Maven Says He Lost Sleep Over WrestleMania 18 Botch, Talks Vince McMahon’s Reaction

Maven reflects on losing sleep over a missed dropkick at WrestleMania 18.

WrestleMania 18 was the only time that Maven had a secured spot on the WrestleMania card. On that night, he defended the WWE Hardcore Championship against Goldust. Due to the chaotic nature of the 24/7 rule of the Hardcore Title, many different wrestlers would win the title before Maven ultimately pinned Christian to regain the championship by the end of the evening.

However, it was a botched spot in the official match with Goldust that would linger in the mind of the first WWE Tough Enough Champion. Now, he’s reflecting on what happened that night and Vince McMahon’s reaction to the missed spot.

During his latest YouTube video, Maven reflected on several mistakes he made during his WWE career. Regarding the WrestleMania match, he missed a dropkick that was supposed to connect with a trash can and bounce into Goldust’s face. He says Vince McMahon confronted him about the mistake, and he would lose sleep over it afterward.

“The trash cans we were using here were indeed real trash cans, but they were that lighter aluminum. The idea was going to be Goldust holding the trash can, and a stiff kick was gonna crumple it. It was going to look and sound vicious. Gotta hit the damn trash can, though. Vince was none too pleased. He literally stopped me in my tracks and just berated me. If there’s any time that you don’t want to get on Vince’s bad side, it’s WrestleMania. I would be willing to bet that missing the trash can stayed in Vince’s mind. Just, and it’s not because of something athletic, or’Maven can’t throw a dropkick,’ nothing like that. It’s a question of, ‘Can Maven perform when the lights are the brightest, when there are millions of you at home watching him, or is he going to miss another trash can? Is he going to miss his spot, miss his opportunity, miss the brass ring that we’re putting in front of him?’ 23 years later, I can giggle and laugh at it now, but I’ve lost sleep about missing that trash can many times.”

Fans can learn more about how much money Maven made during his career here.

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