Over the years, WWE CEO and majority owner Vince McMahon has developed a reputation as someone who prefers a particular type of a wrestler. He generally favors the more bigger and athletic types that are generally attractive and capable of being marketed for the company.
That said, Vince is still a businessman, so he’s been known to venture outside the notioned type to please the fans. Because in the end, if the fans are happy, they’ll spend more money.
Here are five WWE Superstars who got a push despite not being ‘the boss’s guy’.
Mick Foley
While Mick Foley is one of the most legendary performers in pro wrestling history, no one would ever describe him as athletically built or marketable as the face of a company. But Mick Foley was a wrestler who didn’t mind putting his body on the line, and fans loved him for that.
It’s for that reason that fans jumped over to Raw in flocks to watch Foley win the WWF Champinship as Mankind when the result was spoiled on WCW programming. And it’s for that very reason that Vince McMahon let him acsend towards the top of the company even without the ideal look.
CM Punk
While some guys on this list maintained a generally positive relationship with WWE brass, that wasn’t the case with CM Punk. Some of the time he spent in the WWE was downright contentious, and publicly so at times. Further, he didn’t have the prototypical look Vince McMahon typically likes.
Yet, CM Punk was still one of the best performers in the world, and for that reason, he was pushed to a major title reign that lasted for more than 400 days – one of the longest such runs in decades.
Further, he remains the only two-time winner of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy looked more like a punk rocker than a professional wrestler, and that was before his even more extreme TNA days. With his smaller stature, brightly-colored hair and non-traditional wrestling gear, Hardy looked nothing like the powerhouses like Hulk Hogan and The Rock.
Yet Hardy and his brother, Matt, were willing to do things that others weren’t to entertain the crowd, like leaping off ladders and other structures on the company’s biggest stages. As a result, Hardy got the opportunity to duel with the Undertaker and even won WWE’s top titles.
Cesaro
Cesaro definitely doesn’t lack in size at 6-foot-5 and more than 230 pounds, and he’s certainly strong. On top of that, he’s one of the most gifted in-ring performers in the WWE. Stil, his perceived lack of charisma led Vince McMahon to believe that Cesaro would have trouble connecting with fans.
That was proven to be false in 2015.
After tag-team partner Tyson Kidd went down with a bad neck injury, Cesaro became a skyrocket of popularity, even earning a growing “Cesaro Section” at each WWE event for a few months.
That was cut short by an injury, but he seems destined for a bigger push down the line.
Daniel Bryan
No wrestler personifies the concept of a performer that didn’t fit Vince’s mold making it big like Daniel Bryan. After working his way through other promotions, Bryan blasted through the WWE ranks as a gifted in-ring technician with a flare for high-risk tactics.
During his last big push with the company, it was hard to tell where real life ended and the storyline began as Bryan was held back from his chance at glory time after time before finally drawing a fan eruption when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30.
