WWE rejected former star's idea to return as a black version of The Bunny
Adam Rose's former on-screen ally The Bunny appeared regularly on WWE television in 2014. In a recent interview, Brad Maddox revealed that he once wanted to become an evil version of the character.
The Bunny accompanied Rose to the ring alongside the flamboyant star's groupies, also known as Rosebuds. Former WWE wrestler Justin Gabriel performed as The Bunny, but his identity was hidden underneath the animal costume.
Maddox, who left WWE in 2015, recalled on Wrestling with Rip Rogers how he wanted to be repackaged as a darker version of The Bunny:
"I had pitched a gimmick to come back as The Bunny, but I had bought a black bunny suit, which looked pretty cool, and it had a big scary mask on it. I wanted to come back as sort of a twisted version of The Bunny since Adam Rose had kind of s**t-canned the party gimmick and he was becoming jaded or whatever." [29:23 – 29:47]
Rose's legion of Rosebuds featured several current WWE stars before they became famous, including Becky Lynch and Braun Strowman. However, The Bunny was the most popular sidekick among the group. The furry fan favorite even competed in several tag team matches with Rose in late 2014.
Why WWE never unmasked The Bunny
According to Brad Maddox, WWE's higher-ups thought the unveiling of The Bunny would likely have underwhelmed fans. As a result, the character was taken off television when Adam Rose turned heel in December 2014.
Almost a decade on, Maddox believes his idea to bring back an evil version of the popular gimmick would have worked:
"They had already decided that they could never unmask The Bunny because the hype had been built so strong that it could never be anybody but Vince McMahon in The Bunny outfit or something. I didn't know why they couldn't just use it to maybe make my character – that's what I was thinking." [29:52 – 30:09]
Maddox also spoke in the interview about Vince McMahon refusing to talk to him after he used an offensive term in a promo.
Would you like to have seen an evil version of The Bunny? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Wrestling with Rip Rogers and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.