When one talks about some of the greatest creative geniuses in the history of professional wrestling, Vince McMahon's name almost always comes on top. The WWE Chairman is widely regarded by many as the greatest businessman in pro-wrestling history and someone who has revolutionized the industry like no one else.
Vince McMahon has been a part of some of the greatest storylines in WWE history, most notably the Austin vs McMahon rivalry that helped WWE trump WCW in the Monday Night Wars.
The boss has come up with some of the most intriguing and engaging creative ideas in WWE history. While some were used, others never saw the light of day. Let's take a look at five instances where Vince himself pitched ideas to WWE Superstars.
#5 The Rock's pairing with Ronda Rousey
At WrestleMania 31, The Rock and Ronda Rousey embarrassed Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in front of thousands of screaming fans. This led to rumors running around that The Rock would team up with Rousey to take on Triple H and Stephanie somewhere down the line.
The Rock went on to confirm that Vince McMahon pitched the idea for a tag team match to him, set for WrestleMania 34.
Matter of fact, Vince McMahon and I were talking about two months ago trying to figure out what I was going to do if I went back to WrestleMania. He pitched me this really great idea that I’d get involved in a tag match with Ronda Rousey who is of course incredible and I’m very proud of her.
Unfortunately, The Rock couldn't agree with the idea as he was in Shanghai at the time. His spot was given to WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.
#4 A hilarious spot involving Elias and Bobby Lashley
Merely days after he was released by WWE, Lio Rush gave an interview to Sean Ross Sapp. The former Cruiserweight Champion discussed a string of topics, but none were as interesting as the one about Vince McMahon's hilarious pitch for Bobby Lashley and Elias. Here's what Sapp had to say after his talk with Rush:
Lio Rush just confirmed to me that Vince McMahon had pitched the idea of Elias breaking a guitar over Lashley's a** at one point. I am so sad this didn't happen.
The spot didn't make the cut in the end and the reason for the same was never revealed. In late 2018, Lashley reignited his feud with Elias. This was soon after Lashley had turned heel for the first time in his WWE career.
The feud culminated in a Ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs PPV. Hanging above the ring was a guitar, which Elias unhooked in the end to win the match. Lashley had the last laugh though as he ended up attacking the victor.
#3 Strange gimmick pitched to The Revival
The Revival had asked for their WWE release last year but weren't granted the same. Soon after WrestleMania 36, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson were released by WWE. The duo went on to appear on Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" podcast and discussed the events that led to their release from WWE. Dash Wilder revealed what exactly happened in the meeting where Vince McMahon pitched a new gimmick to them.
We sat down, and Vince hands us these. I'll put my hand on the Bible, and tell you right now, I laughed out loud in front of everybody. It was me and David, Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and Corino. They were all serious, they told us why they thought that would be a good idea.
The Revival still agreed to do the gimmick pitched by Vince McMahon but made it clear that they were leaving after their contracts expired. They received a call from WWE days later, informing them that they had been removed from every event in the coming months.
#2 A stuttering gimmick for Matt Morgan
Matt Morgan was an incredible specimen who perfectly fit the description of the ideal WWE Superstar that Vince McMahon liked to push. He had the look and intensity needed in a main-eventer.
Morgan didn't do much of note during his WWE stint though. He was a part of SmackDown, back in 2003-05, and never won Championship gold. Last year, Morgan sat down with The Post and Courier and revealed that Vince McMahon had pitched a stuttering gimmick to him back in the day. It's interesting to note that Morgan has a degree in public speaking.
Here's how Vince McMahon explained the gimmick to Morgan.
Joe walks into this bar and sees this beautiful woman. Everyone is staring at her; she's absolutely perfect. And you walk up to her and introduce yourself to her and she has a deep voice.
I get it, there’s an imperfection that nobody expected. And he’s like, 'I wasn’t going to put this on a bigger guy.'
#1 Hulk Hogan's in-ring return at WrestleMania
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan's final WrestleMania match saw him engaging in a bloody brawl with none other than Vince McMahon himself back in 2003. Hogan won the match despite interference from fellow WWE Hall of Famer, Roddy Piper. Ever since then, Hogan appeared for WWE in various capacities but never competed at a WrestleMania event.
This could have changed at this year's show, as Vince McMahon pitched an idea to Hogan for his WrestleMania return as an in-ring performer. Vince McMahon persuaded Hogan to compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and win the free-for-all.
Plans fell through soon after, as the coronavirus pandemic forced WWE to cancel the match and move the event to WWE PC. Here's what a WWE source revealed:
The idea was he wouldn’t take any bumps. We would work it so he would only have to eliminate one or two guys at the end and then he would get his big celebration at the end with his music. It would have been perfect because he lives in the Tampa area.