Hade Vansen Recalls Being Pitched A WrestleMania Match Against The Undertaker In 2008

Hade Vansen talks about his one-off vignette that aired on SmackDown in 2008 and being sold on a WrestleMania match against The Undertaker. 

Hade Vansen appeared only once on WWE television in a vignette on the December 12, 2008 edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, where he seemed to target an immortal being who thrived on the power of darkness, speaking of a prophecy and others who he will lead on a mission. 

Nothing else ever became of this character. 

Now, Vansen has appeared on the Developmentally Speaking podcast and detailed what went wrong with his perceived push, the plans for it, and how Freddie Prinze Jr. pitched a potential WrestleMania match against the Undertaker to him. 

Vansen says that it was while listening to Freddie Prinze Jr.’s podcast that he learned it was actually Triple H who took exception to the vignette. 

“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,” he said. “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.” 

Continuing on, Vansen explains that he was pitched on the idea of leading an X-Men-like stable of bad guys. 

“[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,” Vansen recalls. “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. “

When asked who he was going to be paired with in this faction, he mentioned a couple of names, including Kevin Thorn, the former Mordecai. Vansen recalls Thorn not being happy with the company because this storyline was something that he believes Thorn pitched for himself that ended up being utilized for Vansen instead. 

“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,” said Vansen. “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.” 

Ultimately, the WrestleMania that followed Hade Vansen’s promo would be WrestleMania 25, where The Undertaker took on Shawn Michaels in the first part of what would become a four-part story including Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and “The Phenom.” 

The Undertaker has since said that working with Sean Michaels in Triple H at four consecutive WrestleMania was his favorite story ever. Fans can read more about that here. 

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