2 WWE gimmicks that Vince McMahon hated and 3 that he loved
In modern-day WWE, there are over 20 writers who work behind the scenes to come up with ideas and storylines for characters. However, as has always been the case over the last four decades, the final decision on who we see and don’t see on television is down to one man: Vince McMahon.
The WWE owner is ultimately responsible for everything we witness on WWE programming, for good and for bad, and nobody has had a bigger influence on the world of pro wrestling/sports entertainment over the last 40 years than Vinny Mac.
Right now, no matter what fans are told in storylines, it’s pretty clear that Vince has been a huge fan of Roman Reigns for a long time, while various reports over the last year have suggested that the company’s biggest decision-maker is also high on Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin and Alexa Bliss.
But did you know that there are some characters that Vince has used on Raw and SmackDown over the years that he didn't even like, including one of the most famous gimmicks of all time?
In this article, let’s take a look at two WWE personas that Vince hated and three that he loved.
#5 Hated: Gangrel
In 1998, Gangrel began appearing in WWE alongside Edge & Christian, aka The Brood, as a vampire character who made his entrance through a ring of fire on the stage and regularly gave “bloodbaths” to opponents/rivals when the lights went out during matches.
Speaking to his former faction members on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness in June 2018, Gangrel revealed that Vince McMahon hated the gimmick and told him that he would never be allowed to use it on WWE television.
A week later, he received a call from former WWE writer Vince Russo, who asked him to debut the gimmick two days later in a match against Scotty 2 Hotty.
Gangrel said Russo and Bruce Prichard, another former WWE writer/producer, understood the vampire character but he “never heard anybody heel on vampires besides Vince McMahon”.