WWE has received a lot of flak through the years for a number of controversial storylines , all of which were approved by the company’s chairman and primary creative figure, Vince McMahon. Many other angles and on-air segments, however, didn’t quite pass muster with the boss, and as a former writer claims, these included one that would have had McMahon ostensibly killing someone in storyline.
On Thursday, former WWE writer and producer Brian Gewirtz took to Twitter , sharing an image of what appeared to be a script for a show that took place “nearly 13 years ago.” The script described a “dilemma” featuring McMahon and Hornswoggle, where it seemed that the WWE boss was at his wit’s end with his fictional illegitimate son.
As seen in the photo, the document stated that McMahon was to tell Hornswoggle that the two of them are “going for a ride” before stuffing him in a pillowcase. This would set up the next scene, where the camera would capture McMahon throwing Hornswoggle out his limousine’s window, resulting in the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion flying over the bridge railing and “[plummeting] to his death.”
“I know it’s morbid and highly unlikely ever to be used, but I think it’s something that a fed up Mr. McMahon could resort to after trying for so long to get rid of him,” the script read.
Gewirtz explained in his tweet that he doesn’t remember which writer came up with the pitch, adding that he can “pretty much guarantee it didn’t make it” to McMahon. He concluded his comments on the rejected segment by saying he somehow admires the writer for taking such a big risk.
As recalled by Cageside Seats , the angle in question centered on how annoyed McMahon was upon learning that Hornswoggle — a little person with a leprechaun-inspired gimmick — was his illegitimate son. This resulted in the villainous on-air authority figure placing him in matches against much larger opponents such as the 7-foot-2-inch Great Khali and the 350-pound Umaga. It would ultimately be revealed, however, that veteran Irish wrestler Fit Finlay was Hornswoggle’s storyline father.
The unnamed WWE writer’s suggested segment with McMahon and Hornswoggle is seemingly one of many that were deemed too much for the company’s pre-“PG Era” programming. In 2011, Bleacher Report recapped some of those rejected ideas, including one that would have had former WWE Women’s Champion Melina revealing that she was actually a man in drag, as well as another in which former mid-card talent Heidenreich would be booked as a thawed-out Nazi stormtrooper from the 1940s.
