A year before he officially signed with WWE, Paul London appeared on television as a fan caught in the crossfire of a brawl between The Undertaker and Ric Flair on "WWE SmackDown." As noted on "Insight With Chris Van Vliet," his positioning was intentional, though, as WWE had hired him as a professional plant."After the Perry Saturn match [on WWE Jakked], I was also a plant for SmackDown," London said. "This is leading up to WrestleMania 18. So Undertaker is a heel, Flair is a babyface. They stumble into the crowd. Flair goes to punch Undertaker, Taker moves, [Flair] decks a fan. I'm the fan, so he decks me. It's a live SmackDown."The "WWE SmackDown" episode in reference centered in San Antonio, Texas on March 7, 2002, with The Undertaker defeating Al Snow and Maven in a two-on-one handicap match. Afterward, Undertaker asserted that if Flair really wanted a match with him at WrestleMania 18, then "The Nature Boy" would have to beg for it while on his hands and knees. Instead, Flair ignited a brawl with "The Phenom."When the action spilled over the barricade and into the crowd, Flair connected with a chop to The Undertaker, which was meant to be followed by another punch. The Undertaker ducked, though, resulting in London taking the hit and Flair getting arrested (in storyline) backstage."We go upstairs. [They say] 'We're coming back in like, two minutes.' 'Okay, you're gonna say that man punched me.' I'm like, 'Flair, right?'" London recalled. "[They said] 'Don't say his name.' The f*** kind of a fan am I who doesn't know his name? I'm wearing a Stone Cold shirt. I want the p**** wheeling, jet stealing, limo driving, that dude, the money dude, yeah, he hit me. 'No, say that man hit me.'"
Following his physical encounter with Flair on "SmackDown," London said he and several other extras lingered backstage, eager to express their gratitude with WWE officials, including then-WWE CEO Vince McMahon. In London's case, his interaction with McMahon quickly became awkward."At the end of that night in San Antonio, all the local guys are waiting to say, 'Oh, thank you, thank you.' We're all waiting," he recalled. "So Vince is power walking. He's got shoulder pads in his suit, and I'm last. So Vince is walking, everyone is like 'Oh, thank you sir. Remember me and hire me and change my life forever. Thank you, sir.' I went in for an aggressive handshake, and this is what I did."I went in for an aggressive handshake on Vince McMahon. I caught these two [fingers] right there, but I had committed to it. I was already committed. I [shook his hand] and he wiped my handshake off and power walked off. I was like, 'I'm f***ed. Never working here. I'm done. I'm done.' I just clipped his two fingers. I don't know what that was. He didn't say anything to me."Fortunately for London, his chances of signing with WWE were not squandered by his clumsy handshake. In fact, he inked a contract with the company in 2003, with his televised in-ring debut as a WWE Superstar involving a WWE Championship match against Brock Lesnar on WWE's blue brand.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
