Criss Angel’s 10–Year Reunion With WWE

The illusionist is a big WWE fan. For Criss, it’s a reunion with a group who gave him a unique start to his magic career, and that’s why he’ll be in the center of tonight’s rough-and-tumble action.

“When I started out trying to make it, I ran into a lot of people who never lived up to their promises,” Criss told me about his friendship with WWE. “Back then, I was on the streets of Manhattan, and at Broadway and West 43rd Street, there was the World Wrestling restaurant filled with its memorabilia. Vince McMahon, the founder, and all the wrestlers all came to see my show. They were huge fans, and Vince gave me my very first break taking me off the street and into a 125-seat theater we built out of a banquet room. That led to all the stunts, all the TV shows, everything.

“I worked with them for 14 months, and when I did the underwater-for-24-hours challenge, they were all there for me. From the wrestling venue, I went on to the first two Mindfreak TV specials, Supernatural on the Sci-Fi Channel and two Japanese TV shows. Then I landed the A&E Mindfreak series, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“That was all 10 years ago. I started with the wrestlers in 2000 and off and on stayed involved with them until 2003. It began with just a 10-foot-by-20-foot circular stage, and it seemed the successes piled up very quickly and we kept needing a bigger place to do things each time.”

source: lasvegassun.com