4 WWE heel turns Vince McMahon rejected and 1 he reluctantly agreed to
Vince McMahon has the final say on every major storyline development that takes place in WWE.
For example, the WWE Universe is often credited with boosting the careers of Becky Lynch, Daniel Bryan, and Kofi Kingston in the build-up to their high-profile WrestleMania victories over the last few years.
While WWE’s fans obviously played a huge role in their successes, it was Vince McMahon who ultimately decided to take advantage of those Superstars’ popularities by booking them in marquee matches at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
When it comes to WWE character changes, Vince McMahon also makes the final decision on which of his babyface Superstars are allowed to turn heel, and which heels are allowed to become babyfaces.
The majority of Superstars usually get their way when they feel that the time is right for their character to undergo a drastic transformation, but Vince McMahon has also been known to shut down the idea.
In this article, let’s take a look at four WWE heel turns that Vince McMahon did not allow to happen, as well as one that he reluctantly agreed to.
#5 Vince McMahon reluctantly agreed to let The Usos turn heel
In September 2016, The Usos turned heel for the first time in five years when they attacked Chad Gable and Jason Jordan on an episode of SmackDown.
Vince McMahon’s top babyface at that time, Roman Reigns, joined forces with The Usos earlier in the year during his feud with AJ Styles and The Club.
As a result of associating themselves with Reigns, The Usos began to receive boos from WWE crowds, even though they were also supposed to be good guys.
Speaking to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy in 2020, Jey Uso recalled that Vince McMahon was originally reluctant to turn them heel when they presented the idea to him.
“So, we finally went to the big man [Vince McMahon] and we said, 'Can we do this?' At first he was against it. It took a couple tries from us to convince him and then it was like, 'Hell yeah, you want to go out there with the outfits? This is what you want to do, right?' We were like, 'Yup, it's time.' Then it's like, 'Okay, the ball is in your court.'”
While The Usos were widely considered to be a success as a villainous duo, the start of their heel run did not go as planned.
The gear that they wore at WWE Backlash 2016 (see above) was not allowed to be worn again because they were told that it made them look too similar to Reigns.