By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Hall of Famer "Superstar" Billy Graham says he feels considerable disappointment toward Vince McMahon for shooting down the idea of a physical WWE Hall of Fame, allowing him to be released from his personal services contract, and not paying for him to fly to Houston for WrestleMania 25's art exhibit.

"So rather than anger or frustration, there's a lot of disappointment in me towards Vince McMahon at the moment," Graham told Slam Wrestling in an interview. "It's not anger, I'm just very saddened at the lack of respect for the contribution that I've made to the WWE, and in fact inspiring Triple H to a great degree, not to mention Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Austin Idol, and many others.

Graham said he was "certainly offended by being released from the company" when WWE allowed his contract to expire. He recently sold his Hall of Fame ring for $11,500 on eBay because he felt like it carried zero value. He also said WWE cited "budget cuts" for why they couldn't fly him to Houston for WrestleMania 25. He hasn't had many good experiences with WWE recently.

"I wanted to participate in the art festival that they've had for the last couple of years. With me being a professional artist, I felt I should certainly be a part of that, but (WWE VP of talent relations) John Laurinaitis told me that they couldn't afford to fly me from Phoenix to Houston," Graham said. "They said that they'd like to use some of my art there, but that the budget prevented them from flying me there."

Graham said he has many negative feelings toward Vince McMahon, but he has a good relationship with Linda, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon. His resentment toward Vince seems to be related to enjoying working with Vince's father, Vince, Sr., who operated differently than Vince when he took over the family business in the early '80s.

"The difference in Sr. and Junior is remarkable," Graham said. "At one point in my career, I remember I was becoming very popular with some fans, and I could have become a babyface very easily, and I suggested to Vince Sr. that at least we should have some t-shirts made up ... but he said to me, 'You know, Billy, I'm just not very interested in merchandise.' (laughs) That was the quote! He was content just to promote wrestling."

Link: Read the rest of Graham's interview with Brian Elliott of Slam Wrestling.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline