Vince McMahon’s leadership in WWE was marked by many memorable decisions, some of which were surprising, like his strong aversion to the word “prick”.
JBL recalled this unique dislike during an episode of Something To Wrestle, explaining that while harsh words like “son of a b*tch,” “ba$tard,” and “a$$hole” were commonly used in WWE, Vince drew the line at “prick”.
He shared a story about Brad Maddox, who was well-liked by Vince for his talent, but was fired after using the word “prick” in a promo. Vince viewed it as the most classless word, despite other offensive terms being more accepted.
JBL also recalled his own experience when he used the term “selfish prick” in a promo about Shawn Michaels. He didn’t realize how much Vince despised the word until Vince reprimanded him, pointing out that sponsors were involved.
It wasn’t until the Maddox incident that JBL fully understood how much “prick” bothered Vince, with Maddox’s firing being the ultimate consequence.
Here’s what the former WWE Champion said:
“The word Vince hated, it’s probably not on [the WWE banned list] because people should be smart enough to not say it, is the word ‘prick’. You can get away with calling somebody a son of a b*tch, a ba$tard, an a$$hole, but if you called somebody a prick, Vince… that’s what Brad Maddox got fired for. He was as talented as he could be.
I remember Vince seeing him backstage one time and I’m sitting by Vince. He’s doing a promo and [Vince] goes, ‘that kid is special.’ Vince really liked him. I don’t know exactly what he got fired for, but he said ‘prick’ in the promo. Vince thought that was the most classless word ever.
I once called Shawn Michaels that in a promo; I said, ‘You’re a selfish prick.’ I didn’t realize how bad Vince hated the word; I come back and he’s like, ‘We have sponsors here.’ It was the first time he ever ripped me on language. I didn’t realize that was the word that he hated so bad until the Brad Maddox thing happened.
I’m pretty sure that was the thing that pushed him over the edge and got him fired. Vince thought that was the most classless word there was.”
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