KELLER'S TAKE KELLER: Ongoing commentary on Larry King Live interview with WWE's Cena, Triple H, Show Mar 27, 2008 - 3:40:03 PM

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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

Vince McMahon, Floyd Mayweather, Big Show, Chris Jericho, John Cena, and Triple H appeared on CNN's Larry King (not always) Live program on Wednesday night. The following are my thoughts on the show as it progressed.

-It sounded as if Larry King called Big Show, "Big Joe," during his introduction. King said WWE "dominates" television in 100 countries.

-They did wrestling-like introductions with Vince McMahon and Triple H shown walking through the studio past a huge screen with a "WWE" logo on their way to sit.

-Vince said he always envisioned "this form of entertainment" should be at this level on cable TV. Notice he didn't say "pro wrestling."

-Vince said with a smile, when asked, he bought out Ted Turner. King characterized as Ted having "his own little wrestling on TBS." King's ratings have never approached what WCW Nitro drew at it's peak, so it was a little more than "his own little wrestling" thing.

-Triple H said he thinks the Hunter Hearst Helmsley character was based on Vince trying to make fun of his neighbors. He said as the business changed, his character evolved to be more reality based.

-They went to footage of Vince giving King a tour backstage at a WWE event. King asked, "How many wrestlers?" Vince said "probably a total of 700, something like that." Where did that figure come from? That's exaggerated by 500-plus percent. King walked up to the ring and patted it. He said, "This ain't soft."

-King asked who determines the "bits, because we know it's staged." Vince rephrased it, saying, "It's entertainment." He said it was sold as a pseudo-sport before, but they coined the term sports entertainment. "There are a number of producers, writers, people who have a lot of say in what we do." King said, "This is show business." Triple H said, "It's a sport, but we control the outcome, so you're always going to get a great show. The games not going to be a blowaway. You're favorite star is not not going to be there. No first round knockouts or 12 round borefest." Jeff Hardy fans would disagree that their favorite star is always there. And many of us can point to many equivalents of 12 round borefests, including Carlito's unnecessary three-minute chinlock on ECW this week.

-King asked if a winner ever loses. Triple H noted it might have happened due to injuries, then remember and said that it happened years ago with Bret Hart. Hunter looked a little hesitant as he said it. Vince smiled and said, "Sure." Triple H said, "He didn't want go along with the way things were supposed to go, so it went another way."

-Clips aired of Vince McMahon's on-air character including the Donald Trump hair shaving last year. King asked if they are acting all the time or ever get stirred up. Vince said sometimes they get carried away. Triple H said it's hard not to get carried away with 70,000 screaming behind them. Triple H said it may staged, but it's not any less physical. He actually compared it to the "Ice Capades." There's an analogy for the ages!

-After the first commercial break, John Cena joined the show via satellite. He said it's "entertainment personified." Cena actually urged people who don't "get" what they do to tune in Sunday (and spend $50) to see how they deliver a spectacular that's worth every dollar.

-Vince took credit for doing a WrestleMania annual supershow. He said it was common sense. King asked if he's frustrated the sports section doesn't cover them. Vince says they fall between sports and variety. Triple H said outside of the United States they get covered in both sections; it's only in the U.S. they don't get covered. They should be thankful they don't get more coverage, actually, for a number of reasons.

-King read a reader question about whether Cena has recovered from surgery. Cena said he's doing well. He plugged that he's in New Orleans filming "12 Rounds." King asked, "What's left, Vince? You're conquering the world." They threw to a video game match between Vince and King. They showed King and Vince lauching at the various moves. King appeared to be on the verge of winning with an FU when they cut away.

-King asked about the steroid drug testing policy. Vince said: "Ours is great, actually. Ours compares to anything that's the equivalent of sport, whether it's NFL or any others. But we're entertainment, so it's very unusual for entertainers to be tested. Ours measures up with anyone's."

-King brought up that they announced to pay for drug treatment for wrestlers or former wrestlers "in the wake of the Chris Benoit tragedy." Vince said they've had a number of them take them up on that. King asked Cena about it. He said, "As far as, you know, performance-enhancing or any drugs go, it doesn't come down to what you do for a living, it's all a matter of personal choice. I think WWE does a fantastic job maintaining the integrity of the company and helping the talent if they do come forth with a problem, if they're active or non-active." King asked if Triple H took pain killers. He said he's torn is quad twice and only took pain pills for two days and hates them. He said it's "a load of crap" that people have to take them because of the wear and tear of the business. "It's a personal choice," he said.

-King asked how business is since the death of Chris Benoit. He said business is great. He said they weren't affected. "It's one of those things that will live with you forever. It could have happened to any company, to any sports teams. It certainly happens in the Post Office a lot. It's only to point out it can happen to anyone. Business-wise, it hasn't hurt." Vince said recently it came out that they had a lot of marital problems. "It's suspected that that, more than anything else, is the reason for the murder-suicide." Triple H said he's known Chris for many years and when he heard he and his family were found dead, he was sure somebody broke in and killed them all. He said he couldn't imagine it. He said, "Chris was a unique guy, but he was a good guy, seemingly, and I agree with Vince, that thing can happen to anybody. Who knows why it happens, but it was a complete shock to all of us."

-Chris Jericho joined the show after the break. He made a crack about the video game footage proving that King has legs. Someone should explain to Chris that it was a video game and doesn't prove that King actually has legs. That remains a mystery.

-King was amazed that WrestleMania is four hours long. He then asked if there's rehearsal, "for wont of better term." Vince said they don't. He laughed when King asked if they have storyboards. Jericho said it's like a good jazz band or improv comedian. "You have a certain mindset of what you want to do. You go out there and just follow each other... When you have professionals at this level, everybody works together. But we follow each other and do what the crowd says. We follows each other and just go for it." King asked if they're told to go 20 minutes and one of them wins. Triple H says they've done it enough they'd go out there and do it.

-Donald Trump joined the show by phone. He said Vince is a "tough cookie." He said Vince is a tough guy for taking his hard punches. He bragged about giving him a black eye. He said they broke every record in terms of ratings, PPV buys, and attendance. He said it'll be tough to top it this year. "There's nobody like him," he said regarding Vince. "He's a special guy. He's one of the great promoters of all time. He's also a great manager. Very rarely do you find that in business... Vince is a great manager and a great promoter - one person - and it's so seldom you see this." He said he saw him at the show last year behind the scenes manage everything. He said it's an amazing show. "To me, it's the greatest show on Earth." Vince said coming from Trump, that's a tremendous compliment. Vince admitted Trump beat him badly.

-King asked how profitable it is for the wrestlers. Jericho said the more tickets you sell, the better you do. He said you have to connect with the crowd and give them a reason to see you. Cena said he's doing all right. He said he enjoys the way the company sets up the scale. "They encourage you to work hard," he says. "If you're a superstar that's hitting a ton of home runs and doing the best you can, you are surely compensated for your actions. You are rewarded for your hard work. Nobody just shows up. You have to give your all the whole year. You are rewarded if you work hard." When King asked Triple H if he's compensated well, Vince chortled and said he's his son-in-law, so what else could he say. He said the upside is limitless. He said the pay structure is such that the sky is the limit. He said John Cena is one of the hardest working guys they've ever had and that's why he's as successful as he is. Vince bragged about how well the stockholders are doing, too.

-After another commercial, Floyd Mayweather joined the panel on set next to Chris Jericho, who seemed a little uncomfortable with Mayweather invading his space on the too-small-for-four table. When King asked Mayweather why he's fighting a wrestler, Mayweather said, "Why not?" King said, "Now this is a boxing match, right?" Vince said, "No. Whatever it is, we're going to figure it out." Mayweather interjected, "It's a fight. He can do what he wants to do." King asked why he'd risk it. Mayweather said it's worth it. Mayweather said WWE is full of entertainers, and he believes he's one of the best entertainers out there. He said he's been crazy about wrestling his whole life going back to when he was a kid. Vince said, "Floyd is so flashy, he's beyond boxing." He compared him to Muhammad Ali. He also said he likes to do business with "good people, and Floyd is good people." He said from an attraction standpoint, he's "extraordinary."

-King asked if Floyd is the favorite. Triple H said he won't pick a winner with Floyd right there. Vince said something about Floyd not being the favorite and Floyd didn't seem to like it based on his facial expression and body language, but that's just a guess. Jericho said "last week on Raw" (this was pretaped a couple weeks back) Big Show picked him up and threw him into the crowd.

-King finally asked the obvious question: "Chris, like other planned things, is this planned." Jericho said it's a strange one because when Mayweather punched Show, a broken nose wasn't planned. He said it's stepping outside of the box. Mayweather said it's not planned. "This one is not planned," he said. King asked if this would interrupt training for his September fight. Floyd said nothing is bigger than WWE. Vince said the boxing world is upset with Floyd. Vince said if there's even an accident, it could mess things up. He said Floyd is an independent thinker willing to take a risk. He said he's made the sport of boxing huge with huge gates and PPV buyrates. He ran down some numbers. King asked if he's worried about the risk he's taking. Floyd said the risk is worth the reward. King asked what they're paying him. Mayweather said, "Twenty million dollars." King asked Vince to confirm it. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he gets 20 million dollars. He's be worth every nickel of it," he said. That tends to imply, perhaps, that his $20 million so-called payday is incentive-ladel, which might mean he gets X-amount per every buy above last year's number, requiring a ridiculous increase in buys, such as a quadrupling of them, to get him to the $20 million figure.

-Mayweather added this: "I may be here to stay. I may not go back to boxing. It all depends." King said, "You're kidding!" Jericho then noted big boxers have been involved in WrestleMania in the past such as Ali and Mike Tyson.

-After another commercial, Big Show joined the show. He gave Mayweather an evil eye. He put his fist up to the side of Mayweather's head. His fist was almost bigger than Show's head. Mayweather ignored him and told King his coffee is good. Show put over Mayweather as "the greatest fighter on the planet." He said it's a good opportunity for him. King asked what his strategy is. He said he won't get down on one knee again. He said he might have fun and embarrass him. He said it's okay for a smaller guy to have a black eye, but it's tough for people understand how someone of his size got one. Mayweather said Show might squash him like a bug, but "you can't hit what you can't see." He said he's a smart, intelligent fighter. Vince said, "He broke his nose, he says he's going to break his jaw." Show said he spent a year boxing in Miami while he was away from WWE. He said he can throw a punch, too. "If there's a big cloud of dust and Floyd Mayweather disappears, you know I caught him with a real good shot."

-They went to fans on the street making their picks on the fight.

-Vince said there's a tremendous groundswell who are really into this fight. He said it's not just boxer vs. wrestler, but the personalities involved and the David vs. Goliath aspect. Show said he's going to rewrite the story. King said, "The great fear is he's going to fall on you." He asked what it would be like to be pinned. Mayweather said he's built on winning and loves to win. King asked if he's a fan of Floyd's boxing. Show said he is. He said he's a great psychologist in the ring and can frustrated his opponents. He said fans either love him or want to run him over with a taxi cab.

-After another break, King asked what the WWE Divas do. Vince said they're having a "bunny match" and he said he doesn't even know what that is.

-A reader email asked about wrestlers lives off-the-clock. Show said he spends time at home in Miami with his wife and dog. Jericho says he lives in Tampa with his wife and kids. Triple H said because he's married to Stephanie McMahon, Vince's daughter, who's the V.P. of creative, when he goes home, the subject is still wrestling. (He does have kids, by the way.) He said Vince always has him doing something. Vince said Cena does a lot of charity work and just got an award from Make-a-Wish. They all talked about visits to Iraq. Jericho said it was one of the best experiences of his life.

-After the break, they stood in front of the video wall for a video "I Ask" question from a fan. The fan asked what will be most memorable about WrestleMania. Vince ran down all of the top matches. King asked when the Mayweather-Show fight will be. Vince said he hasn't worked out the order yet.

-King asked about injuries. Hunter ran down his injuries. Vince joked his labotomy was the biggest surgery he had. King told Show, "You haven't been hurt?" Show said, "Just my feelings." King asked if he's ever lost. Show said in his 3,000 or so matches, he's lost one or two. King asked, "How do they beat you?" King still amazingly seems not to get that if he's scripted to lose, they can find a way. Show said some fans like him, some don't, and he says right down the middle. King asked how many more events before WrestleMania takes place. Vince said about 15, which for people thinking this show was live, they're going to be really amazed by WWE's schedule.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Not a particularly newsworthy or controversial interview. It certainly would make WWE's p.r. dept. and Vince McMahon pleased. King covered the drug policy and rehab policy swiftly and without any tough follow-up questions. They got to plug their considerable charity work and trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. They kept a certain level of mystique about the Mayweather-Show match. The wrestlers came across as well-spoken and professional and even funny at times. Good hour for WWE. Larry King got what he wanted out of it. The backstage video features and videogame footage involving King were entertaining additions to the show.

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