5 WWE Superstars who suffered from getting pushed too early by Vince McMahon
While most WWE superstars take years to receive a big push from Vince McMahon, some superstars get it early. In the case of names like Brock Lesnar, there is a fair argument that justifies the monster push they receive.
In many other cases, Vince McMahon jumped the gun when pushing a superstar. Usually it was less to do with them not being worthy of it, and more to do with them not being ready at the time.
Here are some superstars that suffered from getting pushed too early by Vince McMahon, including those that have since bounced back:
#5. Roman Reigns - Vince McMahon's "golden boy"?
It's interesting to look back at Roman Reigns' push between early 2015 and late 2018. Now that the long-demanded Roman Reigns heel turn has happened, there is a lot to reflect upon that period.
Roman Reigns was Vince McMahon's hand-picked successor to John Cena. With John Cena having achieved a record ten-year tenure as the face of WWE, Chairman Vince McMahon knew it was time to build their next big star. The Shield's Roman Reigns was chosen for that spot.
Roman Reigns had the look, and he certainly wasn't a shabby in-ring performer. But once WWE fans got wind of the fact that Roman Reigns was Vince McMahon's chosen golden boy, protests followed. It started with the disastrous Royal Rumble 2015, where Roman Reigns was booed out of the building after winning, despite help from The Rock.
It was clear that Roman Reigns was far from ready to become the next John Cena. When John Cena became the face of WWE in 2005, he was a well-rounded performer ready to take the spot he earned. Roman Reigns was years away from that.
But Vince McMahon persisted for years, and it continuously damaged the perception that WWE fans had of Roman Reigns. Despite WWE commentators acknowledging Roman Reigns as "polarizing," that wasn't the case at all. Most weeks, he would get booed by the vast majority of WWE fans.
Even then, Vince McMahon refused to turn him heel and continued to push him. With four consecutive WrestleMania main events, he still failed to get Roman Reigns over as the company's biggest babyface.
When looking back, it was clear. It was never Roman Reigns' fault. He always had the talent to reach the top, but Vince McMahon refused to turn him heel even though it was a tried and tested formula. Thankfully that changed in 2020, and the formula worked.
Roman Reigns is now the most dominant heel in WWE and is having the best run of his career as the Universal Champion. His face turn is inevitable, but if WWE does it right, then Roman Reigns can be the top babyface star that Vince McMahon always wanted him to be.