10 Wrestlers Who FORCED WWE To Push Them

The legendary Chris Jericho would eventually make it to the very top of the WWE mountain.

But there was a time there when Vince McMahon felt this one-time WCW star didn't quite measure up... literally.

Iconic announcer Jim Ross eventually noted on his Grilling JR podcast (via WrestleTalk) how the boss wasn't a fan of 'Y2J' because he was "not the ideal height to be in a main event at WrestleMania, in Vince’s view."

In the time that followed his historic WWE debut in August 1999, though, this freakishly talented performer, both on the mic and within the squared-circle, inevitably became one of the promotion's most valuable assets - even after nearly being fired for giving Chyna a black eye and being told he'd be booted from the company if he didn't put on a good bout with X-Pac (via WrestlingInc).

Jericho even ended up wearing lifts in an attempt to negate the main reason McMahon wasn't over the moon about signing the top class worker.

And while his first-ever World Championship run on the roster came with not exactly the most uplifting endorsement of "how do you know the business is going down the toilet? Because we're putting the belt on Jericho" from his boss, that still didn't change the fact that this "too short" sensation ultimately found a way to force himself into the closing match at WrestleMania X8.