John Layfield (JBL) comments on being produced by Vince McMahon during his time as an announcer

While speaking on the “Something To Wrestle With” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer John Layfield (JBL) commented on being produced by Vince McMahon during his time as an announcer…

“Michael Cole and I were on the headset with Vince and Kevin Dunn. And you know, a lot of other people were on headsets, but Vince a lot of times would talk to us during the show. Sometimes he’d talk to us about the show. Sometimes, he talked to just me about the show. Because he had no one to talk to back there because he’s got his headphones on, so he’s not really got a chance to talk to somebody. So he would talk to us. And so we got an insight into Vince for years that nobody had insight into. I mean, we heard the stuff that went on all throughout the backstage area that literally nobody else heard. Now, there are other guys who had better access and things like that, but we heard all the stuff directly from Vince.”

“The big misnomer is that Vince dictated everything. 100% not true. Vince was the best producer I’ve ever worked with. He would give you very succinct phrases. And sometimes I’d be one word behind him, because I trusted him so much. And he would lead us to a place… Vince used to give us notes directly to me and Michael Cole, which is cool because he opened everything up. He would tell us about creative going forward because he knew he could trust us. In the creative meetings — which was the production meetings they called, but they’re also a mix of creative — Vince wouldn’t do that, because there are always stooges in the production meeting. So Vince wouldn’t open up everything. So when Vince would give you commentary a lot of times, sometimes he’d say stuff — and I know this is not going to be a shock — that made no sense whatsoever. But it would make sense a week later.”

“People get him all kinds of credit for not making sense on some stuff. Vince nearly always had a plan. And sometimes he’d tell you something, I would just say it. For one, it’s his sandbox. It’s his company. We’re not real commentators, by the way. Michael Cole used to always say, ‘If I get into the Hall of Fame-‘ which Michael Cole will one day would say. He said, ‘I’m gonna get up there and say, I’m a fake wrestler calling a fake sport with a fake name, thank you, and that’s it.’ We’re not real commentators. So when Vince would say something, I would just repeat it. A lot of times, it’d play out a week later sometimes. Because Vince knew what was coming forward. It was pretty cool when you sometimes say something that was disconnected, and you know something’s coming up that’s pretty cool.” (quotes courtesy of 411Mania.com)