Former TNN executive Kevin Kay has recalled his unusual first meeting with Vince McMahon shortly after WWE Raw moved to the network in 2000.
Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN, which would later become Spike TV, following nearly a decade on USA. After the agreement was finalized, Kay, who would eventually become president of the network, was encouraged to introduce himself to McMahon.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani, Kay explained that executive Jim Burns told him he needed to attend a WWE event and “pay his respects” to McMahon.
“So, I’ll tell you a funny story about Vince. Jim Burns, who was our executive in charge of production of WWF at the time, said, ‘Now that you’re running this, you need to go meet Vince and pay your respects.’
And I said, ‘Sure. When’s the next show at Madison Square Garden?’
He’s like, ‘No, no, they just did that one. That’s not for another year. They do that once a year.’
And I said, ‘Where am I going?’
He said, ‘Louisville.’ So, we went to Louisville. That’s where their next venue was.
We went to Louisville, and it was an amazing show. I’d never been live to a WWF event. It was spectacular. And then they take me down into the bowels of the stadium to go meet Vince. And there’s a lineup of, you know, it’s in a men’s room, the stadium men’s room. There’s like 50 urinals. Vince is at the very end, urinating, and we’re standing there. I’m with a couple of the WWF guys and Jim.
And Vince is finished, and he, like, zippers up his pants and walks straight at me, and he puts out his hand. Total power move. I shook his hand. What are you going to do?
[You think he does that on purpose?] I think so. I think it was just like, yeah, you know, ‘I’m in charge.’”
Kay’s story offered a glimpse into his earliest interaction with McMahon as TNN began what would become a significant period in its relationship with WWE.
