Black Widow
03-18-2008, 06:19 PM
I was on the creative team for a hair over four months -- from the last week of July to the early part of December 2002 -- but I can proudly say that I was a part of it for three of the most infamous storylines in the history of wrestling, ever -- the Billy & Chuck commitment ceremony, the whole Al Wilson saga, and the storyline I get asked about more than any other by far, the Katie Vick saga.
(And for the record, I was there for a lot of good stuff too, but the bad stuff is way more fun to talk about!)
I'll get into the Katie Vick thing more in detail as the weeks go on (key rule of building an audience -- leave 'em wanting more. Someone please call Vince and let him know. He woulda told you the whole story in the opening segment of AM RAW). But for now, I thought I'd give you the story on where the actual name "Katie Vick" comes from.
Flashback to October 2002. We're on Air McMahon (Vince's private jet, which was pretty sweet, by the way -- great roast-beef finger sandwiches) flying out to Las Vegas for the first Raw Roulette show (name of the show was Jim Ross' idea). We were coming off of Unforgiven and starting the hard sell for Triple H vs. Kane at No Mercy (another great story for down the line)!
The main event of the evening was to be the four-way Tag Team TLC Match that was voted Best Raw Match of the Century at that pitiful 10th anniversary show. The plan was that after Kane and Hurricane won that match, Triple H would come out and accuse Kane of being a murderer.
So we're on Air McMahon, finalizing the rundown for RAW (not that any rundown was ever really final), and it's time to give this "murdered girl" a name.
Someone had the idea that maybe it could turn out that she'd be related to someone else on the roster, perhaps someone who hadn't debuted yet who could show up down the line to feud with Kane over his sister's death. Yes, they actually thought this storyline could not only last the month, but also give the rub to new talent. For the record, most of us writers knew it was destined to wind up in the XFL pile.
So we took out our "roster" (a simple sheet of paper that lists babyfaces down one side and heels down the other, with all contracted developmental talent on the bottom -- a very easy way to organize who's available at any given time). We went name by name, rejecting anyone on the current roster, and finally coming to the name Scott Vick.
All we'd known about Scott was that he'd done some stuff in WCW as "Sick Boy." He was in WWE's developmental ranks at the time, and I don't remember 100%, but I think Jim Ross or someone might have put him over a bit.
We thought "Vick" was a cool name, and thought that if things panned out, it might be a good way to reintroduce Scott down the line, to give him an instant storyline, so "Vick" it was.
But what about a first name? It was Stephanie McMahon herself who offered the name "Katie," seemingly just a random name she threw out there, though she may have had a reason for it, I'm not really sure. But that's how the name "Katie Vick" came to be.
So yes, the dead girl was to be the sister of the "Sick Boy." Which I guess would have made him and Kane brothers-in-law if she hadn't died in that accident? Which would have made Paul Bearer his ... ah, forget it.
weblogs.newsday.com
(And for the record, I was there for a lot of good stuff too, but the bad stuff is way more fun to talk about!)
I'll get into the Katie Vick thing more in detail as the weeks go on (key rule of building an audience -- leave 'em wanting more. Someone please call Vince and let him know. He woulda told you the whole story in the opening segment of AM RAW). But for now, I thought I'd give you the story on where the actual name "Katie Vick" comes from.
Flashback to October 2002. We're on Air McMahon (Vince's private jet, which was pretty sweet, by the way -- great roast-beef finger sandwiches) flying out to Las Vegas for the first Raw Roulette show (name of the show was Jim Ross' idea). We were coming off of Unforgiven and starting the hard sell for Triple H vs. Kane at No Mercy (another great story for down the line)!
The main event of the evening was to be the four-way Tag Team TLC Match that was voted Best Raw Match of the Century at that pitiful 10th anniversary show. The plan was that after Kane and Hurricane won that match, Triple H would come out and accuse Kane of being a murderer.
So we're on Air McMahon, finalizing the rundown for RAW (not that any rundown was ever really final), and it's time to give this "murdered girl" a name.
Someone had the idea that maybe it could turn out that she'd be related to someone else on the roster, perhaps someone who hadn't debuted yet who could show up down the line to feud with Kane over his sister's death. Yes, they actually thought this storyline could not only last the month, but also give the rub to new talent. For the record, most of us writers knew it was destined to wind up in the XFL pile.
So we took out our "roster" (a simple sheet of paper that lists babyfaces down one side and heels down the other, with all contracted developmental talent on the bottom -- a very easy way to organize who's available at any given time). We went name by name, rejecting anyone on the current roster, and finally coming to the name Scott Vick.
All we'd known about Scott was that he'd done some stuff in WCW as "Sick Boy." He was in WWE's developmental ranks at the time, and I don't remember 100%, but I think Jim Ross or someone might have put him over a bit.
We thought "Vick" was a cool name, and thought that if things panned out, it might be a good way to reintroduce Scott down the line, to give him an instant storyline, so "Vick" it was.
But what about a first name? It was Stephanie McMahon herself who offered the name "Katie," seemingly just a random name she threw out there, though she may have had a reason for it, I'm not really sure. But that's how the name "Katie Vick" came to be.
So yes, the dead girl was to be the sister of the "Sick Boy." Which I guess would have made him and Kane brothers-in-law if she hadn't died in that accident? Which would have made Paul Bearer his ... ah, forget it.
weblogs.newsday.com