Immediately following the huge press conference to announce the return of Wrestlemania to New Orleans, Vince McMahon sat down with NOLA.com to give a wide ranging interview about his past and his future.
He spoke about how he built his empire, through "logic" and "luck" with a lot of gambling thrown in there, too.
"It's logical, the application of logic in terms of where you want to go," he said. "It's all logical. When you look back on it, it could have gone the other way. The other aspect of that is competition. People look at us today and say you're a billion-dollar organization, you're no longer a small business. This whole business started with one guy, me, when I bought my dad out and his other stockholders on a balloon payment basis over a year. If I didn't meet all those payments on time, then my dad and his stockholders kept all the money and got the business back.
"That was the first gamble before WrestleMania. I was a gamble. And so many others. I call them gambles, but to me it's all logic. It's a gamble, but at the same time, it's all calculated risk. It's not risk for risk sake's. But there's risk nonetheless."
"I grew up with no barriers, which can be a bad thing and a good thing. It served me well in somewhat of a unique childhood. When people ask me about the success of the organization, I never did not think that it would get here. But it's all logical, there's nothing magical behind this. It's all based on good, solid business logic.
And a work ethic, lot of luck in there, too. I consider myself the luckiest man in the world, and without a doubt, I am. From a personal standpoint, business standpoint, spiritual standpoint, all of it. So with no ceilings, again, I never thought it wouldn't be here today."
And now that Vince is here, he doesn't plan on leaving any time soon. He says he won't even slow down:
"No. No, never. This is not work for me. I never go to work. Ever. Every aspect of the business, whether it's working with the talent or the writing staff, even on occasion working with the legal guys, it's all a big family. I never go to work.
"I never sleep. ... I don't know that it's an age thing. I just do it because I do it. It's just something you love and have the passion for. You can't get enough of that. How can you get enough of what's really, really good? You can have steak every night and get accustomed to that, but that's not what this is. This is not work."
They say if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Vince McMahon seems to agree.
