10 Shocking Leaks WWE Never Wanted You To See
10. Mr. McMahon’s Strict Rules And Guidelines For Commentators
A list of rules and guidelines for WWE commentators, dictated by Vince McMahon, was uploaded to Reddit in 2015 and then widely circulated in wrestling news outlets. The document was an interesting insight into how micromanaged commentators really are in WWE, and how demanding Vince is when it comes to producing television. Vince being so hands-on and commanding with a singular vision is what ultimately led to Mick Foley quitting his role as a colour commentator for SmackDown four months into the job in 2008.
There were practical and realistic guidelines in the announcing/on-camera notes, like no swearing and avoid using clichés and never sound bored. But then there was the more absurd, like ‘VKM does not want to use the phrase granddaddy of them all anymore because he thinks it makes WrestleMania sound old’ and ‘Vince wants to talk to the announcers and tell them to STOP reading the dirt sheets’, as well as a plethora of banned words such as ‘belt’, ‘pro wrestling’, ‘fans’, ‘faction’ and even ‘sports entertainment’. Plus an entire section dedicated to Vince’s well-established hated for pronouns and how announcers should absolutely avoid them.
It oddly didn’t mention anything about sneezing...