10 Times WWE Wasted HUGE Teases

7. The Attempted Murder Of Vince McMahon (2.0)

Vince McMahon Million Dollar Mania angle
WWE.com

WWE had no choice to abandon the original Vince McMahon whodunnit.

The company had gone to an awful lot of trouble to sell his 2007 limousine explosion as legitimate, apparently due to orders from the man himself. Bruce Prichard's "I can't be on TV if I'm dead, pal!" line was one of the early Something To Wrestle With poppers, because it spoke to the deranged logic of his former and future boss in a manner that felt entirely believable.

The Benoit family tragedy left nobody any option but to leave such stories well alone. WWE - in all its brokenness in the aftermath - had to be about the escapist entertainment actually escaping anything resembling death.

For about a year.

For the climax (?) of the disastrous McMahon's Million Dollar Mania idea in 2008, Vince booked his character's demise yet again. Having given yet more of his cash away in a bizarre and failed ratings ploy, a smiling-and-waving Chairman was felled by the stage collapsing beneath his feet before the remainder of the MDM structure crushed him.

Not only did we never find out who had yet another attempt on his life, but we never found out the full nature of its failure. McMahon was back in January 2009 without as much as a bruise remaining from the supposedly devastating scene.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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