Kemo
04-20-2022, 03:37 PM
Vince McMahon always looks to put on a massive show, and that was no different back in 2000.
On the heels of McMahon finally taking WWE to the New York Stock Exchange, McMahon actually had plans to put one of his biggest stars – The Rock – inside the ring smack in the middle of Wall Street. And his opponent? A bear. Yes, an actual, live bear.
WWE Senior VP Bruce Prichard broke the idea down during an episode of his podcast, “Something To Wrestle,” saying Vince McMahon seemed pretty set on the idea at the time.
“Vince came into my office on a Thursday, and I believe it was going to be a Tuesday or a Wednesday that we were going to be on the New York Stock Exchange, to ring the bell on the Stock Exchange, and Vince wanted to put a ring in the middle of Wall Street,” Prichard said. “Shut Wall Street down and put a ring there and have matches at noon.
“Huge spectacle, we’re gonna go live on WWF.com, so it’s like, okay, cool. I thought he was just kind of telling me this. So I knew that ‘Okay we need to put on a show, we need to come up with something. But what he was telling me was ‘Hey, I want to do this, get it done.’ As he trails off he goes ‘and I want a bear…! I want The Rock to wrestle a bear.’ The Brahma Bull versus the bear. The honest to God living wrestling bear which used to be an attraction back in the day.”
Obviously, the idea never materialized. Prichard explained that there likely would’ve been issues with animal rights activists; on top of the fact that you probably don’t want a bear in the middle of Wall Street the day your stock goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.
“The bear, thank God, was reconsidered on several fronts,” Prichard said. “Because, first of all, you had the animal rights activists that would not look kindly on a wrestling bear. Even though the human rights activists that probably should have been alarmed. Because trust me… the bear always goes over. So anyway, as we’re getting closer to this, the idea becomes ‘well, do you really want a bear hanging around on the New York Exchange the day your stock goes public?’ Well, ‘the bear was out today on the New York Stock Exchange.’
“No you don’t want that. You want the ‘Brahma Bull’. You know, it’s a bullish market not a bear market, for God’s sakes. So we had the ‘Brahma Bull’ we didn’t have any bears having around there.”
While The Rock didn’t get to wrestle the bear, he did end up headlining WrestleMania several times – three opposite WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin. And even though his best days inside the ring are likely behind him, “The People’s Champ” might have one more WrestleMania headliner left in him.
On the heels of McMahon finally taking WWE to the New York Stock Exchange, McMahon actually had plans to put one of his biggest stars – The Rock – inside the ring smack in the middle of Wall Street. And his opponent? A bear. Yes, an actual, live bear.
WWE Senior VP Bruce Prichard broke the idea down during an episode of his podcast, “Something To Wrestle,” saying Vince McMahon seemed pretty set on the idea at the time.
“Vince came into my office on a Thursday, and I believe it was going to be a Tuesday or a Wednesday that we were going to be on the New York Stock Exchange, to ring the bell on the Stock Exchange, and Vince wanted to put a ring in the middle of Wall Street,” Prichard said. “Shut Wall Street down and put a ring there and have matches at noon.
“Huge spectacle, we’re gonna go live on WWF.com, so it’s like, okay, cool. I thought he was just kind of telling me this. So I knew that ‘Okay we need to put on a show, we need to come up with something. But what he was telling me was ‘Hey, I want to do this, get it done.’ As he trails off he goes ‘and I want a bear…! I want The Rock to wrestle a bear.’ The Brahma Bull versus the bear. The honest to God living wrestling bear which used to be an attraction back in the day.”
Obviously, the idea never materialized. Prichard explained that there likely would’ve been issues with animal rights activists; on top of the fact that you probably don’t want a bear in the middle of Wall Street the day your stock goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.
“The bear, thank God, was reconsidered on several fronts,” Prichard said. “Because, first of all, you had the animal rights activists that would not look kindly on a wrestling bear. Even though the human rights activists that probably should have been alarmed. Because trust me… the bear always goes over. So anyway, as we’re getting closer to this, the idea becomes ‘well, do you really want a bear hanging around on the New York Exchange the day your stock goes public?’ Well, ‘the bear was out today on the New York Stock Exchange.’
“No you don’t want that. You want the ‘Brahma Bull’. You know, it’s a bullish market not a bear market, for God’s sakes. So we had the ‘Brahma Bull’ we didn’t have any bears having around there.”
While The Rock didn’t get to wrestle the bear, he did end up headlining WrestleMania several times – three opposite WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin. And even though his best days inside the ring are likely behind him, “The People’s Champ” might have one more WrestleMania headliner left in him.