6-Time Mr. Olympia, Who Was Once Attacked by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Revealed Why He Turned Down 6-Figure Offer From WWE’s Vince McMahon
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Vince McMahon has always been a clever business executive. In 1990, he created the World Bodybuilding Federation, which has a similar format to WWE. Only in WBF, instead of wrestlers, the bodybuilders used to compete in a kayfabe storyline. But, one legendary bodybuilder refused the offer of 170 grand a year, from Mr. McMahon.
That individual was none other than Dorian Yates, the bodybuilding icon of the 90s. He won the Mr. Olympia Title for six consecutive years. Moreover, even the legend of the bodybuilding world, Arnold Schwarzenegger, targeted Yates for his physique.
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Former rival of Schwarzenegger and training partner Yates, Mike Mentzer, told him, “Arnold Schwarzenegger is very aware of you and he’s going to be really bothered because you’re better than him.” At first, Yates didn’t believe Mentzer, but soon he realized that The Governator cares a lot and was threatened by him.
Furthermore, the six-time Mr. Olympia talked about refusing the offer of Vince McMahon once. “Vince McMahon from WWE started a bodybuilding federation and Tom Platt was the guy putting this thing together and they contacted me. They flew out there to Connecticut where their headquarter is and give me a whole tour around and had a meeting with Vince McMahon’s wife and they offered me 170 grand a year,” said Yates while talking to Valuetainment.
But after having a discussion with his wife about it, Yates refused the deal. And his refusal of the whooping amount turned out to be a blessing for him.
Why did Dorian Yates refuse the deal with Vince McMahon?
Dorian Yates explained how his wife saved him from taking the deal at WBF. “So I got home to my wife and I said, look, they offered me this. If we take this, we can get a house. We can do this, we can do that. And much to her credit, she said I’m out of this. This is entirely your decision to make, so you need to make the decision.” Even though Yates wasn’t making that much money, he had faith in himself, “I really believe in myself and the Olympia.”
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The reason given by Yates was that he didn’t want to be involved in entertainment sports. “I got a feeling I got a bad feeling about this Wrestling Federation. […] I had my doubts and then you know Mr. Olympia is everybody builders dream so I’d have to give up on that dream to go with the Wrestling Federation so I made a tough decision and I said I’m gonna turn down this money because I got faith in myself.”
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The gut feeling of Dorian Yates really helped him as the WBF tanked in the market only after 2 years of its opening. Yates went to become the bodybuilding icon of the 90s. Sometimes it’s right to follow instinct rather than being rational.
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Edited by:
Sreeda U M