Everyone makes mistakes, just don’t let Vince McMahon see them.
McMahon is known as a perfectionist and a control freak, becoming very angry when things deviate only slightly off script. Multiple superstars have recounted times when they have been forced to go and repeat spots, segments or even entire matches on taped shows as the Chairman felt that they were not fit for broadcast.
With WWE being more live than ever there are no second takes and a much smaller margin for error. If mistakes are to be made, every wrestler hopes that it doesn’t take place on the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania.
Former WWE star Maven was unfortunately the victim of a WrestleMania botch and felt the wrath of McMahon the second he got back through the curtain. In 2002, Maven would face off against Goldust in a match for the Hardcore Championship and recounted what went wrong on his YouTube channel.
Beginning by referencing his own wrestling ability, the winner of Tough Enough jokingly stated that his move set was extremely limited but he could perform one move very well and was told to do it in every match:
“I had one move and one move only. I admit it, I wasn’t the best technical wrestler, but man I could throw a dropkick. It quickly became apparent that it was going to be my move. Now, there are other guys that throw great dropkicks, Randy Orton, Bob Holly, but it was the one thing from day one, I still remember when we started doing dropkicks at Tough Enough. Al Snow looked at me and he said, that’s you, that’s your move. So it was the one move that I knew in every match I had to get it in because every wrestler knows you have to get your **** in.
Recalling the 2002 match, the former Hardcore Champion stated that although there was only a short amount of time bell to bell, there was one key spot they had to get in, a dropkick on a can’t-miss target:
So, going into WrestleMania 18, I was wrestling Goldust. I think Goldust and I had 6 to 8 minutes for the entire match. But that is with entrances, so not much time to actually wrestle. During the match, my big spot was getting my trash can in. Now, not only did they want me to hit a trash can, something that is twice the size of The Undertaker’s back, but they painted the damn thing gold for me too to make it an even bigger target.
Concluding the story, Maven revealed that he missed the trash can entirely and was told by Vince McMahon that he couldn’t even do his signature move correctly:
I remember Goldust picked the trash can up and I was supposed to drop kick and it was one of those thin aluminium trash cans. So the idea was that when I would kick it, it would completely cave in, look amazing and Goldust would take the bump. So I go to do the spot, jumped, and completely missed. Whiffed the entire trash can. The moment I got behind Gorilla, Vince is irate, he’s yelling at me and I’ll never forget it. He said ‘You have one move and you f*cked that one up.”
Vince McMahon Gives The Undertaker Instructions During Final Farewell
Not even veterans and guaranteed WWE Hall of Famers were safe from some sort of direction from the boss. As revealed by The Undertaker, Vince McMahon banned him from saying a certain phrase during his final address to the crowd at Survivor Series 2020.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Maven’s YouTube Channel and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.