Former WWE Magazine Editor on Working for Vince McMahon, Receiving Criticism From McMahon

– Former WWE Magazine Senior Editor Brian Solomon recently discussed his time with WWE on the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, including his interactions with Vince McMahon. He also shared an anecdote on how Meltzer advised him to take his head out of Dave Meltzer’s rear end when Solomon wanted to put together an article ranking the best Steel Cage Matches. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Brian Solomon on his interactions with Vince McMahon: “There was certainly times when I was around Vince and had access to him, more than you would think, more than the typical ‘nobody’ like myself would have experienced working there. I was in these crazy circles sometimes. I rode in a limo with him, I’d be in a boardroom with him. I’d have to pitch ideas. Even just conversations, when the meetings were over, just me and him and my boss, just sitting there and talking about stuff. I’ve had those experiences.”

On being criticized by Vince McMahon ofter a Steel Cage Match story idea: “We were in board meetings and we used to have the opportunity, I don’t know if you’d call it an opportunity, I’d call it the plight of having to pitch magazine ideas to him. Why? I don’t know, he’s the chairman of the company. I think Shane took sadistic glee in brining us up there to pitch to him. There was an issue where I’m pitching various ideas and at one point, he starts to pretend like he’s falling asleep in front of the board members. ‘We’re going to be doing an interview with Booker T.’ [Imitates Vince sleeping]. Not a big fan of that idea, sorry Booker T. What really set him off, it’s not really what I expected, we wanted to do an article on the Greatest Steel Cage matches. Vince doesn’t typically like that…he sees that as Meltzer-thinking, ranking matches. For him, he’s said this to me directly, it’s not the match that is so important, obviously, you want people to have good matches, he will chew you out if your match sucks. He cares about match quality, but for him, the storyline is paramount. He doesn’t like the way that Meltzer will take a match and surgically remove it from the angle and just study it by itself, this match, without context. For him, context is everything. He hates this idea of studying matches like that. We wanted to do the Greatest Steel Cage Matches Ever and he goes, ‘you guys really need to take your heads out of Dave Meltzer’s ass.’ I’m terrified, of course. I’m 30 years old and just trying to feed my kids and this crazy billionaire, and his whims.”