Dan Madigan, a former member of WWE’s creative team, is clearing the air about one of the most controversial storylines in company history. On a recent episode of the Shut Up and Wrestle podcast, Madigan issued a firm denial regarding long-standing rumors that he was the mind behind the infamous Katie Vick angle from 2002.
“I want to say right now, emphatically, on your show—I did not create this. I am not guilty for that,” Madigan said. “I had nothing to do with the Katie Vick storyline. I just publicly said I was against it.”
The angle in question—featuring Triple H, disguised as Kane, simulating necrophilia with a mannequin inside a casket—remains one of the most widely condemned moments in WWE history. Often cited as a creative low point during the Ruthless Aggression era, the storyline sparked immediate backlash and continues to be referenced as an example of WWE pushing the envelope too far.
Madigan explained how he believes his name became wrongly associated with the segment, which aired before he was officially part of WWE’s writing staff.
“I said the Katie Vick storyline was the worst I’d ever seen in wrestling,” Madigan recalled. “And someone did an article or something about me once. They saw my name, and they saw the words ‘Katie Vick’ and just put two and two together without doing the research.”
He went on to detail his reaction watching the infamous segment unfold live on TV.
“I’m saying to myself, ‘They’re not going to go this far… He’s not going to crawl into the coffin with her,’” Madigan said. “It was just bad. With the exception of a child snuff film, you could write anything for these guys, apparently.”
Podcast host Brian Solomon, himself a former WWE magazine editor, echoed the sentiment, calling the Katie Vick storyline a personal turning point.
“It was the point where I stopped watching the product outside of working hours,” Solomon admitted.
Though two decades have passed since the storyline aired, its legacy continues to spark conversation—and for Dan Madigan, that means finally putting to rest a false narrative that’s followed him for years.
Stay with PWMania.com for more behind-the-scenes stories and untold truths from pro wrestling’s most controversial eras.
