To paraphrase “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, if you are not in the professional wrestling business to become World Champion, then you should not be in this business. Every wrestler that is on the WWE roster should be working towards the goal of obtaining a main-event level spot in the company, otherwise they are just taking up a spot of someone that really wants the opportunity. For wrestlers like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Jinder Mahal who worked incredibly hard to shuck their status as mid-card wrestlers and worked their way up to achieve main-event level status and become World Champions, it was incredibly hard work for them. While the stories of these wrestlers ended with their fairy-tale Championship win, it will not be entirely possible for every performer on the WWE roster.

Unfortunately, those in charge do not view each and every wrestler as “World Champion Material”. For one reason or another, these wrestlers will likely never get to hold onto the World Championship belt – whether it's their size, wrestling ability or just how “The Boss” feels about them, I would be very surprised if any of these men ever actually go their shot as Champion. Vince and Triple H both have their own ideas over who should be a world champion and it's definitely not these guys.

17 Vince Won’t Want: Sami Zayn

Despite Sami’s recent success as a fixture of the SmackDown Live main event scene, there is little likelihood of Vince ever giving Sami Zayn a run with the company’s top Championship. Most people would think it is due to Sami’s size or previous status as an “independent wrestling darling”, but it for a different reason entirely – he finds Sami Zayn to be incredible annoying.

As revealed on a recent Talk is Jericho podcast, Zayn was asking McMahon about how he was liking his current character portrayal on SmackDown, to which Vince replied that he enjoyed how "annoying” he was being on screen, but Sami also recalled how Vince had mentioned that he did not want him to change anything from how he acted as a face character, which means that Vince has always found him to be irritating! Was Vince just ribbing him? Or has he always found Zayn to be exasperating? Only Vince knows for sure, but judging by how Sami’s career has been a see-saw, it seems fairly obvious.

16 Triple H Won’t Want: Neville

Triple H is one of only few wrestlers to spent close to his entire career in the 90s and 2000s in WWE while many of his friends and colleagues defected to WCW – after becoming “The Game” he never entertained leaving WWE for any reason, and he has been rewarded for his loyalty many times on screen, which means that Hunter really values loyalty in a big way. When it comes to wrestlers like Neville who have “walked out” on WWE due to either personal or creative reasons, it's likely that he would not respect them enough to consider them World Champion material.

The business landscape of WWE has changed enough where someone of Neville’s size is clearly capable of holding a World Championship, but his political standing with Triple H due to him leaving the company while being the face of the Cruiserweight division will not help his chances.

15 Vince Won't Want: Rusev

Unfortunately, it may never truly be Rusev Day in the WWE. If Rusev was going to be given a world championship reign, you would assume it would've happened by now. Early in his WWE run, Rusev ran roughshod over the roster, then like so many monster heels before him, he was fed to John Cena and never truly got his momentum back. While his new "Rusev Day" gimmick has won over legions of fans, the WWE still seems gunshy about pulling the trigger on a Rusev push. Rumors have even popped up that management is annoyed with the fact that the gimmick, which was meant to be a joke, has gotten so over. It's sad to hear, but sadly not surprising, considering the amount of stars who've been punished for getting over in spite of WWE.

14 Triple H Won't Want: Big E

You would think that someone with the build of a Big E would easily be world championship material in the company's eyes. Big E has also shown in the past few years that he has the charisma to be what the company wants out of a larger than life babyface. However, given Big E's long run with The New Day, it may be difficult for him to shake that reputation once he breaks out on his own. The WWE doesn't seem to be breaking up the group anytime soon. On top of that, reports from a few years ago suggested that Vince actually was poised to push Big E as his big pet project, but Triple H lobbied for Roman Reigns instead. It could just mean Hunter saw more upside in Roman, but it doesn't bode well for Big E's future chances.

13 Vince Won’t Want: Cesaro

During an episode of The Steve Austin Show podcast in 2014 Vince McMahon infamously stated that wrestlers need to reach for the “brass ring” during their career in WWE instead of becoming complacent, and specifically cited Cesaro as a wrestler who the fans are currently behind but he does not see as someone with all of the tools to become a successful World Champion. Anyone that has seen Cesaro in the ring knows that his in-ring abilities are some of the best on the WWE roster, but Vince believes that his work on the microphone in interviews is keeping him back from grabbing that “brass ring”.

While we can agree that Cesaro’s interviews leave something to be desired there is no doubt that fans have always been behind him, however the only fan he has not won over is Vince McMahon himself.

12 Triple H Won’t Want: Kofi Kingston

While he may be a tag team specialist now as a member of The New Day, Kofi Kingston was once poised to be new member of the main event level for WWE during a feud with Randy Orton in 2009. The high profile feud featured Kingston gaining multiple singles wins over The Viper as well as pay-per-view matches which showcased him in a great position.

Why did this not pan out for Kingston and help him reach a WWE Championship run? Well, the rumor has always persisted that Randy Orton did not appreciate how over Kingston was getting at his expense, and asked his old buddy Triple H to not push him any further. While this has never been confirmed, if it is true than Kingston can kiss any WWE Championship run goodbye.

11 Vince Won’t Want: Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson

Since Vince does not want the members of The Revival as World Champions, does this mean that Vince hates tag teams? Not necessarily, but he does not appreciate when wrestlers on his roster go against the rules he has created for his company. During a recent in-ring segment on RAW, Scott Dawson referred to The Revival as “professional wrestlers” and not “sports entertainers” in order to establish how much they valued their in-ring skills. This is a good way for them to get over, but unfortunately the term professional wrestlers has been “outlawed” by Vince as it does not fully represent his vision of WWE, which is an “entertainment-based” company. While it may seem silly to us, Vince takes these types of rules very seriously and it likely cost The Revival a place in Vince’s good books.

10 Triple H Won’t Want: Adam Cole

Adam Cole, bay-bay! More like, no Championship run, bay-bay! While Cole may be reminiscent of a young Shawn Michaels in terms of his in-ring style, his status as an “indy darling” from his time in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla prior to signing with WWE is likely going to work against him reaching the main event level in WWE. Not to say that Cole will never be World Champion, but he is going to have to work much harder to prove that he has adapted to the “WWE style” of wrestling since he has such a rich background of independent wrestling, whereas wrestlers that have purely learned their craft in the WWE machine likely have a much easier time proving themselves to upper management. We have seen what Cole can do when given the top spot in a company before, so we all hope that Triple H considers him in the future.

9 Vince Won’t Want: Samoa Joe

Upon arriving in NXT, the Samoan Submission Machine seemed to be poised for greatness as he was quickly pushed to the top of the card in a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura over the NXT Championship. Under Triple H's guise under the development brand, he was reaching the potential that everyone knew he would once he reached WWE. However, once he transitioned to the main roster he has been shuffled around the upper-mid card without a big direction for his character and no major developments in terms of storylines.

When wrestling fans are looking to blame for this, most point to Vince McMahon himself - we know that Vince has always been a fan of "body guys", and Samoa Joe is anything but a typical-looking wrestler (which many say delayed him from getting to WWE in the first place). Given Vince's proclivity to wrestlers with stereotypical, muscular physiques it could really hurt Joe's chances at becoming a World Champion.

8 Triple H Won’t Want: Kassius Ohno

Like I had said before, Triple H has been very close to the NXT brand since its inception and has been delighted to stay close to the development of talent from the Performance Centre. However, not all wrestlers that come in to NXT are going to reach “the big time” in Hunter’s eyes, and sometimes that is due to him being burned by performers in the past. When Chris Hero entered NXT originally in 2012 as Kassius Ohno, he was poised for big things with the brand but what let go as a result of him reportedly not being committed to WWE’s conditioning program and had begun to gain a considerable amount of weight.

Ohno was eventually brought back into NXT in 2017, but has not reached the level of stardom that he was initially poised for and one has to wonder if this is due to Triple H being gun-shy about putting him into a high profile position. If that is happening in NXT, Ohno’s chances of gaining traction on the main roster don't look very good.

7 Vince Won’t Want: Shelton Benjamin

Ain’t no stopping you, Shelton Benjamin? Well, it looks as though Vince McMahon may be stopping you from ever winning a World Championship. Despite being one of the best pure athletes that WWE has ever had on their roster (even back in 2002 during his first WWE run), Benjamin has never really reached the main event level. Like we mentioned with Cesaro earlier, reportedly Benjamin’s lack of mic skills has prevented WWE from giving him the “ball” as a World Champion in the past, and it appears that this may still be the case during his current run in WWE as he has not been given the chance as a singles star since returning.

Perhaps time will tell on Benjamin, but it doesn't look as though he will ever be given the chance to win the big one – if he was going to, Vince would have pulled this trigger years ago while Benjamin was a hot babyface.

6 Triple H Won’t Want: Lio Rush

When new wrestlers come into WWE it can often take some time for them to learn the social norms of the company, and unfortunately wrestlers can make fools of themselves if they do not learn them quickly enough. Take Lio Rush for instance, who during his first few weeks on NXT made an inappropriate comment in regards to Emma being released following her loss to Asuka. Not only did he get removed from the road for his actions, but several other wrestlers on the roster took offence to his remarks and he has become a social-pariah as a result.

Considering how close Hunter is to “the boys in the back”, this surely must weigh on his mind when he thinks about Rush’s future in the WWE. Respect does not come each in the world of professional wrestling, and Rush’s actions have surely hurt his future when Triple H ends up in charge.

5 Vince Won’t Want: Bobby Roode

Glorious! Well, not exactly everyone thinks so about Mr. Bobby Roode. While Roode's connection to his WWE fans through his catchy theme song and in-ring ability has been great to watch since he debuted on NXT and the main roster, he does have a past with a different wrestling employer that may make Vince sour on him. Roode spent the better part of ten years with TNA and was one of their home-grown stars, as well as a former World Champion for them.

While TNA was never considered to be a huge competitor to the WWE's dominance over sports entertainment, I'm sure it will be a bitter pill to swallow for Vince to make a former corner-stone of the company his World Champion, especially because Roode does not hold the same ability as AJ Styles.

4 Triple H Won’t Want: Hideo Itami

We have seen so many stars from the independent wrestling scene debut on NXT and instantly become huge stars to WWE fans, which must be completely satisfying to Triple H as the one who was involved in so much of their signing to the company. However, how do you think it feels when one of his signees does not get over in the way that he envisioned? Enter Hideo Itami, who was previously known as KENTA in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and was touted as one of the biggest acquisitions for NXT at the time.

Unfortunately, a rash of injuries have sidelined Itami for much of his WWE career, which has prevented fans from really becoming attached to him as a performer, which must be disappointing for Hunter to see. Could Triple H be getting back him by never giving the opportunity to become World Champion?

3 Vince Won’t Want: "Woken" Matt Hardy

When some former WWE wrestlers describe working for Vince McMahon, one of the terms used is "out of touch". Considering that McMahon is now north of 70 years old, he may not be as connected to what today's wrestling fans find entertaining.

When "Broken" Matt Hardy was introduced to the wrestling world in TNA, fans went absolutely bananas for his strange and off-beat character and he instantly became one of the most popular wrestling characters to come around in a long time. When Hardy returned to WWE in 2016, it was surprising to see him eventually return to this character due to Vince likely not fully understanding what makes the character so appealing to fans. Reports have come in that Vince has given a lot of creative control to Hardy himself due to the fact that he doesn't fully understand it, so given that fact, it's very unlikely Vince would give his World Championship to a gimmick that he doesn't fully understand.

2 Triple H Won’t Want: Apollo

From one member of Titus Worldwide to the another – when Uhaa Nation signed with WWE and became Apollo Crews, there were very high hopes for him in the company to become a breakout star due to his athleticism and unique muscular look. Unfortunately, since arriving on the main roster in 2016, Apollo has floundered on screen and has not accomplished much of note while his crowd reactions have dwindled down to inaudible levels. With so much promise coming from the former independent wrestling star, Triple H must be upset that one of his “projects” has not panned out to pay big returns like he thought it would.

It must be upsetting to see a wrestler with such promise not connect with fans in the way you had hoped, but keeping him from ever becoming a World Champion is one way to ease the burn!

1 Vince Won’t Want: Big Cass

This one may seem surprising - standing at seven feet tall, Big Cass would seem like he would be prime for a World Championship run in Vince McMahon's world, but unfortunately it may not be in the cards for him. WWE has been quick to disassociate themselves with anything related to Enzo Amore following the unflattering allegations made against him late last year. While Cass was on the shelf with an injury while these allegations were made, his career has still been intertwined with Enzo from the beginning, which will be difficult for him to shake off. While time will certainly tell in regards to Cass' career trajectory once he returns from injury, the stigma of partnering with Enzo for so long will certainly be a lingering thought on Vince's mind.