While he was running WWE creative Vince McMahon had the final say on everything that appeared on television, even if that pitched him against his own writing team.
However, it has been revealed that for one famous WrestleMania match, he took a backseat and let the Superstars themselves decide who was going to win.
The 2005 rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle is fondly remembered by fans and culminated in a match at WrestleMania 21. In the lead-up to the match, Angle repeatedly mocked HBK, singing his “Sexy Boy” theme song with Sensational Sherri, won a Ladder Match, and defeated Marty Jannetty.
The match at WrestleMania was praised across the board and Angle eventually picked up the win. Incredibly, a decision taken by the two men involved, with Michaels offering to lose.
During an episode of his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show, Angle said that Vince McMahon let them decide the winner, with Michaels pitching for Angle to win as he was scheduled to move into a feud with John Cena.
“Listen, there’s no doubt in my mind that if Shawn was going to lose at WrestleMania to me, I’m gonna have to pay it back. There’s no doubt about it. Yes, that’s how it works. And I don’t blame him. I was willing to do that, because he did me a huge favour.
Actually, Vince didn’t have a winner for WrestleMania. He had us work it out between ourselves. And Shawn said, Listen, I’ll put you over. Because I know, this is what he said, and I totally forgot this. He said, You know what, you’re gonna end up doing a programme with Cena afterward, and what you need is a good win right now.
So that is why I knew that I was going to work with Cena, even though I didn’t, I thought it was going to work with Cena. Yeah, because Shawn told me, you should get the win right here because you’re going to be paired up against John Cena after this.”
Vince McMahon Laughed After Hearing Fans Hated Planned Match
In another surreal story around a Kurt Angle Angle WrestleMania match, a former writer revealed that Vince McMahon commented “f*ck em” after he was told fans hated the idea of the legend ending his career against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.
Dave Schilling said that McMahon was fully aware that fans disliked the match, but simply laughed when the issue was raised.
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