Comedian Taylor Williamson On Vince McMahon Hiring Former Enemies Like Paul Heyman & Eric Bischoff

– Comedian and longtime wrestling fan Taylor Williamson spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview and discussed the peculiarity of Vince McMahon bringing former enemies like Paul Heyman & Eric Bischoff for prominent WWE roles. Williamson, who is a veteran of America’s Got Talent and Last Comic Standing, also discussed the similarities between reality shows and WWE programming. Highlights are below:

On Vince McMahon bringing in Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff for Raw and Smackdown: “It’s fascinating in WWE that the people he hires to take the company to the next level are the people who tried to put him out of business and who he put out of business 20 years ago. That just seems like a soap opera. Vince keeps hiring all of these people that he hated forever; that’s curious to me. Like Jeff Jarrett, that’s very admirable and Howard Stern did that with Rosie O’Donnell who he’s friends with now.”

On what he likes most in wrestling now: “I love all the opportunities that are out there. It’s cool that there are so many more jobs now than six months ago. Real full-time jobs and people get to live their dreams and more artists can perform. I think that’s just the coolest thing. I’ve always loved Cesaro and hope that something happens, maybe this Paul Heyman thing, that helps push him to the next level. I’m a huge Rocky Romero fan. I love seeing people take roads that some people may seem are crazy or even irresponsible.”

On America’s Got Talent building narratives like WWE: “It’s not rigged by any means. It’s categorized as a game show so they can’t rig it or they will go to jail. Howard Stern got accused of that stuff and he was like, ‘You think I’m gonna go to jail for a white-collar crime? I don’t need this f***ing show!’ But the producers get to pick who they want on the show in the beginning and how they want to be presented and edited. Thankfully they liked me. They put you out there however they want to put you out there and it’s up to you to carry on however they presented you. It does remind me of WWE because it’s such a giant machine. I just went back on for AGT The Champions…and it was like a very different atmosphere. Simon Cowell is the man there and he’s very Vince McMahon-y in many ways – billionaires in charge of their companies and that’s the way it is. If you wanna be on this show, this is how you have to act even though you’re an artist. …But they are geniuses too.”

On if he has any goals related to wrestling: “Maybe – I might be talking to some people about doing some stuff. I love the business so much but I also don’t wanna do anything that I don’t deserve to do. I’ve fantasized about what WWE would do if they made me world champion David Arquette-style. I’d like to think that I’d be, ‘No. No. No.’ But I can’t say that I’ll do that. With that said, I am exploring some stuff. I love how Joe Rogan is able to do UFC and it’s not a side job. It’s something he respects and treats seriously; but he also does comedy. I couldn’t do something where I’m not doing comedy at the same time. But if I could do both in a respectful manner, which WWE is allowing for some people…and it’s smart too because it allows them to get attention outside of wrestling. But I am exploring some stuff and I’m really excited about the experiences in comedy and things not working out the way I wanted leading to me being a small part of this world that I love.”