Former Spike TV president Kevin Kay says his first meeting with Vince McMahon was a “total power move.”
In 2000, Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN after more than seven years, during the WWF era. TNN later became Spike TV, and Kay went on to become the network’s president.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Kay recalled being told to meet McMahon after the deal was finalized.
Jim Burns, who was our executive in charge of production of WWF at the time, said, ‘Now that you’re running this, you need to go meet Vince and pay your respects.’ And I said, ‘Sure. When’s the next show at Madison Square Garden?'
The next show was in Louisville. Kay said it was his first live WWF event, and he called it “spectacular.” After the show, he was taken backstage to meet McMahon in an unusual setting.
They take me down into the bowels of the stadium to go meet Vince. And there’s a lineup of, you know, it’s in a men’s room, the stadium men’s room. There’s like 50 urinals. Vince is at the very end, urinating, and we’re standing there.
And Vince is finished, and he, like, zippers up his pants and walks straight at me, and he puts out his hand. Total power move. I shook his hand. What are you going to do?
Asked whether McMahon did it on purpose, Kay said he believes so.
I think so. I think it was just like, yeah, you know, ‘I’m in charge.'
Kay and McMahon clashed years later, when WWE was preparing to move Raw back to the USA Network. Kay said he warned McMahon about chants being aired on the show.
I said, ‘Well, if you keep doing that, I think I’m just going to first thing I’m going to have to do is cut the audio.’ And he’s like, ‘You’re not going to do that.’ And I did.
According to Kay, McMahon responded by putting more provocative shots of the Divas on air. That led to a heated phone call, where Kay drew a line.
How about we start with no vaginas?” Kay said he told McMahon.
Raw returned to the USA Network in 2005.
