10 Most Infamous WWE Royal Rumble Controversies
9. Vince Thinks The Rumble Is “Stupid” (1987)
Vince McMahon isn't known for being tactful - he's a direct human being (maybe an android) who is used to calling the shots and doing things his own way. However, back in the late-1980s, he did trust the advice of one Pat Patterson. It was Pat who came up with the idea of the Rumble in the first place.
His boss thought it was "stupid".
According to Bruce Prichard's 'Something To Wrestle With' podcast, Vince was left unimpressed at a 12-man trial run on a St. Louis house show in 1987. Pat thought the idea could work on a grander scale, but McMahon was unsure. Still, he needed something flashy that'd grab NBC chief Dick Ebersole during a 1988 meeting, and the Rumble was all he had.
Vince told Patterson to tell Dick the "stupid idea [he] had", and Ebersole thought the multi-man melee was perfect for television. Basically, had Dick not showed support for the thing, the Rumble wouldn't have become a USA Network special in '88 or pay-per-view the following year.