Mr McMahon Death storyline - Where would WWE be had it gone ahead?

[Takerfan93]

I have seen a number of Vince McMmahon threads recently and in most of the ones which I have commented I have mentioned how I wonder what the death storyline could have become had it not been for the Benoit tragedy. So I decided to make a thread on this after I saw Y-2-Jay's thread "Missed Chance? Mr McMahon Stage Incident In 2008" I haven't seen any threads about this yet so I'm sorry if any one has made one.

This was one of the biggest angles in recent years and IMO of all time even though it was short lived. I absolutely loved it, I hadn't experienced so much shock and so much buzz surrounding Raw in such a long time, it was the first time in years I had been so genuinely surprised. It was an angle not only on Raw, but on Smackdown and ECW as well and no one had any idea what was going to happen with it, but we knew it would be big. I was thrilled when I read that Stephanie, Shane and Linda were going to be brought back as TV characters due to the storyline as I have always enjoyed the McMahon family on television. It was the focus of the whole of WWE and I was looking forward to Raw every week, especially when Stephanie vowed revenge on whoever did it. It took me back to the days of the Attitude era. Whether you liked it or not, it had EVERYONE talking, no doubt about that.

But sadly, as we all know, the Benoit tragedy occurred and as a result the storyline was ended, and rightfully so. But I want to know where you think the WWE would be had it not happened, and had the storyline gone ahead. It was apparently going to push Mr Kennedy and possibly lead him to headline WM24 against HHH and all. So had this ended up happening, he might not even be in TNA now for example, if not would be be a main eventer? And so on. And I want to know, where do you think WWE would be had the storyline gone ahead had there been no Benoit tragedy?

 

[James]

I think this storyline and the Benoit tied in together to make the saying "All things happen for a reason good or bad" come true. In my opinion I think the story was a terrible idea because having the owner of a company stage his death is just absurd. Think aboot is he were to be seen in public that would have totally ruined the whole thing. It's just like the Taker and McCool picture being leaked to the Internet; however, it would have been worse. I didn't like that Benoit died because I really enjoyed him, but I'm kind of glad the situation happened, so it could end that horrible story line.

 

[KitInaka]

Well you have to remember Vince's "State of Mind" at the time. He had just lost a Hair vs Hair match at Summerslam vs Trump and he was in a "kayfabe" mind haze.

Actually, we know exactly how this was slightly going to end up though as Shane McMahon spoiled it a few weeks later. Mr. McMahon was going to fake his own death. Now the matter of why he was going to fake his own death is what we want and it would have probably just been a "business" type thing as the McMahon's put it.

Honestly looking back at it. Not sure what was going to happen as there wasn't anyone frame or anything else of the sort. Again, we look at Kennedy as the person to benefit but how that was to be achieved is a mystery and a half.

 

[Sora/roxas]

Its hard to say without knowing where it was gonna go. We have no idea what this had in store. But i agree with James that it was a horrible idea to fake the death of the owner of the company b/c no one would have believed it.

 

[CorkscrewBackElbowDrop]

I think this storyline and the Benoit tied in together to make the saying "All things happen for a reason good or bad" come true. In my opinion I think the story was a terrible idea because having the owner of a company stage his death is just absurd. Think aboot is he were to be seen in public that would have totally ruined the whole thing. It's just like the Taker and McCool picture being leaked to the Internet; however, it would have been worse. I didn't like that Benoit died because I really enjoyed him, but I'm kind of glad the situation happened, so it could end that horrible story line.

whoa,really, really, you just said that you're glad someone died and killed their wife and kid so that a television show that was having a bad storyline could end the storyline, wtf man, get your priorities straight

 

[Layorz]

I have no doubt the intention was for Vinnie Mac to return in some way or another. It was just a wrestling storyline, and since when has the WWE been known to stick to old ones 100%? Randy Orton can't be a contender while Cena is champ, Jericho can't be on Raw etc... It's all just storylines that serve the current purpose then get ignored once we've moved on a bit. I mean really, assuming Benoit didn't happen, would any of you actually have believed Vince wasn't coming back?

 

[James]

whoa,really, really, you just said that you're glad someone died and killed their wife and kid so that a television show that was having a bad storyline could end the storyline, wtf man, get your priorities straight

I'm not actually "glad" that it happened.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Death storylines are a bad idea in and of themselves because nobody takes them even remotely serious. Of course Vince McMahon wasn't really dead and nobody with any sliver of intelligence believed otherwise. That in and of itself took away a lot of steam from the storyline from the very beginning.

As far as the Benoit Tragedy goes, there have been some good things that've come about in the WWE as a result. The WWE takes much more of an interest in the overall well being of its talent with the Wellness Policy and the banning of chairshots to the head. Also, even though every "death" angle doesn't automatically have to be linked to Benoit, the WWE will no longer impliment them and that's certainly no big loss in my view.

 

[Takerfan93]

I have no doubt the intention was for Vinnie Mac to return in some way or another. It was just a wrestling storyline, and since when has the WWE been known to stick to old ones 100%? Randy Orton can't be a contender while Cena is champ, Jericho can't be on Raw etc... It's all just storylines that serve the current purpose then get ignored once we've moved on a bit. I mean really, assuming Benoit didn't happen, would any of you actually have believed Vince wasn't coming back?

We all knew Vince was coming back, it was even reported on numerous sites that he would return in a few months.

---

But I just found the storyline very exciting. I know that sounds bad and insensitive, but I don't mean it in that sense, I mean it was nice to have a huge angle like that as there hadn't been one in so long. It completely shocked me and thats what I used to love about WWE, the shock value. I really think the storyline would have been great , the illegitamate son storyline follow up wasn't nearly as good. But yes, the death storyline was a difficult one to call, because on the one hand it interested everyone in one way or another and spiked the ratings by quite a bit which made WWE and the fans happy, but I agree, it was bittersweet because they were still staging a death when it comes down to it

 

[johnbragg]

I had a much better idea at the time, as Vince was walking to the limo in a daze past most of the locker room.

Put Vince in the nuthouse. Linda, Shane, Stephanie, HHH and the GMs take over.

Vince escapes the nuthouse. Disappears off the face of the earth. Legally, he's still the CEO and owner, etc.

Vince reappears after a while, making an alliance with someone (Mr. Kennedy?) to retake his empire.


EDIT: Wait, I just remembered. The idea was for Vince to just DISAPPEAR. Gone. No explanation. Frantic cell phone calls between Linda, Shane, Stephanie, HHH, HBK, Cena, etc. "Has anyone heard from the Old Man?"

 

[EliteDiva]

I actually think this was a supposed believable write off for McMahon and decided he wanted to leave TV, but due to Beniot it backfired and he needed to show.

I also believe 2007 is one of the BEST post attitude year which this angle occured.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Well you have to remember Vince's "State of Mind" at the time. He had just lost a Hair vs Hair match at Summerslam vs Trump and he was in a "kayfabe" mind haze.

It was at Wrestlemania...

Anyway..I don't approve of these kind of storylines...it was just too negative...I think it may have just lasted around say 2 months thats all, and maybe the whole illegitimate son which happened a month later might not have happened as well..I don't think it would have really changed anything now..I mean eventually VKM would have returned to the screen anyway..but it would have been interesting to see what would have happened!!

 

[Viola Moonlight]

This storyline was nothing but a waste of time and I can't believe Vince would make this worthy to place on television. The subject of death as kayfabe is never believable and everyone knows it's an excuse to get the person who is "dead" away for a while. Look at Taker's vegetative state storyline. Even so, the way it was presented was done atrociously. When the limo blew up, the camera should have shut off immediately or been dropped and have the camera guy go over there to help. If someone just died in front of you, do you just stand there and watch for about a minute then go over there?

Getting back on topic, this wouldn't have done much good other than create a star out of it. There are some much better ways in making these without an over-the-top storyline going on. This angle was cut short due to the death of the Benoit's and done accordingly. If they kept going, the WWE would have gotten a lot of flak for it. Without trying to make this sound harsh or speaking ill of someone in death, what happened to the Benoit's helped the WWE from taking a road of failure with this storyline. That's all I'll say on it.

The storyline would have been forgotten and something relevant would have risen from it, but it wasn't a good path to take for the WWE.

 

[shankit231]

First of all if the Vince limo thing didn't get cancelled i guarantee you Hornswoggle wouldn't of have been in the WWE for as long as he was. I really don't think much would of have changed except the whole Vince's illegitimate child story wouldn't of happend which really wouldn't of made a big differance anywho. This kinda goes under the typical question as of if Benoit wouldn't of been a moron where would WWE be at right now. I know that the what was supposed to be the 3 hour Vince Memorial Special turned Benoit special would of been coool because I know for a fact Stone Cold was going to play a role in it, kinda still curious what that episode would of been like.

 

[Takerfan93]

I actually think this was a supposed believable write off for McMahon and decided he wanted to leave TV, but due to Beniot it backfired and he needed to show.

I also believe 2007 is one of the BEST post attitude year which this angle occured.

I don't think so because I remember it being reported that Mr McMahon would return to television in a few months

But I completely agree with you about 2007, I think it was actually THE BEST post attitude year (not including the Benoit tragedy, in storylines and matches etc). I just felt like WWE stepped it up a notch that year.

First of all if the Vince limo thing didn't get cancelled i guarantee you Hornswoggle wouldn't of have been in the WWE for as long as he was. I really don't think much would of have changed except the whole Vince's illegitimate child story wouldn't of happend which really wouldn't of made a big differance anywho. This kinda goes under the typical question as of if Benoit wouldn't of been a moron where would WWE be at right now. I know that the what was supposed to be the 3 hour Vince Memorial Special turned Benoit special would of been coool because I know for a fact Stone Cold was going to play a role in it, kinda still curious what that episode would of been like.

Yes the Hornswoggle illegitamate son storyline would not have happened, but it was widely reported at the time that the storyline was only a replacement due to the death storyline being called off earlier in the year.

But now that you mention Stone Cold, I had forgotten that he was going to play a role in it. That would have made it even more exciting to watch!

 

[brighamosity]

At first I was kinda thinking that they were going to do a worked shoot where Benoit and McMahon were killed by the same person, or that Chris Benoit was the one who killed Vince. As absurd as that sounds, I really wouldn't put it past them. They've done more offensive things than that.

Honestly I thought the angle was very lame. I wasn't really paying attention to wrestling at the time but there was a mark at my work who was going around telling everyone that Vince was deal in real life. No joke, they were completely convinced that it was real. I didn't believe it, but I wanted to see it for myself just to see what all the fuss was about. I figured they were just having him fake his death. But anyone who thought it was real is an idiot because the camera followed him around backstage for like 2 minutes. That made no sense and it was obvious that something was going to happen.

 

[dvayne]

If I remember correctly this was supposed to be used to give Mr. Kennedy a push

I read somewhere during that time that after awhile it would be revealed that Mr. Mcmahon faked his death with help from Mr. Kennedy. After the benoit incident they scrapped the death angle and then tried to push Mr. Kennedy again with the illegitimate son storyline until he got suspended for wellness violation and ruined the angle with Hornswoggle, Finlay, and JBL