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It has been more than two decades since WWE Chairman Vince McMahon turned heel and became a major on-screen villain on the main roster. McMahon's character of an evil and cunning boss became a huge hit and he was instrumental in putting over the rebellious character of Stone Cold during the Attitude Era.
Vince is one of the greatest villains in WWE history
Many dubbed McMahon as one of the greatest villains in WWE history, and he has feuded with a long string of babyfaces over the past two decades or so. This doesn't mean that Vince was always portrayed as a hated heel on WWE TV. There are a bunch of rare instances where Vince was the good guy, and he managed to garner a babyface reaction from the WWE Universe during those angles. Let's check five of those instances.
#5 Vince attempts to make things right
By the time Royal Rumble 2013 came around, CM Punk had been WWE Champion for more than 400 days. On the road to the PPV, The Shield attacked The Rock on the January 21 edition of WWE RAW. This prompted Vince McMahon to put up a stipulation that a Shield interference in the eventual match would result in CM Punk being stripped of the title.
The Rock calls out Punk:
At the Royal Rumble, the arena went dark during the closing moments of the match, and when the lights came back, it was found that someone had put The Rock through the announce table. Punk pinned The Rock and the celebration kicked off. Mr. McMahon suddenly came out and reminded Punk of the stipulation. He stated that although he didn't see who attacked The Rock, he knew enough to realize that it was The Shield.
The arena popped in unison for McMahon. He proceeded to strip Punk of the title but was stopped mid-way by The Rock, who asked to restart the match. McMahon did the same and The Rock went on to defeat Punk for the WWE title. Although McMahon couldn't do what he had planned, the fans seemed highly appreciative of him for doing the right thing and siding with The Rock on that night.
#4 Vince's feud against Triple H
Back in late 1999, Vince McMahon got into a feud with Triple H, who had tricked Stephanie into marrying him while she was drunk. Triple H revealed the video highlighting the event on an episode of WWE RAW, as Stephanie was about to get married to Test. Triple H soon announced that he would be going at it with Vince in a No Holds Barred match at Armageddon 1999. Days later, Triple H spiced things up by suggesting a stipulation for the match. It stated that if Vince won, Triple H's marriage with Stephanie would be annulled. In case Triple H won, he would get a WWE title shot.
Stephanie was in Vince's corner in the match, which saw both men beating the tar out of each other all over the arena. In the end, Triple H defeated McMahon and it was revealed that Stephanie was in collusion with him from the beginning. Stephanie and Triple H garnered major heel heat following the match. Vince, who had already become a big babyface in fans' eyes, became an even bigger hero following his daughter's betrayal.
#3 Vince joins DX to take on Legacy
On the August 24, 2009 edition of WWE RAW, DX held a big celebration on the occasion of Vince McMahon's birthday. The celebration was soon interrupted by The Legacy, consisting of Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted Dibiase. The trio had been feuding with some of WWE's top babyfaces for months at that point, and the fans didn't like one bit that they had the gall to interrupt Vince's celebration.
This resulted in a 6-Man Tag Team match being scheduled for later, on the same night. The match saw Legacy taking on Vince, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. After a hard-fought battle, The Viper decided to bail, but John Cena came out to block his way. Cena launched an attack on Orton and threw him inside the ring. Moments later, Vince pinned Orton to a huge pop and celebrated with John Cena & DX to send the fans home happy. Vince's alliance with DX had already made the fans cheer him, and him pinning Orton made sure that be would become the most-over babyface in WWE, at least for that night.
#2 Vince leads WWE in a battle against The Alliance
Before WrestleMania 17, Shane McMahon revealed that he was the owner of WCW, the rival promotion that Vince McMahon had recently bought off. The fans cheered heavily for Shane at the time, but things took a turn soon after. When WCW and ECW allied to take down WWE, Vince McMahon relied on a bunch of WWE Superstars to prevent the company from going down.
Over the next few months, Vince steadily turned into a babyface for his attempts to save the company that fans had grown to love over the years. By Survivor Series 2001, fans were rooting for Vince's WWE to defeat The Alliance in a Traditional Survivor Series match. Vince's inspiring speech soon before the eventual match only helped matters for him, when it came to fan support. In the end, The Rock pinned Stone Cold to win the match for WWE, and Vince McMahon came out on the ramp with his hands raised in victory. Soon after the win, McMahon turned heel again and kicked off a feud with a returning Ric Flair.
#1 Vince fights for his daughter
Around two years after Vince began appearing regularly as an on-screen villain, his daughter Stephanie was introduced to the WWE Universe as an innocent and friendly person, immediately establishing her as a babyface. Stephanie's first storyline saw her being kidnapped by The Undertaker, who forcefully tried to marry her on an episode of RAW. Steve Austin came out, in the end, to save her, as a grateful Vince thanked him for the same. It was later revealed that Vince was behind the ploy, and was revealed as the "Greater Power". He instantly turned into a villain again and was booed heavily by fans.
For a while though, Vince had become a huge babyface in the eyes of fans, as he tried his best to keep Stephanie safe and away from the clutches of The Undertaker. The storyline also gave the fans a heartfelt interview with Vince and Stephanie where the latter indicated that she felt the safest with her dad beside her, which was instrumental in establishing Vince as a top babyface on RAW at the time.
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