Hade Vansen on Freddie Prinze Jr. Pitching for Him to Face The Undertaker at WrestleMania

– During a recent interview with the Developmentally Speaking podcast, former WWE developmental talent Hade Vansen recalled his one promo vignette that aired on WWE SmackDown in December 2008, and how former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. pitched him on an idea on a match between Vansen and The Undertaker at WrestleMania. However, according to Vansen, Triple H did not like the idea and took exception to the vignette. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Hade Vansen on Triple H not liking him taking on The Undertaker: “It was only since listening to Freddie’s podcast that I learned a few more details about it and how they aired it and then it got in front of Vince, and it was Hunter who took exception to the vignette and myself going up against The Undertaker and decided that it wasn’t something they wanted to go with. To be as objective as I can, I understand from their perspective why they wouldn’t want some unknown dude who’s come up from FCW, who isn’t a monster, to go up against The Undertaker leading into whatever pay-per-view they were going to funnel it into, like, I totally get why that maybe slipped through the net of Vince and Hunter and to protect their business, they made a business decision. So I understand that.”

On pitching an X-Men type group of heels for WWE: “[Freddie] tells a story. He was there in the room. It was his idea. It was his baby, the whole thing. This is what he told me. What I remember is that he was going to have me as the leader of a faction, a sort of X-Men-type bad guys. So kind of cool. You know, I’m not gonna have actual superpowers, I guess, but we have that kind of vibe. Every week, I would send one of my dudes to try and wear down The Undertaker. This is how [Freddie] sold it to me. It was going to lead to The Undertaker and myself at WrestleMania. I remember thinking when he sat me down and we were at some venue somewhere. I’m just thinking he was telling me this, and I was like,’ Uh huh. Okay, buddy. This is too good to be true, but whatever. I’m along for the ride.’ Turns out, it was too good to be true. ”

On Kevin Thorn being unhappy about the idea: “Kevin Thorn, I think he was pissed at the company because that gimmick, that whole leader of a sort of X-Men bad guy faction, was his idea, I think. I think he was going to lead this faction. This was a gimmick that he came up with. Then they switched him out for me, I think. I believe that I’ve seen an interview where he was he was kind of saying this himself. He was really pissed at the company. I think this may have been one of the reasons why he left the company because they gave that gimmick to me. I could be wrong, I could be talking out of my ass, but this is the nature of wrestling, it’s all so amorphous, and there are so many different sides of the story.”