10 Best WWE Gimmicks Vince McMahon Had Nothing To Do With
10. Gangrel
This entry can be summed up in one line: Vince McMahon hated the vampire gimmick when he first heard it.
Gangrel, the man behind such pointy-toothed, blood-sucking goodness, revealed this on Edge and Christian's podcast last year. According to Gangers, Vince thought the whole vamp thing was silly and told him he'd never get to play it out on WWF television. That's when another Vince stepped in; Russo could see value in the idea.
A week or so after having his dreams shattered by McMahon's curt, dismissive response, Gangrel received a call from Russo that changed everything. Suddenly, the character was geared to debut and eventually had a 'Brood' (the aforementioned E&C) alongside him. Forget the fact that Gangrel didn't get to do much of the Lost Boys comedy he wanted, because he was on TV at least.
Somehow, Russo had convinced McMahon to give it a shot. The boss hadn't been up for it, but he obviously trusted Russo's judgement enough to try it on for size and see what might happen. God bless Vinnie Ru for changing Vinnie Mac's mind.