Bruce Prichard On Who Was Slated To Be "The Higher Power" And Why It Was Nixed, Worst Gimmick, More
On episode 22 of Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard, the former longtime WWE producer divulged his take on the worst gimmick used in WWE during his run with the company. Also, Prichard discussed his favorite signings during The Monday Night Wars as well as who he wished WWE could have kept during that time. Finally, Prichard shared who was originally supposed to be revealed as The Higher Power of The Corporate Ministry.
In Prichard's view, Friar Ferguson was the worst gimmick used by WWE during his tenure.
"The worst [gimmick], I'm going to give that one to Friar Ferguson, 'The Mad Monk'. Mike Shaw, who was Norman the Lunatic, who was Makhan Singh, ended up being Bastion Booger, but Friar Ferguson, 'The Mad Monk', had to be at the top of the s–t list. There's a lot that goes on that s–t list, trust me."
Prichard professed that his favorite signings during Monday Night Wars were Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho and he went on to say that he wished WWE could have kept Razor Ramon, also known as Scott Hall.
"Probably my favorite is Eddie Guerrero, but also, I've got to throw Chris Jericho into that as well. I wish that we could have kept, at the very beginning, I wish we could have kept Razor."
On the subject of The Corporate Ministry, Prichard said that rumors claiming that 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts were originally meant to be The Higher Power are false. Rather, Christopher Daniels was Vince Russo's pick to be The Higher Power; however, McMahon nixed those plans because he thought Daniels was too small for the role.
"The original idea was 'The Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels. And then Vince saw him and said, 'absolutely not'. [McMahon did not like Daniels'] size. [He] just didn't see it." Prichard continued, "Chris was working out in California and Chris was working indies and different things an I was a big fan of Chris Daniels too at the time. I liked the 'Fallen Angel' gimmick and I want to say we had Chris under a developmental deal for a little while. [He] just didn't see it. He just looked at him and he didn't see it. He was dead from the get-go."
Prichard suggested that Daniels' height was the primary problem, as being "juiced to the gills" as podcast co-host Conrad Thompson put it, would not have changed McMahon's opinion.
"Height, height, height, and again, first impressions of Vince looking at him. And I don't know where Vince saw him or what the presentation was at all, but all of a sudden, it was, 'nope, not him – don't have anything for him.'"
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