10 Times WWE Stupidly Tried To Plug Gaps

Where It All Begins...Again.

Brock Lesnar Triple H 2002
WWE.com

Trying to understand the mind of Vince McMahon is like trying to figure out why, as an infant, you couldn't stay up late, even if you're sure the sun's still out behind closed curtains. Or why, as an adolescent, you might have experienced your most confusing emotional development of the afternoon in R.E, rather than the privacy of your own bedroom. Or why, as an adult you might try to understand the mind of Vince McMahon.

Podcast deep dives have tried to drill down into what makes the bananas billionaire tick 61 minutes an hour, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, and still can't reach the core. Long after he's dead, the latest audio-visual medium will do the same.

History is all that supports a thesis. To figure out The Chairman is to study his prior methods, not least because he relies on them himself. Relentlessly.

The gimmicks that have worked for him before will work again and again, !*$% it, until they don't. It's why Daniel Bryan's futuristic evil environmentalist persona resonated with a 73-year-old conservative tycoon - the man knows how to recycle.

Pray for the Women's Revolution as it continues on its complex journey - WWE haven't yet named a wrestler "Fetch", but contemporary popcorn classic Mean Girls is now 15 years old, so Vince McMahon might yet try to make it happen. He tried, often at great expense, to heave worse retreads over the line...

10. No Way Jose

Brock Lesnar Triple H 2002
WWE.com

Dancing fool No Way Jose can't really be blamed for being dancing fool No Way Jose - it's literally the only character development he's ever been afforded.

This isn't even a case of Vince McMahon seeing one aspect of a superb NXT gimmick and exploiting that rather than everything else a performer has to offer - No Way Jose was a three syllable name with a three syllable entrance theme before he'd even debuted on the black and gold brand, and may very well have been to plug a gap left by one of the last developmental characters to be flushed away on the main roster.

Adam Rose was an inspired bit of sports entertainment booking on a show rapidly becoming one of the hottest products in company history. An openly blatant repackage for bland heel Leo Krueger, Rose's persona was delivered with so many winks and nudges that it almost welcomed the cavernous comparison. Literally leaving a party bus to head to the ring on his first night, he couldn't have looked more like a star thanks to the complete package he was provided.

Jose had the conga line and kicky theme. It's all he's ever had.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett