• Former WWE Wrestler Reveals His Reaction After Seeing Vince McMahon Put “Sufferin’ Succotash” In Roman Reigns’ Promo
Former WWE Writer Brian Gewirtz was interviewed on the Cheap Heat podcast, where he discussed why John Cena never turned heel after becoming the Face of WWE, Vince McMahon finally pulling the trigger on Roman Reigns’ heel turn & more.
Below are the highlights:
On if there were pitches for a heel turn:
“Yes. For sure. There was a time we all did. We did push plenty of times for John to turn heel, and there was a lot of reasoning going into it. [Vince was] tempted, but ultimately there was like the merch [sales] and everything John does.”
On what Cena told the writers about turning heel:
“‘Alright, listen, you want to turn me heel? If that’s what Vince says you guys want me to do, I’ll do it. But just so you know, I will go full-bore heel.’
He was like, ‘There won’t be none of that like, oh, he’s a fun heel, he’s a cool heel, he’s winking at the audience, heel.’ He is going to go full heel, that’s what he wants to do, which would have been awesome.”
On Vince McMahon shooting down Cena’s heel turn:
“I think Vince was like, ‘John is basically captain of the ship here’. The issues of who would [Cena] work with? Who would replace him as the top babyface? In [McMahon’s] mind, I think he’s like, ‘I made the right decision because John has been the standard bearer.’”
On Vince wanting Roman Reigns to be the next John Cena:
“[McMahon] was like, ‘I need Roman to be this guy.’ But, Roman is Roman, and John is John.
Two months after the Sufferin’ Succotash [promo], [they wanted] to have Roman tell stories, because I was consulting WWE at the time, and when I saw Sufferin’ Succotash on the script, I was sending out flare gun signals like, ‘No, don’t have him say that.’ But ultimately, yes, they did pull the trigger on Roman and he’s been amazing.”
You can watch this promo from January 2015 below:
Also Read: Backstage News On When Roman Reigns vs. Karrion Kross Will Take Place
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• Old School WWF Veteran Would Have Celebrated His Birthday
Today would have been the 85th birthday of Old School WWF Veteran Uncle Elmer (Real name: Stan Frazier).
After touring the territories as ‘Playboy Frazier’, Frazier joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1985, where he became known as Uncle Elmer and was part of a Hillbillies faction with Hillbilly Jim, Cousin Luke & Cousin Junior.
Elmer’s biggest claim to fame would probably be, when he got married (for real) on a pre-taped episode of WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event in 1985.
After leaving the WWF in 1986, he went back to the territories, such as the AWA (Minnesota) & CWA (Memphis).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY & † REST IN PEACE
August 16, 1937 – July 1, 1992
