Freddie Prinze On Why Vince McMahon Is Hesitant To Put WWE Title On Smaller Wrestlers, CM Punk, More
As previously reported, actor and former WWE writer, Freddie Prinze, Jr. talked to Chris Jericho on his podcast, Talk Is Jericho. During the show, Prinze discussed who he felt could have had a higher profile in the company, who benefited from his acting class, wanting to work with Low Ki, and behind-the-scenes factors that influence storylines and backstage decisions.
During the podcast, Prinze indicated that CM Punk was one talent who he would have liked to have seen in a high profile role in WWE when he was with the company. Prinze said that he was familiar with Punk's independent work and was always a big fan.
"[Punk] never needed my help. Like, he knows how to act. He knows how to write. So I never had an opportunity to work with him, but he was not high in the pecking order when I was there. And Vince [McMahon] even showed him respect. We were in a room one time and I was pitching something that was just shot down and I wasn't taking 'no' for an answer because it was a good story for CM Punk and Vince said right to my face, 'look, he may be able to legit kick the crap out of everybody here, but I'm just not buying it' and when he finally did buy it, and I was no longer with the company, I got to see CM Punk [cut] this sort of [awesome promo]." Prinze continued, "but [the pipe bomb promo] was an awesome moment and almost revolutionary moment in wrestling."
Prinze, who had two stints with WWE, originally returned to the company to work with Low Ki; however, Prinze found himself conducting acting class in his second stint with WWE.
"We had a baby and then I really started jonesing for it again and [MVP] was telling me that Low Ki was going to come to the company and they called him Kaval when he got there, Brandon [Silvestry]. And I really wanted to work with him because MVP was the one who got me hip to his work in Japan against AJ Styles. And I saw this amazing match between the two of them and so I went there specifically to work with him." Prinze added, "in a week, I was the acting coach and I did, instead of what they had, which was promo class, we just did acting class."
According to Prinze, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and Eve Torres were performers who responded well to acting class.
"[Daniel] Bryan and I got along really well." Prinze recalled, "he and I worked very, very well together. I thought Eve [Torres] and I were doing really well."
Prinze claimed that WWE has great storylines sometimes, but injuries derail them. Also, Prinze acknowledged that McMahon is reluctant to put the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on smaller performers because they are more injury prone.
"A lot of the times, the writers come up with great stories, and talent's onboard, and they don't think it sucks, and they can contribute, and it inspires more ideas, and then a knee gets blown, and then your story sucks. And that's just a cold, hard fact. And that's why Vince doesn't always like to give the title to a smaller guy because he thinks they're going to get hurt more and that damages the company. And that frustrates a lot of fans because some of their favorite guys are the smaller guys, but unless you're built a different way, you can't take that many hits." Prinze continued, "a lot of guys can't function injured and I hate seeing the guys get hurt. I hated seeing Seth [Rollins] get hurt. I hated seeing Bryan get hurt."
In addition to these topics, Prinze compared McMahon to a child with a toy box, discussed the difficulties he had earning respect in WWE, and more. To check out the whole show, click here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho