Did WWE choose the wrong man to win the 2013 MITB?
Former WWE Writer Kevin Eck on how over time Vince McMahon felt they “Chose the wrong man” when it came to Sandow winning MITB in 2013
“The 2013 MITB PPV grew closer, McMahon narrowed down the potential winners to Wade Barrett and Sandow. I pushed for Barrett, but Sandow had his share of backers, including a producer who strongly advocated for him. I just didn’t see it. It was nothing personal against Sandow, who was a nice guy, played his character well and was decent in the ring, but not everyone is cut out to be world champion. “The Intellectual Savior of the Masses” was an entertaining mid-card act but I didn’t think that character could headline pay-per-view world title matches.
Ultimately, Vince McMahon made the call to go with Sandow. I firmly believed it was the wrong decision, and I privately told some of my colleagues that Sandow was destined to be the first MITB winner to cash in the contract and lose. (John Cena unsuccessfully cashed in the year before but he had announced his cash-in ahead of time and went on to win the match — but not the title — by disqualification due to outside interference).
Sandow began losing a lot more matches than he was winning. McMahon explained at the time that the losses wouldn’t hurt Sandow because he still had the briefcase. However, one of McMahon’s favorite sayings is “perception becomes reality.” The perception was that Sandow wasn’t world champion material, and McMahon eventually saw him that way as well.
When discussing Sandow at a booking meeting a few months after the MITB pay-per-view, McMahon said, “I think we went with the wrong guy.” So, on an episode of “Raw” that October, Sandow attacked then-champion Cena and cashed in the contract, only to have a weakened Cena rally to win the match.
I’d love to be able to say “I told you so,” but Barrett may very well have suffered a similar fate if he had won the MITB ladder match instead of Sandow, because McMahon eventually soured on him as well.”
Source: Sporting News Wrestling
