Sports TV Exec Shares First Impression Of Vince McMahon, Thoughts On Kevin Dunn

As a person with a lengthy career in New York media, YES Network President of Production/Programming John Filipelli has had plenty of experiences with Vince McMahon and the WWE.

"I respected his passion for the business," Filipelli told Conrad Thompson on an episode of "The Insiders" on AdFreeShows. "He would eat and sleep and talk wrestling."

Filipelli notes that McMahon was very focused on making WWE a "global entity." He says that McMahon even then felt that the territory system was "limiting" to WWE's growth.

"He saw the world as his oyster."

Filipelli was also impressed that McMahon studied Filipelli's career, and also McMahon's understanding of and passion for marketing, saying that McMahon believed every image is meaningful. Filipelli's interactions with WWE also included dealing with WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn, who Filipelli called "a very talented producer, very political, extremely political."

According to Filipelli, Dunn earned his position by being one of the few people that could "handle" Vince. Fililpelli said that Dunn "knew exactly the right things to say to Vince" and handle him when he was in a bad mood. McMahon hastily retired from WWE last year, only to come back to the company in January, claiming that he wanted to help facilitate the sale of WWE. McMahon is reportedly asking $9 billion for the company that is now without question the "global entity" that McMahon wanted it to be, with international interest in the company from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Insiders" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.