7 Crazy WWE Attitude Gimmicks That Almost Happened

Picture the scene: Steve Austin is drenched in beer, surrounded by thousands of raucous fans and celebrating another successful evening spent doling out Stunners and making Mr. McMahon's life a misery. The era of Attitude is in full swing, and larger-than-life characters grounded by gritty elements of realism are the law.

For every one of those carefully-mapped personas fans grew to love, Attitude had a whole load of randomness that made it obvious McMahon and his creative squad were throwing things against the wall. Experimentation, every bit as much as grit, was rife, but that doesn't meant ideas weren't tossed to the cutting room floor before they were tried on.

Those abandoned gimmicks are the focus of this here jaunt back in time to discover what almost added to the chaos. The much-needed tweak to The Undertaker's gimmick that happened in 1999? Nearly something else entirely. Those annoying memories of how babyface Doink The Clown ruined Matt Borne's initial brilliance? Almost saved.

These stories are crazy, and careers would've been rather different had any of them made it onto TV before being scrapped...