10 Gimmick Ideas WWE Were Right To Turn Down

6. 'Illegitimate Son' (Batista)

Deacon Batista
WWE.com

Prepare to get dark real quick.

Batista told Chris Jericho on his 'Talk Is Jericho' podcast in 2014 that one idea for his formative run in WWE crossed the desk of Vince McMahon and ended up in the bin. It's not surprising when you learn what it was writers wanted; they planned to make big Dave an illegitimate child born when his mother was raped.

Yes, nothing screams 'family friendly WWE action' like sitting kids down in front of SmackDown reruns each weekend to hear how one of the roster was mentally scarred by traumatic events. Said rape would be used to explain why Batista was so quiet (thus giving him an excuse to work on promos slowly), distant and moody.

The very words Batista used to explain the pitch? "Rape child". What a lovely idea, eh? Far be it from this writer to generalise, but no WWE creative team member would've been able to handle such a gritty subject sensitively in 2002. In fact, they'd struggle now...not that it'd come up in conversation.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.