5 incredible WWE storylines that Vince McMahon turned down

WWE storylines concocted by former boss Vince McMahon have certainly left a mark on fans and have been a topic of discussion, albeit in the years that have passed. However, there were some that remained as just what-ifs and never got the chance to see the light of day.

The former boss has had some amazing ideas that have come to fruition, and most of them were well-received by fans. Like him, WWE Superstars and the folks at Creative have ideas of their own as they believe that it would benefit both their careers and the promotion. But for reasons that only McMahon could comprehend at the time, these pitches were just shot down.

A lot of these ideas were turned down by ol’ Vinnie Mac. Here are just five of them.

#5. The Big Show attacks Alberto del Rio’s dad

Kevin Eck is a former member of WWE Creative and was the one who pitched the idea back in 2013. They wanted the then-WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio to be put over as a babyface. His way of doing such was for the Big Show to assault Del Rio’s dad – the legendary luchador Dos Caras.

The idea was that they would be inviting Caras to make an appearance on WWE TV and would be attacked by The Big Show. He would then proceed to unmask the luchador and flex it to the WWE Universe like a trophy in the weeks that would follow.

This was shut down by Vince McMahon because western audiences might not understand how sacred the masks are to luchadores. Needless to say, this WWE storyline went straight to the scrapped idea bin.

#4. Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi to be billed as the new Goldust and Marlena

The Stardust persona that WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes portrayed in 2014 was just one of the gimmicks fans remember him by. Nonetheless, there was this wild WWE storyline that Kevin Eck suggested as they attempted to repackage Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes to become new versions of Goldust and Marlena.

The premise was Brandi poisoning Cody’s mind by feeding him with lies that his brother was just using him to remain relevant within the promotion, which caused his career to stagnate. Part of this WWE storyline was Brandi copying Goldust’s then-valet, Marlena.

That did not happen. Instead, Vince McMahon subjected the real-life brothers to losing their matches, hence pushing Cody to conduct a search for Goldust’s new partner. Turns out, he was the one fitted to be Goldust’s tag partner as he was reintroduced as Stardust.

Brandi was out of the picture during this gimmick until Stardust’s betrayal. As for the feud that followed, it did not last that long as Vince McMahon ditched it after a WWE pay-per-view.

#3. WWE storyline involving John Cena retiring Kurt Angle

Back in 2019, it was announced that former WWE Superstar Kurt Angle was set to retire at WrestleMania 35 and hinted that the former Olympian would be facing a superstar as decorated as he is. Titanland was quick to speculate that it would be John Cena since the two have had a long history together inside the ring, not to mention their memorable feuds.

However, prior to WrestleMania, Angle would make an appearance during an episode of RAW only to reveal that his opponent in his retirement match would be Baron Corbin.

Angle revealed that he had pitched Cena as his opponent in his retirement match. Vince McMahon’s decision why he opted for Corbin is for him to get a substantial push. Critics have deemed the WWE storyline a missed opportunity, considering this was Angle's farewell fight.

For Angle, WWE would require an insane amount of money for him to lace up his wrestling boots and wrestle another day.

#2. Former WWE Superstars AJ Lee and Dean Ambrose met up and became a couple inside a mental institution

The aforementioned was another WWE storyline Kevin Eck suggested that Vince McMahon deemed as a no-go.

This was in 2012 when the WWE creative was brainstorming for an angle for both AJ Lee and Dean Ambrose. At the time, the former’s gimmick alongside Daniel Bryan ended while the latter’s program with Mick Foley got rejected.

His pitch on this one was that they would be writing off Lee for a while before reintroducing her alongside Ambrose, as they would be billed as a couple. Additionally, they met inside an institution while they were still both patients.

Vince McMahon had a different idea in mind. He went on to make Lee RAW’s general manager, though this only lasted for a few months. Ambrose, on the other hand, became a member of the heel faction, The Shield, together with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.

#1. Vince McMahon was so close to turning John Cena into a heel

WWE Superstar John Cena has been a face most of the time during his run in the promotion. To that end, fans have been musing about what a heel Cena would look like while being the face of WWE.

The Creative department had suggested a WWE storyline where they would turn the 16-time WWE Champion into a villainous character prior to WrestleMania 28, where he was scheduled to face The Rock. It is believed that Vince McMahon was very close to green lighting the idea but turned it down at the last minute. He even told Cena that the character flip would never happen.

The WWE storyline was also discussed in an episode of The Pat McAfee Show, where Cena revealed what transpired during his conversation with Vince McMahon about the character change.