It shouldn’t come as a surprise that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s in-ring persona often is the same as it is in real life. Mr. McMahon can be brash, intimidating and command your attention. As a businessman, it’s also no surprise that he’s probably made a few enemies along the way, whether it be through business or in media.
Apparently, Vince has an enemy in Bob Costas. But that’s not earth-shattering considering part of his job is making enemies.
McMahon’s disdain for the former NBC broadcaster stems from a 2001 interview the two did on Costas’s HBO show, where Costas appeared to do everything right to push Vince’s buttons.
A transcript provided to the New York Post from a Jim Miller book called Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers details just how Costas managed to get under McMahon’s skin.
“Once we were doing the interview, he kept interrupting me and interrupting me, and bringing up topics that had nothing to do with what we were supposed to be talking about,” McMahon said.
Vince McMahon referred to Costas as “pompous” and was even quoted as saying he’d have laid hands on Costas had he not been so small.
“I wish he wasn’t 5-feet high and 140 pounds. If he was 6-5 and 295, he would deserve to get the shit beat out of him,” McMahon said. “I could have really given them some great television.”
The Post notes that the two were able to conduct a more civil interview a year later, but it seems like once you cross a boss like Vince McMahon, there’s no way to get back in his good graces.
