You don’t ever think I ask myself, “Self—WHAT THE !@#$%^&* WERE YOU THINKING?!”
Well, I do, and quite a lot to be honest.
To understand “Naked Mideon”, you have to first understand Dennis Knight. Now, Dennis was every sense of the word a “good ol’ boy”. He was a southern gentleman who would give you the shirt right off his back without you ever even asking. He was the guy that you always wanted to find a spot for.
Now, I didn’t create the Godwinns, they were already there when I started working creative. And I loved both Mark Canterbury and Dennis, just two of the nicest, sweetest guys you who ever meet — despite the fact that they could both kick your tail within’ 10 seconds flat — BUT, I absolutely hated the Phineas and Henry Godwinn personas. HATED THEM. It was so stereotypical for two southern boys, but that’s what Vince always tended to do—go WAY over the top with EVERY Stereotype imaginable.
So, on my dime, I was killing the Godwinns. However, I had to find another roll for them. In ‘real life’, Dennis and Mark were both super tight with The Undertaker, so maybe I could somehow, some way; shoehorn them in with Taker’s “Ministry”.
Now, being a WHOLE LOTTA YEARS older and removed from the situation, in my very vague memory, I believe that the “Naked Mideon” actually came from Knight himself.
Dennis was extremely creative, and always wanted to push the envelope, trying everything and anything. Why am I convinced that it was his idea and not mine? Well, quite simply I’m not going to ask a grown man, any grown man, to run around butt naked in an arena full of people!!
So, no, that’s not my game.
HOWEVER…
When a talent suggests something like that to you, you tend to say “GO FOR IT!” If you’re willing to do it, I’m willing to LET YOU DO IT.
So, Dennis Knight became “Mideon”, and Mideon got NAKED! Was it the best idea in the world? No. Was it the worst? Look up “THE YETI” then we’ll talk.