“I Will Never Forget the Phone Call”: WWE Legend Details How Billionaire Vince McMahon Bought a Casino Overnight
If you are making a list of one of the most successful individuals in the world, you got to include Vince McMahon’s name in it. Apart from enjoying success globally with WWE, Vince McMahon and WWE once bought a casino.
During an episode of Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, Bruce Prichard talked about Vince McMahon and WWE buying a casino.
He recalled the moment Mr. McMahon called him from Vegas to inform him about the purchase of the casino.
Prichard said, “We did buy a casino. The casino was something that was sprung upon us after he [Vince McMahon] did it. I will never forget the phone call.”
“He called me from Vegas. Other than Ed Kaufman, who was our legal counsel, I don’t know that anyone knew Vince was serious about going to buy a casino,” Bruce Prichard added.
Further, Prichard noted, “He had talked about we will have casinos, we will have theme restaurants, we will have our own network, we will have all of these things. He had always talked about those things and it just became a reality.”
Does Vince McMahon and WWE still own a casino?
As reported by WhatCulture, WWE bought Las Vegas’s Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino in an auction in 1998. Known as the WWF Hotel and Casino, it never really got going for some reason.
And in late 2020, Vince McMahon and WWE sold the property, putting an end to the WWF Hotel and Casino.
Mr. McMahon is a great businessman. There is no doubt about that. But this is not the only project that never really got going.
The WWE chairman previously owned the XFL. But just like the WWF Hotel and Casino, this XFL project of Mr. McMahon never really got going.
In 2020, Dwayne Johnson along with Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital purchased the XFL for $15 million from Mr. McMahon.
DIVE DEEPER
The XFL is expected to relaunch in early 2023. And everyone looks excited about it. Vince McMahon might also have an eye on this. But he will also look to focus on WWE’s product as AEW continuously challenges WWE.