The Vince McMahon‘s Son angle in 2007 was turning out to be the hottest angle WWE had in years. The WWE Chairman died in an explosion and his empire was set to be gifted to his unknown son – Mr Kennedy.
However, one man almost scuppered the plans (well, one man did scupper the plans, but we’ll get to that) by being totally confused and almost being named Vince McMahon’s son.
Was it The Sandman’s fault? Almost entirely. He is how The Sandman almost confused himself into being Vince McMahon’s son on WWE TV.
The Sandman is Vince McMahon’s Son?
Vince McMahon’s Death
In 2007, Vince McMahon died and then found out he had a son. In that order.
Well, in a way that is exactly what happened.
On the June 11th episode of Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon walked sombrely toward his limousine. Everyone in the arena felt saddened watch Vince leave, for some reason. Everyone except Paul London, of course.
McMahon then stepped into his limousine, which promptly exploded, killing him immediately. If you were confused, yes, this is still from the wrestling show.
The next week, his death was acknowledged on screen, which media outlets took as being real. WWE had to release a press release stating that the Chairman was, in fact, alive and it was all part of the TV show.
However, tragedy struck and the death of Chris Benoit put a stop to that. Thinking that it would insensitive following Benoit’s death, the whole storyline was cancelled and McMahon was brought back onto TV.
However, this did not stop the planned “Vince McMahon’s son” storyline that had been brewing. His funeral on Raw was set to reveal a huge secret in the life of the WWE Chairman.
Vince McMahon’s funeral would have kicked off a huge year-long storyline, culminating in Mr Kennedy vs Triple H at Wrestlemania 24. Kennedy was meant to be named as Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son, an accolade given to Hornswoggle after Chris Benoit’s death.
According to Figure Four Weekly, the angle was to take inspiration from the “Who shot JR?” storyline from the TV Show Dallas. WWE would explore who killed Vince McMahon and would be as much of a whodunnit show than a wrestling show.
The entire McMahon family was set to get involved, including the lesser-spotted brother of Vince, Rod McMahon. Rod has never been seen on WWE TV and would have been a huge surprise. Sadly, Rod McMahon passed away last year, never getting the chance to appear at Vince McMahon’s funeral.
Mr Kennedy would inherit the company and run the WWE as a benevolent dictator. The former Mr Money in the Bank winner would use his new-found power to book himself as a top star in WWE, including winning the WWE Championship from the champion at the time, likely John Cena or Triple H.
The feud would lead to Wrestlemania 24, where Mr Kennedy would battle to keep his company and his championship belt, as the top heel in the company.
Sources on what the match would be would vary, with some saying that Triple H would face Mr Kennedy, whilst others say that Shane McMahon would wrestle him for control of the company on behalf of his sister Stephanie McMahon.
However, that would never happen.
Vince McMahon’s Son Revealed
A series of clues were given to narrow down who McMahon’s son is. An attorney revealed his son was blonde, held title gold and was not extreme, ruling out all but one WWE superstar – his son-in-law Triple H.
He was the last man stood in the ring and given the fact Triple H was married to Vince’s daughter, a very awkward moment ensued.
Then, from under the ring emerged Hornswoggle, the new son of Vince McMahon. Over the next few weeks, he was placed into various levels of danger by McMahon, in the name of tough love.
This included a match against The Great Khali at Raw 15, which saw him being saved by Hulk Hogan in one of the most memorable moments of 2007.
However, Vince McMahon’s son very nearly became The Sandman.
When the illegitimate son of McMahon was revealed, he stood in the ring as the entire WWE roster stood at ringside. The attorney on the matter read out clues on the titantron, which rules out any different wrestlers.
At first, he simply revealed that Jeff Hardy was not Vince McMahon’s son, something the Charismatic Enigma cheered until he was placed in a match against The Great Khali.
The next clue noted that his son was not extreme, implying that anybody from ECW was not part of his lineage. They then noted that his son had blonde hair, held singles gold in WWE and was Caucasian.
Three men remained in the ring – JBL, Triple H and The Sandman.
One of those names you may notice was The Sandman. He certainly filled some of those qualifiers. He was white and blonde, after all.
However, he was not (and never was) a champion in WWE and was the absolute definition of extreme. To this day, nobody knows why he stayed in the ring as long as he did.
However, it was one of the funniest moments in WWE for years. It made zero sense but was absolutely hilarious.
It was clear that Sandman, kendo stick in hand, had no idea what was going on and was definitely not Vince McMahon’s son. He almost was though, as he refused to leave the ring when his name was called.
The final clue being “He loves to play the game” implied it was Triple H, with further ruled out The Sandman. Eventually, it was revealed to be Hornswoggle and Sandman didn’t do anything of note until he was fired by the WWE later that year.