Vince McMahon predicted four of WWE's future top stars in 2014 – was he right?
Vince McMahon gave a rare interview on Steve Austin's WWE Network show, The Stone Cold Podcast, on December 1, 2014. The former WWE Chairman opened up about several topics, including the future of his roster.
At that point, The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins) had already separated after a successful 19-month run together. Another up-and-coming star, Bray Wyatt, was a singles competitor after breaking away from Erick Rowan and Luke Harper.
McMahon famously used to challenge superstars to "reach for the brass ring" if they wanted to become main-eventers. Discussing the topic with Austin, he tipped Wyatt and the three former Shield members to have bright futures:
"The last person that really reached for that brass ring, in all likelihood, was John Cena," McMahon said. "There are others coming up now who definitely wanna reach for it. Ambrose is one of them, Seth Rollins is another one, Roman Reigns is another one, Bray's another one, so I think you've got some people here who are chomping at the bit to make a difference."
All four men went on to become WWE Champions after Vince McMahon's comments: Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins (2015), Dean Ambrose (2016), and Bray Wyatt (2017).
After losing the Tag Team titles and facing subsequent losses against the likes of CM Punk and The Wyatt Family, tension continued to rise within The Shield.
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Reigns and Rollins have remained two of WWE's top stars over the last decade. Ambrose, now known as Jon Moxley in AEW, left the company when his contract expired in 2019.
In 2021, Wyatt departed WWE after surprisingly receiving his release. He returned at Extreme Rules 2022, three months after Triple H replaced McMahon as WWE's creative figurehead.
Why Vince McMahon had issues with WWE Superstars' motivation in 2014
Steve Austin suggested that some roster members seemed afraid to take risks due to WWE's lack of viable competition. At the time, AEW had not been founded, and TNA/IMPACT was not as popular as it once was.
"You have to have FUN making fun... and we still do!" - @VinceMcMahon
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While Vince McMahon did not fully agree with the WWE Hall of Famer, he admitted that many of his performers were afraid of failure:
"No one wants to fail, and there's this feeling, this insecurity, that if you fail you're exposed. I think that's largely pretty much what it is. Because you give everybody opportunities, you give everyone resource that you never had. The things we do now from a television standpoint, social media – oh my God, social media is huge, it helps talent in so many different ways."
Vince McMahon retired in July 2022 amid misconduct allegations. Triple H is now WWE's Chief Content Officer, while Stephanie McMahon is the company's Chairwoman and co-CEO, a role she shares with Nick Khan.
Who do you think are WWE's next top stars? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit The Stone Cold Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.