WWE News Roundup: Canceled backstage idea for major star, Veteran's problem with controversial segment, Vince McMahon's role in former champion's iconic look (October 31, 2021)

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 Welcome to the latest edition of WWE News Roundup. Today, we'll take a look at an intriguing nixed plan for a two-time Universal Champion.

A current WWE RAW Superstar recently credited Vince McMahon for making an important decision regarding his iconic look. Meanwhile, Dutch Mantell spoke about his issue with a controversial SmackDown segment.

Did you know that Big E once turned down an idea from creative? Additionally, Kurt Angle gave his take on a young talent who got drafted to RAW this year.

Without further ado, here are five WWE news stories that have made headlines lately:

#5 WWE wanted to bring the Firefly Fun House "alive" at one point

Tattoo artist and illustrator Kyle Scarborough, the man who initially came up with the concept design for 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt's mask, recently stated that WWE once wanted to bring the Firefly Fun House puppets "alive" on television.

He noted that Wyatt wanted to portray human versions of the puppets himself. However, the idea got nixed by the company eventually.

Scarborough came up with the concept art of what a Huskus the Pig Boy mask would have looked like, which you can check out in the tweet below:

"Fun Fact: the WWE wanted to bring the #FireflyFunHouse alive, but @Windham6 would only do it if he played the characters himself. Only one was mocked up, and this would've been the concept for FFH Huskus. It was hinted, but ultimately shelved. #TheFiend #BrayWyatt," Scarborough wrote.

 

#4 Rey Mysterio wore a mask in WWE due to Vince McMahon's request

Rey Mysterio debuted on WWE's main roster in 2002, and he would have looked quite different if it weren't for Vince McMahon's specific request.

Many fans associate the legendary luchador with his masked appearance. However, Mysterio had no plans to debut with a mask in McMahon's company until someone informed him that the latter wanted him to wear one.

The multi-time world champion told Graham GSM Matthews of Bleacher Report that his initial plans were to don a gladiator chain, vest, and baggy pants on WWE television.

"It was actually WWE who brought that up, or in this case, Vince McMahon. I was doing my training a week prior to my debut and I was in OVW. I forgot who approached me at the time, but they said, 'The company wants to know what type of ring attire you're going to use for next week.' I said, 'What I've been using.' I was using the Scott Steiner, "Big Poppa Pump" chain around the head, like a gladiator chain, and a vest that went along with it. Baggy pants. They were like, 'Where's the mask?' I said, 'I haven't been wrestling with the mask.' 'No, no, no. Vince wants to see you with the mask,'" Rey Mysterio said.

 Mysterio's stint in Vince McMahon's company popularized the lucha mask look for countless fans all over the world.

So had it not been for McMahon's said directive to the legendary luchador, modern-day WWE history could have panned out very differently.

#3 Dutch Mantell's problem with controversial Becky Lynch-Charlotte Flair segment

It's no secret at this point that Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch's title exchange segment on the October 22 episode of WWE SmackDown reportedly led to a legitimate spat between the two superstars backstage.

The title exchange ceremony came about due to this year's Draft, as Lynch and Flair held top titles for brands they didn't belong to anymore. Wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell voiced his issues with their segment and the WWE Draft rules for top champions on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk.

He highlighted how everyone could tell Lynch and Flair were both legitimately "pi**ed off" on live television. In Mantell's opinion, the best outcome would have been for WWE to automatically swap the belts instead of building a segment around that premise.

"If you think about the draft system, how long have they used it? 10-15 years or so? I guess it worked out well in the past but to draft your champion to the other show does not make sense to me. You know it's almost like NFL, you know, you protect certain players, they cannot even be traded. When you protect your champions that they won't be traded off and then when both are changed, they got the other show's belt. The best thing to me would've been to just have them automatically exchanged. I think it has got more cons to it than pros but I didn't like the idea and you could tell they were pi**ed off. You can tell they were mad. That was not a smooth development. It's not what draws money," Dutch Mantell said.

You can check out Mantell's thoughts on the most recent SmackDown show in the video embedded above.

#2 Big E rejected an idea from WWE in the past

At one point in time, higher-ups wanted Big E to do a "pec dance" - a rhythmic popping of pectoral muscles - on television. For those unaware, Chris Masters did the same back in the day during WWE segments.

Big E recently admitted on the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM show that he is known for doing "a lot of silly nonsense." Still, he turned down this backstage pitch.

"Nothing too crazy. Years ago, they asked me if I could do a pec dance. A dude called Chris Masters used to pop his pecs rhythmically, and I do a lot of silly nonsense, but I was like, 'I ain't trying to do all that,'" said Big E.

 

 The New Day member also acknowledged that although Vince McMahon is still heavily involved in pulling the creative strings backstage, several superstars have some creative freedom over their promos these days.

#1 Kurt Angle thinks Gable Steveson will be "a big player" in WWE

Gable Steveson has a long road ahead of him in WWE, and Kurt Angle believes the 21-year-old Olympic gold medalist could become a major superstar in the world of sports entertainment.

Angle, who also won a freestyle wrestling Olympic gold medal many years ago, recently appeared on Dr. Chris Featherstone's Pancakes & Powerslams podcast for a Q&A session. He stated that the sky is the limit for Steveson if the latter catches on to the business from a character/charisma standpoint.

"I think Gable Steveson is going to be a big player in the game. I really think he is going to catch on, especially if he catches on from a; what would I call that? A charisma perspective, you know, a personality/character perspective. If he gets that, the sky is the limit with this guy," said Angle.

During the Q&A, Kurt Angle also expressed that he would love to manage Gable Steveson in professional wrestling. Given the similarities in both of their pre-WWE backgrounds, wouldn't this be the perfect development?

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