Tommy Dreamer Assesses If Vince McMahon Would Have Changed WWE WrestleMania Venue
Last week, in an unprecedent move, WWE announced that next year's location for WrestleMania would no longer be New Orleans – as The Rock notably announced – but instead be Las Vegas again. According to reports, Vegas will become a reoccurring location for 'Mania going forward, but certain fans and wrestling veterans are questioning the move, including Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray, who gave their takes on whether or not Vince McMahon would ever have gone back on an announced venue for 'Mania.
According to Dreamer in an episode of "Busted Open Radio," changing venues for 'Mania would totally be something that McMahon would do, however, Bully disagreed with his cohost. "See, I say no," he noted before Dreamer stood by his opinion but admitted that there are lines McMahon wouldn't have crossed. "There's things that Vince wouldn't do, like I mean, honestly, look at all the advertisements on the ring?" he added, which Bully agreed with.
While McMahon never changed cities after announcing the location, for 1991's WrestleMania VII, he did change the venue from the Los Angeles memorial Coliseum to the adjacent Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. According to WWE, the reason for this was Sgt. Slaughter's portrayal as an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War and the threats of violence to his family, but outlets like "SLAM! Sports of Canada" claimed it was due to poor advanced ticket sales.
'His word was his bond and his handshake meant something'
While Tommy Dreamer seems to be of the opinion that Vince McMahon would be capable of anything, Bully Ray believes that in spite of his faults, McMahon was a businessman before anything else. "If Vince made a deal with the city of New Orleans, I don't think he'd break the deal," Bully added. "Because if there's one thing we always knew about Vince, is that his word was his bond and his handshake meant something." Despite his opinion, Bully clarified that he isn't close to McMahon but that he's confident about how the former WWE Chairman would have handled business based on not just things he heard but his own experiences with him.
"I shook Vince McMahon's hand and hugged him on 'Bully Ray.' 'Bully Ray' was 48 hours away from happening in the WWE and at the last minute, it didn't happen," the veteran recalled. "I didn't get a call from Triple H, I didn't get a call from Bruce Prichard, I got a call from Vince McMahon...'I told you yes and I shook your hand, but here's the reason I changed my mind.'"
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.