Gerald Brisco On Working Final WCW Nitro Taping, Drinking All Of Vince McMahon’s Wine After

On today’s episode of The PWrestling.com Daily podcast, PWrestling.com Managing Editor Nick Hausman chatted with WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco, who has a new “Mailbag” show on AdFreeshows.com. During the debut Mailbag episode Brisco alludes to an infamous story about drinking all of Vince McMahon’s wine on a plane trip. Hausman pressed him to tell the tale and Brisco set up the scene by first talking about the final episode of WCW Nitro where, in storyline, Shane bought WCW from under his father Vince McMahon. Brisco described the backstage atmosphere at that final Nitro and the uncertainty there was since no one knew what would happen with WWE buying WCW.

“It was an exciting night. It was a celebration,” Brisco stated. “We’d gone to Pensacola, FL or Panama City, FL [for] the last taping of WCW where we’re taking over, and I felt so rewarded because it wasn’t WCW, but I was there for Georgia Championship Wrestling when we took over that. So I kind of came full circle. Then when WCW went out of business, I was a part of that takeover too.

“We were there. We’re getting ready to do the deal with Shane where Shane bought WCW. We’re cutting in. I was running Gorilla, and they needed somebody there to make sure that Shane wasn’t going to get shorted on the time somehow mysteriously. Those guys were completely professional on the transition, and I didn’t think anything would happen, but I was pleased to be there. So of course, when the show was over, it had been a highly, extremely uncomfortable day, and a day where the stress level was just sky-high.

“There are guys crying they’ve lost their job. They’re begging, and they’re yelling. You don’t like to see stuff like that, especially when we’re not too long ago, you were those guys in the exact same positions. You had the emotion for them, but also on that same deal, the tremendous accomplishment that we just pulled off.”

To celebrate the accomplishment of buying WCW, Brisco said that he, Shane and Bruce Prichard were going to take the WWE jet to pick up Vince in Cleveland and celebrate together. However, he said the three of them got going early, and Shane knew that his dad had wine on the plane.

“We got on the plane, and we rushed because we were in the panhandle of Florida. We had to go, I believe it was, to Cleveland to pick up Vince and the rest of the crew that was doing RAW and then take the plane and go over to Chicago,” Brisco recalled. “Well, we knew Vince kept his wine, that is special. It’s Vince’s wine that he loved, so we got on a plane. We didn’t have time to stop and get our own refreshments because we knew the plane had them, but we didn’t know we were going to be drinking this wine.

“So Shane, Bruce and myself, we can consume some adult beverages. So anyway, we got on a plane. We consumed our lot. Then all of a sudden, we’re thirsty, and we’re still about an hour from Cleveland. And Shane said, ‘That old man’s got his wine here,’ and so we asked a flight attendant, ‘No, that’s Mr. McMahon’s wine.’ Shane said, ‘Well, I’m Mr. McMahon, and I’ll take responsibility.’ Pop, pop, pop. So we’re all drinking and toasting each other, having a hell of a time. We ask for another drink. She said, ‘Sorry, the wine’s gone,’ and all of a sudden, Shane said, ‘All the old man’s wine gone too?’ And she said, ‘Yes sir, Shane. All of Mr. McMahon’s wine’s gone too.

“Now we know we’re in trouble because he’s gonna get on the plane, and he’s gonna be happy and celebrating. And there ain’t nothing to celebrate with. That was the longest 30-minute flight from Cleveland to Chicago and the quietest, and of course Bruce, I don’t know if you have been around Bruce and Shane when they’ve had a few, but they’re kind of noisy, and I get a little boisterous too. So we’re wrestling in the plane. I think they’re going to kick us off in midair after a while.”

Brisco noted that while all the wine on the plane was gone, there was still wine for Vince in his limo. Setting the stage for what would be some post-flight revelry.

“So then we get in the limo. All the wine’s gone,” Brisco noted. “At least they had some wine in the limo for Vince. We get a limo, and Bruce decides he wants to attack me. Bruce is now on top, and Shane gets in it. Vince says, ‘All right you guys, quit being kids back there and be serious for a change. Let’s talk about what happened.’ So we got to sober up.

“The next day, Bruce gets up. ‘Where’s my phone?’ He lost his phone during the wrestling match. Of course, he’d blame me for stealing his phone. I said, ‘Bruce, you attacked me. I didn’t attack you,’ but what a night that was. It was a night I’ll never forget, and it was a celebration and rightfully so, but we got grief all day long and all night long for drinking the boss’ wine.”

Hausman asked Brisco to talk more about the final WCW Nitro taping and he confirmed that there were only four WWE people there including himself, Shane and Prichard. He reiterated how stressful and intense the night was.

“Yes, I was. It was the three of us, Bruce Prichard, myself, and Shane and a guy in the TV truck,” Brisco recalled. “Everybody made a plug during that day, and it was intense to say the least. Like I said, one of the most stressful duties that I ever performed in WWE, even more so than Montreal.”

“Mailbag with Gerald Brisco” is now available on AdFreeShows.com! New episodes drop every other Monday. Gerald’s full interview aired as part of a today’s episode of our podcast, The PWrestling.com Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it’s released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.