8 WWE Stars Who Worked (By Not Working)
3. Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon never intended to become a villainous on-air character who went toe-to-toe with Steve Austin. In fact, the entire purpose of Vince's "Bret Screwed Bret" speech right after Survivor Series 1997 was to absolve McMahon of any and all blame for the 'Montreal Screwjob'.
McMahon believed the WWF audience would side with him, not a WCW-bound Bret Hart. That didn't happen though, and the boos were audible any time Vince appeared on television after he had legitimately ripped the WWF Title from an outgoing stalwart like Hart.
By casting himself so innocently and expecting loyal WWF followers to rally around him, Vince accidentally turned himself into one of wrestling's biggest heels of the time. People didn't want to forgive McMahon for so callously discarding Bret.
In one fell swoop, Vince McMahon went from babyface announcer to the infamous 'Mr. McMahon' character that has provided the template for every heel authority figure since.