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Vince McMahon is a polarizing figure in the world of wrestling. On the one hand, he helped make wrestling what it is today by ending the reign of the wrestling territories. However, many feel that Vince McMahon's idea of wrestling and wrestlers has become outdated.
WWE is often acknowledged as one of the most difficult places for a wrestler to work due to the eccentricities of the Chairman. Combined with the stress of touring during a normal year, wrestlers have a lot to do to maintain their position in the company.
Most of the time, when wrestlers leave WWE, they have issues with the WWE Chairman. However, that's not always the case. On a few rare occasions, released wrestlers even go out of their way to praise him.
The following are five wrestlers who praised Vince McMahon after their release. It should be noted, these wrestlers may have been released by WWE, or might have been released of their own volition.
#5 Aleister Black on his relationship with Vince McMahon
Aleister Black is one of the top wrestlers in the world. Beloved by wrestling fans, Black's run in WWE NXT made him an iconic member of the roster.
Unfortunately, when he made his way to the main roster, he didn't really find his place as a part of the company. After several start-stop runs on the main roster, Aleister Black was released from WWE earlier this month. Following his release, Black spoke about his relationship with Vince McMahon in an interview:
"In all my conversations I've ever had with Vince, he was always very positive. I have a good relationship with Vince. I always told him how I felt. He always respected that about me. He always praised me on my creativity and my ability to have manners and respect, but still being honest with him about how I felt. You never truly know why things end the way they did. All I can tell you from my point of view and the word that I was always given was that Vince was always pretty high on me. I did well on television."
Black also talked about some of the ideas that Vince McMahon told him about his character, even though they didn't always pan out.
#4 Gerald Brisco on being released by Vince McMahon
Gerald Brisco, one of the most famous legends of the wrestling business, had a long-standing relationship with Vince McMahon. He didn't wrestle in WWE for too long, retiring from in-ring competition soon after he joined. However, he decided to stay on in another capacity.
The WWE Superstar was one of the most important men behind the scenes. Known for his on-screen role as one of Vince McMahon's stooges, Gerald Brisco worked hand-in-hand with the WWE Chairman backstage as well. He worked as a road agent and booker for the company for a long time, until the pandemic hit. In April 2020, he was furloughed from the company. In September 2020, he was released from WWE altogether.
The former superstar revealed that Vince McMahon had personally called him and informed him of his release.
Despite being released from WWE, Gerald Brisco only had good things to say about the WWE Chairman and the company. He thanked Vince McMahon for letting him be a part of the change that WWE brought to wrestling:
"Thanks @wwe for 36 awesome 👏 years I was given an opportunity to work with thousands of brilliant staff and crew and so many talented Wrestlers and most of all the getting to be part of helping @VinceMcMahon create a empire not many people get that y,Forward"
While Gerald Brisco may have retired, his influence on the wrestling business will never be forgotten.
#3 Renee Young on Vince McMahon after her release
Renee Young had good things to say about Vince McMahon after her WWE release.
While technically not a WWE Superstar, Renee Young was one of the most beloved figures in the company during her tenure there. Starting off backstage as an interviewer, Renee Young made history by becoming the first-ever female commentator on the WWE RAW broadcast team.
Heralded as one of the best non-wrestling personalities in WWE for her work on WWE Backstage and Talking Smack, she is also well-known for her relationship with Jon Moxley.
She shocked both the fans and WWE when she revealed that after SummerSlam 2020, she would no longer be working for the company. Fans were not ready for the revelation and there were rumors of a falling out between her and the company. After her release, Young had a lot to say about WWE, both positive and negative.
She complimented Vince McMahon and talked about how much his opinion meant to her.
“If Vince gives you a laugh? Or a smile and a “good job”? Or a handshake and a NOD OF APPROVAL?! Man, right then, it’s like nothing else in the entire world matters. You’re king for a day.”
Renee Young is still one of the most popular figures in professional wrestling.
#2 Cody Rhodes defends Vince McMahon
Cody Rhodes left WWE in 2016 after a long run with the company. He has since said complimentary things about Vince McMahon multiple times.
Since his release, Cody Rhodes has become one of the biggest figures in wrestling. Helping Tony Khan and The Young Bucks open up All Elite Wrestling, he is one of the biggest rivals that WWE has today.
Despite being a rival figure, he has only complimented Vince McMahon. He has defended the Chairman's decisions to the fans publicly and made his opinion known.
After the foundation of AEW, Cody Rhodes was once also asked if Brodie Lee's character was a spoof of Vince McMahon. Rhodes defended Vince in what he said next, also saying that he would always speak highly of the Chairman:
"So I can never tell you the original plan and I don’t even know if there was an original plan and I will say, very unlikely on AEW, you’ll ever hear the name of Vince McMahon said and if you do hear me say it in interviews and in general, I always speak very highly of Vince, because, well A, he’s Vince McMahon and B, I was a WWE guy to start. I didn’t come from anywhere else. I came through their feeder system and they were the house that built me so, when it comes to some of the parallels, I don’t wanna be vague or coy with your question."
He also denied that Brodie Lee was an outright spoof of Vince McMahon.
#1 Chris Jericho on his relationship with Vince McMahon
Chris Jericho and Vince McMahon have had a decades-long relationship. The former AEW World Heavyweight Champion has often spoken candidly about the WWE Chairman, opening up about what he thought of him multiple times.
Jericho has spoken about the issues that Vince McMahon has in his style of leadership. However, he has also been candid about his relationship with the WWE boss, and how he still speaks to him on a regular basis. Talking about what he missed in WWE, he confessed that he missed his interactions with Vince:
"Honestly, my interactions with Vince. I really, really enjoyed working for Vince McMahon because he challenged me, he challenged me as a professional. He challenged me on my ideas. It wasn't easy and at the end of the day is Vince's ice cream shop, as Pat [Patterson] would say, and you're living in it."
Chris Jericho is responsible for making AEW what it is today, after becoming the first-ever champion for the new promotion. Despite working in AEW, the superstar has kept in contact with his former boss.
To stay updated with the latest news, rumors, and controversies in WWE every day, subscribe to Sportskeeda Wrestling’s YouTube channel.
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