WWE likes to say the fans control what happens in terms of the reaction to wrestlers and storylines. While that clearly isn’t always the case, it does happen occasionally. There have been various instances of Vince McMahon not having much expectations for a wrestler or storyline. Fans however react so strongly to them that it changes the plans altogether. The unexpected success forces McMahon’s hand to accept it. Not every angle will see McMahon side with the fans, but there have been enough to show that he does have an open mind if proven wrong about something.

We will look at some of the more memorable instances of Vince being surprised at something growing out of his control. These are usually cult favorites that pick up steam right away and grow into either a fad or a legitimate success. Fans made their voices known to cause the storylines to be given more respect by the boss. Some of the examples saw McMahon embrace the fan reaction while others featured him more hesitant before coming on board. Each was considered a surprise to WWE management. These are 16 times a WWE storyline exceeded Vince McMahon’s expectations to become a bigger deal than he initially planned.

16 Goldberg's Return

The return of Goldberg became a much bigger deal than Vince McMahon originally planned in 2016. Goldberg only signed on for the cover and promotional work for WWE 2K. Aside from video game matches, no one expected to see Goldberg in the ring. However, the ad teasing a fight between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar led to fans chanting for Goldberg in Lesnar’s SummerSlam match against Randy Orton that year.

McMahon built for a Survivor Series match between the two and the interest added more success than expected. This all worked in Goldberg’s favor as he signed a longer deal to wrestle a few matches heading into WrestleMania 33. Vince used Goldberg poorly in 2003 but finally made up for it when getting more interest than expected for the run in 2016-2017.

15 Mick Foley's Retirement Angle

Mick Foley becoming one of the biggest stars in WWE history isn't something Vince McMahon ever expected to happen. Jim Ross revealed McMahon was adamantly against signing Foley initially and told Ross that Foley’s failure would teach him a lesson about who to go to bat for. Foley ended up becoming a fan favorite and a multiple-time WWE Champion.

The dangerous actions of Mick in the ring led to him retiring for the first time in 2000 when wanting to get away from the business while he still could. Foley lost to Triple H in back-to-back classic PPV matches to get ‘forced’ into retirement. However, WWE decided to bring him back one month later as a fourth man in the WrestleMania 2000 main event. McMahon didn’t expect the Foley retirement angle to be that popular and it led to him getting his first WrestleMania main event appearance.

14 Kane Debuting as The Undertaker's Brother

No one could have predicted Kane would go on to become a legendary character in WWE all the way back in 1997 when he debuted. In fact, most would have assumed his career would have been a flop considering how many monster heels were introduced as Undertaker’s rivals. The runs of Kamala, Giant Gonzalez and Fake Undertaker were all colossal failures.

Kane’s backstory could have led to the same fate, but this was a drastic difference. Instead of Undertaker destroying Kane right away, he refused to fight his brother leading to a build for many months culminating at WrestleMania XIV. Kane was made into a star right away. In various interviews, Glenn Jacobs has confirmed that he wasn’t given assurance Kane was even going to be a long-term plan for him. The storyline exceeding the expectations of Vince allowed him to play this character for over two decades.

13 Rusev Day Popularity

The love for Rusev has become a shock to WWE management. It has been three years since Rusev was a credible upper level star facing John Cena at WrestleMania 31 and coming to the ring of an actual tank. WWE seemed to forget about him following the losses to Cena. Rusev realized this and started looking for ways to get over on his own.

The inception of “Rusev Day” led to fans remembering they enjoyed him. Fans have been chanting for him at all the SmackDown shows and the merchandise sales for the Rusev Day shirts are highly impressive. Vince McMahon didn’t expect this at all but felt Rusev deserved to be rewarded. This led to the decision of Rusev being moved from the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and added to the United States Championship match at WrestleMania 34 just two weeks before the show.

12 Money in the Bank stipulation

Vince McMahon reportedly had no interest in the concept of the Money in the Bank ladder match. Chris Jericho has said he had to convince McMahon this was the best way to use the slew of credible mid-carders like Jericho, Edge, Christian, Chris Benoit, Kane and Shelton Benjamin that year. WWE almost waited a full year for Edge to cash in his title shot as there was no long-term plans to start it off.

Edge cashing in on John Cena after Cena wrestled a grueling match set the tone for how important the briefcase could be. WWE would make it a huge part of the program for the past thirteen years with many new stars being born thanks to it. McMahon originally didn’t understand the point of it but then turned it into a valuable WWE asset.

11 Damien Sandow as The Miz's stunt double

One smaller instance of something exceeding the expectations of Vince McMahon and everyone else featured The Miz pitching the idea of having a stunt double. Coming off his stint off to film a movie, Miz requested Damien Sandow to start working with him as a stunt double. Sandow wasn’t doing anything of note and wanted to make the most of an opportunity.

The act became one of the most beloved things in WWE. Fans reacted with joy every time Sandow mimicked Miz on the outside of the ring during Miz’s matches. Under the new name of Mizdow, he was among the most popular wrestlers in WWE. While McMahon gave them a lot of television time together, he did not see any long term money in Sandow as a singles star and the break-up didn’t have a payoff.

10 Shane McMahon's Return

Vince McMahon made the call to his son Shane McMahon asking him to come back to the company in 2016. WWE was in a tough spot following several injuries to top star performers. John Cena being sidelined forced McMahon to cancel his original plan for the WrestleMania 32 between Cena and The Undertaker. The phone call to Shane was initially meant to have him wrestle one match as a draw against Undertaker before eating the loss and leaving.

However, the buzz for Shane’s return was highly successful online. It received media attention and the social media numbers delivered huge. Shane happened to enjoy being back in the business he grew up in. The three sons of Shane also loved being a part of this world. It led to Shane and Vince reaching the joyful agreement of him being back on WWE television full time as the SmackDown Commissioner.

9 Rey Mysterio as the Underdog Hero

Rey Mysterio was not the typical WWE star. Most were fearful of how his career would go when joining WWE back in 2002. Vince McMahon is known for not believing in smaller wrestlers, especially back during that time. Mysterio being 5’4’’ and a masked wrestler was not a combination that usually would benefit him in WWE. However, Rey proved everyone wrong by becoming a huge star.

The young audience connected with Mysterio as the underdog hero of the SmackDown brand. WWE also witnessed the rise of the Latino demographic tuning in to see Rey. Vince broke a lot of his own beliefs of what a star should be in WWE by pushing Mysterio into a top role. Rey won the World Championship on multiple occasions thanks to exceeding all of Vince’s expectations and then some.

8 The Original Brand Split

Vince McMahon took one of his biggest risks when going with the initial brand split back in 2002. WWE fans were used to seeing Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and all the top stars on both Raw and SmackDown every week. The decision to split the roster in half was one that received various debates backstage before finally coming into fruition.

McMahon initially believed SmackDown would struggle to thrive as its own brand. Raw is clearly the bigger show in Vince’s mind since it was what took WWE to the next level as a national television force. SmackDown ended up being the show that created new stars and did well on its own. Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Brock Lesnar and John Cena were just a few of the wrestlers to become top performers in the first few years of the split. McMahon’s hesitant idea of going forth with the brand split created new stars.

7 Nexus Hot start

The idea of relatively unknown wrestlers debuting on Raw to destroy the main event wrestlers, broadcasters and entire set shocked the world when Nexus appeared. Wade Barrett had won the first season of the NXT competition despite it not being a big deal on Raw or SmackDown. WWE came up with the genius idea of having him rally the NXT losers to take over the show.

Nexus felt like the coolest invasion angle since the New World Order was in WCW. Barrett has said that McMahon didn’t expect the angle to come off as hot as it did. Nexus was instantly the most popular thing in the promotion for a few months. However, the lack of long term plans for Nexus saw the company get cold feet about going all the way with them. One too many losses to John Cena saw Nexus fall apart and lose all momentum. This is a case where it would have been better if Vince had high expectations all along.

6 Fandango's Debut Match

Vince McMahon had the wrong expectations for Fandango when introducing him as a character. Chris Jericho was upset about having to work against Fandango at WrestleMania 29 as he considered it a waste of a WM match for someone of his stature. McMahon was adamant about this match believing Fandango would become a great heel character for WWE.

The crowd caring about Fandango was indeed something Vince correctly predicted. However, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Fans loved the entrance song of Fandango and started humming it during matches at WrestleMania weekend. It became a huge fad that no one in WWE could have expected. WWE being late to the party saw them start to force it which killed all momentum. Fandango will at least always have that weekend.

5 The Mr. McMahon Character

Vince McMahon never wanted to become an on-screen character for WWE. Therefore, he would only appear as a standard commentator for the shows never getting involved in storylines in the mid-90s. However, the Montreal Screwjob saw fans turn against McMahon for screwing over fan favorite Bret Hart. McMahon realized how much heat he had and tried to use it on television to help Steve Austin get over as a bigger face.

It was scheduled to be a small bit that would have Austin get the better of the boss. The success of the Mr. McMahon character surprised him as he became a bigger part of the show. McMahon had some incredible feuds to follow the Austin angle. WWE benefited a lot from Vince putting himself on television. McMahon would have never predicted fans would pay to see him get destroyed by popular wrestlers.

4 ECW One Night Stand PPV

ECW died in 2001 and Vince McMahon made a great move purchasing the rights to the brand name and history. The first project with the ECW library featured WWE putting out a documentary DVD about the Rise and Fall of ECW. It was a huge seller and showed McMahon that he could make some more money off fans missing the promotion.

McMahon made a huge risk by financing and producing the ECW One Night Stand PPV in 2005. The show was meant to give the ECW fans and wrestlers closure for the promotion that changed the industry. This also exceeded his expectations with the buy rates being a huge success. McMahon decided to give the ECW brand a chance due to the success of the show. ECW failed as a brand under WWE but the early successes at least shocked McMahon.

3 Ultimate Deletion

The most recent incident of something shocking Vince McMahon in the best of ways was the Ultimate Deletion. Matt Hardy’s Broken/Woken Universe is one of the most bizarre things to find success in the wrestling industry. WWE showed a lot of faith by allowing him to bring the gimmick to the company. McMahon took a bigger risk by having the attraction match of Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt on the Hardy compound main event Raw.

Michael Cole was instructed by McMahon to bury the match before it aired in comical fashion. Vince didn’t expect the audience to react positively to it but at least gave it the chance to fail. However, the reaction to it was generally positive. Social media trends, YouTube views and mainstream web sites all provided positive results. We may see Matt get more opportunities to expand his character going forward.

2 Daniel Bryan's Rise to the Top of WWE

One of the most fascinating stories in WWE history was the rise of Daniel Bryan. Vince McMahon enjoyed Bryan as a mid-card player that could occasionally work in the main event picture. However, the fan base started to react to him on a much larger level. Bryan received the biggest ovations and best social media numbers in 2013-2014 as the most beloved face in the company.

WWE tried to fight it by having Bryan lose the WWE Championship to Randy Orton and removing him from the title picture. Bryan was scheduled to face Sheamus in a lower card match at WrestleMania before a lot of variables worked in his favor. The most important one was the fan base refusing to give up on their dream of him leaving WrestleMania XXX as WWE World Champion. McMahon was forced into changing his mind and going all the way with Bryan.

1 Summer of Punk

CM Punk taking over WWE in 2011 was something Vince McMahon could not have seen coming. The company’s presentation of Punk had him in a similar spot to someone like Sheamus. Punk would work in the main event picture occasionally but was usually a secondary player in that tier. WWE gave him a chance to do something special towards the end of his contract by running a contract much like the one he did in Ring of Honor.

Punk threatened to win the WWE Championship and take it to other promotions when his contract ended. The belief was that Punk would lose his title match to Cena, but WWE would still re-sign him in his usual role. However, the momentum of Punk saw him become the hottest commodity in WWE. Fans were talking about his controversial promos. McMahon realized there was something special there and had Punk pull off the shocking win over Cena to start the next chapter of his career as he re-signed.