Vince McMahon's Real Life Brother Almost Appeared On WWE Television

If you're a wrestling fan, then you'll be familiar with the McMahon family. Vince, of course, his children Shane and Stephanie, and perhaps even Vince's wife Linda if you have been watching WWE programming for long enough. They've all been mainstays on WWE TV during different periods, some more than others, and will likely continue to be for years to come, even amid rumors Vince is preparing to sell the company. Shane and Stephanie have six children between them we may well see running the company and appearing in angles years from now.

Vince's Brother Roderick

There's actually one McMahon fans have never been formally introduced to. Vince's real-life brother Roderick. The two weren't very close growing up but developed a bond later in life. So close a bond, in fact, that Rod was considered for a role on WWE TV. The McMahon sibling was going to be brought in for a kayfabe funeral, and perhaps to even fight over control of WWE with his brother as part of an angle.

RELATED: Vince McMahon's Mom Has Passed Away Aged 101

The story begins with Vince McMahon appreciation night in 2007. The boss forced everyone to, well, appreciate him for the evening on Raw, but the show didn't end as the chairman had planned. As he stepped into his limo and shut the door, the car exploded, seemingly killing poor Vince in the process. The angle was scrapped two weeks later due to the real-life double murder-suicide of Chris Benoit, and whatever the plan was became lost in the wrestling aether.

That was until years later when former WWE writer Court Bauer revealed Vince's grand plan for the angle had the Benoit tragedy not happened. The chairman really did want fans to believe he had been killed. A three-hour memorial show was planned during which WWE Superstars would have paid their respects and there was even a ten bell salute in the offing which would have been controversial in itself.

The Kayfabe Funeral Of Vince McMahon

That show would have also acted as the funeral for Vince and would have featured the arrival of his brother Rod, perhaps even with members of Rod's own family as he had a wife and children of his own. Despite never having seen him before, and Rod seemingly not being interested in getting into the business, the McMahon brother would have stuck around and helped run the company. Rod would have been the polar opposite of Vince, something that would have sounded pretty believable by all accounts. Rod's different upbringing molded him into someone very different from his estranged brother. A mild-mannered man who wasn't particularly bothered about being in the spotlight.

Vince would have eventually returned to TV, and from the dead, although it doesn't appear he or the writers had thought that far ahead when it came to exactly how he would be brought back. He and Rod would have then proceeded to butt heads and clash on television as they battled for control of the company. Rod presumably claiming WWE was his to run as he saw fit since Vince had been presumed dead, while the actual chairman obviously arguing that he wasn't dead and wanted his company back.

Plans Were Scrapped

As touched upon above, just two weeks after McMahon blew himself up in a limo explosion, the world learned that Benoit, his wife, and their young son had died. The Raw immediately after that news broke, Vince returned to TV and led a tribute show to the deceased WWE Superstar. It wasn't until the days that followed that the circumstances behind the death of the Benoit family became clear, leading WWE to effectively retract the tribute show it had held having not known all the terrible details of what caused their deaths.

As for the finer details of what WWE had planned for the unknown McMahon and where it would have all led, that may forever remain a mystery. Perhaps Rod would have been accused of trying to kill his brother knowing that was the only way he would be able to get a slice of the WWE pie. It seems more likely that Vince would have returned to TV, revealing he faked his death for some underhanded reason not knowing his brother was waiting in the wings to swoop in.

Rod would appear on WWE one time, as eagle-eyed fans spotted him at the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2016. Sadly, Rod McMahon passed away in 2021 at the age of 77, meaning he will now never be brought in to be a part of WWE TV.