Dana White Recalls WWE Giving Him Bad Tickets To A Big Show
At WrestleMania 34, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut teaming with Kurt Angle to face Triple H and his wife Stephanie in a mixed tag match. Rousey made her first appearance for the company at the end of the Royal Rumble 2019, making it known that the WWE was her post-UFC landing spot.
Throughout her three-year run as UFC Champion, Rousey built a great relationship with the company's President Dana White and wanted him to be in attendance that night in New Orleans. The UFC President appeared but didn't expect what would happen next.
"I show up — it's in New Orleans. I fly down to f***ing New Orleans. No going in the back or any of that sh**," White said during a Press Conference after the Dana White Contender Series. "'[The tickets] are at the will-call window for you.' I go to the f***ing will call window, and 'Yeah, we don't have tickets for you.' I call some people, 'Oh yeah, we found them okay, we got your tickets.' When I tell you I was in the f***ing rafters ... We were in the f***ing rafters ... People were coming up to me and going, 'Why are you sitting in these seats?' I said, 'Well, this is where they sat me, so f*** em. I'm going to sit right here.'
White was shown on camera after Rousey made Stephanie tap out to secure the victory, visibly sporting a "Rowdy" shirt to support his friend.
"The cameraman had to f***ing crawl over about 75 people, kick somebody out of his f***ing seat three rows ahead of me just so he could get that shot," White said. "Yeah, they let me know what they thought of me at that event."
With McMahon having recently retired from his numerous roles with the WWE, White was asked whether or not the change in management will treat him better in the future.
"Triple H and Stephanie were there too!" White said. "It's not like it was just Vince. This wasn't 25 years ago; this was like [3] years ago."
The UFC has recently had an incredible spark in interest, leading to several celebrities making their presence known at events. White has done a great job of positioning the UFCs celebrity attendees with great seats to watch their pay per views, stars that include even Former US President Donald Trump and many others.
"When you run an event like we run and you have people that you know are coming, that you give a sh** about or respect, you make sure that they are f***ing taken care of. So when you show up to an event like that — and this is what I do, this is what I do for a living for the last f***ing 23 years. Message received. You know what I mean? There's no hard feelings, Vince is like that, and that's the way he is, and I sat in my f***ing seats and watched the whole event, and then we left."
In White's defense, Vince, Stephanie, Triple H, Pat McAfee, and Nick Khan attended UFC 276, and the UFC President didn't show them the same level of disrespect, hooking the WWE crew up with front-row seats. That night also saw UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya pay tribute to The Undertaker, coming out to his iconic entrance.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit UFC with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.