5 Genius WWE ideas that didn't come from Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon is undoubtedly a genius as a promoter and a legend in pro wrestling.

However, some fans may be surprised to find out that a number of iconic WWE creations over the years have actually not been Vince's idea originally including the concept of the wrestling super show aka the first WrestleMania.

Let's take a look at 5 amazing ideas which were not Vince McMahon's!

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#5 The Elimination Chamber

Shawn Michaels inside the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series 2002

The Elimination Chamber is an iconic WWE creation from the Ruthless Aggression Era. The match was first announced by RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff ahead of Survivor Series 2002. The first-ever Elimination Chamber match saw Shawn Michaels win the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H, Booker T, Kane, Chris Jericho, and Rob Van Dam.

Although on-screen the idea was acknowledged to be the brainchild of Eric Bischoff, in reality, it was Triple H who’d come up with the concept of the match.

In an interview with WWE.com, Triple H opened up about the concept of the Elimination Chamber match and how he came up with it:

"I'm the one who invented it. I drew a square cage and put four other squares in the corners, and I said, 'It's six guys. Two start and every few minutes, another cage opens and one more guys enters the fight, and everyone fights until there's one guy left.' I thought it could be interesting because, if the Superstars involved have issues, then there's intrigue. In typical WWE form, it was twice as big as I envisioned it and twice as elaborate. We don't do anything small, so I should have known better. When I stood in it for the first time, I thought, 'Jeez. Please don't tell anybody this was my idea!'"

After the success of the Elimination Chamber match, WWE turned Elimination Chamber into a PPV of its own.

#4 NXT’s transformation

Triple H

In recent years, WWE NXT has been the foundation the new era has been built on, with most of the new generation of stars coming from the black and yellow brand. From Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to the leaders of the women’s revolution Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, they’ve all come up through the NXT system.

NXT is completely different now from its beginnings as a reality show and has become the core to bringing through new talent, under the vision of Triple H who took over the reins of developmental from John Laurinaitis.

In an interview with The Sun, Triple H revealed how often Vince McMahon watches NXT:

“I don’t know that he’s ever even watched a full episode of NXT start to finish. He’s busy. I realise he just saw a snippet but what he will say about that snippet is a bigger overall arc to the entire product, and I’m like, ‘That’s really right.’”

#3 The Mr. McMahon character

Vince McMahon during the 'Bret screwed Bret' promo

Vince McMahon started his on-screen career in the WWF as a commentator, at a time most fans thought that on-screen president Jack Tunney was the man in charge. Vince did do a couple of heel promos when appearing in the USWA back in the day. However, he really came to the fore as a heel after the Montreal Screwjob.

The person behind bringing out the heel Mr. McMahon to the forefront is the much-maligned former WWE writer Vince Russo. McMahon cut the infamous “Bret screwed Bret “ promo after the Montreal Screwjob and couldn’t understand why fans loathed him at that point in time.

It was Vince Russo who convinced him to run with it and ended up making Mr. McMahon one of the greatest heels in the history of professional wrestling. Mr. McMahon’s feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin was one of the cornerstones of the Attitude Era that eventually helped WWE win the Monday Night War.

#2 The Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble match was the brainchild of Pat Patterson

The Royal Rumble is one of the most popular PPV’s of the WWE calendar. The idea behind the Royal Rumble match didn’t come from Vince McMahon but instead came from WWE legend Pat Patterson.

Patterson explained how he came up with the idea for the Royal Rumble match in an interview with WWE.com:

“I was working in the office and my job was to be creative, and I always wanted to do something that’s never been done. It’s like, for example, a simple Steel Cage Match. Somebody, somehow, decided to have a Cage Match. Where that started, I have no idea, but somebody came up with the idea. I started thinking about the Battle Royal, but I had it in mind to simply start with two guys and then every two minutes a new guy comes out. When one guy is eliminated, he’s out, and so on and so forth. And I knew it was going to work.”

The first Royal Rumble in 1988 didn’t take place on PPV but was instead a special on the USA Network and was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

#1 WrestleMania

Mr. T and Huk Hogan joined forces in the main event of the first WrestleMania

WrestleMania 1 was a stadium 'super-show' and a sellout. However, the first idea for a wrestling 'super-show' actually came from Jim Crockett Promotions and the first-ever Starrcade in 1983. It was broadcast on closed-circuit TV’s and all the biggest feuds culminated in matches at the show.

After Starrcade’s massive success, Vince McMahon took the idea to the next level. He added celebrities to the mix and brought mainstream attention to professional wrestling with the likes of Mr. T.

What Vince McMahon went on to do to build WrestleMania as a brand is unquestionable. WrestleMania is WWE’s biggest event of the year and is broadcast in over 160 countries. In 2017, Forbes Magazine rated WrestleMania to have a brand value of $195 million.

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