5 WWE legends Vince McMahon was initially not a fan of

#2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Vince did not see Stone Cold as a main-eventer

Steve Austin went through a couple of gimmicks during his WWE career, but his iconic “Stone Cold” gimmick is one that made him one of the company's biggest hits. The 6-time WWE Champion had his career cut short by injuries, but there was a chance he would have never made it to WWE. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts told Premier Live TV during an interview that Vince McMahon never saw Austin as a main-eventer.

“When Steve Austin came to WWF, I was helping write television, and I watched him, and I said, ‘This motherf***er got it, man. He’s got that ‘it’ factor and he don’t even know he’s got it. I’m starting to scoot him into places. Sort of as an afterthought so nobody was watching."

“Well then one day I told Vince [McMahon], I said, ‘That guy right there is gonna be your next super, superstar.’ ‘You kidding me Jake?’”

“He [Vince] said, ‘That guy, he’ll never make it past fifth, sixth match. He’s not a main-eventer.’ I [Jake] said, ‘The **** he ain’t.’ He said, ‘Do you think so?’ I said, ‘Yeah I think so,’ and we tried the thing and I guess it might’ve worked huh?”

Even though Vince wasn’t a fan of Stone Cold at first, he grew fond of his character and pushed him to the moon. The decision proved to be the correct one as Austin helped WWE garner millions of new fans and was undoubtedly the biggest star of his era.