Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Imagine being an up and coming wrestler getting a big break in WWE. Just being a part of the largest promotion in the world and dealing with the bright spotlight should be pressure enough. Now add the company’s CEO Vince McMahon to that mix and him wanting to put you over as a future main event superstar. You would think having Mr. McMahon giving his seal of approval publicly is a good thing for one’s career. Historically, however, that hasn’t been the case at all.
Behind the scenes, when Vince pegs someone to be the “it” guy or girl, he usually spares no expense to push that individual as a true superstar. The WWE’s marketing department is one of the biggest and most powerful in the wrestling/sports entertainment business. He has helped make wrestlers into icons like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, John Cena, the Rock and most recently with Roman Reigns. While McMahon’s track record behind the curtain is pretty impressive…in front of the cameras is a completely different story.
There is hardly any argument that Mr. McMahon is one of the all time greatest heels in WWE history. You would think that him getting in front of a live audience, in front of television cameras and praising a certain wrestler as “the future” or “the chosen one” would do tremendous business for said wrestler. After all, McMahon hasn’t done that often. To my recollection, it has only happened three times as the character of Mr. McMahon. So for it to be done, it should feel and appear to be something special.
The very first time Mr. McMahon publicly endorsed a wrestler as the future happened in 2007. McMahon walked out to the ring on an edition of WWE’s version of ECW and said that this particular wrestler was “the epitome of ECW.” He then said that this wrestler was the future of ECW and introduced Elijah Burke. The two embraced and then Burke complimented the chairman of the board profusely. Elijah was pushed as a top heel for the ECW brand and led a faction called ‘The New Breed.’
The New Breed feuded with a group of wrestlers from the original ECW. Ultimately though, Elijah Burke never became an ECW champion. The brand was dissolved and Burke was eventually released from the company in 2008.
The next time Mr. McMahon bestowed his ultimate blessing was in September of 2009. On an episode of Smackdown, Mr. McMahon proudly announced that he signed someone that reminded him of himself. He deemed this new acquisition a future world heavyweight champion and then declared this wrestler to be “The Chosen One.” High praise indeed and even higher pressure to live up to McMahon’s standards. That wrestler was a 24 year old from Scotland named Drew McIntyre. It immediately thrusted McIntyre into the spotlight and despite a huge push…it didn’t work out very well.
Over the weeks, months and years…McIntyre’s stock gradually began to fall. Whether it was behavioral issues, personal problems and injuries…McIntyre went from future world champion to a comedic sidekick in the faction 3MB. McIntyre was ultimately released from the company in 2014. Granted, Drew worked hard and was eventually re-signed winning the NXT title, winning the 2020 Royal Rumble and becoming a two time WWE champion. It just took 11 years to fulfill Mr. McMahon’s prophecy.
Vince McMahon hadn’t gone out of his way since Drew McIntyre to endorse a fresh face as the company’s future until 2021. This time, he decided to take Austin Theory under his wing. Mr. McMahon once again offered high praise to the young Theory seeing a lot of himself in the wrestler. While this all seems very reminiscent of Mr. McMahon’s previous attempts at creating a future star…the difference is that this time…McMahon has been seen more with Theory than his other two protégés. It remains to be seen if it’ll pay off or falter like the other two.