5 top WWE superstars who have influence over Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon is the single most important person in the pro wrestling/sports entertainment world. Over the past few decades, McMahon took over the business from his father and took it to a direction that his father would not have approved of.

He essentially destroyed the entire territory system and made WWF the juggernaut of the industry, before spending a good part of the 90s competing with WCW, and winning the famous Monday Night Wars.

After WWE officially purchased WCW, there was zero doubt as to who the #1 guy in pro wrestling was. And for 18 years, Vince McMahon has been exactly that. He's the kind of person who would generally encourage his wrestlers to use leverage if they had it, but naturally, wouldn't prefer anyone having leverage against him.

Either way, he's a businessman, and whether it's out of favour or otherwise, he knows that quite a few of his top wrestlers have influence over him, whether it's only in some matters. Here are five top stars who definitely have influence over the boss himself.

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#5. Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair proved to be an influential figure backstage following WrestleMania 35

Charlotte Flair is understandably someone who Vince McMahon favours. After all, from the very beginning of her main roster run, she has been the top woman of the company (up until Ronda Rousey's arrival and the rise of Becky Lynch).

Either way, one example of her influence was post-Superstar Shake-Up 2019. Her real-life boyfriend Andrade was moved over to RAW as part of the Shake-Up. WWE usually tries their best not to separate couples via brands, so this may have been mismanagement.

Either way, Flair convinced McMahon to bring Andrade back to SmackDown along with Zelian Vega, his manager. Because Vega is married to Aleister Black in real life, it also resulted in Black moving to SmackDown after just being assigned a brand.

#4. The Undertaker

The Undertaker can pick and choose his dates

This is a no-brainer, particularly due to The Undertaker's incredible WWE tenure. For 28 years, The Undertaker has been a loyal employee to WWE, choosing to stick around even with attractive WCW offers luring during the peak of the Monday Night Wars.

There's no veteran in the locker room that McMahon respects more than The Undertaker and he naturally favours him even more because the character itself was McMahon's brainchild. The Undertaker is bar none the greatest character that McMahon ever created and even he would never have imagined the legacy he produced and his longevity.

As a result, The Phenom has complete negotiation powers over which dates he gets to work, the storylines he's involved in and more. He has certainly earned it and it can be seen now, since The Undertaker has openly said that he would be more picky with his dates and not overwork himself.

Either way, The Undertaker's influence over McMahon dates back decades, particularly because he the locker room leader for a long time.

#3. Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has a lot of power backstage

For some reason, not as many people realise that Roman Reigns is and has been the WWE locker room leader for a while. It makes complete sense that he has some influence of sorts over Vince McMahon, particularly since he's been pushed as the top star of the company for years.

Roman Reigns has been an integral part of WWE programming since his rise to the top. Sure, he has been a polarizing figure (though the months since his remission has seen him gain favourable reactions) but overall, he still holds an extremely important role in the company.

When Roman Reigns says something, superstars like McMahon listen, because he knows that he's the locker room leader for a reason. While Reigns hasn't been known to explicitly use this influence of any sorts, there's no doubt that as time goes on, his leverage with the company will only increase.

#2. John Cena

John Cena has rightfully earned a great amount of influence in WWE

Vince McMahon has so much respect for John Cena that he has even labelled him as the "Babe Ruth of WWE". That's a compliment at the highest level and it's for a good reason - there has never been a superstar like John Cena.

Like Reigns, Cena too had a career that was defined by polarizing reactions, but the fact of the matter is that nobody on the WWE roster for over a decade worked harder than Cena did. Apart from being the face of the franchise and appearing on weekly TV, he fulfilled all his media obligations, granted a record number of wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and so much more.

There have been several stories of Cena using his influence backstage, whether it was creatively or otherwise. We don't mean to put it in a negative light, but the former face of the franchise simply used the leverage that he had. With his stock in Hollywood growing, expect his leverage to grow with WWE as well.

#1. Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar has an incredible amount of influence over WWE and UFC

Hulk Hogan may have had a lot of say creatively, financially and otherwise during his time, but we need to remember that it was a different era altogether. When talking about current WWE superstars who have influence over Vince McMahon, the number one name is Brock Lesnar.

Somehow, whether it's due to not wanting him to go to UFC or simply seeing him as that valuable, Vince McMahon pays Brock Lesnar an insane amount of money to do incredibly less work.

Naturally, that boils down to Lesnar's negotiation skills (which is clearly top notch), but his legitimacy and overall star power has seen Lesnar hold not one, but two companies at the palm of his hands.

He signs short-term contracts because he uses both companies' offers to leverage and get the best deal for himself. He even managed to convince McMahon to let him fight at UFC 200 after beating him in an arm wrestling contest!