"WrestleMania was going to be held on March 28, 2010, in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, with a quadruple main event of Vince vs. Bret Hart, Cena vs. Batista, Michaels vs. Undertaker II, and Jericho vs. Edge. It was slated to be one of the biggest Manias ever and a few weeks before the show, I was asked to fly on Vince’s private jet from Raw in Nashville to Phoenix for a press conference.
It was about a four-hour flight and Vince, Cena, Kofi Kingston, Laurinaitis, and I passed the time by playing cards, listening to AC/DC and The Rolling Stones (of course) and drinking straight Jack Daniel’s. After the confrontation with HBK in France [a future Pro Wrestling Stories installment], I no longer drank brown alcohol, as Jack and Jericho still didn’t get along. But I was hanging with the boss and there wasn’t anything else on the plane, so I indulged. Bad idea because after four hours of being on the same aircraft, Jack kicked Jericho’s ass. I was completely shitfaced (all of us were) when the plane landed, and I was in a nasty mood. Drunkicho was back and he was pissed . . . literally.
The plane pulled up on the tarmac and we stayed aboard for a few extra minutes to finish up our drinks. Kofi got up to leave, and Vince made some sort of a jokey comment along the lines of “Maybe you’ll get over one of these days.
I thought it was an unfair remark and caught up to Kofi on the runway.
“You have to go back on the plane and challenge him to a fight right now. If you don’t, he’ll know he can walk all over you whenever he wants. If you go challenge him, he’ll love it and respect you for it.”
I wasn’t ribbing Kofi. I legitimately meant what I said and wanted to see him stand up for himself. To his credit, he only thought about it for a few seconds before marching back up the steps of the jet. I followed closely behind.
“How’s your dad?” Vince asked me as I got to the top of the stairs. “Tell him to give me a call! I really like that guy and would love to chat with him again!” They’d met once.
Kofi piped up and said with some big-boy bass in his voice, “Vince, do you have a problem with me?”
Vince looked him in surprise as Kofi repeated the question.
“Maybe I do,” Vince replied. “Do you wanna do something about it?”
Kofi swallowed hard, knowing he’d gone too far to turn back now. “Do you want me to do something about it?”
“Do you want to do something about it?” Vince repeated as he looked seriously into Kofi’s eyes from his chair.
“Do YOU want me to do something about it?”
“Do YOU want to do something—” Vince double-legged Kofi mid-sentence. They scuffled and rolled around in the aisle for a few seconds, until Vince got up laughing.
“That’s the way to do it!” he belly laughed and got off the plane.
Kofi looked at me for justification and I gave him a big thumbs-up.
I’m not sure if he gained Vince’s respect that night, but he sure gained mine.”
