10 Most Bizarre Stories From Former WWE Superstars
8. Vince McMahon vs. Frank Shamrock (And Chris Jericho's Involvement)
Vince made his way down to the ring, unaware of the confrontation Rourke and I had narrowly avoided and went through his ideas for the match. As a wrestler, I would listen to what Vince wanted, think about the logistics of it, run through it once or twice, and move along. But as an actor, Mickey was much more concerned with camera angles and minor movements. He wanted to rehearse his punch over and over again, discussing his motivation, his positioning, everything. There would be no improv for this guy. Then we discussed how he was going to hit me. I told him not worry about pulling the punch and just swing like he would in a boxing match.
He shook his head and warned me, "I don't know about that. I'm Golden Gloves, brother. If I hit you with this right hand, you're going to feel it." I convinced him that it was OK and told him he could hit me as hard as he wanted as long as it looked good. After being walloped in the forehead for real by the seven-foot-tall Big Show, I thought I could take a punch from a 160-pound actor.
After about a half hour of going over the punch spot a dozen times, Mickey was happy and he left ringside with his posse in tow. I went over to Vince and told him what had almost happened. "You know, Rourke hired those guys to kick my ass if I tried to double-cross him." Vince stared down the rampway at Rourke's gang. "Are you kidding me? Those guys?!" He laughed. He motioned at Dean Malenko and Fit Finlay, who were talking at ringside. "You, me, Finlay, and Malenko would've beat the s**t out of them. I mean look at that one guy. . . . He's a midget!" The "midget" Vince was referring to was Shamrock, the multiple-time UFC champion. I smiled at Vince and said, "Well, if anything goes down, I'll take Rourke and you take the midget." "Damn right I will," he murmured and swaggered out of the ring.
Vince McMahon, MMA legend, too? The world will never know...