wrestling / Columns
The Great Eight: Top 8 Wrestlers Who Never Held a World Championship
Image Credit: WWE
The debate on who should have been a World Champion is probably as old as the NWA. So many talented wrestlers have come through the business, and for some reason or another, never made it to the top of the mountain.
That isn’t to say they didn’t have great careers. And many of them were happy to hang their hat on being main eventers without ever needing to be a World Champion. But for us fans, we will always wish our favorites had been given a run. And the fantasy booking around that idea is always a lot of fun.
So today, I want to look at the men who gave us their all but were never given the full backing of their companies. The good hands and heat getters who never summited the mountain top.
Ranking Explanation:
For this list. If a wrestler held the World Championship in any of the following companies, they will be considered a former World Champion. NWA, AWA, WCW, ECW, WW(W)F/E, TNA, NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, CMLL, and AAA. And while the USWA World Champion shares its history with the AWA World Championship, by that point, it was nothing more than a regional championship.
Plugs
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Disclaimer:
This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!
The List
Honorable Mentions:
Jushin Liger, Don Muraco, Greg Valentine, Arn Anderson
8: Owen Hart
If Owen had been able to have a full career and never won a World Championship, he’d be higher up on the list. Unfortunately, his life and career were tragically cut short. The1994 King of the Ring, Hart had worked all over the card, holding the European, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Championships in the WWF.
Outside of the WWF, he is also a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and USWA Heavyweight Champion. In his home promotion of Stampede Wrestling, he held the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship, International Tag Team Championship, and North American Heavyweight Championship.
His championship record is impressive even without a World Championship. But for a man who was so talented in the ring and on the mic, Owen deserved a shot at the top. One has to imagine that if he had lived, he could have had great feuds with Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero.
He also could have been in the mix with the rise of Triple H and mixed it up with The Rock after Austin had to have neck surgery. As I said, the fact that we didn’t get to see if he would have won the big one is what puts him at number eight. But that is not a knock on the man and his talents.
7: Tomohiro Ishii
I tried to stick to retired or passed wrestlers. But Ishii is incredibly unlikely to win a World Championship. At 50 years old, I think the Stone Pitbull’s chances are done. And the fact that in his 30-year career, Ishii was never a World Champion.
There could be several reasons why not. But I think the biggest reason was timing. After spending eight years in various smaller companies, he made his NJPW debut in 2004. And he worked on the lower end of the card until he defected from G.B.H. to form Chaos under the leadership of Shinsuke Nakamura.
But even in Chaos, he was the low man. It wasn’t until 2012 that he really started gaining steam and became tied to the Openweight Division. And by that point, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada had risen to the top.
So, unfortunately, there just wasn’t a great time for Ishii to climb to the top. Which is a shame, the man is talented, and I think he deserves to have at least a small run as IWJP Champion.
6: The British Bulldog
The next four men sadly got in their own way. Bulldog had everything going for him: a great look, talented enough in the ring, and while not the best promo, his natural charisma helped carry him. But his vices and politics probably kept him from ever winning the big one.
Bret talks about their SummerSlam match and how Bulldog got so high he forgot most of what they had laid out. And you can’t have your World Champion forgetting what to do like that. You want a reliable guy out there to control the flow, and if your champion is so high he has to be walked through every spot like a rookie, that isn’t going to work.
If Bulldog had been able to control his vices, I could see him being a World Champion during the early 90s. Vince moved away from jacked guys due to the federal trials. But a clean and lean Bulldog would have fit perfectly into what he has always looked for to lead the company.
5: Jake Roberts
On top of his demons, Roberts was also just in the wrong company at the height of his popularity. The WWF was built on a strong face, fending off all challengers. A heel would win the belt for a month, only to lose it to the next big thing.
If Roberts had stuck with the NWA and stayed clean. He could have been one of the guys who traded the title around. Adding Roberts to the main event scene of Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, and Ric Flair would have been magic. He would have been a contrast to Flair’s flamboyant heel. Roberts as the cold-blooded killer, willing to go to any lengths to keep his title? That’s money right there.
Roberts vs Steamboat would have given us more classic matches like Flair vs Steamboat. And Dusty and Roberts dueling on the mic, only for Roberts to throw a fireball or something, would sell tickets all day long.
Sadly, that is not the reality we live in. We live in the one where Roberts not only never won a World Championship but never won a single title in his time in the WWF.
4: Scott Hall
The fact that Scott Hall was never a World Champion during his WWF run is mind-boggling. We had Bret Hart, Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Yokozuna, Ric Flair, and Yokozuna would all hold the title during that time.
Not winning the title in WCW sort of makes sense. Hogan was the leader of the nWo, and by the time they broke up, Hall’s demons were out of control. And he sadly never recovered from them during his career.
He is also one of the few guys who are usually brought up in these talks, who never held the AWA World Championship either. But I did find out that he is a former DDT Pro Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. And while that isn’t a World Championship, that’s kind of cool. I can’t say weird, based on who and what has held that title. But it’s an interesting footnote at the very least.
Ramon, as the World Champion, could have replaced Bob Backlund. Ramon wouldn’t have been fed to Diesel either, so it would have probably been a bit longer of a run. If we go with a clean Hall in WCW? Have Hall be the one to end Goldberg’s streak. Not with a Cattle Prod, but in a hard-fought encounter. We then remove the Finger Poke of Doom, and Hall can have a run against Sting, DDP, Goldberg, and Nash. And based on how giving Hall could be, he could have politicked himself into matches with Eddie Guerrero, helping to elevate him up the card.
3: William Regal
Regal almost had it all. King Regal had all the power on Raw and was primed to win the big one. And then he failed a Wellness test, and it all went away. And while we’ve had both a Scottish and an Irish World Champion, we have still never had an English one.
Regal had both the in-ring talent and the mic skills to be a strong World Champion. He may not have had the perfect look. But as a heel, he didn’t need it. And not only was he a credible in-ring talent. He also understood how to use comedy to get heat and not lose that credibility.
Regal is one of my favorite wrestlers to watch, and his Championship run would have been filled with bangers. The Raw Roster at the time had Bobby Lashley, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Umaga, and Triple H. So many classic World Championship match possibilities if it had happened.
2: Paul Orndorff
Orndorff had the look, he had the talent, and he was stuck as second-fiddle to Hulk Hogan. Mr. Wonderful debuted a few months before Hogan and was his first challenger for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
After a couple of years acting as the heel to Hogan’s superface. He turned face himself and allied with Hogan to face off against Roddy Piper and Bob Orton. At that point, his fate was sealed. No one was going to interrupt Hogan’s run, let alone another face.
Orndorff may have been better off going to the NWA. He could have been set up as the NWA’s answer to Hogan. (A role that Magnum TA was being built for a few years later.) His impressive body would be compared to Hogan’s, and it was clear that Orndorff was the better in-ring worker. He could have put on some classics with Flair. Giving a run for his money with the ladies. Mr. Wonderful vs The Dirtiest Player in the Game would have put a butt every 12 inches for sure.
1: Roddy Piper
I don’t think there is much room for an argument against Piper being at the top of this list. Piper could talk anyone into the arena. His gift of gab could make you love or hate him at the drop of a hat. He may not be known as a technical wrestler. But he was one of the best when it came to the psychology of working the crowd.
His bloody feuds in the NWA are the stuff of legends. And if he had stayed in the NWA, I could see him winning the NWA World Championship within a few years. But instead, he went to the WWF and became a household name as the constant pain in Hogan’s ass. And at the height of their feud in the 80s, Piper didn’t lose clean to Hogan.
He knew his money was in being able to always be a threat to Hogan. And he also knew once he lost clean, it wouldn’t be the same. Piper, like Orndorff and Roberts, was not likely to be Champion in the WWF during the 80s. Or if he was, it wouldn’t have been a long reign.
So, now I’m thinking of a mid-80s NWA main event scene consisting of Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, and Paul Orndorff. That honestly could have helped them stay strong in the face of the WWF Juggernaut. It, of course, didn’t pan out that way, due to Vince splashing the cash. But damn, I wish I lived in that timeline.
