8 Dropped Ideas That Could've Helped WWE Ratings

6. Mr. Kennedy As Vince McMahon's Illegitimate Son

Randy Orton The Revival
WWE

Back in 2007, Ken Kennedy was one of the hottest rising stars in WWE. Having feuded with the likes of Batista, The Undertaker, and even briefly D-Generation X since debuting on the main roster in 2005, it looked as if the sky was the limit for Kennedy – especially once he won the Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 23.

Unfortunately for Mr. Kennedy (… Kennedy), injury was lurking around the corner and a quick switcheroo saw Edge with the Money in the Bank briefcase. But what’s that on the horizon? Why, it’s a storyline where Vince McMahon has an illegitimate son.

The original plan for the mystery of Vinny Mac’s son was meant to culminate in Mr. Kennedy being revealed as the product of VKM’s grapefruits. By all accounts, the rocket would have been strapped to Kennedy and he'd have become the company’s top heel on a collision course with Triple H and Stephanie for control of WWE.

Of course, that didn’t happen, for Kennedy was one of 11 wrestlers implicated in a steroid scandal – thus landing himself a 30-day suspension. On TV, Vince suspended Ken for impersonating a McMahon, and the big illegitimate son reveal ended up being Hornswoggle.

You could argue that WWE had no choice but to suspend Ken Kennedy at this point in time, but if they’d have stood firm with their initial plan of Kennedy being a McMahon – even if they waited until after his suspension to do that reveal – you can’t help but think about what could've been.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.