(Stamford, CT) With its ten floors, the building is difficult to miss when you arrive on Highway 95. An American flag tops it, you can see it in the distance. As we approach, the logo on the roof becomes clearer: it is the white letters on a black background of WWE.
It is here, in this wealthy town on the outskirts of New York, Stamford, that Vince McMahon’s empire is established.
The professional wrestling headquarters is even harder to miss once you’re in the city. If the giant World Wrestling Entertainment logo behind the glass facade isn’t enough, we also thought about putting a huge sculpture of a championship belt 50 meters from the entrance.
As luck would have it, an employee carried his laptop to work outdoors during our visit. So we tell him that we heard that a huge statue of the Ferré Giant welcomes visitors, and that as a journalist from Montreal, a photo of the statue would make us happy.
“I don’t know if it’s publicly available. You can go to security.
—And what’s going on here, besides the office workers? Promotional shoots, I guess? »
Our interlocutor stammers a response, then stops. “I don’t think I should answer any questions,” he said, wary.
So we head towards safety. Through the window, we can see the statue of the giant, which seems as tall as the building. “Sorry, it’s not a public place,” the agent responds over the intercom.
These answers confirm what Pat Laprade, author of the biography of the Ferré Giant, told us. Even the nephew of the late André Roussimoff was refused access to the premises.
That said, the presence of the WWE here doesn’t seem to move the locals that much, if we rely on our very short sample of four guys in their thirties who were having dinner next to us. They were asked what Stamford is known for.
“For Bobby Valentine, the former manager of the Mets,” replies good Tom. He even has his own bar, Bobby V! And just because we’re a wealthy suburb of New York, I think. »
