Vince McMahon is one of the most unique individuals on the planet. As you can imagine, there are some great stories about WWE stars meeting him for the first time. Some of our favorite WWE stories which include names like John Cena, Daniel Bryan, The Big Show, Finn Balor and more! Enjoy!
Meeting Vince McMahon Stories
1) John Cena On Vince Being ‘Disgusted’ By Him When They First Met
John Cena made his WWE debut on the June 27th, 2002 episode of Smackdown. He would answer the open challenge of Kurt Angle and the rest is history.
In an interview with WWE.com, Cena revealed that he met Vince McMahon on the day of his debut. He recalls Vince hating his hair on their first meeting:
“I didn’t have time to be nervous. It was in Chicago, on the day I had my debut match against Kurt Angle. I wasn’t supposed to have a match that night, but in the final moments, it was decided that I would debut on television against an Olympic Gold Medalist. Higher-ups said, ‘If we’re going to put the kid on TV, he’s gotta meet Vince! They literally dragged me by the arm to Vince’s office, threw me in and asked him, ‘What do you think?’ I had ridiculously ugly, long, super-dyed blond hair that was shaved bald on the sides”
He continued:
“He turned around and with a disgusted look on his face, he said, ‘Cut his hair,’ and I was whisked away from Vince like an assembly line. That was the first time I met Vince McMahon and he was disgusted to look at me. They shipped me out and I immediately got a haircut, which was not dyed blond, but equally as horrible”
2) Finn Balor On His First Meeting Vince McMahon Backstage
Finn Balor met Vince in a bit of an unconventional way, right before one of his matches. Prior to his match against Neville, he quickly met Vince right before his entrance music played.
Balor told the story in an interview with Sports Illustrated:
“The first official meeting I had with Vince McMahon was in San Jose two days before WrestleMania. I was wrestling against Neville in the main for NXT San Jose. Neville had just got to the ring, and I was standing behind the curtain ready to make my entrance. I could hear Neville’s music tapering off, and I heard a call, ‘Finn! Finn!’ I turned around and it was Hunter. He said, ‘Have you met Vince?’
“So I went over and Vince’s head popped out from behind the curtain and said, ‘How are you doing, son?’ I said, ‘Hello, sir,’ and shook his hand. As I shook his hand, the heartbeat of my music started and I started, ‘That’s my cue, gotta go.’”
3) James Ellsworth On His First Interactions With Vince
James Ellsworth won the hearts of the WWE Universe when he was squashed by Braun Strowman a few years ago.
In a Reddit AMA (ask me anything), Ellsworth shared his first meeting with Vince backstage:
“I have seen Vince numerous times. The first time I talked to him was after the Strowman match. One of the agents told me he wanted to see me. He extended his hand and said, “you killed it, kid.” Meant a lot to me. I’ve also meant HHH numerous times. I got lucky that the fans made me so popular, and when I saw Vince at Backlash he said, “Hey Ellsworth!” Growing up I idolized him, so this whole experience has just been so cool”
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