 What's good Josh Borderoz back again with another video, so we'll check out 10 WWE wrestlers Vince McMahon expected to suck but turned out to be mega stars. It's one of those situations where Vince McMahon, he's been in the business for so long that he feels like he has an idea of what is a mega star out there or a superstar out there and he feels like he knows who will grab that brass ring and be at the top and he feels like he knows who will just be role players. But a lot of times, especially in recent years, he's been wrong on that. He's been wrong on that a lot. We've all had that conversation and we felt Vince doesn't really know what fans really want to see in modern day wrestling. Maybe back in the day his ideas and stuff worked for that time period but choosing superstars that he feels like will be mega stars, he kind of doesn't have that nuance anymore. He kind of picks who he feels like in his head should be mega stars and the fans usually end up rejecting those individuals. So we're going to check out the moments where he expected them to just be some J.A.G.s and they ended up being way more than that. So this should be a good one. Appreciate all love and support man. Let's get right into this one. Vince McMahon has a habit of judging a book by its cover. Throughout his career, McMahon has decided whether he likes a wrestler based on his first impression of them. That wrestler then works extra hard to win over McMahon and thankfully the names on this list managed to do just that. The wrestler put in a ton of effort to truly get over with the audience and then they combined this with excellent in-ringing, carrying to work and slowly but surely McMahon realizes that he was wrong. Joining us now is WrestleMania, looks at 10 WWE wrestlers of Vince McMahon. You know Vince don't like to be wrong. He does not like to be wrong at all. Also check out our new channel, WrestleMania Shorts. Subscribe to WrestleMania if you haven't already. McMahon always had that connection with the audience and I never really saw that before he came here. I thought boy we're never gonna hire that guy but he did. He had that connection and very few people have that. 9. Shawn Michaels Yeah man he was wrong. He was wrong and Mick Foley has become one of the goats of the wrestling world. People love and respect Mick Foley for all he's done for the business and once again you shouldn't judge a book by its cover especially in wrestling because you never know who ends up getting over with the fans. Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels have had a great deal of respect and admiration for each other but this wasn't always the case when they needed new main event stars in the mid 90s and HPK was suggested McMahon was firmly against the idea. Which is crazy. A man didn't think HPK had what it took to reach the next level in WWE and one of the reasons why McMahon had a personal issue with him was due to his size. WWE executive Bruce Prichard would discuss this on an appearance on Sam Roberts podcast. This is what he had to say. There's a lot of situations where we pitched big sweeping just simple things like Shawn Michaels is a baby face. That little son of a bitch shall never be a baby face. And he didn't see it and then after WrestleMania 11 Vince gets in the car and says God damn it guys. We have a baby face on our hand. Why am I the only one that sees this? Yep that sounds about right. And Pat and I are looking to bring that idea up ever again. And it was crazy. Right. But I just got Pat especially and Pat was probably the first one that actually made the statement I could see Shawn Michaels as WWF champion. Wow. Did he get his head torn off for it? Oh yeah. Wow. Vince the WWF champion at that time. Number eight. And he was wrong. Shawn became that guy even though he started really believing into his hype and his ego started running wild back then obviously with you know substances he was you know taking and stuff like that but still Vince was wrong and he's one of the greatest to ever wrestle so. Gunther. When Gunther was called up to mean roster it was a logical concern from fans that Vince McMahon wouldn't get Gunther's character during the start of his run it looked like McMahon was a fan however a report then surfaced from WrestleVotes who indicated that McMahon was not a fan of Gunther backstage and he wanted to bury Gunther with immediate effect. Thankfully for Gunther this was around the same time in which McMahon was getting set to take a leave of absence and there were even reports that the claims of McMahon hating Gunther were exaggerated. Nevertheless it was clear that Gunther eventually won over McMahon and it was reported months later that he was impressed with Gunther's in-ring work. His presentation throughout 2023 has been a clear indication that McMahon is now firmly a Gunther fan. Oh yeah and in Triple H as well he plays a big part in that we were all scared of what they were going to do with him but it's worked out tremendously thank goodness they didn't bury him because he's one of the best on the roster. Number 7 LA Knight. Yeah. WWE fans were left utterly speechless when popular NXT star LA Knight made his debut on the main roster. Oh man. Yeah. And he would become a manager for the maximum male models who supported that Vince McMahon had a lack of faith in LA due to his age so subsequently made the call to make him a manager. This was a terrible fit for LA Knight and the call was eventually made for LA to revert to his prior persona. Yes. When the McMahon clearly had a negative impression of LA Knight upon his main roster debut this has thankfully changed and it's since been reported that McMahon has had a change of heart when it comes to one of WWE's fastest rising stars. He's the most over person in WWE right now. I think it's even more Cody gets a consistent you know pop when his music hits and stuff like that. J gets a consistent pop definitely Sammy still does but LA Knight is just something different bro when he comes out the crowd there the crowd's there to see LA Knight bro. So they're hanging on his every single word. He is the epitome of a 90s attitude here wrestler and I'm all here for it with the promos and everything man I'm here for it and I'm so glad that they got rid of his original gimmick on the main roster and they let him be himself for the most part and it is done wonders for him. Number six Daniel Bryan Yep he needs to be on this list too. Vince McMahon doesn't traditionally like in a WWE star when he first started in WWE it was made perfectly clear that McMahon didn't get Bryan and when Bryan had his first WWE match on NXT against Chris Jericho who McMahon reportedly had a less than positive response to Bryan's work in the match. When Jericho came through the curtain following the match all McMahon had to say was less than positive remarks in relation to Bryan being vegan. Bryan's popularity would eventually skyrocket and McMahon had no choice but to place him in the main event scene. This slowly but surely changed the relationship between the two men and when Bryan initially retired back in 2016 footage from a behind the scenes documentary showed how hard it hit McMahon when Bryan departed WWE in 2021. Of course state that McMahon loved Bryan. He would reflect on his relationship with McMahon during an interview at an AEW All Out media scrum. I hate to say this, Vince and I have a great relationship and I love him, I do. Sometimes he's overprotective of me and I want to be able to push my limits. That's one of the things that I love about this is the physicality of what we do out there. Number four. He didn't burn bridges with WWE. He knew, of course he knew that Vince didn't think he would be where he is now, a mega star essentially and it was one of those things Vince had to see it to believe it. Vince had to see the constant yes chance. Vince had to see the fans taking over the show. Vince had to see the social media presence of everyone saying Daniel Bryan is the guy Vince had to witness Boutista Vince had to witness people going crazy. It became bigger than just wrestling. People are doing the yes chance outside of wrestling. Vince hadn't seen something like that. In a long time. And it was cool that they, you know, he realized what he had and he did what he could for the guy, the guy made of any WrestleMania, bro. They ain't, they ain't nothing more you can, you can ask for it. The guy is main event in WrestleMania multiple time champion. He's, he's done it all he has. He vences definitely and looked out for him and supported him. You can tell. So that's why it's one of those things where honestly, I just, you know, I love Brian Danielson, man. And I, it's, it's the thing is, but they got him doing an AEW. There needs Vince was the guy to tell him to slow down. Vince was the guy to tell him, hey. He, he, he, like he said in that clip, he's very protective. He's protected because he knows he knows there's money to be made with him and if he keeps going at the rate he's going constantly getting injured because he's out there, no one's telling him that you may want to sit out. You may want to kind of switch it up because you, you're getting injured. And the type of matches he having, they, they're shorting his career, his wrestling career at least. And I know he wants to get out there and do what he can, but there needs to be somebody, especially in the AEW, whether it's Tony Conner, somebody to sit him down, like, hey, it's cool. You want to do some of these stiff wrestling moves and spots, but you've got to be careful out here. Someone has to be able to tell him no. And Vince was the guy to tell him no, and he was still able to have some great matches in WWE. So don't know if he'll ever come back. I don't even know if he'll be able to come back at the rate he's been going at in AEW with all the injuries. But hopefully we'll see how things will happen. But that opportunity, that bridge has never been burned. And I don't think it ever will be. And I'm sure he'll probably make one more appearance back in WWE, man. Randy Orton. Randy Orton is considered to be a true legend within WWE. So not even a case or question on the roster when they were considering signing or McMahon was against the idea due to Orton's issues when he was in the military. I'm going to get Jim Ross on his podcast. He informed McMahon that he should give Orton a second chance. And thankfully, McMahon did. That's crazy early on in his WWE career. But he eventually matured and became a legitimate staff of the company. For over two decades, Orton has become a key fixture on WWE programming, and it's been made clear thanks to interviews and behind the scenes documentaries. Just how much respect McMahon has attained for the WWE icon. And it's one of those things where it's like, yo, imagine him not hiring Randy Orton because he looked at his bass. Imagine we wouldn't have the legend killer. That's and this is just one of those things where it's good that there's some people out there that, you know, see things from a different perspective than Vince. Because if it's just Vince perspective, we don't have a lot of stars then. But because other people say something and mention something, it may it changes potentially his decision. Number four, Samoa Joe. That man has a preference when it comes to the appearance of his talent. This is the case when that fan first saw Samoa Joe. And according to Bruce Prichard, Joe didn't have the body type in which McMahon liked. So initially, he opted against signing Joe. When WWE eventually did sign him, naturally, there was some concern from fans that McMahon's prejudice was going to continue. And Joe used as nothing more than enhancement talent. Thankfully, over time, Joe was able to show McMahon what he was made of. McMahon booked Joe in Chiangles, such as Roman Reigns and a critically acclaimed few with Brock Lesnar. Joe is even rumored to win the WWE title at one stage. And whilst this never came to fruition, it was evident that McMahon had become a fan of the Samoan submission machine. Number three, not enough to put the title on him. Unfortunately, that's that's he may have become a fan of having him being some high profile moments, but not enough to pull the trigger. And that sucks, just that's one of the worst travesties in WWE history. Samoa Joe not being the WWE champion. The Miz. The Miz's first appearance on Raw was so bad that he genuinely thought he was going to be fired. Yeah, this came out on Raw to promote the Divas search. And it was apparent that Miz was so nervous that he messed up the majority of his promo and Miz walked backstage and counted Vince McMahon and informed McMahon that this type of performance will never happen again. Ominously, McMahon replied, I know it won't happen again. Mrs. Carter was parked on that point onwards and he worked endlessly to build up trust with McMahon, which he eventually did. He's a few years after his infamous raw appearance would be catapulted into the main event scene. And he would eventually win the WWE title in 2010. Yeah. The Miz in modern WWE is considered to be one of the most reliable talents around. And if they had a media appearance that needs fulfilling, Miz will likely be at the top of the list when it comes to who McMahon wants to represent the company. Oh, yeah. Now, he's put a lot of trust in the Miz and some people may have their criticism of the Miz, but I will say this. He's been very consistent. He's loyal to WWE through and through. And he's put in the work to get to where he's at. It's going to be very interesting to see what they do with him and Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. I do think we may have something special here. I don't think he's going to be the guy to take the title from them. But I do think we're going to get something particularly special here. And I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with Miz and Gunther. Going forward to Chris Jericho. A few years before Chris Jericho became the first undisputed champion in WWE, Vince McMahon had a rather negative opinion of Jericho. Just a month or so into Jericho's run in WWE, McMahon believed that Jericho was the drizzling. That's called a number of wrestlers complaining about Jericho's in-ring work. Jericho discussed McMahon's opinion of him during an episode of Talk is Jericho. And this is what he had to say. And I almost got fired about a month in because Vince said, you know, the problem is I got called into a meeting with Vince Jim Ross in Blackjack, Lanza, and Vince was like, you know, the problem with you is you're the drizzling. Damn, worth the paper your contract is printed on. It's like you're green as grass. Jericho was with McMahon over the time and the two still have a close bond to this very day with Jericho mentioning that he has McMahon's personal number. And if he was ever to text McMahon, we would get a response within five minutes and number one. And that's crazy. And that's very crazy to have McMahon's number. I'm sure a few of the talent that have garnered his respect have his number and they can easily call him and text him. And the fact and this is a different time period, y'all. People saying those type of things to like an employer now that may be some some paperwork potential or something someone exposing said boss or manager, especially, you know, just in this particular industry, but at the same time, it was all about that. That was Vince's way of motivating people. Either you was going to figure it out or you was going to be out the door. Vince didn't really. I mean, it saves him money if you out the door. It works in his favor. All right, cool. So that's how he motivated you. Yeah, you can consider it mean and insensitive to say you're just the drizzling shits like that's kind of fucked up. But guess what? It Jericho figured it out. And he's one of the greatest to ever be in WWE. He figured it out. And that's you can take just a little piece of that and apply that in life, man. You may end up getting a no, but that don't mean you need to stop and give up on what you're trying to pursue. One person may tell you, no, that same person months down the line after seeing some progress, seeing your dedication and hard work may end up saying yes, or somebody else with bigger opportunities may say yes to you. AJ Styles, one of the most exciting debuts in WWE history came at the 2016 Royal Rumble. For show. Finally arrived in WWE and everyone was excited. Yep. That is with the exception of Vince McMahon. AJ Styles got the hell out of it. That was a funny answer. It's an appearance on the My Love letter to the rest of the podcast. McMahon had no idea who he was. He thought the rumble crowd ovation was a fluke. He clearly had low expectations when it came to styles and styles himself admitted that he expected McMahon to place him in the midcard. But styles during an interview with Dirt Fork would discuss where McMahon changed his tune and became a fan of the phenomenal one. He didn't think too much of AJ Styles, but the turning point where Vince really saw something in me when I had a regular match, a baby face match, went out there and did my thing. I came back to gorilla and Vince says, come here for a second. I've got other guys who can do exactly what you just did out there. You didn't do anything special. I need a pit bull. I need a guy who just attacks. I need a guy who gets after it. I said, well, I know that guy. I know exactly who that guy is. And there was the opportunity to be on this TV and I handled it just like I was ready to eat this guy's lunch. I think the way that turned out was the turning point for Vince. The next thing you know after WrestleMania, I'm beating Chris Jericho and I'm the number one contender for the WWE Championship against Roman Reigns. We had a couple of fantastic matches. That was the turning point. That's when things change. And that's how I became the AJ Styles that you know now. But they have it, folks. Yeah. Back. And what did I just say? He literally came out there. I have a bunch of guys that do the same thing that you do. You need to go out there and show me something different. You need to show me that you you you're you're cut above the rest. That's what he did. His appearances, promos, everything. That's what he did. And that motivated him. And then he got catapulted to the main event scene. So the point I'm trying to make here is, like I said before, sometimes people may tell, you know, sometimes you may hear a response that you don't want to hear. That's not the end of it. All you need to do if you're really set on trying to achieve whatever you're trying to achieve, whatever goal you're trying to reach, push through, even when someone tell you, you know, or give you some harsh criticism. Take that in. Take it with a grain of salt. Do what you got to do, man. And you never know what can happen. So comment down below. Let me know some other wrestlers that Vince McMahon initially got wrong, but turned out to be some mega stars or turned out to be better than Vince even predicted himself if they weren't listed in this video already. But I appreciate all the support you guys showing on channel. I'm still going to speak to you to wrestle in the world. Appreciate y'all kicking in with me. See you on the next one. Peace.