5 WWE superstars who proved Vince McMahon wrong

To become a top superstar in WWE, you need to win not just the WWE Universe over, but the most important man in the entire industry - Vince K. McMahon. He's been the boss for nearly four decades now, and every superstar that's been pushed has been because they won Vince McMahon over.

Winning McMahon over is no easy task. John Cena has spoken before in the past about how the current WWE locker room doesn't go out of their way to get advice and try to constantly learn. However, the ones who do listen to the advice of names like Vince McMahon and use it to their fullest are the ones who have passed his test. There have been many superstars handpicked by McMahon. Some have failed while many were the ones who ended up making it big.

However, we take a look at the superstars who Vince McMahon didn't see potential in, but later managed to do so. There's one exception on this list.

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#5. AJ Styles

AJ Styles walked into WWE expecting to be a midcarder himself. In fact, it's believed that even Vince McMahon viewed him that way. Fans hoped that if they were lucky, they could witness Styles have good midcard title runs, with a couple of years in his tank before retirement.

However, the cream always rises to the top, and AJ Styles proved McMahon wrong in a way that would have surprised the boss himself. McMahon was brutally honest to Styles, telling him that he had plenty of guys who could do what he did. What he wanted to see out of Styles was a pit bull and an aggressor. Styles, being the performer that he is, took McMahon's advice to heart and did exactly what his boss requested.

Since then, he's been one of the most pushed superstars in the company and a multi-time World Champion.

#4. Jinder Mahal

This is the exception on this list. And by exception, we mean to say that he proved McMahon wrong in the wrong way. One fine day after WrestleMania, McMahon decided that he needed to capitalize on the great potential of the Indian market, and as a result, needed a top Indian superstar.

He turned to Canadian-Indian star Jinder Mahal. There was just one problem - he was the lowest on the pecking order, always losing matches. However, without any build whatsoever, he was pushed to the moon, given a WWE title opportunity against Randy Orton, became WWE Champion and remained so until late 2017.

It was a decision that fans didn't really understand, and despite all the faith and investment that McMahon put into Mahal, it really didn't pay off as he would have hoped. Not long after WrestleMania 34, Mahal was drafted back to RAW and went back to his low-card position, losing matches over and over.

#3. Daniel Bryan

Even though Daniel Bryan plays a very different character on SmackDown now, it's not easy to forget the incredible journey and rise to the top he had as a babyface. Even before that run, he was pushed as a midcarder, he had one World title run and was at one point the hottest independent superstar there was.

However, in 2013, Bryan's underdog storyline began, and believe it or not, there was some truth to him being called a B+ Player. What Triple H and Stephanie McMahon said on screen, was something somewhat believed by Vince McMahon.

He simply refused to push him, instead opting to bring back and push Batista at WrestleMania in the main event. Thankfully, better judgment would prevail and the fan reaction and backlash led to Bryan's rise to the top. McMahon simply couldn't deny him, and till date, he remains a fan of the New Daniel Bryan.

#2. Becky Lynch

Simply put, there was no superstar in 2018 who won over Vince McMahon as much as Becky Lynch did. She became the example that he used to other superstars of someone taking the ball and running with it.

It's crazy because around WrestleMania 34, she was stuck on the pre-show with no real plans for her. Even when she did debut and was a couple of years into the main roster, she was always third to Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair, and with the arrival of more women, she began to take a backseat.

However, her heel turn in the summer of 2018 led to fans loving her even more and reacting to her even more. She would bring out a whole new side to herself, one that won over the fans more and most certainly won over McMahon more.

From nothing, she's now going to be in the WrestleMania main event, potentially even closing the show as champion. Now that's a turnaround if we've ever seen one!

#1. Shawn Michaels

If you were to ask many wrestling fans growing up in the 90s and early 2000s who their favourite wrestler was, there's a high chance that Shawn Michaels would be their answer. The very same applies to Vince McMahon because there was and still is no wrestler he's ever been a bigger fan of than The Heartbreak Kid.

Dubbed as the greatest in-ring performer of all time, Michaels was never destined to succeed. He most certainly wasn't handpicked for success. However, two things worked in his favour - firstly, the New Generation Era saw WWE pushing "smaller" wrestlers who didn't look like they were the embodiment of steroids. Secondly, Michaels' hard work, dedication and ability to steal the show night after night won him the respect of McMahon.

Since then, he became one of the faces of WWE and a pillar which the company built itself on. The fact that McMahon cried when he gave Michaels his Hall of Fame ring speaks volumes of the respect he has for the legend.