It was reported last week in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that back in 2002 the WWE was looking for someone to be a tough guy that was also gay. WWE had Brock Lesnar planned for that spot. The idea was for Lesnar to be portrayed as a kick ass main eventer. Dave Meltzer notes that the idea was for the person to be Lesnar when he made his debut that year.
Aaron Feigenbaum, who at the time wrote for WWE magazine under the name Aaron Williams, pitched the idea as it would blow away the fan base and everyone to have an unstoppable hyper-masculine ass kicker revealing himself to be gay, and be pushed as a top babyface. Some of the older agents thought the idea was terrible and it was dropped. WWE later gave the gay gimmick to Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo.
In an update, the actual idea came from Dr. J. Kober Zehner. Solomon and Feigenbaum then tried to develop the idea. Stephanie McMahon wasn’t there the first time the idea was pitched. The people it was pitched to were the lead writers at the time, Paul Heyman, Brian Gewirtz, and Seth Mates. Heyman was not at all receptive to the idea and kept responding to every pitch Feigenbaum made saying, “What? You want to turn HIM gay?”
Here is an excerpt of the pitch to Vince McMahon at the time
“Of all the possible Superstars, it appears that Brock Lesnar may have the most potential to reach that number. He’s physically dominant, has impeccable credentials concerning believability, and because he is new and relatively unknown, his character can be crafted easily. His ascension could also raise the scores of other Superstars with whom he feuds. The following possible scenario to increase Brock’s ability to grow the industry is radical. It’s unprecedented and may appear crazy at first. There are risks involved, but if it works, it has Austin/McMahon like potential. The solution: Turn Brock Gay. Everything else about him stays the same. He’s pushed in a traditional babyface manner. He’s not the stereotypical Billy/Chuck character. He’s Brock. He continues to annihilate people. He’s just gay. It has to be presented as completely real, especially in the beginning.”
We want to know if you think it would’ve been a good idea for WWE to turn Lesnar’s character gay back in 2002? Let us know in the comment area below.
News from The Wrestling Observer website was used in this post. For more on this story please visit WrestlingObserver.com.
