Vince McMahon Wanted WWE Star To "Wrestle A Bear"
WWE boss Vince McMahon literally wanted to promote this on Wall Street.
Vince McMahon literally wanted The Rock to wrestle a bear when the then-WWF went public on Wall Street in October 1999.
Bruce Prichard told fans tuning into his 'Something To Wrestle With' podcast that the boss wouldn't take no for an answer on shutting down the entire street and erecting a ring there. That had never been done before, but Bill Clinton's public address was happening just a few streets away, so the place was on security lockdown anyway.
Yes, McMahon wanted to let a live bear run amok during a presidential speech. Amazing.
The WWF leader's grand idea was to promote "Brahma Bull vs. Bear" and draw as much attention to his product as possible. Eventually, company higher-ups talked Vince out of the idea (pointing to the fact that animal rights activists would likely be appalled by it), and that was that.
Prichard didn't go into details on what Rocky thought about the prospect of going one-on-one with a bear though. The Rock was in the midst of a push towards becoming the company's biggest babyface, and he definitely didn't need to be mauled.
Welcome to the mind of Vincent Kennedy McMahon, eh?