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Vince McMahon is a hands-down visionary. The former WWE Chairman made the Stamford-based company the global juggernaut that it is today.
However, Vinnie Mac has also been instrumental in perhaps some of the sleazy, lousiest moments in WWE history. Back in the early 2000s, according to his daughter Stephanie McMahon, the former suggested a storyline between the two where he would reveal himself as the father of his daughter's child.
Talk about a gross-inducing subject. Thank God for Stephanie and the entire WWE Universe; she asked her billionaire father to can it.
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The same man who brought up this ludicrous idea for a storyline rejected certain pitches that WWE Superstars had approached him with. Some of them had potential too. Now that we've gotten past the insane bit of information, let's look at five WWE Superstar pitches that Vince McMahon turned down. Keep scrolling.
#3. The Renaissance of Randy Orton; The Revival plunged into relevancy
Randy Orton floundered a bit in the last decade, especially after the WWE Championship disaster on the Grandest Stage in 2017. After a whole year of random fights and floating around the SmackDown roster, The Viper had a renaissance in 2018 when he reverted to his heel persona.
The 14-time WWE Champion had intense and personal feuds with Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio, along with a Mania showdown with AJ Styles in 2019. Later that summer, Orton reignited a rivalry from the past with then-WWE Champion Kofi Kingston.
During this time, he formed a partnership with Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, together dubbed The Revival at the time, #FTR today.
The now AEW stars didn't reach success in WWE, albeit this was an alliance that showed promise.
Randy Orton and The Revival took on The New Day on various occasions. The Viper's new friends even defeated Big E and Xavier Woods at WWE Clash of Champions that year to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, making them the first-ever WWE Tag Team Triple Crown Champions, owing to the fact that they had previously held both the RAW and NXT Tag Team Championships.
As per the report by Fightful in 2019:
"We're told by multiple sources that Orton pushed to do more work with them, even going as far as pitching a faction to Vince McMahon personally. The idea fell on deaf ears and Orton and the Revival were put on different brands in the WWE draft."
After Orton was drafted to the red brand, he went on to kickstart a WrestleMania program with the returning Edge, while The Revival was released in 2020.
#2. Somebody loves Santino
Santino Marella is one of WWE's most beloved superstars of the past. He won his debut match against The Samoan Bulldozer Umaga in 2007 and the latter's Intercontinental Championship in the process.
Being a comedic relief character for the rest of his career, some of the highlight moments of his time came when he swerved the crowd into believing that Santino was going to win the big one. It happened at the Royal Rumble in 2011 when he became the runner-up in the bout, last getting eliminated by the winner Del Rio.
A year later, Daniel Bryan and Marella were the final two in the World Heavyweight Championship elimination chamber match at the eponymous premium live event. There too, the latter came close to winning the bout after knocking out Bryan with the Cobra, as his finisher was called.
In an exclusive interview with WrestlingNews.co, Santino Marella recently resurfaced online, reminiscing about his time with WWE, and gave out new information to the fans. He seemingly had pitched the idea for a sitcom to McMahon.
“I pitched a sitcom. I think it was one episode. So I wrote it and it was Beth Phoenix and I and it was called, ‘Somebody loves Santino.’ It was basically Beth Phoenix, like, our home life."
Santino and Beth Pheonix were together an on-screen couple calling themselves Glamarella, a combination of Pheonix's nickname Glamazon and the former's last name. At Summerslam 2008, the duo won a Winner Take All tag team match against Kofi Kingston and Mickie James for the latter's Intercontinental and Women's Championship, respectively.
"I waited around one night after RAW outside Vince’s office and I gave him the CD. I said, ‘Hey, this is an idea I had’, and he watched it. He said, ‘Yea, we’re going to do it.’ "
He further went on to explain why the former WWE Chairman rejected the idea.
"I wanted pure Disney, canned laughter, that standard sitcom backdrop with the stairs on an angle. I wanted it to be for kids. He wanted it to be, I guess, you know, for a little bit of an older audience, but it really never got going."
Santino Marella was ultimately released by the company in 2016.
Whilst not all his storylines clicked - the "Santina Marella is my sister" debacle and his tag team with Vladimir Kozlov, which had its moments but was mostly not working - the former Intercontinental Champion was one of the most talented mid-card acts that fans popped up for every time he showed up on television.
#1. A WWE tale of depression, weight gain, and eventual redemption for The All Mighty
Bobby Lashley made his WWE debut in 2005. He was a force to be reckoned with from the initial stages of his career itself.
Most notably, he competed in the Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team match in 2005, representing the blue brand, had a United States Championship reign, some explosive bouts on Friday Nights in 2006, and an ECW Championship run the following year.
He had a high-profile "Battle of the Billionaires" WrestleMania match against Umaga involving Donald Trump and Vince McMahon in the former and latter's corner, respectively.
Lashley, alongside John Cena and Batista, were the three powerhouse champions on the roster in 2007. They were booked as equals at the time, as seen when Rumble winner The Undertaker had to make a call on whom the latter wanted to face at the Show of Shows that year.
The former WWE Champion left the company in early 2008, only to return ten years later on RAW after WrestleMania 34. He was involved in a triangle story with Rusev and Lana, aligned with MVP, forming The Hurt Business on the red brand. In 2021, Bobby Lashley finally won the WWE Championship.
Prior to this glorious moment, however, Lashley had pitched a character idea to McMahon. As told by The All Mighty himself on the Sam Roberts radio show for SiriusXM, with the interview being released on his podcast, Notsam Wrestling.
"I said if I get beat one time, I want to go into this severe depression and put on, like, 40, 50, 60, or 70 pounds, and just be fat. And [I would] be a completely different character and then have somebody like MVP, or somebody that's on my side, kind of pull me back and have the crowd watch us transition back to me," said Bobby Lashley. "And [Vince McMahon] said, 'There's no way you can do that,' and I said I think I can do it."[From 34:24 to 34:52]
Whilst the former WWE Chairman asked Lashley to can it, the times have changed, and the latter still believes he can pull off that character. Upon being asked if he would re-pitch the storyline to Triple H, Lashley claimed he was going to try.
"I'm gonna try," Bobby Lashley on whether he will pitch the same story to Triple H. [34:58]
If there is anything missing about The All Mighty, especially during his first stint with the Stamford-based company, it's a lack of a character that the audience can connect with.
There is something about this intriguing angle, and Bobby Lashley could work out one of the best stories of his career with it. Maybe sometime in 2023. Who knows.
