21 Years Of WWE SmackDown Mistakes
17. 2003 - Hey, Man. Ease Up!
Vince McMahon used to commonly defend WWE from innumerable moral guardians by suggesting that for all the chaos his storylines portrayed, the organisation never went near murder, sex crimes, or anything so serious in nature that it could connect dangerously with the youth of the United States or young fans the world over. 'You don't see guns, you don't see knives, you don't see rapes' were three of his biggest escape hatches.
In 2003, Vince McMahon hit just about every flashpoint in a single promo as if he was actively trying to catch everything formerly consigned to a fabled banned list.
Attempting to portray his obsession with destroying the 'Phenom' in a promo directed at General Manager Paul Heyman, Vince promised that 'terrorists are gonna burn down The Undertaker's house', 'his children are going to be kidnapped' and 'his wife is gonna be raped by a motorcycle gang right in front of him'.
He went further, suggesting that if Heyman didn't oversee the aforementioned atrocities, he'd strangle him to death, then fire him. The promo doesn't get a lot of airtime in highlights packages these days, perhaps only because Vince didn't follow through, rather than for the actual content.