David Sahadi Recalls Making Vince McMahon Cry With Attitude Era Commercial

During the Attitude Era in WWE the company would run commercials promotion wrestlers as athletes and explaining how the business as changed. 

One spot featured legends such as Freddie Blassie, Pat Patterson, Gorilla Monsoon, and others discussing how the superstars of the current era could do things that they never could have imagined. Fans can watch the commercial spot by clicking here. 

The commercial was designed to be a “passing of the torch” to the Attitude Era and was produced by David Sahadi. 

Appearing on Talk N Shop with Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson, Sahadi discussed the spot and how it made Vince McMahon cry. 

“Kevin Dunn calls me, I’m doing the shoot in Albany, and he goes, ‘Vince called and can’t understand why you’re shooting these old guys.’ He didn’t understand it was a passing of the torch spot. He goes, ‘It better be fucking good because he’s very upset.’ I’m like, ‘Trust me, he’s going to love it.’ A week later when the spot was does, we called him into the audio room to listen on the big screen and play it out loud. 15 seconds in, it’s him, Shane (McMahon) and I think Pat Patterson, 15 seconds in [Vince] is like, ‘Oh God. Oh God. Jesus. Oh God.’ He walked out before the tag page even came up. I turn to Shane and said, ‘He hates it, doesn’t he?’ He goes, ‘No, you got him.’ I swear to you on my life, I walked outside this studio and Vince is sitting on the ground in tears, just drenched with tears and he’s saying, ‘Thank you so much.’ I walk up to tell Kevin Dunn that and Kevin does, ‘You did a good job. I can’t wait to see the spot.’ 20 minutes later, I walk back to the studio and Vince is in the stairwell, sitting down with Pat Patterson and Shane and he’s still crying, saying, ‘Thank you, thank you so much.’ I think one reason why is effected Vince so much is that he saw it wasn’t just a passing of the torch from one wrestling generation to another, but also the legacy of his dad to him. I think he felt on a visceral and personal level. To make Vince McMahon cry, it’s one of my top spots of all time even though I’ve done far more creative thing, but there is emotion in that spot and it’s all about emotion,” he said.

Sahadi worked in WWE from 1992 to 2003, serving as the Creative Director of On-air Promotions.

He currently works for IMPACT Wrestling as a producer. 

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