Vince McMahon relinquished his role as CEO and Chairman of WWE in 2022 following reports of hush-money allegations.
Although McMahon remained involved in and influenced the creative process, he departed the company in September after the WWE-UFC merger, when he assumed the role of Executive Chairman of TKO.
The 78-year-old billionaire ultimately resigned from TKO earlier this year following severe allegations made by former WWE employee Janel Grant.
On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Bully Ray shared his thoughts on the controversial plastic bag spot from the 2024 AEW All Out pay-per-view event, involving Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson.
Ray said, “The first thing that came to mind was Terry Funk and Ric Flair. How do you not think about that? Because Terry Funk and Ric Flair, to my knowledge, were the first and only people to do it. The implication was very violent.”
Ray quickly compared that angle to the iconic rivalry between Terry Funk and Ric Flair. However, he stated that such a spot would have been prohibited if Vince McMahon had been in charge.
Ray also discussed WWE’s traditional approach regarding using household objects as weapons in matches, especially during McMahon’s tenure.
He clarified that McMahon had stringent rules to prevent children from imitating the perilous actions they saw on TV.
Ray continued, “Vince did not want any weapons used that could be deemed regular household items. Vince didn’t want a child to be able to watch Monday Night Raw or SmackDown or any WWE programming and see them use a weapon they could find in their house and go use on their little brother, their little sister, or somebody at school. So I could see somebody who may be allowed their children to watch AEW who’d be like, ‘I’m upset because my 10-year-old saw the plastic bag spot and then immediately went into the kitchen and took a plastic bag and put it over his brother’s head.’”
While the edgier, more violent product of AEW has garnered praise, dangerous spots like the plastic bag angle have sparked concerns about the balance between real-life repercussions and entertainment.
