Bruce Prichard says WWE wanted to get John Madden to do color commentary for WrestleMania.
WWE has worked with many celebrities over the years. Among many other examples, Arnold Schwarzenegger, William Shatner, Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, Bob Uecker, Pete Rose, Mike Tyson, and Mr. T have gotten involved with the company.
Speaking on his Something To Wrestle podcast, WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard, was asked to name a celebrity that he wished he had the opportunity to work with in WWE, and he responded by bringing up legendary NFL commentator John Madden. He noted that WWE tried to get Madden to do color commentary for WrestleMania, as the company felt like it was a perfect fit. Prichard stated that Madden wanted to do it, and he was a fan of WWE, but they never managed to make it happen because the broadcaster didn't travel by plane.
"John Madden, man, we tried for such a long time. [Getting] John Madden to do color commentary for WrestleMania was our goal for the longest time. We thought he was a perfect fit. John was a fan, John wanted to do it, but John didn't travel by plane. In order to get John to our destination of WrestleMania on the three times, at least I worked on and tried to make happen, it just feasibly couldn't take place because where John was in the country with his bus, but I would have loved to have had John Madden to do color commentary with Gorilla or Vince for an entire WrestleMania, and he knew it. He knew the show. He knew the characters. He loved the characters. I would have probably wanted to put him with Vince and Bobby [rather than] Gorilla because he was so much like Gorilla in his delivery in the things that he saw and the way that he saw the business," Prichard said.
Madden was a legendary coach in the NFL, he led the Oakland Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI, and he went on to become an icon as a broadcaster. Over the years, Madden worked for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, FOX Sports, and NBC Sports, and he called several Super Bowl games. The 16-time Emmy Award winner was also the face of the Madden video game franchise for several years. In 2005, EA reportedly paid $150 million in 2005 for the right to use his name and likeness for perpetuity. Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and he retired in 2009. He passed away on December 28, 2021.
Prichard previously recalled how Brock Lesnar broke his nose by kicking a wall into his face. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Prichard had to say about how Shawn Michaels came up with the idea to put Road Dogg and Billy Gunn together.
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