Todd Grisham Says Vince McMahon Screamed in His Ear for Quoting WWE Magazine

Todd Grisham has worked through a lot of pressure in his career, but nothing compares to the time Vince McMahon completely lost it on him live during a WWE broadcast — all because of poetry.

While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Grisham mention that he was doing his job as a commentator when he decided to add some flavor to John Morrison’s match, based on approved WWE content. WWE had recently rebranded its magazine into a more character-driven lifestyle format, and Grisham was encouraged by producers to pull information from it to help enhance storytelling.

So, when Morrison hit his Starship Pain finisher, Grisham dropped a harmless line referencing Morrison’s poetic side — something taken directly from a WWE Magazine article. The moment Vince heard it, all hell broke loose in Grisham’s earpiece.

“So he’s in the ring and I go, ‘John Morrison, Starship Pain — he’s a big fan of poetry and wrote a poem about the finisher, Starship Pain.’”

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That’s when Vince erupted in Grisham’s headset — during the live broadcast — with a tirade that stunned even the most seasoned WWE staff.

“Did you just say that our number one heel is an effing poet?! You stupid f**! What the f***! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! Don’t say anything else. Jim Ross!”*

Vince wasn’t done. He took Grisham off commentary for the rest of the match and handed the segment over to Jim Ross, making sure Todd understood just how wrong he thought the comment was.

“So literally the match starts and I don’t say a single word for like five minutes. Then the match ends and we’ve got to do the promo going to the next segment, and Vince goes, ‘Okay, you can talk now.’”

Despite Grisham following instructions to integrate magazine content, Vince wasn’t having any nuance that night — especially when it came to character presentation. Morrison may have been a heel, but to Vince, no villain should ever be caught writing verse.

This blow-up, according to Grisham, was far from an isolated incident. It became part of his weekly routine working under Vince — something he describes as “mental abuse” that came with a paycheck.

“I used to describe it to my wife like this: I go to WWE to get mentally abused for two hours a week and then I come home and I get paid well for it.”

Grisham lasted eight years in WWE by staying low-key and trying not to step on Vince’s many creative landmines. But this “poet” moment became one of the most surreal experiences in a career full of them — all because he followed the rules.

WWE fans still remember Grisham’s commentary era, but this behind-the-scenes moment proves just how chaotic it could be under the headset when Vince McMahon was in the chair.

What’s your take on Vince McMahon snapping over something as harmless as poetry?
Do you think announcers should have more freedom to build stories on commentary — or was Vince right to shut it down? Drop your thoughts below and let us know what you would’ve done in Todd’s position.

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