"A character based on that" - 50-year-old WWE veteran claims he came up with his gimmick based on Vince McMahon's fondness towards bodybuilding and supplements (Exclusive)

Former WWE star Simon Dean, real-name Michael Bucci, recently opened up about his gimmick and how he pitched it to Vince McMahon.

Dean is a former OVW Heavyweight Champion and worked for the Stamford-based company from 2002 to 2007.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's latest edition of UnSKripted, Dean claimed that he knew McMahon always liked bodybuilding and supplements. Hence, the character was based on that.

"It was all my idea, hundred percent. I was down there, they would send me on the road every couple of weeks, every couple of months when I was in OVW and I didn't know how to get out of there. So I started to come up with the idea and I knew Vince liked bodybuilding, supplements and stuff like that and I was going to do a character based on that. So I came up with a name called Sunny Slade." said Dean. [19:55-20:15]

Watch the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted:

Simon Dean explained how he helped WWE Champion Bobby Lashley

During the same conversation, Simon Dean opened up about Bobby Lashley and spoke about the former WWE Champion.

He noted that he was fond of Lashley and that the two men worked closely in the past. Dean further said:

"I love Bobby. Bobby is a fantastic guy, great father, good human being, one of my favorite guys ever. When he came down here, I knew very quick that I was gonna be married to Bobby. I had him on the house shows for several months, bringing him up to speed on how to work in the industry, slowing him down, and finding out how to accentuate his strengths," said Dean.

Lashley is currently set to challenge Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel this weekend. The former WWE Champion will aim to secure a big win over The Beast Incarnate.

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