Former WWE Director Reveals How He Made Vince McMahon Cry

WWE’s Chairman Vince McMahon has been known to be a cold man in the WWE Television Product. However, the man is completely different from the screen. On the Wrestling Daft podcast, former WWE Creative Director of On-Air Promotions David Sahadi revealed about the time he managed to make Vince McMahon cry.

Sahadi talked about how he had so much creative latitude in the WWF that he didn’t have to run anything by Vince. It was the beginning of the ‘Attitude Era’ and he talks about how on the day of the shoot of the video, Vince got to know that Sahadi was not following his instructions. He was doing a spot with the old guys instead of the newer ones who were the focus of the company.

Sahadi revealed how he was then put under pressure by a call from Kevin Dunn. Dunn told him, “Vince knows you’re working with the older guys, he does not know what the spot is about, he thinks it’s wrong so it better be good, that’s all I’ve got to tell you, have a good shoot.’

How did Vince McMahon react to the promo?

Sahadi then discussed the first time Vince saw the video. Vince had his old walk as he went to the room and told Sahadi to play. Vince’s reaction according to Sahadi:

about 15 seconds in, he’s like, ‘Damn…’ He’s like, ‘Damn.’ Once again, he goes, ‘Damn!’ Before the spot ends, he walked out of the room and I turned to Shane, who was there along with Vince, and said, ‘Shane, what does that mean?’ Shane turned to me and smiled and said, ‘You got him, Sahadi. You got him.’ 

He then recalls that as he walked out of the studio Vince was sitting on the floor and crying. McMahon just kept thanking David. David then goes to Kevin to tell him that Vince liked the video. Kevin hears this and says ‘Good job’ and 15 minutes later he went back. Vince was still sitting on the stairs with Pat Patterson and his son. Vince’s still crying and saying, “Thank you'”.

This incident is a heartwarming story of an era that would change the wrestling business forever.