Former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. recently spoke to GQ about his career with the company and more. You can check out the full interview here along with a few highlights below.
How long it took him to convince Vince McMahon to make Jeff Hardy WWE Champion:
“All I wanted to do was find a way to make Jeff Hardy champion when I was there. That was my main goal. I co-wrote that with Michael Hayes and Chris DeJoseph, and the three of us together worked really hard to create this story. In a publicly traded corporation, if you have a troubled artist on the roster, on TV as a role model, that’s a real massive hurdle to jump. So instead of hiding from it, which the company felt it had to do, we pitched this crazy idea where we embraced it and I tried to have it be reflective of other tortured artists. Like, the River Phoenix’s of the world, or my father. Or any artist who had something special and unique to express, had a physical way to express it, but for who the pain was too much at times. That’s really what I was writing for Jeff.
Oh, I would say I wanted to make Jeff champion and everyone would tell me to shut up. They actually said that. It’s a huge responsibility to wear a publicly traded company’s title around your waist and they had every right to disagree with the idea. But Vince really got behind it. I remember we were in a production meeting leading up the Armageddon pay-per-view and we wanted Jeff to go over in his match that night. There was some dissent in the room and Vince finally goes, “Jeff goes over and nobody touches him on the way to Armageddon.” For the next few weeks we kept pitching the same story going forward, making sure everybody was on the same page, and then on the day of the pay-per-view, there was a huge conversation between Vince and a couple voices that weren’t so sure about it. They had legit reservations and eventually we were asked to leave the room, so it was just Vince and those people. It wasn’t until everyone came out that we knew Jeff was going to win the title and I kind of sat back and took a breath because it was this crazy roller coaster. The wrestling business is so crazy. You’re on the road and you’re not sleeping or eating right. It was such an emotional roller coaster and finally it was this sort of relief. I had done good stuff in the company before but that was the first time I really felt good. It took a long time! Like, six months. And he didn’t get hurt!”
How he got his job with WWE:
Why John Cena is never going to turn heel:
“That’s why Vince hesitates on the smaller guys holding the belts, because they get hurt. Usually the story is a guy like Shawn Michaels climbs the mountain, climbs the mountain, climbs the mountain and then would tumble. Shawn was unbreakable, so he got to hold the title multiple times, but that’s rare. Guys like Rey Mysterio? Climb, climb, climb, fall. Wrestling characters are archetype characters, just like in Shakespeare. That’s why John Cena is never going to be a heel. Never! These characters exist in that way and those rules will not break. Remember, when Hulk Hogan turned heel, it was the end of a company. So as great as that was for three years, bye! The guy who tells you to say your prayers and eat your vitamins is the guy you build your foundation on.”
