Stu Snyer made a bold suggestion to Vince McMahon.
In 2000, Vince McMahon announced the XFL, his new venture in football, which built off the success of WWE.
The league only lasted one season.
Speaking to Eric Bischoff on 83 Weeks, former WWE President Stu Snyder recalled his first meeting with Vince McMahon and questioning the decision.
"I said, 'I do have a question? Can I ask you about this venture you just announced called XFL.' He said, 'Yes.' Vince got very serious. 'I'm trying to understand the positioning, the take, why you're doing it and how does it fit into the job you want me to do? What's the game plan?' He explains it a little bit. Vince is a genius from the standpoint of business and how he looked at life and things. I give him a lot of credit for a lot of things. He says, 'I can tell by your question that you have some doubt.' I said, 'I have some questions because it sounds like it's going to be very expensive, high risk. You have a very successful company. Did you ever think maybe of buying Arena Football League? You can control it, centralize it, it's in arenas where WWE has tons of shows. You can leverage the arena fees. All of those things.' He looks at me and just goes, 'Arena Football is not football. Not even compared to football.' At that point, I figured I blew it," he said.
Snyder ended up getting the job as WWE President despite questioning McMahon's decision.
Elsewhere during the interview, Snyder recalled WWE's original plan to purchase WWE. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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