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Ken Shamrock On Whether Vince McMahon Holds a Grudge Over His WWE Departure, Possible Hall of Fame Induction

August 1, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

– Speaking with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Wrestling Interviews podcast, Ken Shamrock weighed in on whether Vince McMahon holds a grudge over his WWE departure. Shamrock abruptly left the company in 1999, shortly after starting a feud with the newly-arrived Chris Jericho, in order to return to his MMA career. Shamrock has stated his desire to return to WWE in recent years, but has yet to receive an offer by the company to return. Highlights from the discussion are below:

On if he thinks Vince McMahon holds a grudge against him for leaving: “I would hope not. I mean, I’ve seen Vince with a lot of people that have screwed him over, and even taken him to court and sued him. And yet, he’s brought them back for that glory walk, and he’s been able to forgive a lot of people. If it makes sense and it makes money, Vince is all about that. It’s business. So I would hope that that wouldn’t be the case, but being the way things are working out, it sure doesn’t look good.”

On if Vince is the type to hold grudges: “I don’t think Vince holds grudges at all. I think that even if he does hold a grudge against somebody, if it’s gonna make him money he’ll put that grudge aside. I truly believe that. I think that Vince is about money. It’s about business. What’s good for business, if it’s a personal grudge, put it aside, let’s make money. I believe that, that’s what I believe. And I’ll continue to keep believing that. I know that the way things are kind of playing out and laying out, it doesn’t look good that that’s the case. But there’s a whole lot of other things it can be too, but like I said, I don’t have enough information to really make a stand on anything on that.”

On a possible Hall of Fame Induction: “Oh, there’s no doubt that I’ll get in. It just may be when I’m 70, 75 years old. But I see a lot of guys who’ve been there before me and had done a lot in WWF. And they had to wait 15, 20, 30 years. So I get it, I understand it. So you know, to me it doesn’t matter when … when that time comes, I’ll be very, very, very happy, yes.”

In the full interview,Shamrock talks about his WWE run and memorable feuds with The Rock and Owen Hart, refereeing the Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart match at WrestleMania 13, a possible WWE Hall of Fame induction, why Brock Lesnar deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame, his relationship with Dana White, whether things are safer for MMA fighters today and more.

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Introduction (0:00)
On his experience at Starrcast II and if he’ll be at Starrcast III (0:44)
On AEW, the current wrestling landscape and if he’s excited as a wrestling fan (1:57)
On looking back at his time in WWE during the Attitude Era and Monday Night War (4:03)
On coming into WWE as an MMA fighter and who helped him make a smooth transition to wrestling (5:28)
On his being a referee for Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 (8:06)
On his feud with The Rock his initial impressions of Rock and their match at WrestleMania 14 (9:51)
On his feud with Owen Hart and their Lion’s Den match at SummerSlam 1988 (13:13)
On the end of his run in WWE, if he felt he had hit a ceiling at the time and thinking the Screwjob was a factor (14:56)
On if he thinks Vince McMahon holds a grudge against him for leaving WWE in 1999 (17:16)
On a possible WWE Hall of Fame induction (18:56)
On his character feeling very real and believable as a dangerous guy (20:13)
On the changes in MMA over the years and whether they’ve made things safer for fighters (21:40)
On his relationship with Dana White today (29:39)
In his upcoming Tag Team Title defense at Battle Championship Wrestling in Australia in August (31:05)
On how he’s feeling physically and the importance of athletes letting their bodies have recovery time (31:36)
On why Brock Lesnar deserves a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame (33:26)
On what fighters and MMA fighters can learn from Lesnar (34:11)
On if he’d like to face Frank Mir at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport Wrestling (35:14)
Where to find him (36:44)