Mike Rotunda On Leaving WCW For WWE, Reflects On IRS Character

Mike Rotunda recently recalled his leaving WCW for WWE, where he became his most famous wresting persona in IRS. Rotunda looked back at that time of his career during an appearance on Stories With Bradshaw and Briscoe, and you can check out some highlights below (per Wrestling Inc):

On his Michael Wallstreet gimmick in WCW: “Tony Schiavone came up with the idea of doing the Michael Wallstreet [gimmick]. So they put me with Dustin’s old wife…Teri [Runnels]. She did the computer stuff, and it was good content, because the movie ‘Wall Street’ was hot, and I supposedly inherited this money. So I hired a girl to do my statistics, so I knew how to beat somebody. The problem was…they [WCW] had sent me a notice saying they weren’t renewing my contract.”

On leaving for WWE: “So Tony Schiavone came up with this idea, and I did it, and USA Today called me, and wanted to do an article. I did the Inside Edition, and back then, they couldn’t buy any promotion like that…I did the show, I did the article, and so Jim Herd sent me a thing ‘We’re going to extend your contract for six months.’ And I’m like ‘You’re out of your freaking mind.’ So I called Vince, and that’s when I went back into WWE because I knew what was going to happen in six months. They’d just start beating me and the character would be dead.”

On becoming IRS in WWE: “It was definitely my most known character. I did Mike Rotunda with Barry Windham for a couple of years, and then I did the Varsity Club, which I thought they cut short. They could’ve gotten a lot more mileage out of that. And then, like IRS, I did like 5 or 6 years, so it was the longest run [of my career]. And it worked well with Ted and I, because Ted was the rich millionaire guy, and I was the crooked tax man, and it kind of just meshed.”