Saddam Hussein's high school classmate and eventual pro wrestling champion, Adnan Al-Kasey, was a mark. Saddam loved wrestling, but totally believed in it. Did not know that wrestling was a staged endeavor. He asked Andre the Giant to do a match with him; right before the match, he had to like whisper to Andrei while they were wrestling across the language barrier between Arabic, English and French.
If you hate Vince McMahon, then maybe you’ll buy a tee-shirt for his rival. And that’s a great outcome for the WWE.
Abraham Josephine Riesman is the author of “Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America.” Ricky Mulvey caught up with Riesman to discuss:
- Vince McMahon’s early life as a “pretty nice kid”, and the parts of his story he doesn’t want wrestling fans to know. - WWE’s potential deal with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. - The Montreal Screwjob, and the groundwork for the modern WWE. - A story about Saddam Hussein’s side job as a wrestling promoter, Andre the Giant, and a golden gun.
Company discussed: WWE
Host: Ricky Mulvey Guest: Abraham Josephine Riesman Engineer: Dan Boyd
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