To be aWWE Champion in any era, you must possess the total package: size, speed, charisma, and the ability to sell merchandise and tickets. Sometimes, however, even having everything a company could ask for isn’t enough to guarantee you a spot at the top of the ladder.
Whether it’s a matter of poor timing, a healthy mix of competition, or that certain superstar that has the machine working against him, some are left on the sidelines. While not everyone can be a world champion, many could argue that those on this list should have been at one point or another.
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From Money in the Bank winners to one of the greatest heels to ever enter a WWE ring, these are the ten WWE wrestlers who never got to be WWE Champion. The question remains: Why not?
10Mr. Kennedy
Injuries And Backstage Heat Ruined His Chances
Years Active (WWE)
Highest Accomplishment
Money In The Bank Winner (2007)
Mr. Kennedy had everything Vince McMahon was looking for in the modern era. It’s somewhat surprising to think that not only was he never WWE Champion, but he was also in the company for a relatively short time. Yet, in 2007, the company trusted him to carry the Money in the Bank briefcase, guaranteeing him a shot at the world title.
Then the injury bug struck, forcing Mr. Kennedy to the sidelines in what would eventually be a misleading portrayal of the severity of his injuries. Due to his inability to wrestle, Mr. Kennedy was forced to vacate the briefcase, losing it to Edge in a match before taking some time off.
He would last less than two years after that, leaving the company in 2009, following injuries and complaints from disgruntled wrestlers about his in-ring work.
You can point out the spot between him and Randy Orton during a multi-man match on Raw, as he appears to drop one of the company’s biggest stars too close to his neck region.
9Sami Zayn
A Decade Of WWE Experience And No World Title
2013-Current
WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 Times)
Sami Zayn is a good example of someone who is completely over with the crowd, can sell an underdog story like no other, and has the ability to draw in money.
The only problem is that he lives in an era where the competition is so stiff; he’s often left a notch below and competing for mid-card championships.
On the bright side, 2025 appears to be pushing the narrative that he’s someone who will never win a world championship. If you know you’re wrestling like I do, signs point towards a main event push and championship run when a wrestler is faced with adversity and constant scrutiny.
A Sami ZaynWorld Heavyweight Championship runcould feed generations if it becomes a reality. His latest Intercontinental Championship run fell flat, but being involved in the main title picture against names like Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Gunther is a perfect recipe for success.
8Jesse “The Body” Ventura
WWE Hall of Fame (2004)
Between 1981 and 1986, Jesse “The Body” Ventura worked in the WWE and was one of those physical specimens that could not be denied. He was great in the ring, had a body that was carved out of stone, and could cut an excellent promo.
It’s actually really simple why Ventura never got his shot in the spotlight, and the answer lies in one name: Hulk Hogan.
It’s quite difficult to be given a chance with the WWE Championship when the guy running the show is putting the championship on one person for half of your tenure with the company.
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Sure, Ventura had all the tools in the shed to make for an excellent champion, but nobody could draw like Hulkamania could. It’s an unfortunate circumstance to find yourself in, as Ventura was definitely world champion caliber and could have made for a great heel champion in the early 1980s.
7Jake “The Snake” Roberts
His Heel Championship Run Could Have Been Great
1986-1992, 1996-1997
WWE Hall of Fame (2014)
Growing up watching the early 1990s WWE product, it was hard to escape the allure of Jake “The Snake” Roberts and his grounded, gritty character.
He had an air to him that nobody wanted to mess with, and bringing a snake to the ring that would bite his opponents was a scary sight to see as a young child.
Yet, Roberts found himself on the outside looking in, thanks to the company’s insistence on pushing names like Hogan, Randy Savage, and Yokozuna, failing to stray away from the usual crop of champions. Although Roberts was involved with many of the company’s top stars, they didn’t consider him one of them.
It’s a real shame that Roberts was never trusted to hold at least one world champion, let alone any title in the company. Roberts was a world champion in the mid-south promotions, so one would think he’d get a taste in the WWE, but we just can’t have Hogan losing to a guy with a snake, can we?
6Mr. Perfect
A Perfect Career Lacking World Championship
1981-1983, 1988-1996, 2002
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (2 Times)
Sometimes, a wrestler doesn’t get a world championship run because they don’t know what they have, and such is the case with Mr. Perfect. Going by his ring name alone, Curt Hennig was indeed perfect in every way, and he wouldn’t miss his chance to prove it.
It was always a marvel to see him land his towel through or smack the gum he spit out of his mouth, but what would have been cooler than that would have been to see him as world champion. Mr. Perfect was already one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions, so how could they let this opportunity pass?
What makes it even more aggravating is that Mr. Perfect was around until 1996, during a time when the WWE got more creative with who they made champion. And don’t get me started on his brief 2002 return, the company did him extremely dirty despite the fact that he still had every ounce of perfection in him.
5Diamond Dallas Page
The WWE Did Him So Dirty
WWF European Championship (1 Time)
Duringhistime in WCW, Diamond Dallas Page was one of the most over babyfaces in the company. Crowds would lose their minds over his many variations of the Diamond Cutter, and his rise to the top led to a memorable win for the WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
Naturally, when the WWE acquired WCW and raided their roster for talent, DDP was among those many predicted to be a future WWE Champion. What we got instead was the weirdest stalker angle, completely changing DDP’s personality and severely stunting any momentum he had coming in.
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In two years, he went from a stalker trying to get The Undertaker’s attention, to a motivational coach trying to help Christian out with his temper tantrums. It made absolutely no sense, but what boggled the mind of WWE fans was his one European Championship run and nothing else.
4Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
One Of The Most Talented Wrestlers Of His Generation
1985-1988, 1991, 2005-2014
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
In the mid-to-late 1980s, you would be hard-pressed to find someone as talented and complete as Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.Fans loved him, he was a tremendous in-ring worker, and he had ‘future WWE Champion’ written all over him.
A notable example of his ring work was his match against Randy Savage atWrestleMania 3, where the two battled for the Intercontinental Championship. Looking back at that match, many could argue that this bout should have been for the WWE Championship instead.
It’s a mystery how the WWE never saw anything more out of Steamboat, especially considering they put the WWE Championship on the guys he competed against and didn’t look out of place. Perhaps in another time, with a slightly less stacked roster, Steamboat would be the main-eventer that fans knew him to be.
3Lex Luger
His Build As A Star Fizzled Out
Royal Rumble Winner (1994)
Perhaps the most ironic and perplexing example of a WWE wrestler that never was champion but should have been is none other than Lex Luger. The man was brought in to be the new Hulk Hogan, and was labeled “The Total Package”, making him someone held in high regard.
Sure, Luger was painfully average on the microphone, but he could wrestle at the same level as Hogan, and he had the physique of a Greek God. If you dropped peak Lex Luger into any era following Hulk Hogan’s departure from the company, he’d have won at least one WWE Championship.
Luger was in the company from 1993 to 1995, so perhaps his brief run with the WWE is a valid reason for him never holding any title. He did win the Royal Rumble in a tie with Bret Hart, which meant he gota shot at Yokozuna at WrestleMania 10, but he got disqualified for pushing the referee, so he only had himself to blame there.
2Razor Ramon
1992-1996, 2002
WWF Intercontinental Championship (4 Times)
In the early to mid-1990s, Razor Ramon was one of the most charismatic and charming characters in the company. He was “The Bad Guy” by nature, but fans couldn’t help but cheer him for becoming so lovable so quickly.
This wasn’t the playboy he was during his AWA days as “Big” Scott Hall; Razor Ramon was a different beast. He was dirty, he was gritty, but most importantly, Razor was tremendously talented in the ring and on the microphone.
His feud with Shawn Michaels andtheir ladder match at WrestleMania 10are examples that fans cite as evidence of why Razor should have been a world champion. For a man his size, speed, and wrestling ability, it was always strange watching him never get that run despite the obvious talent he had.
1"Rowdy" Roddy Piper
The Best Heel In The Game Deserved More
1979, 1984-1987, 1989-1996, 2002-2015
Finally, there’s “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, one ofthe greatest heels in WWE history, and a man who has inspired many future generations after him.
Besides Hulk Hogan, Piper was a name that people knew outside the wrestling bubble, which is an important thing to have at any point in your career.
Absolutely nobody could cut a promo like Piper, and don’t let anybody try to convince you otherwise. Someone like CM Punk will point to Piper as an inspiration for crafting a speech that seamlessly blends reality with kayfabe, evoking raw emotion to make everything feel natural.
Knowing what we know now, Piper should have absolutely been a WWE Champion during any of his runs with the company. The fans loved him; he had a love for the business and the spotlight, and Piper could have taken the company to a whole new level with his realism and contagious personality.
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