Tyrus recalls avoiding a fine from Vince McMahon despite dropping an F-bomb live on Raw.
The former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion spoke with Bully Ray on Maintaining with Tyrus. He explained how a match with The Big Show saw him yelling out the F-Word live on TV, although he later talked his way out of a fine from Vince McMahon.
He hurt himself when Big Show hit him with the announce table. However, after telling McMahon that swearing was the first thing that came to mind, he let him go without a fine.
“When someone had the idea that it would be a good idea for Big Show to hit me with the announce table, I thought, ‘It’s never been done before,’ and there’s a very good reason for that! But I just wanted to impress, so I went along with it.” Tyrus said.
“It was early in the day, and Michael Hayes was our agent. It was me and Big Show, and at that time, Bruce was undefeated. The premise was that instead of having a match, Bruce was going to try to take my leg out.”
“Big Show comes down, and we’re talking through the spot. Someone says, ‘Hit him with a chair,’ but Big Show’s done plenty of chairs before. Then, I think it was AR who goes, ‘What if he hit him with a table?’ I thought he was just being a smartass.”
“But they started talking about it, and there was really only one way to do it: pick up the table and swing it. I’m standing there thinking, ‘God, man, who thought of this?’ Michael Hayes says, ‘Brothers, come here.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, crap. Yes, sir.'”
Tyrus: All I Can Say Is ‘F***!’
“He tells Big Show to try it out on me first to see how it feels. Show looks at me like, ‘What do you want to do?’ Hayes says, ‘Get on all fours.’ I’m thinking, ‘What kind of weird PR stunt is this?’ But I get on all fours, and Show picks up the table.”
“Hayes tells him, ‘When you hit him, aim for the shoulders or the upper back.’ That table covers everything, so I brace myself. The first hit lands, and BAM—it’s hard, but I make the stupid mistake of joking, ‘Thank you, sir, may I have another?’ Vince laughed and said, ‘This is what we’re doing.'”
“Show hits me again—BAM—and Hayes says, ‘That’s perfect. Remember, aim up top.'”
“Fast forward to Monday Night Raw. It’s the big feud with Show. We get to the spot, and I’m selling, but this time I don’t go on all fours. I’m coming up for him to hit me, and Show’s excited—maybe a little too excited.”
“For whatever reason, he swings, and instead of hitting my upper back, he hits the small of my back. All I can say is, ‘F***!’ It just echoed through the arena. I felt the nerves in my fingers go numb immediately, and we still had two more shots to go.”
Vince McMahon Didn’t Fine Him After The Explanation
“He hits me again—BANG, BANG. By the end, every announcer is telling me, ‘You can’t say that on Raw!’ I’m lying there thinking, ‘Just get me out of here.’ They strap me to a gurney to carry me out, and I’m like, ‘Let me leave on my own—I know what’s waiting for me backstage.'”
“Sure enough, I get backstage, and Vince is waiting there with Dusty. Vince asks, ‘Why did you say ‘f***’ on my Monday Night Raw?'”
“I told him, ‘At the time, sir, it was the only thing that came to mind.’ Vince just laughs and says, ‘No fine. You’re good. Did you hear this motherf***er?'”
