Wrestling adores shock value.
The entire industry is based on shock debuts, title wins, match results, storyline swerves and more. It’s how promoters like Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff raked in millions of dollars for WWE and WCW in the 1990s, and it’s that surprise factor which keeps countless fans coming back every week for more.
Here’s the kicker: None of the examples found in this collection actually made air. They were only pondered in crunch creative meetings or in nail-biting one-on-ones between key members of management and an individual wrestler. In the end, everyone agreed (either willingly or because those in power made it clear the pitch wasn’t happening) to go in a different direction.
Did you know that ultra-violence more commonly associated with CZW and Japanese groups like FMW nearly made it to programming during the ‘Attitude Era’? This was more than mere hardcore division slapstick or endless chair and table spots – it would’ve upped the ante significantly, but McMahon said no.
How about learning that WWE wanted to revisit a WCW faction they themselves had rubbished around 18 years prior during the closed door days of 2020? Or exactly who was supposed to be in the company’s original (and cancelled) gay wedding?
Top stars such as Hulk Hogan, the McMahon family, Steve Austin, CM Punk and even current boss Triple H are all involved. You’ll laugh at some, shake your head at others, and then you’ll ask: ‘What was wrestling thinking?!’. It was thinking only of that aforementioned shock value and how to profit from it, but these ideas didn’t make the cut.
