Booker T has seen Vince McMahon lose his temper backstage, but according to the WWE Hall of Famer, those blowups weren’t about Vince flexing his power or making things personal. Booker says when McMahon got angry, it was usually because something involving the show wasn’t executed the way he wanted.
The subject came up on Booker’s Hall of Fame podcast when a listener asked about the angriest he had ever seen Vince backstage. Booker admitted he witnessed McMahon get heated more than once, but he made it clear he wasn’t about to start naming the people involved. Pasted markdown Booker explained:
“I’ve seen him angry a couple of times, but not a whole lot. Yeah, I’ve never really seen him like — like super. I’ve seen — let me see what time.”
Brad Gilmore brought up the infamous moment involving Brock Lesnar throwing the WWE Championship at Vince backstage, but Booker still didn’t offer up a specific name from his own experiences. Instead, he confirmed that he had personally seen McMahon raise his voice.
“You know what? I’ve seen Vince, you know, get mad. I’m not going to sit here and throw anybody’s names out there or anything like that, but I’ve seen him get upset, you know, and get mad and, you know, raise his voice.”
Booker then compared that kind of reaction to moments he has had while running Reality of Wrestling. In his view, getting heated sometimes comes with being the person responsible for the entire show.
“But I’ve done that in Reality of Wrestling. I’ve done that here many of times. It’s just part of — it’s just part of being a boss.”
Gilmore then asked whether Vince’s anger came from ego or simply because someone had messed something up for the show. Booker immediately went with the latter.
“It was all about — it was something about the show. It was always something about the business. It was never personal or anything like that. It was something about something not being executed properly. And there again, it’s part of the business.”
Booker’s description lines up with other accounts of McMahon’s management style during his WWE run. Ringside News previously covered D-Von Dudley explaining what happened when Vince McMahon hated a match, with producers sometimes taking the heat when something went wrong. Ringside News has also covered Booker’s own thoughts on how WWE’s creative process has changed since the Vince McMahon era.
Booker isn’t pretending Vince never blew up backstage. He’s saying he saw it himself, but from his perspective, those moments were usually triggered by the product falling short rather than some personal grudge.
Do you think Booker T’s explanation changes the way you look at Vince McMahon’s infamous backstage temper? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
