10 Times Vince McMahon Cut Off His Nose To Spite His Face

1. The Premature Ryback Turn

Vince McMahon
WWE.com

In early 2013, Vince was presented with a problem: having been so focused on overstuffing WrestleMania with the familiar procession of part-time faces, he had neglected to build any credible, fresh threats to John Cena's newly-acquired WWE title.

His answer was to turn a still-hot Ryback heel as chum to feed the Face That Runs The Place. It was yet another dispiriting example of myopic thinking, which could have been avoided fairly easily had long-term booking been at the top of WWE's list of priorities. There were options elsewhere, too. The 'We The People' heel incarnation of Jack Swagger would have matched well with Cena, and he was still hot in spite (or maybe because) of his alcohol and cannabis-related DUI arrest.

WWE had lost interest in SmackDown even then, so it's not as if they'd have been too concerned about the World Heavyweight title picture. In any event, Vince managed to shoot himself in the other foot by having his number one contender lose to Mark Henry at 'Mania in what must be, along with Chris Jericho Vs. AJ Styles at WrestleMania 32, the most inexplicable choice of match victor in recent memory.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!