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WWE often pushes Superstars who aren’t really over with the fans. That's no secret. They call it "best for business", but that’s debatable. More often than not, the Superstars who deserve to get pushed are at times overlooked by the creative team and others find their way to the top of the card.
Most of these pushes are pre-planned and there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that shape the end product.
A lot of it has to do with WWE’s marketing but, in the end, it’s us, the fans, who get to decide if that specific Superstar is going to thrive in the company or not.
While the WWE Universe often refers to Vince McMahon as stubborn, sometimes he has surprised us by finally giving a Superstar of our choice a chance. And in most cases, it proved to be the right decision.
#4 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship loss to Randy Orton helped him become the biggest Superstar in 2014. Fans wanted him to win the Royal Rumble match and challenge Orton for the title but WWE had different plans. They wanted Batista to feud with his former Evolution faction mate and face him for the title instead. As expected, the crowd blew up and they booed Batista mercilessly.
The following months, fans’ support for Bryan only increased and ultimately, it coerced WWE to rewrite their script and add “The Leader of the Yes Movement” to the title picture.
Later, Triple H agreed to tussle it out with Daniel Bryan with a stipulation that his victory would add him to the main event of ‘Mania.
Listening to the fans, WWE allowed Bryan to beat The Game and head over to the main event where he squared off against Orton and Batista. The show ended with Bryan winning the match and the fans chanting “YES! YES! YES!”.
#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin
In 1996, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall - also known as The Kliq - broke kayfabe when they hugged each in front of the crowd. ‘What's wrong with that?’ you might ask.
Back then, kayfabe was a sacred thing in WWE. Nobody was supposed to break it and those who did - intentionally or unintentionally - received their punishments accordingly.
Nash and Triple H were heels in 1996 whereas Michaels and Hall were the good guys. Nobody expected them to hug each other, which is a sign of friendship when they were supposed to rip each other apart.
Nash and Hall left WWE after this incident and joined WWE’s rival promotion, WCW. Michaels was the WWE Champion which made him immune to McMahon's anger (and punishments). Finally, Triple H was left, who not only derailed his own push but Vinnie Mac turned him into a jobber from an upcoming wrestling sensation.
The Game was originally set to become the King of the Ring that year but the Chairman was so angry with him that he took a chance and made Stone Cold Steve Austin win instead. Austin’s speech, famously known as the 3:16 promo he delivered after this tournament, changed pro-wrestling forever as he ascended to become the face of this corporation.
#2 Kofi Kingston
Fans were screaming their heads off for WWE to push Kofi Kingston. The current WWE Champion found himself in a similar situation that Daniel Bryan was once in 2014. Kingston wasn’t going to be a contender for the WWE Championship but an unfortunate eye injury suffered by Ali on SmackDown Live altered the ongoing plans. Ali, who was supposed to be in the gauntlet match, spent his time outside the ring until he recovered completely.
Meanwhile, WWE still had to find a replacement and they chose Kofi Kingston. The 38-year old Superstar exceeded WWE’s expectations during the match and his performance was so incredible that the audience started the KofiMania movement on SmackDown Live.
WWE was quick - or perhaps, too late - to see the potential in Kingston but at least they didn’t waste this opportunity. Vince McMahon aligned him into a feud with Daniel Bryan and they started calling him a ‘B+ player’ - a term Vinnie Mac used against Bryan years ago.
After putting roadblocks after roadblocks, Mr. McMahon finally gave in when The New Day beat Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan at this command to earn their friend Kofi Kingston a title shot at WrestleMania 35.
#1 Becky Lynch
The Man, Becky Lynch, is one of the biggest Superstars in WWE right now. Last year, she wasn’t getting enough television time and was rarely getting featured on pay-per-view. However, things changed when Alexa Bliss won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2018. Lynch was just a second away from winning the match but Bliss took her opportunity away.
After a few weeks, she earned a title match against Carmella at SummerSlam and despite that, WWE added Charlotte Flair to the bout. The WWE Universe was against the idea of overpushing Charlotte and it’s why they booed her when Lynch turned heel at SummerSlam.
A few weeks later, Lynch captured the SmackDown Women’s Championship and was then scheduled to face Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series.
However, due to Nia Jax’s botch, this match didn’t happen and because Lynch had finished her segment despite a busted face, everyone became a fan of hers.
Since then, she’s the most popular Superstar on the WWE roster and despite losing some momentum since WrestleMania 35, the fans haven’t turned on her.
