10 Wrestlers Vince McMahon Couldn't Get Over

10. Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley's 2021 return to television came with an in-built spot in the next pay-per-view WWE Championship match.

Yes, he had to jump through various kayfabe hoops to gain a spot in the multi-man match, but these all contributed to an IRL inevitability. The 'All Mighty' is now a former titleholder himself, and one that looked better with the belt than most that came before him.

It was - in Vince McMahon's defence - this he saw over fifteen years ago when the ageless Lashley arrived in World Wrestling Entertainment, but a combination of wrestler inexperience and McMahon's heavy-handed over-promotion very nearly doomed the standout for good.

A run as ECW Champion for big Bobby was loathed for what it wasn't (a push for CM Punk, another roll of the dice on Rob Van Dam) rather than beloved for what it was (a transparent power play by Vince McMahon in a one-sided war against Paul Heyman). Lashley had chance after chance to beat, brutalise and embarrass McMahon following his Battle Of The Billionaires win over Umaga, but fan sentiment was already skewing south and so too was Lashley's enthusiasm.

After taking time off with injury that summer, he'd leave the following spring as an impossible wasted opportunity. It took both sides a decade to start writing those wrongs.