10 MORE Shocking WWE Plans You Won’t Believe
9. Ultimate Attitude
Hindsight rapidly presented the 1996 re-signing of The Ultimate Warrior as a creative and financial disaster. McMahon himself even alluded to it in online interviews at the time, tacitly criticising Warrior's dated persona and unprofessional conduct. It confirmed what many fans had felt before he'd even made his ill-advised WrestleMania XII return.
By late 1997, Warrior had been gone 18 months, and WWE itself had changed irreversibly. Stone Cold Steve Austin was nailed on to be the next breakout act, with his ascension timing out perfectly with the controversial departures of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
Astonishingly, a leaked contract offer dated 17th December 1997 showed Vince offering Warrior a 5-year $750,000 per annum guaranteed deal, only two months removed from telling Hart he couldn't afford his $1million p/a agreement. With a very lucrative merchandise agreement and promise of a fresh run on top, the prospect of Warrior steamrolling over Austin, The Rock, Triple H (again), Mankind, and numerous other megastars of the era must have seemed ludicrous to most then as it still does now.