4 times Vince McMahon made changes to WWE segments after they had already started

Vince McMahon has been known to make impromptu changes
Vince McMahon has been known to make impromptu changes

The majority of WWE fans will have heard stories throughout the years about Vince McMahon making drastic changes before or after matches/segments have aired.

One of the most famous examples came in the early 2000s when Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon were sent back out in front of the same SmackDown audience to cut the same promos on each other because their father was not happy with their first attempt.

In 2014, a similar thing happened when Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston were ordered to return to the ring to redo a match because Vince felt that Rollins allowed Kingston to have too much offence in their three-minute encounter.

While those incidents would obviously not have been pleasant for the individuals involved, at least they had the benefit of re-enacting their matches/segments again on episodes of a show that was pre-recorded.

In other cases, there have been instances where Superstars have been told by Vince, either by the man himself or via the referee’s headset, that they need to do something different to what was originally planned – only this time they have thousands of eyes watching them.

In this article, let’s take a look at four occasions when the WWE boss altered something during a segment after it had already started.


#4 Daniel Bryan’s jacket

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The inspiration for this article comes from a 2015 interview that Daniel Bryan gave on NotSam Wrestling.

Recalling a story from Bryan’s autobiography, “Yes! My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania”, host Sam Roberts mentioned the time that Bryan wore a special jacket to the ring before he competed in a Street Fight against CM Punk.

From 2011-2012, the former WWE champion would often wear a black/red or white biker jacket to the ring during his entrance, but on this particular occasion his choice of attire did not please the most important person in the company.

Unhappy with how the jacket looked on television, Vince McMahon yelled through his headset to let the referee know that he hated Bryan’s jacket and he needed to take it off.

Bryan used the story in his book to give an insight into what it can be like working in televised matches, but he laughed it off during his interview with Roberts.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just not bothered by much!”

#3 Rhyno vs. Tajiri gets cancelled

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Nowadays in WWE, it is not uncommon for the company to advertise multiple matches for Raw and SmackDown Live on social media before deciding to cancel one or two of them on the day of the show.

Well, back in 2003, Vince McMahon went one step further when he marched his way down to the ring during a live event and cancelled a match between Rhyno and Tajiri as it was taking place.

The reason why was simple: the match was boring.

Recalling the incident, Rhyno told Wrestling Inc. in 2012 that McMahon had told him before the show not to make any mistakes and he thought his boss was joking around when he stepped into the ring.

“So, I'm like 'What are you going to do? Fire me?' And I'm staring in the middle of the ring and the referee goes 'I think he's serious.' I'm like 'Serious about what? I can't hear him.' So, Vince talks to me and says 'Tajiri's going to drop kick you and go to the back.'”

#2 Jerry Lawler’s kickoff show appearance

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Jerry “The King” Lawler was part of the Royal Rumble kickoff show panel alongside Booker T, Jonathan Coachman, David Otunga, Beth Phoenix and Shawn Michaels in January 2019.

As usual, Lawler placed his crown next to him on the table at the start of the two-hour broadcast as he prepared to discuss the match card and give his predictions on what might happen at the event.

Then, as he later revealed on his ‘Dinner With The King’ podcast, Vince McMahon called him.

He said (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

"I'm like, this can't be right. I'm on the Pre-Show, Vince McMahon calling me, right? I mean, this is gotta be some kind of rib or something. So I press, I go, 'Hello?' And all of a sudden Vince goes, 'King?' I said, 'Yeah?' He said, 'Take your crown and move it from your right side over to your left side.' And I'm in shock, and I pick my crown up and I move it over to the left side, and I say, 'Like that?' He said, 'Perfect, thank you'."

#1 Kurt Angle turns against the crowd

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Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Stasiak in a six-minute match on his WWE television debut at Survivor Series 1999.

The Olympic Gold medallist wanted to become a good guy, much like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, when he made the transition to pro wrestling/sports entertainment, but Vince McMahon convinced him that he would have more success if he started his career as a bad guy who boasted about his accomplishments.

During the match against Stasiak, McMahon spoke through his headset to the referee and ordered him to make Angle leave the ring and cut a heel promo on the crowd at ringside.

The debutant did just that, saying:

“You do not boo an Olympic Gold medallist. You do not boo an Olympic Gold medallist. I’m the best in the world. I came here for you. You do not boo me.”

He went on to pick up the victory, cementing his status as WWE’s next top heel at the same time.

Meet the man who called CM Punk the softest man alive HERE