Tito Santana worked for both Vincent James McMahon and Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and he recently analyzed the differences between the two stalwarts in a recent appearance on the “Wrestling Then And Now” podcast.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his experiences with Vince Sr. and Vince Jr.: “Vince Sr. was known for being a man of his word. He didn’t make me any promises, so I didn’t have to deal with that from him, as far as him being a man of his word. But I heard all the other boys go ‘Vince [Sr.] tells you something he’s going to do it.’ Vince [Jr.] could change his mind overnight, and there’s nothing you could do. There was no talking, or changing his mind. I think Vince Jr. was more of a brutal businessman than Vince Sr., but I didn’t have that much experience with Vince Sr. It’s hard for me to compare.”
On his WWE career: “I was in the WWF longer than anybody else at the time that I left. So it was a good career. Could I have made more money? Yes. Could I have had better positions? Yes. But it wasn’t my choice.”
Jake Manning works in AEW’s merchandise department, and he recently spoke with the “Under The Ring” podcast to reveal how he was able to land the job.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On how he ended up working for AEW: “Desperation. It was one out of desperation. I worked for Highspots.com, and we worked very hard on the virtual sales that we would do. I was very much at the forefront of that, got very disillusioned about my time there, and exited. With no plan. None whatsoever. I had no idea. I just knew I couldn’t be there anymore. I knew it was time to go. It was long, long overdue for me to leave. I left and had no idea what I was going to do. Wasn’t sure if my place in wrestling would be a thing anymore because I do feel like I was given a lot of opportunities, because I worked at Highspots, because everybody wanted a deal on ring canvas, they wanted us to show up and film the show. There’s a lot of good brother network stuff I was going to miss out on, and I knew my wrestling would take a hit.”
On contacting people to get a job: “I was emailing people left and right to book me wherever, however. AEW was coming to Charlotte, and I knew a bunch of people in AEW. I had been begging them for a job, whether it was the ring crew, social media, video editing, or every one of those things that I could do, I was pitching it to people and every department, except for the merch department,” he said. “I’ll never forget sitting in a Planet Fitness in Greenville, South Carolina, and knowing that AEW was going to be in Charlotte and I had not received an email about being an extra, and I go, ‘Man, how low am I? My house is five minutes away from this building where AEW is going to run at, and I can’t even get booked to be an extra, and I really needed this money right now.
“I had emailed Captain Shawn Dean three times, no reply. Here we are, the Sunday before. I’m going to email him one more time, and then it’s not on me. So, when people ask, ‘Why weren’t you on the AEW show in Charlotte?’ I can say, ‘Well, I tried four times.’ I sent the email and immediately got a reply back within an hour, ‘Yeah, sure. You can come. I showed up, just being an extra. I ended up being a Team Taz member with a trombone, getting clotheslined by Brian Cage. That was cool, but the coolest thing was I got to see Shane Hagadorn from my Ring of Honor days, he works in the merch department, and we started talking.”
On being at a crossroads at the time: “I was just talking to Shane Hagdaorn about Highspots, and I’m really kind of between stuff. That’s when Christine Myers just came in and saved my life. She overheard that I had left high spots. She was aware of my work in Highspots and was like, ‘Hey, we need more people to help for this upcoming Fan Fest we have. You’ve run conventions before. How would you like us to put some money in your pocket?’ I said ‘absolutely,’ even though knowing the dates she was giving me, there were two college football games at the Bank of America Stadium. So I knew that was going to be an issue with my $12/hour job, which is the only guaranteed income I was gonna have, but any opportunity to get my foot in the door, just for a chance, for an opportunity. She just saved my life. I worked as hard as I possibly could for that opportunity, and here I am.”
