Speaking to WrestlingInc, former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn revealed why he never became the WWE Champion during his time working for Vince McMahon. The former star revealed that he though because he was such a great fighter in real life, the company would have no recourse if he simply decided to not drop the title.
With the famous story of The Undertaker sitting backstage, fists taped, prepared to beat up Shawn Michaels if he didn’t drop the WWE Championship to Steve Austin, Dan Severn would not have taken that well. He is an MMA legend and nobody – except maybe Ken Shamrock – could have faced him in a fight and lived to tell the tale.
He also theorised that he could go back over to the NWA if he won the belt, and defend it over there. WWE tried to avoid a similar situation with Bret Hart in the Montreal Screwjob, and decided that it was easier to not make him champion than to deal with the potential consequences.
Now, did they use me correctly? No. In the beginning they did. But I think they realized, ‘We have no control mechanisms over this guy. If we put a strap on him, who’s to say he’s [not] going to go over to the NWA and lose the strap there?’ … Because again, I’m not working exclusively for the NWA, I’m working for someone else. But at the same token, did they ever converse with me? No. ‘Cause as I stated with you before, I still work matches now.
Is Dan Severn In The WWE Hall Of Fame?
Dan Severn is not in the WWE Hall of Fame. Despite being a former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion and being inducted in the NWA Hall of Fame, he has never received the nod from Vince McMahon. This is likely due to his brief run in the promotion, which barely lasted a year and didn’t involve him winning any championships.
This may also be because wrestlers backstage were afraid of him. He noted that they once said to him “You scare us. We’re afraid that you’re going to wig out in one of our matches”, which meant that he wasn’t able to work with all the people he wanted to, and his career suffered for it.
In the same interview with WrestlingInc, Dan Severn revealed that he thinks he should be in the Hall of Fame – especially given some of the names that have been inducted in the past few years (Koko B. Ware and Queen Sharmell to name a couple).
First off, based on some of the people that are in there, should I be in there? Oh hell yes.
Now 64 years old, he still wrestlers semi-regularly. Dan Severn’s last match was in 2021 and looks to be at the end his long and storied career.