10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (March 18)
4. Shane McMahon Told Buff Bagwell Not To Look Into The Camera
To this day, Buff Bagwell still feels both he and Booker T were set up to fail on the July 2, 2001 edition of Monday Night Raw. Squaring off in the main event for the WCW World Title, neither man entered their most convincing performance.
However, the bout was nowhere near as bad as it was later claimed to be by company management.
The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast spoke with Bagwell this week, and that particular match was analysed in great detail. In Buff's mind, Booker and himself were never going to win over WWF officials, regardless of how well they performed.
The McMahon minds had already been made up: WCW was a lame duck.
Before heading through the curtain for his big moment, Bagwell was stunned to receive a piece of last-minute advice from Shane McMahon. Routinely during his act, Buff would stare directly at the camera, pose and smile.
McMahon informed him he didn't want to see that, because it didn't fit with what the WWF were trying to do. This rattled the WCW performer, who also claims he was never given a concrete finish for the match before it occurred.