ultimate warrior

Sean Mooney Dishes On Unpleasant Encounter W/ Vince, Warrior’s Unpredictable Behavior, & Whether Someone Else Could Have Played Hulk Hogan

Sean Mooney Dishes On Unpleasant Encounter W/ Vince, Warrior’s Unpredictable Behavior, & Whether Someone Else Could Have Played Hulk Hogan
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Sean Mooney took time to answer fan questions on his Prime Time with Sean Mooney podcast and the former WWE announcer pulled no punches.

On Friendship With The Macho Man:

I really liked Randy Savage after I got to know him. There were some really tough times getting there; but, once we got to that point, I really really liked him a lot….once you got to know that guy he really was a great guy. As far as the rest of it with Elizabeth, I really didn’t see. I wasn’t part of that personal life he had; but, I really liked him. Guys that did their business and how important it was for them to every time deliver to the people that paid money and he would say that, ‘These people came to see me and I’m gonna give them their money’s worth,’ and I dare anybody to tell me that he didn’t do that in every situation even when he was hurt. Remember the time he had the staph infection and he showed up and performed and did a tremendous job and that guy as far as what he did and was able to accomplish – pretty amazing.

On Ultimate Warrior & His Unpredictable Behavior:

Jim Hellwig – man. If there was any Superstar, that was my era – Warrior. I was there when he got there. I was there through all of the craziness and he is a classic example of if you’ve ever seen or heard stories of people who fame comes to them – it’s like an episode of Behind the Music. This guy had so much going. It happened so quickly and he just couldn’t handle it and I don’t know the science behind steroids. I don’t know how they effect your brain and your mood; but, it was a crapshoot. You never knew what Warrior you were going to get and I did a lot of personal appearances with him and that’s the way it was. There were times when I remember we would show up and he would be signing pictures and never look up at these kids. He would just sign them and just throw ’em off. Other times he’d be on the other side of that table hugging the kid up and talking to him and you just never know. It was the same way when he did promos. We talked about – I still to this day – you could look at some of these promos when I interviewed him and I’m looking with my eyes up going, ‘What the hell does that mean?’

On Whether Another Wrestler Could Have Played The Hulk Hogan Character:

No, who else? Who could have possibly don’t that? It was just – he was a phenom. There’s no one else that could have done it. He was a monster. He was this tanned god with blonde hair and just the whole look. I give him a lot of credit. I remember watching on the WWE Network and they did this Top 50 Wrestlers. Hulk was twenty something. Of course, he wasn’t in the best graces at the time when they put that out; but, come on? Are you kidding me? If you don’t put him there top 5 of all time, then you’re just lying. You’re not being truthful here because he changed the business forever. That’s what launched the WWF. Without Hulk you would probably see the WCW and some of these other territories very much alive and competing with each other, if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan. He helped Vince McMahon bury every one of them.

On An Unpleasant Encounter With Vince McMahon:

I was doing the Macho Man interview….Vince said, ‘Let him go and I’ll tell you when to wrap.’ And he goes on and he’s broken and he’s kneeling and he’s pulling on my arm and I look over at Vince and Vince has got his arms wrapped around himself like he’s hugging himself and I’m like what the hell is he trying to tell me? It was a LIVE interview, so I couldn’t say – does he want me to put my arm around him, hug him, what does this mean? So, finally Randy stops talking. I wrap it up, whatever. Vince goes off on me in front of everybody, ‘What the hell? Why did you let that go so long? I kept telling you to wrap.’ I said, ‘When were you telling me to wrap?’ This was the only time I had words right in front of everybody and he said, ‘I was doing this.’ He shows me hugging his arms again. I said, ‘Vince, I have been working here a long time. I’ve worked in television before that. I have never in my life seen that as a signal to wrap.’ I did like the finger across the throat. I said, ‘That I know. Hugging I don’t.’ After that I was so pissed. If he had fired me, I wouldn’t have cared. I was so pissed off. I was out in the arena afterwards and Vince was walking and I death-glared him and he looked at me and we were staring at each other. Then he kinda softened his face like OK. I mean I was daggers. I was so mad.

On What Rick “The Model” Martel’s Arrogance Smelled Like:

It didn’t really smell like anything. It was pretty much water in that thing because he would spray it in people’s eyes. They weren’t gonna put cologne in there; but, he would load up on cologne. I don’t know what the hell it was. What a great gimmick that was and he sold it too!

(Transcription: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)

Mooney took nearly two hours to answer fan questions, most of which pertained to 1990s WWE. Readers are encouraged to listen to the show in its entirety HERE.

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