10 Gimmick Ideas WWE Were Right To Turn Down

1. 'Baron Von Bava' (Jon Heidenreich)

This is a classic rejection, and it's one so shocking that WWE chief Vince McMahon lost all confidence in Dan Madigan as a creative team member immediately. What was so shocking, you ask? Well, Madigan pitched in 2004 that Jon Heidenreich be reborn as a Nazi stormtrooper who'd been cryogenically frozen.

Presumably from 1955 when such gimmicks would've been ten-a-penny (without the cryo part).

Paul Heyman, who is Jewish remember, would've been the one to thaw out this 'Baron Von Bava' and lead him to goose-stepping glory on WWE television. Reportedly, Vince was so stunned by what he was hearing that he left the meeting room and didn't return for quite some time. Madigan, just like his Von Bava-led plans, was doomed.

Heyman did end up managing Heiden-Heidenreich, but Nazism obviously wasn't part of the gig and Madigan left WWE later that same year. Who knew that McMahon wouldn't be into the thought of plastering swastikas all over one of his wrestlers and putting it on TV?

What other gimmicks do you think WWE were right to turn down? For more content, check out Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remaster: 10 Things You Need To Know and 18 CRAZIEST Moments From WWE Money In The Bank 2020!