101 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened
A lot of people will file these under, 'What Were WWE/AEW/WCW/ECW/TNA Thinking?!'.
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.
101. King Of The Deathmatch At ‘Mania
1998 was a pain-filled year for Mick Foley, but a lucrative and creatively satisfying one. Between January-December, Mickster got to work as all 3 of his alter egos in the Royal Rumble, team with his hero Terry Funk at WrestleMania, work the most thrilling Hell In A Cell match of all time, and develop the burgeoning Hardcore Title division in between main-eventing pay-per-views with Steve Austin and The Rock.
Typically for someone with such a passion for this stuff, Foley wanted more, and he knew just how to get it. Sadly for him, Vince McMahon was having none of it. Heading into 'Mania XIV, Mick fancied working as Cactus Jack against the Funker...in a 'King Of The Deathmatch' blowoff. Like, a literal blowoff.
There would've been pyrotechnics involved, because Mick/Cactus/Mankind/Dude Love wanted barbed wire ropes, explosions and all of the various bells and whistles he'd deployed with Terry and others over in Japan a few years prior. The WWF didn't want to book something so violent, but they did let Foley push the envelope at King Of The Ring a few months later.
That scratched an itch and helped further Mick's stardom for sure. He badly wanted some KOTD fun on the grandest stage though, and that's likely true whether Funk was under his Chainsaw Charlie gimmick or not. Despite pleading and pitching as best he could, Mick couldn't sell Vince on the necessity of such a grand spectacle.
It's probably just as well. They'd have been mopping up blood before that Austin vs. Shawn Michaels main event.