Vince McMahon’s time in WWE is well-known for his onscreen appearances as the villainous ‘Mr. McMahon’ character who tried to use his corporate power to take down Superstars he took a dislike to in the company. However, it has emerged that McMahon might have taken the character in a very different direction.
WWE turned a corner in the Monday Night War between Raw and WCW’s Nitro when Vince McMahon came out from behind the commentary booth to take centre stage as an authority figure in the company. His first target was ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin’, who he decided wasn’t suitable to be the face of WWE so tried every trick in the book to keep The texas Rattlesnake away from the WWE Championship.
The feud helped send ratings through the roof with fans wanting to see Vince McMahon get his comeuppance, something Austin obliged with in spades. From blasting the McMahon family in the infamous beer bath, to crushing his cars and even filling his prized corvette with concrete, Austin had the boss’s number.
As well as Austin, though, McMahon also picked fights with the likes of The Rock, The Undertaker, John Cena, and even his own children, Shane and Stephanie. Invariably, though, Vince came out on the losing end of every feud.
Former WWE Head Writer reveals bizarre Vince McMahon pitch
It could be those losses that would have fed into an idea that was discussed later in the character’s life which, according to former WWE Head Writer Brian Gewirtz, was to have seen Vince McMahon have a mid-life crisis and start wearing Hawaiian shirts while singing Black Eyed Peas songs.
Things “discussed” in my time at wwe:
Vince having midlife crisis, growing beard, wearing Hawaiian shirts and singing Black Eyed Peas songs
Kaval being Undertakers secret long lost son
Cena losing to Bray Wyatt via singing possessed child… wait, that one actually happened https://t.co/yIhViHlWtc
— Brian Gewirtz (@bfg728) December 3, 2022
Sadly, it was not to be and Vince McMahon instead began being seen less and less on TV during his final years with the company. His last appearance came on the June 18th, 2022 episode of SmackDown where he cut a defiant tone despite being in the midst of the misconduct investigation that eventually led to his retirement only a few weeks later.