During a recent interview with “Insight with Chris Van Vliet”, Freddie Prinze Jr. commented on Triple H possibly taking over WWE, why he left the company, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On thinking WWE was going to be sold and Triple H potentially taking over the company: “Instead of taking a salary when I worked there, I took stock. So, my whole salary was stock. We just sold it last year. It was a lot, and I got it at nothing because it was nothing in 2009 or 2010. But I believed in what I was doing at the time and I believed in the company. I saw them selling stock because he was purchasing the XFL at the time, so I thought they were getting ready to sell the company. I was like, ‘This may not be with their family in 10-15 years. This may go like when FOX bought the Dodgers.’ Then, I saw FOX buy SmackDown. I was like, ‘Dude, I think FOX is going to buy WWE.’ I seriously did because they were selling stock – Hunter and Vince. That was public. That’s not a secret. So, I sold all my stock and cashed out. Then, I just kind of sat back and waited. So, half of me thinks that Hunter will take over, which would be good for the business, even though I wasn’t Hunter’s favorite person. We didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.”
On Triple H’s mind for wrestling and knowing what the fans want: “His mind for wrestling was sick. Even if I disagreed with him, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a really good idea. I would just rather do mine.’ We just liked our own shit more, but he can do everything. He can book, he can write, he can act, and he can conceptualize ideas. How do you come up with The Fiend? Bruce Prichard had to conceptualize it or Bray had to. Somebody had to conceptualize it before anything was ever written. Hunter can do that. He can write, he can wrestle, and he can teach. Not tell, teach! Again, this is probably somebody who doesn’t even like me that much, but I’ll still say great things about him because it’s true. I’ve watched him do it backstage. I’ve seen him show guys how to work their way through promos. I’ve seen him work with the women in such a respectful way.
“So, if he takes over, I think the wrestling business would be in the perfect hands. I think you would start seeing much more of the television promises you get. Like when The McMahon Family says, ‘Oh, we’re going to listen to the fans!’ No, they’re not. That’s just a promo. But when Hunter’s there, he already knows what y’all want and he’s going to be more able to give that to you. If it doesn’t go that way. If it does go by the way where a conglomerate buys it, like a Rupert Murdoch or FOX, then it’s done. It is done and that product will suffer the same way the Dodgers sucked because it’s just an acquisition. It’s not something they care about. It’s simply a business acquisition.”
On his decision to quit WWE: “There was this show called Tough Enough and they tried to bring it back. Stone Cold was the judge. There was a mom that wanted to be a wrestler and she said she was doing it for her kids. Steve Austin said, ‘That’s bullshit.’ He said, ‘You know how many times I won Father of the Year?’ He put a goose egg up. I was watching that show in the writer’s room. I stood up, I walked to Gorilla, and I gave Vince my two weeks. I said, ‘I’m trying to win Father of the Year, man, I can’t work here anymore.’ He said, ‘What? Talk to me after the show.’ I talked to Stephanie after the show. He got in the limo and was flying back to Stamford and I was flying back to LA. I let her know and she was like, ‘Man, we were about to give you SmackDown. You were going to be the head writer, so I can’t believe it.’ She was disappointed. I was like, ‘Look, you know I love you guys, but I’m a dad and I’m out.’ That was that. I quit and I never looked back.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
