J.J. Dillon Discusses Vince McMahon Creating New Gimmicks For Incoming Talent

Former wrestling manager J.J. Dillon said Vince McMahon is not a big fan of ideas that are not his own and wants to create his own stars.

In a new segment on Fightful's "The List & Ya Boy" podcast with Fightful managing editor Sean Ross Sapp and Fightful owner Jimmy Van, Sean Ross Sapp sat down with Dillon. The former Four Horsemen manager said that certain wrestlers who have made a name for themselves in places outside WWE are repackaged under a new gimmick because of issues dealing with ownership of a character.

“It would all have to do with the rights of the persona and the name,” Dillon said. “There were exceptions like Ric Flair and Bret Hart or like Steve Austin. The deal with Steve Austin with the marketing and the thing that was copyrighted for the likeness was the Stone Cold character. So that’s why everything was Stone Cold and the t-shirts with the verse on them. So every character that came in, Vince had a way. He did not embrace something that he did not create. In other words, he wouldn’t bring in the Road Warriors and immediately push them to the top. Instead, he created his own version of the Road Warriors which was Demolition. So he had the rights to those names, likenesses and everything in terms of marketing and merchandise.”   

Dillon also said McMahon wants the stars in his company to be his creation. Dillon said discussing matters such as storylines and ideas went through a process.

“Vince was hands-on in every aspect of the business in the office during the week,” Dillon said. “None of the creative was addressed during the week. That was all done during the weekend, casual dress in Vince’s home. In the winter months, we would be in his living room, summer months we would be outside with the cabana overhead and the pool would be there. [Shane and Stephanie McMahon] would be playing outside, splashing in the pool while we would be working. Vince took credit for everything that was good, never took credit for anything that was bad.”

"The List & Ya Boy" podcast can be seen on Fightful every Wednesday at 3 p.m. live on Fightful.com.