One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every Year Of WWE History

18. 2007 - Vince McMahon Nearly Shuttered The Entire Developmental System

WWE's Deepest Secrets Vince McMahon
WWE

By 2007, Ohio Valley Wrestling was dysfunctional. 

Highly productive under Jim Cornette and little more than a CM Punk vehicle under Paul Heyman, when they were sacked/thrown under the WWECW bus respectively, the developmental league was left to wither and die. WWE severed the relationship in under a year. In the meantime, WWE struck a relationship with Deep South Wrestling. DSW, under the stewardship of Jody Hamilton, made OVW look like 2016 New Japan Pro Wrestling. It is rumoured that DSW didn’t even book spot shows to bring the talent along. 

Bill DeMott was the head trainer. The training was so intensive and literally nauseating that the rookies, offered a humiliation ritual in exchange for a rare afternoon off, took stinkfaces from a naked Luke Gallows with only a jelly donut separating their nose from his ar*ehole. 

The outfit was such a toxic disaster that it was shuttered in a John Laurinaitis-led clandestine operation in the middle of the night. The instructions were simple: get every piece of equipment owned by WWE out of the building. We aren’t going back. 

Until he realised that he might need some new talent at some point, and approved Florida Championship Wrestling as WWE’s new feeder league, Vince McMahon was so apoplectic that he almost abandoned developmental as a concept altogether.

 
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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!