A question that seems to be popping up all the time now is: why is Vince pushing guys like Lashley and Cena so hard? And looking back through the last 20 odd years in the WWE, I'm beginning to think the answer is quite surprising. McMahon has never really "made" any of the megastars or legends.

This may seem odd and down right wrong at first glance, but after looking at this a few times it begins to look a little bit different.

Hogan, one of wrestling's biggest names, was immortalised not by Vince, but by the fans. The birth of Hulkamania stemmed from the fans latching onto Hogan and never leaving. McMahon had no choice but to have him at the top of the card and with the belt, there was no one else in the business that compared at the time.

The Ultimate Warrior - another case where the fans latched onto a guy, a fairly low end middle carder, and within two years had him rival Hogan in popularity. This is even more apparent since, by Vince's thoughts, the Warrior self-destructed. The fans still love the guy the though even though Vince has tried to sabotage his career with slanted DVD's (show some integrity Vince, Hall of Fame!).

Bret Hart - a tag team specialist suddenly breaks out huge and becomes a name that many think is rivaled only by his arch nemesis (if you don't know who then you don't know this business). His pure wrestling talent won fans over and again McMahon followed the fans (seeing a pattern here?).

Undertaker - the man comes from nowhere, with the most unique gimmick, and dominates the ring with his presence. There was just something to him that could not be ignored. The Undertaker is the closest McMahon has come to truly making a star as he did force him on the fans much to early (the title win against Hogan).

HBK - The ultimate self-made superstar. After splitting from the Rockers, Michaels languished in wrestling purgatory for quite a while. Despite IC title reigns, there was something that hadn't clicked with the fans. But WMX arrives, and the ladder match reveals HBK's showstopper mentality. From then on fans slowly fell in love with the man's in ring talent and the passion that HBK radiated. The man's consistent high quality matches could not be ignored and McMahon finally gave him the belt at WMXII.

Austin - McMahon has said it himself, the fans made Austin huge. The King of the Ring and the birth of Austin 3:16 shocked the wrestling world and Austin was suddenly at the top of the business even though he did not have the belt. The guy was pushed as a heel for a while before McMahon finally realised that the fans loved the guy. The rest is history.

Rock - certainly not made by McMahon. If Vince had his way, we would still have Rocky Maivia, the chia pet. It wasn't until the Rock became himself that he was accepted. This is one of those rare superstars whom fans loved to hate and considering that he was a heel for quite a while, it is surprising that McMahon finally ceded to the man's insane popularity.

HHH - buried when he first arrived at the WWE, buried after the clic incident, and wasn't rescued until DX was born. Even then, with the immense popularity of DX, HHH was often ignored for guys like Austin and Rock. It wasn't until late 99 (two years) that Vince finally put the belt on the man. Was it because he needed a heel champion in a face dominated business?

Most of these guys were ignored by McMahon until the fans became to loud to ignore. All McMahon did was recognise fan support and follow thier lead. Until now that is. It seems that McMahon has become desperate of late to prove that he, by himself, can make a superstar. Lashley and Cena (prototypical chiseled and fairly big men) have continually faced impossible odds and come out on top. They both have held their belts far longer than their talent warrants, and the methods of their victories are highly suspect. All this is an attempt to force the fans to "love" these guys.

Sorry Vince, it isn't working. Lashley is getting decent, but not outstanding fan reactions. He is still too green to be in the major spotlight. Cena may have a large number of young kids and female fans, but has an even larger number of haters (or as we seem to be called now, smarks). Cena's 20 out of 24 month reign is more evidence that McMahon is desperate for something, since the fan reaction has been pretty straight foward. Hell, even the Cena fans are growing tired of the long title reigns.

Just a theory on why the hell McMahon is shoving these guys down our throats. Could be right, could be wrong. But there has to be some explanation as to why he is now ignoring the fans.