10 Wrestlers Vince McMahon Couldn't Get Over

7. Drew McIntyre

Vince McMahon slap
WWE.com

A career kickstart so bad that it became the stick to beat a returning Drew McIntyre with nearly a decade later, the "Chosen One"s initial anointment doomed a fresh-faced SmackDown star to half a decade of failure.

Tall and with a good head of hair, McIntyre was hardly the wildest outside bet Vince McMahon had ever made on one of his young stars, but there was something particularly odd about how he structured this entire introduction.

In a heavily promoted segment that McMahon promised would change the future of the show, the Chairman first plugged an October 2009 show that would celebrate a decade of SmackDown that was set to feature a host of stars past and present. In the meantime, the crowd in Oklahoma were forced to make do with Drew McIntyre, a recent debutant who'd assaulted R-Truth a few times like any old blue brand midcarder.

He might have been McMahon's personal signing, but the boss seemingly couldn't wait to get out the ring and McIntyre's shrill and drab heel promo did nothing to assuage the nagging sensation that the whole thing was destined to fail.

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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