American Flag Burning Angle Was Once Pitched For WrestleMania Program

WWE creative meetings can see a lot of ideas bounce around, and some of them create moments that will live on within company history. That being said, this is a story about a pitch that fell flat.

The main event of WrestleMania 7 was a controversial match between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter, with the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on the line. The match was heavily hyped, as Sgt. Slaughter recently turned heel to become an Iraq sympathizer in a storyline, while Hulk Hogan had been the top face of the WWF for several years. The match ended with Hulk Hogan winning the match and retained the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

WrestleMania 7 was a much different time for WWE, and they had an idea for a very controversial angle pitched for the 1991 event. Thankfully, they didn’t go through with this, but there was enough of a pitch for Bruce Prichard to have a very vivid memory of things.

During a 2016 episode of What Happened When, Bruce Prichard remembered a time when Jesse Ventura pitched the idea of burning Old Glory on WWE television.

“Well, when it became legal to burn the American flag, before that you would go to jail, it was a criminal offense to burn the American flag, and it was Jesse Ventura who was, at the time, a color commentator who sat in edit 1 and pitched the idea of burning the American flag to Vince. He said, ‘hey you can do this now, you should do this.'”

Jesse Ventura is a former professional wrestler, actor, commentator, and politician. He later served as the Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a former member of the Underwater Demolition Teams, so the angle about burning an American Flag is very interesting coming from him.

Then again, Jesse Ventura has also subscribes to numerous conspiracy theories, something he hasn’t kept a secret over the last several years. He even hosted a television show called “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.” He was also the mind behind WWE Superstars arranging a walkout to demand a wrestler’s union. So, controversy and Jesse “The Body” Ventura kind of goes hand in hand.

Transcription by Ringside News

What’s your take on Jesse Ventura’s idea? Sound off in the comments!