Vince McMahon wanted to have a storyline involving O.J Simpson following the former NFL star's acquittal in 1995.
Simpson, who has since been convicted of other crimes, was accused of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in one of the most gripping sagas of the 90s. But a jury found him not guilty after a lengthy trial that kept Americans and the rest of the world as attentive as it gets.
According to Vince Russo, McMahon actually wanted to have O.J. involved in an angle also featuring Roddy Piper. Russo, who has been making some rather shocking revelations regarding WWE since his departure, claims he was tasked with writing up the story along with Bruce Prichard after the trial came to an end.
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“I remember this vividly," he said on his Truth With Consequences podcast (transcription via 411Mania). "And you know me, bro. When I don’t remember it vividly, I watch what I say because I don’t want to be wrong.
"I went to Bruce’s house one day. That’s where they used to write the show. This is when I was third wheel, okay bro? And Cornette was not there, it was early in the morning. It was just me and Bruce. Bruce told me he had just gotten off the phone with Vince, and they were seriously considering an OJ Simpson angle, and Roddy Piper was a part of that angle. Bro, keep in mind, the OJ thing had just happened. He was just found not guilty. I mean, this thing was on fire.”
Russo claims he was totally against the idea, which he says would only work if Goldman himself came back to life to "beat the S**t" out of Simpson in the ring.
“And I remember my kneejerk reaction to Bruce was, ‘Bro, like, are you freaking nuts?’ If OJ Simpson got a payday from the WWE, like that would not look good for the company. I said, ‘Bro, the only way you could ever book that match is if Ron Goldman, Ronald Goldman himself freaking beat the s**t out of OJ Simpson.
"That’s the only way you could ever get away with booking that match. That was the entire content of that episode, bro. This is the first time I’ve ever heard anything about a gun, never ever heard that before. But like I said, what I did say was, ‘Bro, the only way you guys could get away with that was if Ronald Goldman himself beat the s**t out of OJ Simpson.'”
What This Means
While a jury couldn't find Simpson culpable, most Americans believe he did, in fact, commit the crime he was accused of. A 2016 poll found that 83 percent of white Americans and 57 percent of black Americans think he did it.
If this had ever come to fruition, WWE as we know it would probably not exist today.