Why Vince McMahon Pulled the Plug on Controversial Sable Parody

One of the weirdest and most controversial WWE segments from the Attitude Era almost became a full-blown storyline—until Vince McMahon killed it because he simply didn’t get the joke.

Speaking on The Stevie Richards Show, ECW legend Stevie Richards gave fans a rare look behind the curtain at the infamous “Blonde B*tch Project”—a 1999 parody of The Blair Witch Project that took aim at then-WWE superstar Sable, who had filed a $110 million lawsuit against WWE for sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions.

“The Blonde B*tch Project was basically a rib, a parody of Sable,”* Richards explained. “I believe she was suing the company at the time, yes, for sexual harassment. I think it was $110 million or something. Well, these parodies weren’t going to help.”

The skits were written by Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, and Richards said they filmed “at least three or four” vignettes in a Connecticut basement—possibly Ferrara’s house. Only one segment ever aired on SmackDown, and that was the end of it.

“We did all the different vignettes… only one aired on that fateful SmackDown, and that was the end of it,” he recalled. “I wish they would put it up on the Vault or something at this point. I don’t know if they could still get sued…”

So why did WWE pull the plug? According to Richards, Vince McMahon didn’t even understand the reference.

“Here was the issue besides the lawsuit… he had no idea what The Blair Witch Project was. He had never seen it—this was back in ’99,” Richards said. “Not even the big, super out-of-touch Vince in the future. If Vince doesn’t get it, it’s eventually going to be squashed.”

Richards also revealed what fans didn’t get to see—the unaired conclusion of the parody, where he fully embraced the horror spoof.

“It ended with me in the corner, wearing the blonde wig, wearing the Sable leather outfit, with the whole camcorder thing,” Richards said. “So if Vince saw me wearing women’s clothes, he’d be like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know.’”

While WWE’s legal team received a cease and desist over the segment, Richards believes Vince’s confusion was the real death blow.

“If Vince was into it—and Vince can be Vince—if he thought it was great and funny and the best thing ever, he wouldn’t care how much you were suing him or how much trouble it caused. He would have fun with it. But he didn’t get it.”

More than two decades later, the “Blonde B*tch Project” remains one of WWE’s most outrageous “what-if” stories—a parody killed not by taste or controversy, but by confusion.

What do you think—was Vince McMahon right to pull the plug, or did WWE miss out on a now-classic heel moment? Drop your thoughts below and let us know if this parody would’ve been too hot for TV—or pure Attitude Era gold.

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