Vince McMahon made WWE what it is today. It’s also known that the billionaire is a very powerful man. Running a giant wrestling company wasn’t easy, as Vince had to wrestle with problems outside the ring. Naturally, when you run a multi-billion-dollar company, you become no strangers to controversy. In 2001, during the late Attitude Era days, Vince McMahon nearly lashed out on HBO interrogator, Bob Costas.
During the interview, Costas seemingly got under Vince McMahon’s skin with hard-hitting questions. Then-WWE owner was visibly defensive and assertive during the entire course of the interview.
According to McMahon, Bob Costas was condescending to him and did not want to pay heed to Vince’s answers. An enraged Vince went as far as to say- “shut your mouth” to Bob Costas
Vince McMahon once almost beat up HBO interrogator Bob Costas during an interview
In the interview, Costas got a rise out of McMahon with his questions concerning WWE’s risqué content and McMahon’s new football venture, XFL. At the time, McMahon’s XFL was proving to be a white elephant, with continued low ratings in viewership.
Costas also brought up aspects of WWE that he didn’t like. In a new book, Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers by Jim Miller, McMahon looked back on the incident and stated that he would’ve beaten up Costas had he been any bigger.
“He kept interrupting me and bringing up topics that had nothing to do with what we were supposed to be talking about.
He kept trying to do the ‘I gotcha’ kind of thing. It was clear he didn’t want to hear any of my answers.
The other problem was that Bob is so freaking pompous. The entire time he acted like he was above me and was just using me to show how great he was.
If he was 6-5 and 295, he would deserve to get the s*** beat out of him. I could have given them some great television.”
McMahon attempted to start XFL again in 2020. This time, the show got a positive response but due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the league was abruptly stopped and purchased by Dwayne Johnson’s investment group for $15M.
Bob Costas responds to Vince McMahon’s hateful comments about the interview
Despite the heated argument that happened during the interview, Bob Costas remarked the interview was “good television”. During an interview with Brad Straubinger of ST Weekly, Costas recalled the heated incident between him and McMahon. According to Costas, McMahon’s premise was “idiotic”.
“Let’s test Vince’s premise. ‘I don’t like your line of questioning, but as long as it’s a fair fight, I should be allowed to kick the shit out of you.’ Brilliant. Do you really have to respond to something that stupid? On its face, it’s idiotic.”
Costas also recalled Vince McMahon calling him the next day for another interview, where he slammed doors on the set. According to him, McMahon was getting angrier with every question he asked because Bob was able to keep his composure despite Vince’s attempts to throw him off.
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