the more voices who join…the louder we get. You can learn more about the movement at www.DearVinceProject.com.

In addition to the launch of the campaign, Vince Russo will also be “booking” his own version of each upcoming Raw,  allowing the fans to see “what could be”, compared to “what is”. You can decide for yourself which show is best!

As Russo himself says, “#DearVince, it’s time for our voices to be heard, and you WILL hear us!!”

• RONDA ROUSEY Talks About Fighting TRANSGENDER Fghter Fallon Fox [AWESOME Video >>]

The reason that WWE ran with the Mark Henry and Rusev segment in the main event slot of Monday’s RAW, despite being the “go-home” show for Sunday’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view, was to save the John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment for earlier in the show.

Apparently it was Vince McMahon’s call to do so, as the feeling was WWE needed to put their best foot forward to counter NFL’s Monday Night Football game. This was also the reason that Cena and the RAW announcers kept referring to the fight taking place at “halftime.”

– While Baron Corbin has appeared on NXT in the past, WWE officials reportedly considered his match at the NXT Takeover 2 special on Thursday to be his “debut,” as they are planning on pushing him as a featured talent from now on.

– Speaking of NXT, Vince McMahon tweeted the following after NXT Takeover 2 earlier this week:

The future of WWE looks bright. #NXTTakeOver

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) September 12, 2014

For the past few weeks, Vince McMahon has reportedly been all over the WWE creative team to book John Cena stronger to prove to his fans that he’s “still in the fight” after being dominated in what amounted to a squash match at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam.

When Cena returned to RAW the following week and dominated The Wyatt Family, we noted that it was Vince who was responsible for the way Cena was booked that night. Apparently many backstage felt that this was the wrong thing to do, especially against Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family, however Vince reportedly insisted that it be booked that way and was unwilling to change his mind.

Following Monday’s “season premiere” of RAW, WWE is claiming that legendary talk show host Jerry Springer was injured during his segment with The Bella Twins.

According to WWE, Springer suffered bruised ribs and a twisted ankle. He was stretchered out of the ring after his appearance and seemed a bit embarrassed.

After the show, the official WWE website caught up with Springer for his “Final Thought,” a segment that he has done on his own talk show for years. You can check that video out at WWE.com.

Speaking of Springer, below is a photo of he and Vince McMahon backstage at last night’s show.

#SneakPeek @VinceMcMahon and @SpringerTV Thank you for having fun with us on #RAW! pic.twitter.com/bMGDD7H7RT

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) September 9, 2014

Former WWE and TNA writer Vince Russo wrote the following open letter to Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H after watching this past Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW. The letter comes courtesy of Russo’s official website, PyroAndBallyhoo.com.

Dear Vince, Stephanie and Hunter,

First let me apologize for my rant last night on Russo on Raw. I’m Italian, I’m emotional, I’m sorry I get that way sometimes. Come to think of it, you probably witnessed it first hand in a galaxy far, far away—many light years ago. The truth is—I hate to criticize RAW. I really do. Having been there and done that, I realize how difficult it is to come up with two hours of compelling content every week – let alone three. The job is not easy, I understand that, and nobody can be criticized for TRYING and giving their BEST EFFORT—nobody. But . . . the question I have to ask is: “Is what we see every Monday Night honestly and truly your best effort? I just know that having worked with all three of you in the past, I don’t think any of us would have been satisfied, or even ALLOWED last night’s show to air in its final form. Are we seriously not better than that? What happened to our mantra during the Attitude Era when this week’s show was going to be better than last weeks? Remember that, Vince?

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know the structure, because I am not there, but nobody—NOBODY—can tell me that with a bit more effort you couldn’t be doing better than what WE THE PEOPLE are being exposed to every Monday Night. Look—we all love wrestling, we are all HUGE fans of the WWE and in all truthfulness—WE WANT TO LIKE THE SHOW!!! But, you just make it so difficult. Asking anybody to sit through three hours of what you’re currently putting on the air is not only asking too much . . .but, it’s also unfair.

Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do, or how to do it, who am I? All I’m asking is that you all ask each other—is this the best that World Wrestling Entertainment has to offer its fans? If the answer is yes, that I guess I’ve just over-rated you, however, I think we all know that’s not the answer. I don’t think any of you can walk away from that building on Monday night honestly believing that you had just put your best foot forward. I don’t believe that for a second.

Right now, you have an UNBELIEVABLE talent roster, up and down from first match to main event, but the writing and producing of the show is just not serving them justice. You have to know that. What happened to the work ethic and the commitment that we all shared during the Attitude Era? What happened to that passion, when we literally used to leave our own BLOOD, SWEAT and TEARS on the script that we wrote. If something didn’t exceed our expectations we were sick over it for days—I know I was.

Vince, Stephanie, Triple H, YES we will always be here no matter what. We support you, and we support the WWE, but the truth is . . . we deserve better. And, deep down inside I know that you know that.

With 1,000% sincerity.

Peace,

Your Former Head Writer

Vince Russo

The following are highlights of a new Kayfabe Commentaries shoot interview with former WWE Superstar Brodus Clay:

On whether or not Vince McMahon is as crazy as everyone says he is: “My relationship with him was always as the boss. I wouldn’t say we had a personal relationship. He was the boss, he was like a teacher. When I spoke to him it was always something of consequence that had to do with my career or direction he wanted me to be in. Other than “hey, how you doing boss?” or things like that, I always kept it like that. I’ve always been that kind of person.”

On a story about Vince dancing with him: “A great story about him would be when I was learning to do The Funkasaurus character, at one point he came out and he was dancing with me, which took a lot of the edge off because I thought I was a bad dancer and then he came out. No matter what he does, it’s that muscle walk, it doesn’t matter how you do it, he just kind of does it.”

You can order the interview online for $15.99 at KayfabeCommentaries.com.

The following are highlights of a new STV Scotland interview with Drew McIntyre:

On being Vince McMahon’s “Chosen One” in WWE: “That has never happened before and will never happen again, Vince endorsing someone like that. I could never be unhappy in the WWE. No matter what they give you. As a kid, I’d have been happy to be Dumpster Droese. But I have big goals. After Vince said what he did, I was always planning on being the best in the world. I’m not happy if I’m not being creatively fulfilled and contributing what I know I could.”

On leaving WWE and his character now: “It was a good time to separate – I can try out new avenues like TV and film, someone said I should try out for Game of Thrones because I look like those guys. My character at the moment is me. It’s like the Chosen One, but that’s still a bit too much like the Scottish Terminator for me. If it works or not, it will be on my own merit.”

On pro wrestling’s naysayers: “There are always going to be people who give it a bad rap. I’d challenge anyone in entertainment to be given their lines at the last second, do their own stunts and only have one take to get it right.”

Check out the complete interview at Aberdeen.stv.tv.

The following are highlights of a new Miami Herald interview with Hulk Hogan:

Hulk Hogan on his recent birthday segment on RAW: “I got rattled when they played the package because I didn’t know what they were going to do. Vince [McMahon] likes to do the sneaky stuff without telling me. I was rattled when I saw the package and really fell apart reflecting on that time. Everybody from Flair to Piper to Orndorff was supposed to come out and say stuff. Nobody got to say anything. When Hall and Nash got to the ring WWE was saying no promos. No promos? I thought you had to have Hall’s ‘Hey Yo.’ Then there had to be the transition to sing the birthday song to lead to [Brock] Lesnar coming out. The whole thing wasn’t going down the way we thought it was, but we had some old pros in there to pull it off. It was very emotional.”

Hogan on Vince McMahon making an appearance after RAW went off the air: “I didn’t expect that. Nobody told me that was going to happen. I thought Vince was for sure going to throw the cake at me, and I was going to dive into the cake, but he was cool. He gave me a big hug. It was just a great night. It really was.”

Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.

The following are highlights of a recent online Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:

On how he would run TNA: “No reason to comment on TNA as I’ve made myself clear that I have no desire to return pro wrestling full time much less take over rebuilding a company.”

On the Vince McMahon is dead/limo storyline: “Wasn’t a fan of the storyline with or without the tragic Benoit component. The storyline was totally unbelieveale.”

On how to make RAW and SmackDown feel more different: “There are many obvious albeit subtle things WWE could do to economically change the look of Smackdown vs. RAW. The shows sounding different is a major, positive change. Using different colors on ring posts, mat cover, etc all would help. EZ fixes all.”

Check out more of JR’s online Q&A at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

The following are highlights of a new Alternative Nation interview with Hornswoggle:

On a backstage conversation he had with The Rock: “I told him, ‘I met you backstage the night you came back in [Anaheim], when you were revealed as the guest host for WrestleMania, and you thought I was a Make a Wish kid. You tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Did you have a good time tonight buddy?’ Then you walked off and you realized it, then you said to Big Show, ‘Hornswoggle thinks I thought he was a Make a Wish kid, and I did think he was.’”

On the Vince McMahon son angle: “I did that for about three months, where I was his son, maybe longer, and there were days in the beginning where I would go, ‘Oh my god, I’m working with the most powerful man in wrestling.’ Then I realized that he’s joking around, he’s playing ribs on guys more than I am. You just realize that he is this billionaire, but still just loves this business. When it comes to wrestling, I use that word instead of sports entertainment, I use wrestling all the time, because I am a wrestling fan. CM Punk once said this is still wrestling to us, this isn’t sports entertainment to us, because we grew up on wrestling.”

On Finlay: “My old buddy, my ‘Dad’ Dave Finlay. He’s still working backstage as an agent and producer, and he has helped me more than anybody else in this company. He has gone to bat for me more times that he probably wanted to, and that’s because he literally cares about me as a son.”

Check out the complete interview at AlternativeNation.net.

The following are highlights of the latest Vince Russo “The Swerve” podcast, which features an interview with Matt Morgan:

Failing to get picked up by The Monster Factory despite his size: “In the past, the only wrestling school I’d ever heard of was ‘The Monster Factory’. I was still in college at the time in Hawaii, and I tried to call them up to try to get trained when I’d be back in Connecticut after graduating. Larry Sharp kept hanging up on me! Every time he’d ask me my name, my height and my weight, and every time I’d tell him, “Look, seven feet tall, 382lbs…” and he kept hanging up. He was like “Kid, if I had a dime for every time someone told me they were seven feet, I’d be a millionaire” and he hung up. So obviously that wasn’t the route to go.”

How he got himself in front of Vince McMahon: “At night I was working as a bouncer and wound up meeting this guy named Marco Torelli, who worked for the WWE Magazine, and became my friend. Every time he’d come in, he’d tell me, “Dude you gotta come by Titan Tower! You’re working down the street, you’d be a fool not to let Vince see you”. He knew I was a big wrestling fan, obviously, but just like any other guy out there, I was like “How do you begin? How do you start?” So every Friday night, he’d bring me in, which is when Vince would work out at the gym there at Titan Tower. So I’d go there every Friday from 8-10 hoping to bump into him, and after six months of going every week, I finally bumped into Vince in the seventh month.”

McMahon’s advice: “He asked me how big I was, and my name. And I told him I was a huge fan of what the guys do, and I asked “Could you give me some guidance on what do I do to become a professional wrestler?” He gave me Jim Ross’s card, and he gave me Tom Prichard’s card. So I started annoying Tom from that moment on.”

How the infamous stuttering gimmick was presented to him: “Me and Jillian Hall both got called up from OVW to go to a show in Chicago. We’re in catering, and John Laurinaitis taps me on the shoulder and says, “I want you to go and speak to Vince, he really wants to speak with you in his office”, and was like “Great”. When I get there, Laurinaitis is outside and he goes, “Now Matt, this is an opportunity. Vince doesn’t come up with ideas very often for individuals…this is a one-on-one opportunity that he’s about to present to you, so you might wanna be a team player here”. So I go in there, wondering what he’s got for me, and I sit down across from him, and Vince goes on about how he’s been waiting for a guy with the right look, the right height, and all these perfections, who he could then hang this one big imperfection that nobody sees coming. He tells me: “You’re gonna stutter. You’re gonna have this speech impediment and it’s going to be your Achilles Heel. Nobody’s going to make fun of you, but you’re going to think that the whole world is mocking you.” … and I would’ve taken anything he had given me, this was Vince McMahon talking to me.”

You can check out the complete podcast above, or at PyroAndBallyhoo.com.

There have been some rumors going around that claim Vince McMahon “isn’t on board” for a Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar main event at WrestleMania 31. As we noted in multiple reports over the past week or so, all indications point to the fact that Reigns will be the guy to finally end Lesnar’s streak of dominance at the Santa Clara-based event next year.

Apparently, some people are under the impression that Triple H is pushing for Reigns vs. Lesnar, while McMahon would rather secure The Rock for a big WrestleMania main event again and have Rock vs. Lesnar headline the show.

According to one source, whether or not that was the case at one point, McMahon and HHH are apparently both on the same page now, with Reigns vs. Lesnar being the current working plan for the main event of next year’s biggest event.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross tweeted the following about Vince McMahon earlier today:

I exchanged text messages with Vince McMahon Sunday on his 69th B-Day. He told me he did a 500 pound squat on birthday #69! #Amazing

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) August 25, 2014

– Speaking of “Good Ole’ JR,” his good friend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted on Twitter that he’s taping an interview with him for a future edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast.

I'm talking to good ole @JRsBBQ today for #steveaustinshow. Got a question? questions@steveaustinshow.com #sauceit

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) August 25, 2014

WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper held a one-man show in Ireland last month in front of 200 fans, leading the host of the show to comment about how Piper drew more fans than a TNA live event by himself.

During the show, Piper reportedly called Ric Flair an “asshole,” noting that while he loves Flair, he prefers not to be around him. Additionally, he joked about how Flair can’t keep his clothes on and “can’t keep his d-ck in his pants.”

Piper also spoke about a backstage heated argument he once had with Vince McMahon. Piper said that McMahon has held a grudge against him for an incident that took place several years ago. Piper claimed that McMahon insulted him once, leading to Piper telling McMahon that he failed at promoting concerts, bodybuilding and football, claiming that the only business McMahon has succeeded in is the one that “his daddy handed to him.”

Hulk Hogan posted the following tweets on his official Twitter account on Sunday, wishing Vince McMahon a happy birthday (and challenging him to a match) and commenting on his return at tonight’s RAW.

Headed to LA for WWE Monday Night Raw brother and Happy Birthday INVINCEABLE!!!!!!!! How about we go at it one more time brother. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) August 24, 2014

You can't bring legends together w/o me brother. I got some stuff to say about MY champ @JohnCena, see you Hulkamaniacs at #Raw on Monday HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) August 25, 2014