Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: David Sahadi
Date: 02/06/2026
Your Host: James Walsh
David Sahadi is a name a lot of wrestling fans know. He’s one of the magicians behind the scenes that made the wrestling we know and love look as cool as it did. From vignettes looked at in a different way to show opens that have stayed in our minds for decades, Sahadi’s work left an undeniable mark on World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action, Major League Wrestling, and presently leaves its mark on Real American Freestyle.
In his new book, Sahadi goes over his many years in pro wrestling and behind talking about his life behind the scenes dealing with the stars we saw him shoot. A unique guy with a unique perspective, this conversation went on a while but covered a ton of ground.
In this portion of the interview, we discuss his venture into pro wrestling, dealing with Vince McMahon and his quirks, the Huckster and Nacho Man sketches, and crafting the amazing RAW is WAR show open that defined the Attitude Era. In our next write up which we hope to send out in a few days, we will have his beef with Kevin Dunn and “Big” John Guberick over the infamous “TNA Cookiegate” incident, The Rock’s inflated ego disappointing him, Real American Freestyle, and a whole lot more!
David Sahadi’s book “Backstage Pass” is available for pre-order on Amazon via ECW Press and Simon and Shuster.
The whole interview can be found right now at www.WrestlingEpicenter.com . You can also listen on YouTube. But, please check out our site. And, if you use this content, which we invite you to do, please link back to our site!
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ojHHCyMqYZ0
On the experience of writing the book:
“When I was writing this book, the Backstage Pass book, I realized that it wasn’t a book about stories everybody has already heard before. Everyone saw what happened on the show, the title changes and the story lines. Instead, a I was a producer, I found that the stories had more to do with me as a person and how I handled myself as well as how I saw others achieve success and how that success changed them. Some grew to develop huge egos while others stayed humble. I also saw guys that felt they deserved more fame than they achieved and how they handled that as well. It is really about human nature both about them and about me and that is expressed through these stories as I lived them.”
On the WWF becoming the WWE:
“When I started, it was still the WWF! World Wrestling Federation. It had an almost Star Trek feel to the ma,e you know? (laughs) Then, we had to change the name. Vince McMahon wanted to call it just WE, World Entertainment. I kid you not. That was a conversation we had for literally about a month before he was talked out of it. He settled on WWE and that is when we did the “Get the F Out” campaign.”
On why the World Wildlife Fund saw fit to sue World Wrestling Federation:
“I believe they were suing us for about a decade at that point. But, when our content got a little more risque and out there, that is when they won. We had Degeneration X. we had R rated content. And, that is what I miss right now, to be honest with you. We were doing things that had never been done before. But, that is when they finally got the verdict. I think they did because of the content. We were getting more salacious… Some people found it lewd. But, that was when it happened.”
On if the World Wildlife Fund’s objection had anything to do with the “Animal Scratch” WWE logo:
“(laughs) I’ve never heard it referred to that way before. When we were doing that logo, I originally had the logo in a circle and Vince McMahon didn’t like it. He views circles as being feminine. So, I said, “Well, what would you like?” he said, “How about a prison wall and it looks like someone scratching on a prison wall.” But, no. It was to do with our content. But, “Animal Scratch!” I LOVE that! Lets go with that as a new theory!”
On if he ever felt the Attitude Era was too risque:
“I actually liked that about the product, James. So, we can agree to disagree on that. I think it was time and it was time for the product to be different and try new things. But, I did have a problem with Katie Vick. I hated it. I had a big problem with that. I told them I did. I saw it as vile and offensive and not productive for our product in any way. The word inpugnant comes to mind. I haven’t used that word in 3 or 4 years. But, it is the word that came to mind. Lets go with that. And, I mean, what was there to gain from it?”
On what WWE did hope to gain from a necrophilia angle:
“Shock value. And, to get people to hate Triple H. But, they hated him already. So, why do it? Plus, it was so long. I mean, even 10 seconds of that is too much. But, it was like 2 or 3 minutes. I’ve only ever seen half of it. I didn’t want to see any more. It didn’t get me to leave just then. But, I wsn’t happy. I’d prefer it be erased from history. Lets put it that way.”
On his first impressions of the WWF:
“I was coming from NBC Sports. I was dealing with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Don Mattingly which I’m throwing in there because I’m a Yankees fan. And, the NFL guys… And, I find myself backstage at WWF Superstars and I am seeing Doink the Clown, Duke “The Dumpster” Drosse, Kamala… At first, I didn’t think Kamala spoke any English. But, I saw him and he was reading the New York Times in full paint. He saw me and said, “You’re the new guy! Come over here!” What a contradiction especially coming from the world of NBC Sports. The British Bulldog and Owen Hart followed me around, Owen kept telling me his name was Owen and he put a master lock on my belt. I was like, “What the Hell am I getting myself into?”
On how he did things differently:
“I started doing things differently. I did a spot in black and white. That is common to see now. But, then, it wasn’t. And, when I was doing it, I was asked, “What are you doing.” I said, “I’m doing this one in black and white.” “You can’t do that! We haven’t done that before!” I said “Yeah, and look at our ratings. We’re going down the toilet. We’re doing things different.” I did the thing with the guy from the Walker Texas Ranger show… Chuck Norris! I did this thing where you’d see him and you’d hear him with a voice over which is done everywhere now. I was on vacation and they called me, “Hey, we need you back at Stanford.” “Why?” “The audio is out of sync on the Chuck Norris spot.” I was like, “No, it was meant to be that way!” “Well, we’ve never done it that way before.” I said, “I know. We’re doing things differently now! We’re changing!””
On doing the spot that sparked the Attitude Era tag name:
“We did that spot where the guys would start by saying, “You don’t know me but” and then say their sports or other background. That was to bring in a real life sports aspect to it. It was real. And, at the end, I put in the word “Attitude.” And, that stuck. When Vince saw the script for that spot, he hated it! But, when he left the room, Kevin Dunn told me to do it anyway. “When he sees it, he’ll love it.” That spot, everyone loved it internally. And, it helped open the door for Vince Russo and Ed Farrara to write edgier television.”
On his take of Eric Bischoff saying WCW couldn’t look better than WWE so they strived to look different:
“I respected. I really did. I have a great relationship with Eric now with Real American Freestyle. Vince hated him. Vince didn’t want his name said during the Billionaire Ted vignettes. Those were a horrible way to spend 6 or 7 minutes of air time. It was to get under Eric’s skin and try to fight back what they (WCW) were doing. Eric didn’t care, by the way. He liked some of them! So did Ted Turner! But, I didn’t like it. I mean, they were OK at first. But, that was the start of one of my darker periods while there and I did end up refusing to do the last 2 or 3 that they did. They started to get bitter. Once you start talking to Ted Turner about his mental disease and taking Lithium, I mean, I didn’t like that. That was over the line.”
On the Huscker and Nacho Man’s finale getting booed by the live crowd at WrestleMania 12:
“No, people didn’t like it either. And, the last one was just mean. I think they all died of a heart attack or something. The reason that was on the pay per view, or the pre-show I think it was, is USA Network told us to stop doing them. They thought the first ones were humorous or whatever but they were right, they got too bitter and it became someone’s personal amorous playing out on television. That is why it was on the pre-show.”
On his favorite WWE spot:
“Probably the RAW is WAR open. There was fire, the ropes were on fire, there were explosions. Images of war reflected on the walls. That encapsulated who we were at that time in the war with Nitro in the Monday Night Wars. I loved that spot for a lot of reasons. A was because I love pyro! I love anything with pyro! That is why I loved working with the Undertaker so much! A couple stories about that shoot. We did it in this warehouse that was on a doc with a steel plate under it. But, it was probably the coldest day of the year. And, there was water under that steel plate. So, when your feet are cold, it is frigid!I mean, it was bone chilling and it takes a real long time to heat up from that! Well, Vince McMahon came in and he cut the biggest promo on me. And, catering was late. He goes, “God damn it, it is cold and where is this and that.” He really laid into me. And, I could have taken it personally. But, I realized that this was the time when he was losing a lot of his top stars to WCW. So, he was doing that as a sign that he’s got the wrestlers’ back. So, I got that!”
On the amount of fire in that piece:
“Another funny story is we had the Fire Marshal there so we could do pyro and fire and all the things you saw. Something a lot of people don’t know is that with all the pyro we use, we use 25% propane and 25% gasoline since propane is kind of green. But, the gasoline burns more black. So, that is why we did that. Anyway, we told him we were going to light the ropes on fire. The Fire Marshal says, “I can’t let you do that!” I said, “Why not?” “It is unsafe.” What do you mean it is unsafe? We have explosions everywhere. We’re standing on this metal sheet. Well, my producer Dave came over and he said, “What’s the problem?” I said, “He won’t let us light the ropes on fire.” It was such a key element to the piece. It was necessary. We wanted the visual to be that the guys were fighting in this ring that is burning down! Well, Dave pulled out his wallet and said to, “Why don’t you take a coffee break?” as he thumbed through hundred dollar bills. The Fire Marshal said, “Sure, how long should I take?” Dave said, “Why don’t you take an hour?” and pulled out the 4th hundred dollar bill. Well, he took the money and we immediately lit the ropes on fire. He comes back an hour later and the ropes are burnt green and black and he says, “Anything go wrong while I was gone?” We were like, “Nope, nothing!” He wanted the money! And, somehow he knew the ropes being on fire was the key to the whole shoot!”
On the music for that RAW is WAR piece:
“I had it originally set to Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” but we couldn’t get the licensing to that. It is a shame because that went along to it better than anything Jim Johnston composed. And, we did use Beautiful People a few years later as the intros on for SmackDown.”
