A company that has always had a single person at the top of the power structure, throughout the history of the WWE it has been Vince McMahon that makes the final decision on everything. Still the case to this day, things have slowly begun to change with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon taking on more responsibility. As such, if Vince ever steps down or is no longer available it seems safe to say they will step up and take his place. Already named as the Executive Producer of Talent, Triple H is perfectly positioned to continue to oversee the hiring and firings of potential talent. That said, we can easily see Stephanie chiming in on those that come and go. Realizing all of this inspired us to put together this list of fifteen former WWE stars Stephanie McMahon will forbid Triple H to bring back.
In order for someone to be up for possible inclusion on this list, they first and foremost need to have been an employee of the WWE at some point in the past. That said, for our purposes, it makes no difference if they were used onscreen by the company or only served in a backstage capacity. Next, they can’t be employed by the company on a regular basis today. Finally, it has to seem like Stephanie McMahon would do everything that is in her power to block the rehiring of the person in question if Triple H ever moved to rehire them. Readers should also keep in mind that there doesn’t need to be a personal reason for Stephanie to dislike those included on this list, though that certainly helps.
15 Rob Van Dam
Physically capable of things that few others are, Rob Van Dam did amazing things in the ring and also came off like a really good guy that had his priorities in check. In fact, he was so good at what he did that he eventually became the WWE Champion despite not fitting in with the typical wrestlers Vince McMahon gets behind. Most recently seen in the WWE back in 2014, since then he’s admitted that concussion issues make him wrestling for the WWE ever again unlikely. However, he could still have a lot of value to the company as the manager of a younger wrestler who is athletic as he is. With Stephanie McMahon around that doesn’t seem very likely though considering he has publicly spoken about his distaste for the creative team when she ran it. He even went so far as to say Triple H was pushed to the moon because he was dating Steph.
14 Ryback
Someone that wrestled some of the biggest stars the WWE had, Ryback’s career then seemed to hit the skids. A somewhat surprising turn of events given Vince McMahon’s love of promoting muscular men, he has since left the company entirely. Displeased with how the company used and paid him, once he was no longer a WWE employee he wrote extensively on Tumblr about his problems with the company. Decrying the pay structure of the company immediately after his departure, he has since gone on to host a podcast where he talks trash about the WWE. If that weren’t bad enough, he also made a statement in one episode that inspired a sexism controversy. As a result of that, if Triple H ever decided Ryback still has enough in the tank to be of useful his wife will likely remind him of the poor light he cast the company and himself in.
13 Gail Kim
An incredibly talented wrestler that helped usher in a women’s wrestling golden age, Gail Kim was signed by the WWE twice but she changed the business working for another company. That is because she was never allowed to show even a fraction of how good she is during her time in the WWE in one of their most baffling cases of misusing a talent. Despite their lack of interest in making her a star, they still paid her a great deal of money to keep her from working elsewhere, which is something Hunter could do again in the future. However, Gail has retired from in-ring competition which would make it easier for Stephanie to block someone that has called her vindictive from returning to the WWE fold in the future. Gail also tweeted at Stephanie, who was giving herself and the WWE credit for the current state of women’s wrestling, pointing out TNA got there first.
12 Alberto Del Rio
A former two-time WWE Champion and two-time World Heavyweight Champion that rose to the top of the roster quickly after joining the main roster, Alberto Del Rio was a big deal immediately. Obviously, someone that Vince McMahon saw a lot in, his character was an updated version of The Million Dollar Man. Since those early days, Alberto has been at the center of several controversies but it still seems like Vince would love to have him in the fold. We have no idea if Triple H thinks he is as valuable but if he ever did decide to bring Alberto back he would likely have to win an argument with his wife. After all, after he left the WWE the second time he publicly ranted against both Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in expletive-laced videos. Someone that seems to keep a grudge, we can’t see Stephanie wanting him around again.
11 Muhammad Hassan
A character that debuted in the WWE the year after the September 11th attacks on America, at first Muhammad Hassan was a nuanced WWE wrestler during a time in which Islamophobia was on the rise. Sadly, the WWE has never been the most subtle company out there and before too long he transitioned into being just another foreign bad guy. Still, for a time his career was on fire as he was involved with several legends of the business. Then everything fell apart when the WWE had his character lead an attack on The Undertaker that reminded people of terrorism at the same time as a real-life bombing took place in the UK. The final straw for an already controversial figure, he was taken off TV immediately. The guy did play his character well so he may still have some value but as the real-life Chief WWE Brand Manager Stephanie would have to remind Trips about the bad publicity that surrounds him.
10 CM Punk
Someone that the WWE audience really got behind, CM Punk is among the biggest stars the WWE has featured over the last several decades. Extremely talented in the ring and absolutely fantastic on the microphone, there was a lot for WWE fans to love about him but it seems like behind the scenes many people didn’t feel the same way. Admittedly hard to get along with, he could be a real headache in the back and made no secret of his distaste for both Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. However, while he worked there that played into his anti-establishment persona. Now that he has left the fold and been outspoken about his disgust for the couple there really is no upside to it for Steph. However, fans still love Punk which could inspire Triple H to consider bringing him back but it seems very clear how Stephanie would feel about that.
9 Kaitlyn
A wrestler that was a part of the WWE during one of the worst eras in terms of the way they handled women that wrestler, Kaitlyn has been largely forgotten of late. A former Divas Champion and the winner of the third season of the competition version of NXT TV, at one time it seemed like she would pass the test of time. In fact, she had so much potential in the ring, which she never lived up to, that she and her co-worker AJ Lee seemed to be capable of changing the way the WWE used female workers. That was never meant to be, however, and there seems to be some indication that could be connected to her angering one of her bosses. We say this because reports say that Stephanie hates Kaitlyn and it stems from an incident in which she was interrupted by the wrestler during a conversation with someone else.
8 Jim Cornette
One of the most outspoken figures in the history of the wrestling business, Jim Cornette was absolutely fantastic in his role as a manager. So good on the microphone that he only had to be given a direction and he could rip into it with the greatest of passion and believability, he seemed to really understand the business during his prime. However, since the height of his career, the industry has changed a great deal and he is not a fan of that fact. As such, he no longer is the major power broker in the business he was during his time as a part of the WWE creative team. That is no way means he has been quiet about the places he sees the business going which has resulted in him unleashing several tirades online that completely trash the job Stephanie McMahon has done. Need we say more?
7 Rene Dupree
One of the youngest performers to work for the WWE, Rene Dupree debuted with the company the same year he turned twenty years old. A member of the tag team La Résistance, he and Sylvain Grenier were among the most hated people on the roster. Eventually given a singles run prior to his release, his former tag team partner must have been overjoyed as Rene seems incapable of getting along with people. Last seen in the WWE in 2007, he still works for independent promoters to this day but his shoot interviews garner more attention. That is because he routinely insults his former co-workers and has claimed that some of them were dangerous to work with, which makes the WWE look awful. Enough for Steph to block any potential return for Rene, he also has had major stars like Hunter and Randy Orton in his verbal crosshairs.
6 AJ Lee
Someone that is directly connected to two other entries on this list, CM Punk and Kaitlyn, that alone could have been enough for Stephanie McMahon to not want AJ Lee around. However, she was a fantastic part of the roster in the past since she was great in the ring as the three-time Divas Champion and she played her semi-crazed character perfectly. Her talents make her potential return more likely but just like her husband, CM Punk, she has chosen to publicly make Stephanie look awful. Case, in point, back in 2015 Stephanie tweeted out her support to Patricia Arquette after she advocated for women to get paid equally at the Oscars. AJ then stepped in and pointed out that women in the WWE get paid far less than their male counterparts, which was such a well-placed slap at Stephanie that it made us audibly gasp at the time.
5 Scott Steiner
If there is one thing all fans know to be true about Scott Steiner, it is that he is not going to hold his tongue. In fact, if you tried to convince him that telling off someone he dislikes in a public forum would be bad for his career it seems like that would just inspire him to unleash more vitriol. As such, it should come as no surprise to anyone that he has had some really awful things to say about both Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Two major power brokers in the WWE during his last run, he feels they both purposefully held him back and frankly, any viewers at the time will likely see why he feels that way. Actually, we would recap what he has said about Steph here but we don’t want to offend our readers or have her ban us from even watching the WWE.
4 Justin Roberts
A company that has increasingly gotten involved with charitable efforts over the years, the WWE seems to love to let the world in on the incredibly kind things they do for others. Something that has since been placed in question, Stephanie made their motives look suspect after a really poorly thought out tweet of hers. Quoting one of the co-founders of Twitter, she posted “philanthropy is the future of marketing, it's the way brands r going 2 win". Words that caused many people to think the company’s charitable efforts are self-serving, later that same year Justin Roberts made them look even worse. A longstanding WWE employee that had recently been released, he went public with his claim that Stephanie and Triple H created a charity in the name of Connor Michalek for the publicity. In her WWE branding role that would be an unforgivable crime for Stephanie.
3 Batista
A wrestler that has appeared in several huge Hollywood movies, it seems like the WWE should be embracing everything Batista does much in the same they did with The Rock. After all, Guardians of the Galaxy was a gigantic hit and he also appeared in Blade Runner 2049, and the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. Yet, he revealed that he has tried to return to the WWE several times, most recently pushing to be Ronda Rousey’s partner at WrestleMania, only to not receive interest from the company. In fact, they reportedly didn’t even give him the courtesy of turning down his offer and he found out Kurt Angle was teaming with Ronda on TV. We can’t help but think this has a lot to do with him insulting Stephanie McMahon for the selfishness of her character routinely slapping WWE talent and almost never getting her comeuppance.
2 Enzo Amore
A wrestler that Triple H held under his wing for a long time as he made his way through the WWE developmental process, Enzo Amore became a pretty big star during that time. Extremely entertaining on the microphone, he was a beloved figure during the early part of his career and eventually was brought up to the main roster. In fact, he then became the focal point of 205 Live for several weeks. Then word broke that he had been accused of doing some absolutely revolting things to a woman and he was quickly released from his WWE contract. However, as of this writing, there is no direct proof that he did what he is accused of. Hypothetically if Triple H decided to bring him back in the absence of criminal charges, given their past, Stephanie as the Brand Officer should know enough to make sure that doesn’t happen.
1 Vince Russo
One of the most controversial figures in the history of the business, Vince Russo often gives himself a lot of the credit for the greatest period of success in the history of the WWE. Don’t get us wrong, he also says that the immense talent of the roster and production staff were pivotal but he sees himself as a key figure. On the other hand, based on the public stance of the company it seems like they feel he was far less important. Perhaps that is why his intended return to the creative team in 2002 never really happened. Except, according to him it is because Stephanie ensured everyone on the creative team and her father thought he wasn’t needed. Since that odd incident, Vince constantly bashes her involvement with creative, even saying putting her in charge of the WWE’s storylines was the biggest mistake Vince McMahon ever made. If that doesn’t make Russo worthy of topping this list we don’t know what does.