7. The Hideous Looking Office
OK. So, Ive been a fan of the WWE since probably around say 1972. In 1993-1994 I get a job with the company. Thats a span of 22 years. So, put yourself in my shoes---can you even imagine what was going through my head as I prepared myself for my first official meeting with Vincent Kennedy McMahon?!!! Now, I had actually met Vince about a year earlier----and let me stop to talk about that for a moment. It was probably around early 1992, when I was working on a radio show on Long Island. At the time the steroid issue was HOT and HEAVY concerning use and abuse by WWF wrestlers. Of course, the guy in the hot seat was Vince McMahon. In an effort to be active opposed to re-active, Vince conducted a press conference in NYC, where he laid out the new steroid testing policy that the Federation was putting in place, as an effort to squash the problem. It was there where I first met Vince. To this day, and I have worked with and met many superstars both inside of wrestling---and outside it---but to this very day, I had never been around one man with such power and energy you could feel it in a room the moment he walked in. Vince just had this aura surrounding him that told you that the man was something very special. OK---back to hideous office. So, I psyche myself up for my first one-on-one encounter with Vince---this time on an employer---employee level. YES, Im nervous as hellwouldnt you be?!!! So, I wait in the outer-office of Vinces inner-office, which seems likes days---WEEKS even. Finally I get the call in. OK---this is what I see---to paint the picture as clearly as I possibly can---it looked like A ZEBRA GOT INTO A FIGHT WITH HIS PENCIL SHARPNER!!! There was this red velour carpet on the floor, and zebra print on the walls. I swear, I had never seen anything like it before. The good news was that I was so taken back by the interior design that the nervousness I had entering this---I dont know what---completely disappeared!