Pro wrestling is as much a creative pop art form as it is a sport. The business hinges on bookers making decisions about not only who will win matches, but which matches will take place in the first place and under what storylines, and which performers playing faces and which heels. It’s a lot to keep track of and consider, and that’s not even getting into matters of contracting and talent relations, not to mention real life injuries that can derail creative plans.
Pro wrestling booking, like any creative endeavor, has a high degree of subjectivity attached to it. Not everyone finds the same stories compelling, the same comedic bits funny, or the same wrestling product to be successful.
For all of these differences of opinion, however, there are some storylines, matches, and moments so universally panned, that it’s hard to argue against the point they should not have happened at all. Even in WWE, which has the highest profile and so the most scrutiny around it, and where Vince McMahon has a historically great track record, there are still those times when bad ideas come to fruition in front of an audience of millions. On the flip side, with the benefit of podcasts, tell all books, and documentaries, fans now have more access than ever before to what might have been. There were ideas pitched, and even seriously considered, that never actually made it to TV. While some of them may have been obvious clunkers there are other concepts that have become the subject of great what-if questions, because they seem tremendous on paper.
This article takes a look at nine bad ideas Vince should have turned down, as well as eight that fans wish he had said yes to.
17 Should’ve Turned Down: The Rock Vs. Erick Rowan
Despite taking place in front of the largest live audience in WWE history, WrestleMania 32 is a strange card that suffers badly from injuries to top stars. Going into the show, John Cena, Seth Rollins, and Bray Wyatt were all on the shelf, while The Rock had other commitments that kept him from agreeing to a planned match. In their absence, WWE scrambled to assemble a worthy card, and the results largely feel thrown together or underwhelming.
In one of the strangest segments of the show, The Rock got an overly long entrance and promo segment, ostensibly to announce the event’s live attendance figure. He was then rudely interrupted by the Wyatt Family.
The idea of The Rock and Bray Wyatt interacting on the mic wasn’t so bad. However, the segment quickly spun into incoherence as the two leads traded barbs with no clear direction, only to give way to the impromptu, totally nonsensical mismatch of The Rock vs. Erick Rowan. Rock won the match in under 10 seconds, in what was probably an attempt at breaking a record for breaking a record’s sake. The whole ordeal came off as sloppy and incoherent, and even Cena making a surprise run in after the match wasn’t enough to save it from being a mess.
16 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Horsewomen Vs. Horsewomen
The Mae Young Classic was a terrific tournament from a purist’s perspective, introducing a nice diversity of competitors and focusing on what they could do in the ring. The tournament also benefited from the fun sub plot of Ronda Rousey, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir showing up to support their fellow Four Horsewomen of MMA Shayna Baszler as she steamrolled toward the finals. There were interactions between these four women, and representatives of the self-appointed Four Horsewomen of NXT—Charlotte Flair, Sasha Bnaks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch, leading to a backstage verbal altercation.
All of this led to speculation about a full-blown in ring war between the two sides, in what may well have been the first true women’s dream match WWE has ever promoted.
Word is that Vince McMahon personally called the kibosh on this angle that he had purportedly never approved. McMahon’s motivations aren’t entirely clear, though we can make an educated guess that he wanted to more tightly control Rousey’s eventual WWE debut. One has to wonder what might have been if he’d let the Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen rivalry play out on its original course.
15 Should’ve Turned Down: Hornswoggle The Mystery Son
After WWE retconned the Who Killed Mr. McMahon angle, following the real life death of Chris Benoit, WWE went for a less edgy mystery story. The tale went that Vince McMahon had an illegitimate son who was a part of WWE. But who could it be?
Most sources indicate the plan was for Mr. Kennedy to fill the role.
There was a time when McMahon and others behind the scenes were very high on the young star and meant for this to be his breakout angle.
Kennedy suffered from a number of ill-timed injuries, lost political clout, and, in this particular case, suffered a horribly timed Wellness Policy violation.
Rather than subbing in another performer for Kennedy’s golden spot, WWE opted to shift to a strange, somewhat comedic angle in which Hornswoggle was revealed as McMahon’s son. The whole thing became a farce that only benefited Hornswoggle for a few months, before WWE confusingly scrapped the angle to say that the leprechaun was actually Finlay’s son.
14 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Daniel Bryan’s Return To The Ring
Daniel Bryan is one of the greatest in ring performers of his generation—so great that despite being undersized, without a terrific look or polished mic skills, he nonetheless earned an opportunity with WWE coming out of the indies. Bryan’s all around package as a wrestler made huge strides in his active years as a WWE wrestler. Unfortunately, it was all cut short due to head injuries that forced him into retirement in early 2016.
In working with independent experts and doing his own research, Bryan claims to have found that he can safely return to the ring.
He’s discussed having already healed much of what was a misunderstood condition. Paired with a safer in ring style, he indicates he could successfully return to the ring.
To be fair, it’s understandable that WWE wouldn’t want to take on the liability of such a beloved star getting back in the ring and suffering irreparable damage. However, if Bryan’s claims are on point, it’s a shame he’s not getting the opportunity to share his gifts with the WWE audience while he’s still able.
13 Should’ve Turned Down: Kevin Nash Attacks CM Punk
The summer of 2011 belonged to CM Punk. He unleashed his hellacious Pipe Bomb Promo that wowed fans and drew mainstream attention for WWE. From there, on what was purported to be his last night with the company, he beat John Cena for the WWE Championship in an instant classic match, was surrounded by intrigue, and came back to beat Cena again at SummerSlam.
Punk looked to be off to the races as a new white hot face. Then Kevin Nash showed up and powerbombed him.
To be fair, Nash’s return was, at first, a fun surprise. Unfortunately, an awfully convoluted story followed, and when Nash couldn’t pass a WWE physical on time, his story with Punk was never really resolved. In the meantime, Punk lost a match to Triple H, before Triple H transitioned to his own feud with Nash. Though Punk would wind up world champion and a headliner again by late fall, this whole progression squandered a lot of his momentum.
12 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Evolution In War Games
Triple H is notoriously old school and fascinated with classic NWA stars, angles, and conventions. As such, it made sense when he played Harley Race in placing a bounty against Goldberg, just as Race had against Flair twenty years earlier. It also followed that, with creative control over NXT, he would steer the brand toward reprising War Games.
From a variety of accounts, 2017 wasn’t the first time Triple H had pitched a War Games match, and he had rather advocated for one in the mid-2000s, featuring the Evolution stable on the main roster. Vince McMahon purportedly didn’t like the idea, and while the concept indirectly led to the innovation of the Elimination Chamber, Hunter’s plans were thwarted. Evolution battling a cast of faces in that environment in that era could have been a lot of fun, and it’s a shame McMahon nixed the idea.
11 Should’ve Turned Down: The Spirit Squad
When you think about The Shield, it’s a pretty remarkable group to have gotten as over as they did while all three members were fresh faces to the WWE Universe. You can credit the three special talents involved, but you can also laud the gimmick and the look they were set up with in SWAT gear.
Compare that to the Spirit Squad. The concepts had some real similarities, featuring top prospects from developmental coming in as a unit and working with a lot of top stars. The latter group, however, had the distinct disadvantage of being cast as male cheerleaders.
To be fair, the powers that be were right that male cheerleaders would draw some heat with wrestling fans.
The whole concept was too silly to be taken seriously, though, and came across as cartoonish even in serious moments like when the group ambushed DX, or took the tag titles off of Kane and The Big Show. It’s telling that of the five members, only Dolph Ziggler would go on to have a successful WWE career.
10 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Marlena Reuniting With Goldust At Raw 25
Raw 25 was a crowded show, with so many past stars returning to be celebrated or cut a promo. The general fan reception to the show wasn’t great, with the sense that WWE tried to wedge in too much content without any particularly good matches or memorable moments, especially given the talents available.
One idea that didn’t go to fruition was for Marlena to accompany Goldust to the ring. It was a fun concept, particularly given how unlikely it was. The duo hadn’t appeared together in 20 years and had a real life divorce between them. But there they both were—Goldust still wrestling, and Marlena visiting for the night. Marlena claims to have pitched the idea, only for Vince McMahon to pass without offering an explanation. This is exactly the sort of small nostalgia trip that could have helped redeem the show for hardcore fans, and it’s a shame McMahon let it pass him by.
9 Should’ve Turned Down: Mae Young Gives Birth To A Hand
The Attitude Era was full absurd twists and turns. An unlikely and particularly bad angle that stands out to fans from that period was the Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry impregnating his kayfabe girlfriend, geriatric Mae Young.
To be fair, once this storyline was set up, there probably wasn’t any good that could come from it. It made absolutely no sense, however, for it to culminate in Young birthing a rubber hand.
A small redemption for this angle would occur 12 years later, when an oversized hand—implied to be her son—would accompany her to the 1,000th episode of Monday Night Raw. For as nonsensical as the whole story had been, the moment at least demonstrated that WWE could reflect and ultimately laugh at itself.
8 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Cody Rhodes Pulling Double Duty
Cody Rhodes wound up walking from WWE in 2016, feeling underutilized by WWE and eager to explore the wrestling world beyond Vince McMahon’s purview.
To his credit, Rhodes has been a class act in reflecting on his time with WWE and his departure, not so much blaming the company for anything as conceding they wanted different things and had differences in creative vision. In multiple interviews, Rhodes has referenced the last big idea he pitched to management which, when it was denied, led him to bite the bullet and ask for his release.
After the new brand split first took hold, Rhodes claims that he suggested he work both brands, one as Stardust, the other as Cody Rhodes in a reality bending, quirky bit of wrestling theater.
It seems his endgame was to get back to the Cody Rhodes name and gimmick, while WWE seemed fine with leaving him stuck in Stardust purgatory.
7 Should’ve Turned Down: James Ellsworth Claims The First Women’s Money In The Bank Briefcase
In 2017, WWE finally pulled the trigger on the first women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. While it may not have been an all time classic, it was a rock solid outing that demonstrated the women’s roster deserved the opportunity for this specific spotlight. While we can debate whether Carmella was the right choice to go over in this historic match, as an up and coming heel who wasn’t really in the title picture, she did fit the traditional Money in the Bank profile.
The way in which the victory went down was problematic, though, as the finish saw not Carmella, but her sidekick James Ellsworth climb the ladder and retrieve the briefcase to gift it to her.
It’s a shady way for a ladder match to end under any circumstances, but particularly for a match all about showcasing women, it felt like a huge misstep for a man to win the batch on a woman’s behalf.
Ellsworth explained it all as heat-seeking move, but it’s not clear that it went over quite how WWE meant for it to. Fortunately, a redo of the ladder match on SmackDown Live went over better, with a more decisive ending.
6 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Batista’s Backstory
In his stop by Edge and Christian’s podcast, former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz discussed that Vince McMahon once charged the writing team with crafting elaborate backstories for new stars to help fans connect with them. It was an interesting enough idea, and Gewirtz in particular comes across as a thoughtful enough writer to make it work.
Gewirtz discussed on the show his involved effort to craft a story about Batista being an orphan, hand his loyalty to Ric Flair stemming from seeing him as a father figure.
Apparently, by the time Gewirtz had the expositional promo written, McMahon had changed his mind, utterly dismissing The Animal’s backstory. The creative effort was reduced it to a single throwaway line of Flair reminding Batista he was an orphan in a promo, after which it would never be mentioned again.
5 Should’ve Turned Down: Kerwin White
Chavo Guerrero is an extremely talented wrestler, and the general consensus is that WWE squandered his prime. While he did get to work for the biggest wrestling company in the world for a decade and win his share of titles, he also spent a lot of tenure as a joke. There was the period when he dressed up like an eagle to play Jack Swagger’s mascot. There was his interminably long comedy feud with Hornswoggle. And then there was Kerwin White.
While, to be fair, WWE did frame the Kerwin White gimmick as something of a push for Guerrero, it was the epitome of bad comedy.
Moreover, this gimmick was especially poorly chosen for its racist overtones as the heel character basically tried to pass himself off as white for heat. It was a foolish gimmick, done in poor taste, and it’s sad that the only reason it was cut off early was because of Chavo’s real life uncle Eddie’s death.
4 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Edge And Christian’s Last Tag Title Run
Edge made his triumphant return from injury to win the 2010 Royal Rumble. It was a feel good moment and a worthy addition to Edge’s impressive resume.
It made sense for Edge to go after Chris Jericho. He’d been teaming with Y2J when he got hurt, and got badmouthed by Jericho in the aftermath.
An alternative idea floated at the time? Edge break tradition, and use his Rumble title shot not for a singles championship match, but a tag team one. Jericho, and Edge’s replacement, The Big Show, had only lost the Unified Tag Team Championship a month earlier, and could easily have won it back (DX would drop the titles to The Big Show and Miz instead). The symmetry of Edge taking the tag titles off of Jericho would have made a lot of sense. But who would team with Edge?
The easy answer was Christian, already being booked as an upper mid-card face, and with no clear plans for WrestleMania (he’d wind up wedged into Money in the Bank). This could have been a fun last run for Edge and Christian, particularly given that Edge would have to retire just a year later.
3 Should’ve Turned Down: Santina Wins Miss WrestleMania
WrestleMania 25 featured a 25 women battle royal to crown Miss WrestleMania. The battle royal included a mix of current stars from the day and returning wrestlers from past eras. Whereas a similar dynamic delivered a wonderful mix of nostalgia and exciting action in the first women’s Royal Rumble this year, in 2009, WWE wasn’t as prepared to take women’s wrestling seriously. So, Santina would end up crowned Miss WrestleMania.
Santina was, of course, Santino Marella in drag. The fact that this milestone women’s match was reduced to a comedy bit, won by a man, speaks volumes about how WWE treated women at the time.
The match may not have been set up to have been a classic, but with stars like Beth Phoenix at the ready, it was a real insult for the winner to end up being a male comedic heel.
2 Wish He’d Said Yes To: Damien Sandow Winning The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal doesn’t have the greatest track record in terms of making stars. At WrestleMania 31, though, the meaning of the match was still up in the air. Moreover, as a pre-show bout, the battle royal had the potential to set the tone for the event to follow. Big Show winning was an OK choice to shore up his giant legacy, and arguably to legitimize the battle royal by having a veteran star win it. However, there was another choice to win whom, if nothing else, was a more fun option.
After having been relegated to the role of The Miz’s “stunt double” sidekick, Damien Sandow proved his mettle by getting over in the tenuous, comedic gimmick. If WWE ever wanted to push the guy, particularly as a face, winning this battle royal would have been the perfect opportunity to do so. Instead, WWE allowed him to fight all the way to the final two in the match, and he came close to getting The Big Show out with a choke hold. It wasn’t to be Sandow’s night, however, as WWE squandered its last opportunity to get him over. Sandow had peaked, and would never really get another chance to shine in the WWE system.
1 Should’ve Turned Down: Billy And Chuck’s Commitment Ceremony
Billy Gunn may have never worked as a main event star, but few stars can compare tag team resumes with the guy, as he thrived capturing tag team gold with Bart Gunn, The Road Dogg, and finally Chuck Palumbo.
For that last tandem, WWE made the odd choice to tease a romantic relationship between the tag team partners. The concept did draw attention, and when WWE advertised that they were going to have a commitment ceremony, it was cause for the company to get support from GLAAD and other LGBT advocacy groups.
In reality, the angle turned out to be a swerve, passed off as their manager Rico trying to manipulate the guys for attention, and all used to set up the Three Minute Warning team storming the ceremony to attack Billy and Chuck.
The whole angle turned out convoluted and cost WWE some good will and a partnership with GLAAD in the process. Particularly from a 2018 perspective, after WWE would celebrate gay athletes like Pat Patterson and Darren Young, the Billy and Chuck commitment ceremony comes across in poor taste, and tone deaf to the larger culture of the time.