Following today’s Wrestlemania 33 announcement press conference, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon spoke with Between The Ropes host Brian Fritz in an exclusive interview for the Orlando Sentinel.
Vince talks about why Orlando was picked to host Wrestlemania 33, WWE and NXT’s future under Triple H and Stephanie, his son Shane’s WWE return, John Cena missing this year’s Wrestlemania, and much more. You can read a few excerpts below:
Vince comments on John Cena missing Wrestlemania 32:
“John is Babe Ruth, he’s everything to us. And a real warrior. I don’t know how long he’s going to pursue this … I don’t know if it’s going to be 70 like me, but he’ll try. It’s just in him and he loves it so much, even when he was a little kid. I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the videos where he’d have a mini-championship belt made out of cardboard and all that kind of stuff. And on top of it, he’s a hell of a guy.
Vince explains why Wrestlemania is returning to Orlando:
“I must say that we’re welcome here and that’s part of the reason and it’s the first time we’re repeating [the same arena]. There have been a lot of improvements. We would not have come back had there not been a lot of improvements to the Citrus Bowl. We just can’t now. And playing at these stadium shows is, for us, our big deal. We try not to play stadium shows during the year; we’re trying to keep this just for WrestleMania. Orlando is special.
When you think about family-friendly events and attractions, here in Orlando there’s no brand that fits that better than we do on a global basis. Maybe some of the brands are here in America but in Orlando, ours dwarfs all of that in terms of everything with YouTube. We had eight billion views last year on YouTube alone and a lot of that is international.
Again, just that stat alone and social media one day might be our primary vehicle for Raw and SmackDown as we know it. Now, in terms of distribution, it’s growing so fast, it’s a land grab. We have our share of the land, maybe a little more than some people would like. But we’ll continue to grab that land. You have to do that. The amount of impressions that we do make every day, and [we will] make even more by the time we come back here, is really hard for someone to really wrap their arms around.
Orlando is going to be really, really good for us and we’re going to be really, really good for Orlando.”
Vince comments on seeing WWE prosper under Triple H and Stephanie:
“It’s extraordinary watching that growth. Growth is painful sometimes. Some of us really enjoy pain so it’s easy for us to grow. Most people don’t. Most people say they want to grow but more people are naturally comfortable with where they are. Paul’s not that way. Paul is very aggressive. Not outwardly so. When you meet with him and talk with him, it’s like, ‘what a nice guy.’ But inside, he has that competitive spirit and he’s always reaching for that brass ring.
“He’s done so well. I’m so proud of him, not just the years he’s spent in the ring and I don’t know how many more years that’s going to last. This may be his last WrestleMania. I don’t know. He’s a little long in the tooth as I say to his face and we all laugh about that now because I’m 70 years old. Nonetheless, corporately the growth over the last two years has been exponential and Stephanie’s part has been even more of a meteoric rise. What she does in terms of representing the brand, no one can represent the brand in all aspects, in all facets of our business, and she fits everywhere. Talk about an ambassador, she’s obviously beyond an ambassador and her growth corporately has been great. I’m very proud of both of them.”
