Former WWE stable was supposed to be involved in controversial angle before idea was scrapped, says ex-superstar

Former WWE Superstar Mace recently opened up about the initial idea behind the formation of Retribution.

Mace signed with the Stamford-based company in 2016. About four years later, he made his main roster debut on Monday Night RAW as a member of Retribution. The stable was led by Mustafa Ali and included current AEW star Mercedes Martinez, NXT star Dijak, now-NJPW star Shane Haste, and SmackDown star Michin (Mia Yim). After debuting in August 2020, the group was disbanded only seven months later.

In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo on Instinct Culture, Mace spoke about the initial idea behind the formation of Retribution. He revealed that the company scrapped its original plan for the group to avoid controversy.

"[Where did the pitch come about? When did you think of it? How did you feel being part of Retribution?] There was no pitch. If you remember correctly, the initial appearance of Retribution was a bunch of extras because there were a bunch of like really small guys at the time. That's why, that's actually how I ended up being in it. There were a bunch of little small guys that were extras. They had no idea who they wanted them to be from what I understand. And I think they were trying to do an Antifa thing. I think that was the idea," he said.

The 32-year-old added:

"But at the same time, it's a very big company. There's not really much room for controversy anymore. So, at some point they were like, 'Yeah, maybe we shouldn't. But we already did this big angle and we need to kind of finish it in some capacity." [6:50 - 7:43]

Mace made a statement after his appearance at a major wrestling show. Check out the details here.

---

WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon made changes to Retribution because of fans' reaction

During the same interview, Mace claimed WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon decided to add bigger guys to Retribution after fans made fun of the small talent on Twitter.

The 32-year-old disclosed that he was added to the group the following week on WWE RAW.

"So, I actually got added to it, 'kind of,' the next week. After the next week, X, fka Twitter, made fun of all the little guys in the Antifa masks that were wreaking havoc on the place, and I think Vince says, 'Well, let's get some bigger guys.' So, there was a group of NXT Performance Center guys that were on the bigger side. So, they had more intimidating masked men running amok. I believe I speared Big E in that segment." [7:44 - 8:17]

Mace showed off a sculpted new look following his WWE release. Check out the details here.

---

Please credit Instinct Culture and give an H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.