10 Wrestlers You Won't Believe Got The Better Of Vince McMahon

4. Cody Rhodes

cm punk vince mcmahon
WWE

Look at that pitiful figure, making a go of something he detested because he was a professional who knew, still, that he was pushing a rock up a mountain. He event got a custom jester fit and everything for his WrestleMania 31 ring entrance. It should be a newly-defined crime, what Vince McMahon does. He positions grown men as jokes, tells them it is unprofessional to no-sell the joke, and blames them for not getting over when dressed as joke.

"You're not getting over. You're a joke!" Vince says. WWE is like Catch-22, except not remotely funny.

That rock was covered in silver face paint and spoke in a tremulous quiver of B-Movie awfulness. Cody as Stardust had plummeted in renown to a drastic extent not seen since the most cartoonishly awful days of the worst of the New Generation. In 2013, fans at Battleground saw a glimpse of the man that would change the business. Re-watch the finishing sequence, in which he roared before clasping that Cross Rhodes on Seth Rollins as if his career actually was on the line. It was a phenomenal babyface performance.

He knew what Vince McMahon did not - that heroes are meant to not be total d*ckheads - and realised that potential on his own as an AEW EVP that made a Vince-owned national TV show his bitch.

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!