Former WWE Commentator Recalls His Interactions With Vince McMahon
Adnan Virk recently spoke with the Couch Potato Diary where he reflected on his brief stint with WWE, admitting he respects everybody who works for the company as he spoke about how Vince McMahon can be a demanding boss.
"Everybody there I have so much respect for because they work so hard. Week in, week out those guys are on the road and it is very hard to do, it's a huge commitment. Vince McMahon is obviously a very demanding boss, he knows what he wants, he's a super-smart guy, he's built up an enormous business but they are really, really hard workers."
When reflecting on his own experience with the WWE Chairman, the former Monday Night Raw commentator admitted that he gave him lots of feedback and stated that he has respect for him.
"He went through everything, he was very detailed and said okay 'do some more of this, don't do this, avoid this,' and at the end, he said, 'you're doing a good job and best of luck.' I met with him that time, we would have a meeting on Raw at let's say, noon, which I think was the meeting time, oftentimes it would get pushed back. Vince sometimes would be there, sometimes he wouldn't be there. But if he was in the meeting, obviously, it would have a different tenor as he is an important guy, he's got a real presence about him, whatever he says people are going to do because he's the boss. I met with him again after the third show, again he gave me feedback, went through, 'okay, don't do this, do more of this.' I really appreciate the fact he was willing to meet with me and give feedback, I just wish I could have done better and been there longer. But it was cool to meet him, like I said, I have a ton of respect for him and everyone knows growing up Vince McMahon, not just the CEO but obviously the character of Mr. McMahon. It was really cool just to meet him and shake his hand and hear what he had to say because he's obviously a very smart guy and a brilliant businessman. "
The grueling schedule of WWE is something that is often talked about by people who have worked for the company, and Virk admitted that he wouldn't have been able to keep up to it for two years.
"I will say, on a personal level I hated the travel. I've got four kids and I hated the fact that every Sunday I had to leave at 12:30. I literally went to one of my boys' baseball games but I didn't see my other three kids because you had to get there early enough to get COVID tests, remember this was April in Florida. Then you do your on-site rundown completely away from my family, then on Tuesday, I would fly home, and literally, I'd land and go right to the MLB Network to do a baseball show after not seeing anything the night before. I literally did not like the travel, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it for 52 weeks a year for two years."
Virk received a lot of negative comments on social media for his work as a play-by-play commentator with the company. But he stressed that alongside that he received plenty of positive notes from fans as well, which was pleasing to him.
"It was a really cool opportunity, they offered it to me, I did my best. I am grateful for the experience, I am grateful to Nick Khan, my former agent, who is of course the President of WWE, I just wish I had done a better job. But ultimately, I don't have any regrets. It's not like I can look back and say, 'if only I could have done that,' because then you wouldn't have known that going in, right? I just didn't have the facility to be a great wrestling play-by-play guy. I will say, I am very grateful to the people who were kind. I got a lot of hate, I got a lot of trolls, don't worry, I saw all that because I can see my mentions thank you very much. But it was very nice, especially after I was done, the amount of people who said 'I liked hearing you, I thought you had a different voice, I thought you had a different cadence, I remember you from The Score,' it wasn't as negative as people think it was."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Couch Potato Daily, with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.