Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham has shared a memorable — and intense — story involving Vince McMahon from his time behind the commentary desk.
Speaking during an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Grisham recalled an incident where McMahon exploded at him live during a broadcast over a seemingly harmless line about John Morrison.
Grisham explained that the moment stemmed from WWE’s attempt at the time to modernize its official magazine. The publication had shifted from a results-based format to a lifestyle-style presentation, similar to Maxim, with talent profiles meant to flesh out characters. Announcers were encouraged to reference the magazine on-air to help promote it.
One such feature focused on John Morrison, whose finishing move was called Starship Pain. Morrison had written a poem inspired by the move, and Grisham thought it would be a harmless character detail to mention during a match — despite Morrison being a heel.
“So he’s in the ring and I go, ‘John Morrison, Starship Pain — he’s a big fan of poetry and wrote a poem about the finisher Starship Pain,’” Grisham recalled.
That’s when things went sideways.
According to Grisham, McMahon immediately erupted in his headset.
“Did you just say that our number one heel is an effing poet, you stupid f***? What the f***! Shut up. Just shut up. Don’t say anything else!” McMahon allegedly shouted. He then instructed Jim Ross to take over commentary entirely. “Jim Ross, you call the rest of this fight. I don’t wanna hear another effing word out of you.”
Grisham said he proceeded to sit in silence for several minutes while the match continued.
“So literally, the match starts and I don’t say a single word for like five minutes,” he said.
Only after the match concluded did McMahon finally allow him to speak again.
“Then the match ends and we’ve got to do a promo going to the next match, and he goes, ‘Okay, you can talk now,’” Grisham recalled. “So I’m like, ‘Coming up next, Shelton Benjamin goes one-on-one with The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.’ But he was so angry at me over that.”
The story offers another glimpse into McMahon’s famously volatile production style and his strict views on character presentation — particularly when it came to protecting the image of top villains.
