10 WWE Stars Who Weren't Allowed To Use Their Own Ideas
7. Jack Swagger: A Feud With...
...Mr. McMahon!
You either go big, or go home. Jack Swagger did both with this endearingly optimistic pitch.
The story, told on Edge & Christian's Pod of Awesomeness, goes that Vince once cornered Swagger and told him that his talent was being wasted. Swagger promised to pitch storylines ahead of a meeting the following week.
That's good.
McMahon continued to do nothing with him after the meeting.
That's bad.
McMahon rejected said idea, and in fairness to the man, it's understandable: Swagger wanted to leave WWE for a time, excel in the MMA realm, and return a new, legitimised man. McMahon would take issue with the nature of his exit, leading to an in-ring feud between the two held long after McMahon was capable of his old, smoke-and-mirrors masterpieces.
The thing, here, is that Swagger needed to shoot perform in a real combat sport to make any of this work. That did happen - excel is a stretch, looking at his opponents, but AEW has adequately marketed his undefeated record thus far - but it wasn't guaranteed.
Big fan, though, of Swagger essentially asking that he unleash his creative frustrations all over McMahon's ankle.