10 Wrestlers Vince McMahon Couldn't Get Over

8. Roman Reigns (Again)

Vince McMahon slap
WWE

There are just certain turds no amount of polish can shine up.

"Vince McMahon doesn't want Roman Reigns to be WWE Champion" and/or "Roman Reigns isn't Vince McMahon's chosen one" are two of the nuttiest floaters.

Vince McMahon is a promoter who has asked for all kinds of suspension of disbelief over the decades. He's asked fans to buy into clowns; murder, evil and wholesome alike in various guises. He's requested that his audience imagine that ice hockey players, taxmen, mobsters and even possessed demons from another realm are best served making real money in his pro wrestling racket. He even tried to sell the concept of Triple H as a suitable replacement to The Rock and Steve Austin for about three years, bless him.

He could not sell this.

By 2018's WrestleMania build, Roman Reigns' status as a WWE office favourite was so crystal clear that the company had seemingly given up trying to resist it. His planned WrestleMania opponent Brock Lesnar was and is a McMahon favourite too, but Reigns racing to gorilla to give the gaffer a piece of his mind about his pet project was richer than Vince himself.

It all lead to the most sh*t-upon 'Show Of Shows' headliner in the event's history. There was nothing of any standard left to shine.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett