The long-time rumour about Christopher Daniels being the infamous Higher Power in the WWE have finally been debunked by the man himself.
Daniels is a legend in American wrestling, but never made it as a superstar in the WWE. Instead, he made his name in Ring of Honor and TNA, becoming a legendary figure in both promotions.
While he did win the ROH Championship, he is considered the most egregious wrestler to never win the TNA/Impact World Championship, being primed for a main event run during his peak.
However, typical TNA booking made sure he never got the run he deserved. He now wrestles for AEW and on the independent scene.
Before he was in TNA and ROH, the rumour was that he was signed by the WWE. He was supposed to have been revealed as the true “higher power” in charge of the Undertaker’s Ministry stable.
He would have been in charge of a litany of different wrestlers and would have been the brains behind the plot to kidnap Stephanie McMahon and force her to marry The Undertaker.
Eventually, the part of the Higher Power was revealed as being Vince McMahon and the idea of it being Daniels was dropped. Or was it?
Was Christopher Daniels The Higher Power?
In fact, Christopher Daniels has revealed that he was never considered to be part of the storyline, which seemed obvious given that he was not signed to the WWE nor debuted on Monday Night Raw at the time.
He was at the start of his career and a no-name in the world of wrestling. With fans expecting a huge name to battle Steve Austin, he would have been the last option fans would take to.
He said as much in a recent interview, where he reveals that he wasn’t even signed to WWE at the time.
He began training in their developmental facility, run by Terry Funk, but wasn’t signed to a main roster deal.
He claims never to have heard the rumour of Christopher Daniels being the higher power at the time, with the idea being a recent phenomenon.
“I was never close to signing with WWE at that time. Probably the closest is when they gave me an opportunity to go through a camp with Tom Prichard and Dory Funk Jr., and I was there with Kurt Angle, Shawn Stasiak and some other people.
As far as the rumor about me being The Higher Power – I’ve heard that, but I never heard that at the time. I actually just heard that recently. I don’t think it would have been a good idea.
“As far as the mentality of them making that character as someone that basically The Undertaker has to answer to, and me being a virtual unknown to the crowd, would have been a disappointment.
If they would have introduced me as someone who is basically The Undertaker’s boss, it would have fell flat. I’m 200 pounds and I’m 5’10”, so it certainly would have been difficult to take me seriously as someone who is intimidating The Undertaker.
I would have been okay being someone underneath him in The Ministry at that time; that would have been cool. Me being The Higher Power probably wouldn’t fly, and it’s probably a good idea that they didn’t do it.”
However, long-time WWE executive Bruce Pritchard claims that the idea of Daniels being the higher power was pitched to Vince McMahon, who shot the idea down immediately.
He was former WWE writer Vince Russo’s idea to be in charge. Russo had a track record of crazy ideas, so there’s a good chance he was just throwing names and ideas out of nowhere and letting his boss sift through the remaining garbage, hoping to find a speck of gold.
Speaking on Episode 22 of the “Something To Wrestle With” Podcast, Bruce Pritchard said;
“The original idea was ‘The Fallen Angel’ Christopher Daniels. And then Vince saw him and said, ‘absolutely not’. [McMahon did not like Daniels’] size. [He] just didn’t see it.
Chris was working out in California and Chris was working indies and different things an I was a big fan of Chris Daniels too at the time. I liked the ‘Fallen Angel’ gimmick and I want to say we had Chris under a developmental deal for a little while.
[He] just didn’t see it. He just looked at him and he didn’t see it. He was dead from the get-go.”
Jake “The Snake” Roberts and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase were also slated to be the Higher Power, although the role eventually went to Mr McMahon himself (why he would kidnap his own daughter, I’ll never know).