10 Times WWE Tried To Kill Wrestling

5. WWE Offers To Buy House Of Hardcore

Devil Vince McMahon
WWE.com

This bizarre story illustrates the outrageous appetite of WWE's endeavour.

There is little data available that allows us to gauge the success of Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore promotion. Neither ProFightDB nor Cagematch illuminate live attendance data. Anecdotally, in terms of buzz, no GIFs from the promotion spring up on Twitter in a viral frenzy. It isn't a big promotion, it's a northeastern US regional, and as a nostalgia-based/Super Indie-adjacent hybrid with no realistic hope of attaining a TV deal, it was never destined to be.

And yet, back in 2015, per Dreamer, WWE offered him a "lot of money" to close the promotion.

Speaking on a conference call ahead of Impact Wrestling's Slammiversary event in 2018, Dreamer disclosed the pitch. Back when he was drafted back into WWE on a temporary basis to work a short programme with the Wyatt Family in 2015, the company offered him both a contract and a proposition. Dreamer was resistant to both.

Vince McMahon didn't wish to impede whatever growth it was capable of because he is so averse to "blood and guts"; any promotion, no matter how humble, is considered a threat to the monopoly.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!