From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, David Sahadi worked for WWE as a Creative Director, and was responsible for many of the company’s video packages during his time there. He decided to leave the company in 2003 and went on to become an influential figure behind the scenes in TNA. Looking back on his WWE tenure during an appearance on “Busted Open Radio,” Sahadi was eager to offer a clear explanation of his departure.

“It came to an end because the company had gotten so big … and become very corporate,” Sahadi said. “When it became corporate, it became sterile. And we also lost the competition in WCW, and it became kind of like – when you lose your number-one competitor, or any competitor, you kind of tend to rest on your laurels. Iron sharpens iron, but we had no iron anymore.”

Sahadi took credit for being one of a handful of figures responsible for pushing WWE into the “Attitude Era” to help business rebound after taking losses against WCW, but as WWE moved away from that era, Sahadi needed a change. Along with that, he frequently butted heads with executive producer Kevin Dunn, whom he answered to in the company. Although Sahadi gave Dunn six weeks notice ahead of his planned departure, Sahadi suspects Dunn waited to tell Vince McMahon until just days before.

“I think Kevin Dunn spun it in a way to make Kevin look good,” Sahadi continued. “It makes Kevin look bad if one of the top guys is leaving under Kevin’s watch.”

According to Sahadi, that period of his career ruined his relationship with McMahon, who Sahadi said previously viewed him as a “golden boy.” Despite the way his exit went down, Sahadi looks back proudly on the work he did with WWE, and he hopes to someday get closure with McMahon.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

AEW’s Billy Gunn has portrayed several characters throughout his near 40-year career, but one of his most popular was his Mr. Ass persona. Along with multiple comedy skits and backstage segments, one of the reoccurring themes of Gunn’s Mr. Ass gimmick was using sexual gestures or nudity to create entertainment, which apparently didn’t please former WWE CEO Vince McMahon in the early stages of the character’s life in the Attitude Era.

Speaking with “Monopoly Events,” Gunn stated that pulling down his pants for the first time angered McMahon, despite it being his original idea, and claimed that it became the funniest moment of his career.

“I guess when I pulled my pants down for the first time was pretty funny to me because one, Vince told me I wouldn’t do it. Two, I got in trouble by Vince for doing it. And three, I do things wrestling wise that make me laugh just like I did the introduction thing here. It makes me laugh and it makes me smile. So that’s why I do things. Now, if you want to follow along with me and laugh at my stuff, you’re more than happy to. But that’s where I’m at. Like I just like to have fun. I’m over the stress part of wrestling, like it used to stress me out so bad. Now I just go out and have fun.”

Gunn continued to explain that he feels happier today knowing that his job isn’t to perform at the level of a Kurt Angle, but to stay focused on being an entertainer and making people laugh.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Monopoly Events” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Before he’d become the cowboy hat-wearing JBL that was hated by everyone, John Layfield was known simply as “Bradshaw” as one half of the APA tag team with pro wrestling veteran, Ron Simmons, known to WWE fans as “Farooq.”

Unfortunately, despite being over as a team, the APA had to break up, as Simmons retired. In an appearance on the “Six Feet Under with The Undertaker” podcast, Layfield looked back at APA’s separation and what Simmons taught him. 

“Oh, I hated it, absolutely hated it,” he exclaimed, admitting that it eventually worked out better for him. 

“I retired at, pretty much, the same age as Ron did, you know, five or six years later. Ron was beat up,” Layfield said, pointing out how Simmons had a lengthy career as an athlete that took it’s toll, but ultimately wanted to pass the torch to him. “[He] set me up to have a good chance at success.”

One of Layfield’s greatest rivals in WWE was undoubtedly Eddie Guerrero, and according to the veteran, the combination of Guerrero and Simmons helped him propel him into greater success. 

“Ron’s the one who set that all up. He gave me all that heat,” he recalled, noting how he turned on Simmons to become a heel originally. “I’d have been fine if I had been APA my whole career; you know, I think that much of Ron.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Six Feet Under with The Undertaker” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.