Freddie Prinze Jr. has made a name for himself in movies and TV shows but also has strong ties with WWE. The 44-year-old actor worked for the WWE in 2008 and 2009 as a member of the creative team but left the company because of a comment made by a WWE Hall of Famer. Prinze talked about his time in WWE on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast and said he quit WWE because of what Steve Austin said on the show Tough Enough.
“There was this show called Tough Enough and they tried to bring it back. Stone Cold was the judge,” Prinze said to Chris Van Vliet, as reported by Digital Spy. “He said, ‘You know how many times I won Father of the Year?’ He put a goose egg up. I was watching that show in the writer’s room. I stood up and I walked to Gorilla. I gave Vince [McMahon] my two weeks and I said, ‘I’m trying to win Father of the Year, man, I can’t work here anymore,’ and he said, ‘What? Talk to me after the show.’”
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Vince McMahon didn’t want Prinze to leave, which led to Prinze talking to McMahon’s daughter Stephanie who told him he was about to be promoted to head writer of SmackDown. “I was like, ‘Look, you know I love you guys, but I’m a dad and I’m out,’” Freddie added. “That was that. I quit and I never looked back.”
WWE is known for being a non-stop organization. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE talent would be on the road 300 days each year, working live shows, television tapings and pay-per-views. Austin was WWE’s biggest star in the late 1990s into the 2000s, which means he would be always traveling and not being at home as much he would have liked.
Last year, Prinze appeared on The New Day: Feel the Power podcast and explained who he landed a job in WWE. “And then, when I kind of made it, they would kind of put you right up front at WrestleMania shows like, yeah, that’s better than getting the best seat at a restaurant in LA. You know what I mean?” Prinze said as reported by EWrestlingNews. “Because I love wrestling. And then when I was there, I met some random people, and they were like, ‘Dude, you should talk to Vince. You’ll say no and not just crap on it. You’ll have ideas too.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I should talk to Vince.’”
