5 times WWE stars turned down Vince McMahon's pitches

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is one of the greatest minds in the history of the wrestling business. After purchasing the company from his late father Vince Sr., he turned WWE into the global phenomenon it is today.

Vince McMahon has been responsible for the success of almost everything that has come out of WWE; from popular gimmicks and storylines to major events such as WrestleMania. The former WWE Champion also has the final say on everything that is presented on his wrestling shows.

The perks of being the boss allow Vince McMahon to take credit when something succeeds and blame someone else when it fails. While The Chairman of the Board has been the mastermind behind wrestling's most iconic moments, he has also come up with a lot of crazy ideas that people still talk about today without resisting the urge to cringe.

Thankfully, some of them didn't make it to TV because several superstars were brave enough to say no to the boss. Here are five times WWE stars turned down Vince McMahon's pitches.

---

#5 Stone Cold Steve Austin refused to face Brock Lesnar on WWE RAW

Stone Cold refused to put Brock Lesnar over on TV

WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the biggest names in wrestling. In 2002, he was supposed to have a match with Brock Lesnar, which would've attracted a lot of viewers with the proper build-up. Vince McMahon, however, wanted Stone Cold to put over The Beast on a normal episode of WWE RAW.

At the time, Lesnar was a new face on the roster and he was being pushed as the next big star. He was scheduled to win the King of the Ring tournament by running through all the other participants, including Steve Austin. The Rattlesnake, however, declined to take part in the bout. Vince McMahon, on the other hand, was insistent on getting Austin to agree.

Former WWE commentator Jim Ross revealed on his podcast that Stone Cold Steve Austin had an argument with Vince over the situation and proceeded to walk out on the company. During an interview, Austin shed light on why he refused to wrestle Brock Lesnar on RAW:

"Because it wasn't time for me to do the favours yet for Brock in an unadvertised match in a tournament-style TV match whereas hey, man, I love Brock Lesnar, I'd lose to him any day of the week, but build it up so we can all make money off of it and it's going to mean something."

Stone Cold Steve Austin admitted years later that he regrets not having the match with Brock Lesnar. He had to retire prematurely from in-ring competition the next year due to a neck injury he sustained in the ring in 1997.

#4 Bret "The Hitman" Hart refused to drop the WWE Championship to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series

This led to the Montreal Screwjob

The Montreal Screwjob is one of the most infamous incidents in WWE history. It's something that many people still talk about over 20 years later. There is even a conspiracy that the Screwjob might have been a work.

In late 1997, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was preparing to leave Vince McMahon's company for rival promotion WCW. Since Hart was departing, McMahon wanted The Hitman to drop the WWE Championship to Shawn Michaels at that year's Survivor Series.

Bret Hart, however, refused to lose his title to The Heartbreak Kid, with whom he had personal issues. He also didn't want to lose his championship in Canada, his native country. The outcome of the match was therefore set to end via disqualification, with Bret Hart retaining the title.

Vince McMahon, however, was still adamant about Hart losing the WWE Championship before making his debut for WCW. McMahon ordered Earl Hebner, the referee who was officiating the match, to ring the bell while Hart was locked in the Sharpshooter by Shawn Michaels.

In the aftermath, HBK became the WWE Champion and the Mr. McMahon character was born.

#3 WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall turned down Vince McMahon's pitch to play G.I. Joe

Scott Hall AKA Razor Ramon

Scott Hall was a big star during his time in WWE and WCW. He is one of the founding members of the nWo (New World Order), one of the most popular groups in the history of wrestling. His work as 'The Bad Guy' Razor Ramon in WWE was also very memorable, but it almost didn't happen.

When Scott Hall first met Vince McMahon to discuss what character he should portray in WWE, The Chairman came up with a G.I. Joe-inspired gimmick based on Scott Hall's father's military experience. The WWE Hall of Famer turned it down and pitched the Razor Ramon character to Vince McMahon instead:

“I said 'Did you ever see Scarface?' stated Scott Hall during an interview. [Vince McMahon] said 'No.' I went 'Say hello to the bad guy.' I just started doing that schtick and he loved it and he thought I was a genius. I'm ripping off the movie and he thinks I'm a genius. Of course I never corrected him about the genius part. But that's how it all came about."

The Razor Ramon character worked perfectly, thus saving Scott Hall's career from a potentially awful run as G.I. Joe.

#2 Hulk Hogan refused to drop the WWE Championship to Bret Hart

The Immortal Hulk Hogan

The Immortal Hulk Hogan had a very illustrious career in WWE. He was a top babyface during his most dominant run in the company and even became a top heel in WCW as Hollywood Hogan.

Due to his stardom, Hogan had input on his booking in WWE, meaning he could refuse to lose a match if he wanted to, which is exactly what he did to Bret Hart. The Hitman was starting to grow more popular with fans. Vince McMahon thought it would be a good idea to have his top star drop the WWE Championship to Hart.

Hulk Hogan, however, didn't like the idea, and refused to lose to Bret Hart. Speaking on the matter, Hart stated:

“On May 29, [1993], Vince called me at home to tell me the big news that I was getting the belt back. What I didn’t expect to hear was that he was getting ready to call Hogan and hated the thought of telling him that he was too old and tired for a company whose marketing strategy was now based around a “new generation” concept. Vince wanted to make Hogan into the Babe Ruth of the WWF and use him as more of a special attraction. He asked me not to say anything until he had spoken to Hogan.”

Bret continued:

“Ten days later, Vince called again. He warned me that he was about to tell me something that would make me really angry: Hogan was flat-out refusing to put me over, saying I wasn’t in his league. Vince had decided that Yokozuna would be getting the belt instead. I couldn’t believe that Hogan would do this to me. I remembered him shaking my hand at WrestleMania 9, and telling me he’d be happy to return the favor. Vince said he’d have one more meeting with Hogan to try to sell him on it, but if he didn’t go for it, I’d work with Lawler at SummerSlam - instead.”

At WrestleMania 9, Bret Hart lost the WWE Championship to Yokozuna. After the match, Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna's then-manager, challenged Hulk Hogan to a title match against the newly-crowned champion. In less than a minute, Hogan won the match and became the new WWE Champion for the fifth time.

#1 Stephanie McMahon turned down Vince McMahon's pitch for a love angle in WWE

What was Vince McMahon thinking?

WWE's Chairman has proven to the world many times that he is a genius. A lot of times though, it seems like Vince gets carried away with himself. That's the only way to explain some of the absurd ideas he has come up with over the years.

You know it's bad when Stephanie McMahon, his own daughter, thinks that her father is crossing the line. That's exactly what the WWE Chairman did.

In the early 2000s, Stephanie became pregnant with her husband Triple H's child. Vince McMahon then came up with the idea to use her pregnancy in a storyline on TV. Instead of The Game getting acknowledged as the unborn baby's father, Vince wanted the honor to go to himself instead.

As crazy as that sounds, it didn't stop there. After Stephanie sensibly told her dad no, Vince asked her if Shane could do it. Stephanie McMahon thankfully turned down that idea as well, sparing WWE fans from an angle that would've left them scarred for life.