3 WWE Superstars who took years to win Vince McMahon over and 3 who didn't
Mick Foley once said that to get pushed in WWE, Vince McMahon needs to be a big fan of yours. It's not easy to win over the biggest name in professional wrestling - a man who has been in the industry for five decades and has seen generations of the greatest wrestlers come and go.
Every generation of superstars has had to do their best to win Vince McMahon over. There are cases of superstars who won Vince McMahon over at first sight, while some have had to scratch and claw for years before getting the recognition they deserve.
This list looks at superstars on both sides of the spectrum - those who took years to win over Vince McMahon, and those who didn't:
#3. Took years to win Vince McMahon over: Kofi Kingston
This case is a bit different from some of the other names on this list since Kofi Kingston was already a highly accomplished WWE superstar before 2019. He's now a 21-time Champion in WWE, and before 2019, that number was 16.
Naturally, that many Championships should indicate trust from Vince McMahon, but in this case, it was about trusting Kofi Kingston to become a main event superstar and WWE Champion.
It all came together on a single night when it was revealed that Kofi Kingston replaced Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber main event for the WWE championship. What followed was perhaps among the greatest performances in a gauntlet match, instantly skyrocketing his popularity.
It was only then, 11 years after his WWE debut, that Vince McMahon saw the potential in Kofi Kingston as a World Champion. It resulted in an incredible Elimination Chamber performance where Kofi Kingston came the closest he had ever been to achieving the industry's greatest prize.
In the build-up to WrestleMania 35, Vince McMahon appeared on-screen as a foil to Kofi Kingston - thwarting every attempt for him to win a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. Kevin Owens was rumored to be returning to challenge Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, but the reaction from the WWE audience towards Kofi Kingston made Vince McMahon change his mind.
KofiMania remains one of the most incredible stories of the past decade, and it was the true culmination of a 11-year journey in WWE for Kofi Kingston. He won Vince McMahon over and went on to become the first African-born WWE champion in history.
While many thought it would be a similar reign to Rey Mysterio's disastrous world title run in 2006, Kofi Kingston held the title for half a year and was presented as a strong, legitimate champion. The end of his reign raised some questions, but it shouldn't overshadow the incredible year that Kofi Kingston had in 2019.