Former WWE Media Producer Recalls Making Vince McMahon Cry With Attitude Era Commercial

In an interview with Talk N Shop (via Fightful), former WWE Creative Director of On-Air Promotions David Sahadi remembered that he once made Vince McMahon cry with a commercial he did during the Attitude Era. The commercial features legends like Freddie Blassie and Gorilla Monsoon talking about how things were different in their day compared to when the ad aired. It was meant to be a passing of the torch.

Sahadi said: “Kevin Dunn calls me, I’m doing the shoot in Albany, and he goes, ‘Vince called and can’t understand why you’re shooting these old guys.’ He didn’t understand it was a passing of the torch spot. He goes, ‘It better be fucking good because he’s very upset.’ I’m like, ‘Trust me, he’s going to love it.’ A week later when the spot was does, we called him into the audio room to listen on the big screen and play it out loud. 15 seconds in, it’s him, Shane (McMahon) and I think Pat Patterson, 15 seconds in [Vince] is like, ‘Oh God. Oh God. Jesus. Oh God.’ He walked out before the tag page even came up. I turn to Shane and said, ‘He hates it, doesn’t he?’ He goes, ‘No, you got him.’ I swear to you on my life, I walked outside this studio and Vince is sitting on the ground in tears, just drenched with tears and he’s saying, ‘Thank you so much.’ I walk up to tell Kevin Dunn that and Kevin does, ‘You did a good job. I can’t wait to see the spot.’ 20 minutes later, I walk back to the studio and Vince is in the stairwell, sitting down with Pat Patterson and Shane and he’s still crying, saying, ‘Thank you, thank you so much.’ I think one reason why is effected Vince so much is that he saw it wasn’t just a passing of the torch from one wrestling generation to another, but also the legacy of his dad to him. I think he felt on a visceral and personal level. To make Vince McMahon cry, it’s one of my top spots of all time even though I’ve done far more creative thing, but there is emotion in that spot and it’s all about emotion.”