10 Real-life WWE stories we learned this week: 'Disrespected' veteran told Vince McMahon he quit, John Cena said company did not need 2-time World Champion
On-screen, many of the biggest WWE moments of the week have revolved around Bayley and Sasha Banks, who have started appearing on RAW, SmackDown and NXT over the last month.
Elsewhere, the build-up to Extreme Rules: The Horror Show has continued, with Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE Championship) and Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt (Wyatt Swamp Fight) among the matches that have been announced so far.
Behind the scenes this week, we learned that one “disrespected” WWE Hall of Famer once told Vince McMahon that he wanted to quit after a prank was played on him, while a story emerged about John Cena dismissing the idea of WWE signing AJ Styles.
Let’s take a look at the full details behind those stories, plus eight others, as we count down 10 of the most interesting real-life stories that have been revealed about WWE Superstars and storylines this week.
#10 Mark Henry wanted to quit WWE after a Vince McMahon prank
Last week’s round-up included a story about Vince McMahon pranking AJ Styles by telling him that The Undertaker wanted to return for one more match against “some kid from Tennessee” instead of him.
Well, it seems that McMahon is quite the prankster, as Mark Henry told a story on WWE Network show Broken Skull Sessions about the WWE Chairman playing a joke on him in front of a live audience.
Henry waited in the ring as he prepared to face Sin Cara, but it turned out that he did not even have an opponent and McMahon sent him out in front of the crowd just to joke around.
The prank almost backfired spectacularly when a disrespected Henry tore apart a WWE set backstage and said, "Man, I quit, this is the last time."
Thankfully, McMahon issued a remorseful apology and the two men were able to make amends.
#9 John Cena felt WWE did not need AJ Styles
Former WWE producer Arn Anderson said on his ARN podcast that he once suggested to John Cena that the company should sign AJ Styles, Bobby Roode and James Storm from Impact Wrestling.
Cena, who worked closely with Anderson on many of his WWE matches, told the Hall of Famer that WWE did not need any of the three men because the NXT system is where future Superstars come from.
Anderson clarified that the 16-time World Champion was not necessarily speaking negatively about Styles, Roode and Storm, and he was likely just transferring Vince McMahon’s psychology to him.