Vince McMahon has been the most important person in WWE since the early 80s, when he took control of the company. His helped WWE rise to its current status as a global brand, but that doesn’t mean he was always the best boss. Many wrestlers would be pushed and punished as a result of his opinion of them. The talents who didn't appeal to him failed to get to the top, even if they had moments of brilliance.
We will look at just why things didn’t work out for wrestlers that couldn’t get on McMahon’s good side. Some wrestlers would win him over after a poor start, like Daniel Bryan, AJ Lee and Mick Foley. Unfortunately, not all of them could pull off that feat.
10 Finn Balor
The start of Finn Balor’s WWE main roster career came in perfect fashion, as he won the Universal Championship within a month as the first-ever person to hold the title. Sadly, an injury that same night forced him to relinquish the title and seemingly lose the confidence Vince McMahon may have had in him.
Balor never returned to the consistent main event picture after coming back from the injury. Reports indicated that Finn was in McMahon's doghouse due to his smaller size. Balor moving back to the smaller NXT brand shows that those reports were right, if McMahon is fine with losing him on Raw and SmackDown.
9 Shelton Benjamin
WWE gave Shelton Benjamin a huge opportunity in 2004, when splitting up his impressive tag team with Charlie Haas. The hope was that Benjamin would evolve into a main event star, given his incredible athleticism and youth at the time.
Benjamin had a solid mid-card run, but his inability to win over Vince McMahon prevented him from reaching the main event picture. Benjamin lacked in charisma, which was incredibly disappointing as his matches were spectacular. McMahon was never sold on him, which is why his career never panned out as expected.
8 Gail Kim
Gail Kim is rightfully considered one of the all-time great women’s wrestlers, thanks to her incredible runs in Impact Wrestling. WWE had Kim on the roster for two stints in the 2000s. Aside from winning the Women’s Championship on her first night, Gail would rarely get much of a push from the company.
Reports of Vince McMahon not liking her have seemingly been confirmed by Kim, who has claimed that she felt miserable working for him. Even with the positive changes in recent years, Gail is adamant about never returning to WWE again.
7 Jimmy Jacobs
Talented wrestler Jimmy Jacobs joined WWE in a writing role as part of the creative team. Jacobs was responsible for great concepts like The List of Jericho and most comedic segments with Jericho and Kevin Owens.
WWE fired Jacobs shortly after he posted a photo with members of The Elite during their invasion story at a WWE event. Jacobs has stated that he knew what he was doing, since he was unhappy working for WWE.
6 Paul London
Paul London was one of the few top independent wrestlers to sign with WWE shortly before the boom occurred. London's ability was evident, but WWE never once had legitimate interest in pushing him as a singles talent.
Vince McMahon never believed in London, making it impossible for him to succeed. London had a memorable moment in the segment where Vince “died” after a limo explosion. As McMahon walked past the entire roster with serious looks on their faces, London wore a big smile, having a little fun before his time ended in WWE.
5 Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy did enough to win over Vince McMahon and receive a few world title reigns in WWE. His brother Matt Hardy never had that luxury. He was seen as a mid-carder, no matter how hard he worked in the ring or with his character.
The success of the Broken character in Impact Wrestling allowed both Matt and Jeff to return to WWE in significant fashion a few years ago. Fans had hopes of Broken Matt getting a major push, but WWE never went all the way with it. Vince likely still didn’t believe in Matt enough to push him.
4 Carlito
The potential of Carlito was obvious from day one, as WWE did have plans for him. Carlito had a solid first few years in the mid-card picture, developing a real identity. His charisma and in-ring skills made him a successful performer with hopes of a main event run.
Sadly for him, he started to be viewed as a performer who didn't have the drive or desire to move up the card. This is what led to his progression ending. Carlito lost any faith McMahon had in him and his push came to a standstill.
3 Emma
The recent rise of women’s wrestling in WWE saw talent like Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks become huge stars. All the ladies wanted to have that opportunity to showcase their skills, with Emma being one of the stand-outs from her various stints in NXT.
Neither character from the NXT days would find success on the main roster, due to Vince McMahon not believing in her. The Emmalina character was her best chance, but McMahon pulled it. This was the beginning of the end, as Emma never received another fair chance on WWE television.
2 Vader
WWE added Vader to the roster in the mid-90s as a huge signing, following his main event run in WCW. Vince McMahon loved the monster heel characters and fans expected Vader to thrive in WWE, as one of the better all-around talents of that style.
Vader, unfortunately, could never win over McMahon backstage, which effectively ended his push. Aside from a short title program with Shawn Michaels, Vader was never a main eventer and moved lower down the card as time went on.
1 Cesaro
Cesaro has been among the most underrated wrestlers on WWE’s roster for many years. Cesaro is still struggling to break out as a singles star, after years of great matches on Raw and SmackDown.
Cesaro has found success in the tag division at different points, but nothing has changed in singles action to win Vince over. Another sad case of a true talent not getting the recognition they deserve.