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Article: 12 Worst World Champions in WWE's History

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#1 ·
http://www.cagesideseats.com/2014/1...ory-12-worst-whc-wwe-champions-in-wwe-history

12) The Iron Sheik

How The Iron Sheik Became Champion: On December 26th, 1983, The Iron Sheik infamously ended Bob Backlund's 1,470 day title reign when he forcibly applied his Camel Clutch submission maneuever to an already weakened Backlund. With the intent of preventing further injury, Backlund's manager, Arnold Skaaland, threw a white towel into the ring on Backlund's behalf, indicating forfeiture despite his client never formerly submitted, subsequently granting the Iron Shiek his first and only World Championship.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: The Iron Sheik set the precedent for what we now define as a transitional champion, serving as the interim title holder between the 1,400+ day title reigns of Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan, respectively. The era in which the Iron Sheik performed featured a complete monopolization at the top of the card, and as a result of an age where televised events were few and far between, allowed title reigns to consistently exceed 1,000 days without growing stale. The sole motive of utilizing a superstar like the Iron Sheik as champion was due to WWE's complete engulfment in the art of kayfabe, unwilling to put two babyfaces against one another in fear of dividing the crowd's allegiance in half. What makes Sheik's reign as champion even more flabbergasting was the fact that, as a middling heel, Sheik got the nod over much more established talent such as Don Muraco and Greg Valentine. Since his brief run as a headliner concluded, the Iron Sheik's run has become somewhat of a running joke, as Sheik continually portrays himself as one of the greatest champions of all time despite us fans acknowledging his account as falsehood.

11) Mark Henry



How Mark Henry Became Champion: After earning the status of number one contender by defeating both Sheamus and Christian in a Triple Threat Match, Henry would go on to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton at the 2011 edition of Night of Champions. After targeting the already weakened right knee of Orton, Mark Henry would easily counter an RKO attempt before finishing the champion off with The World's Strongest Slam.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: There's viable reasoning to why it took Mark Henry ten years to obtain his brief main-event status within the WWE and fifteen years to receive his first and only run as World Heavyweight Champion: Henry's in-ring inadequacies have always been a blemish on his accomplished resume. That's also not to mention that, until recently, his promo skills were universally regarded as one of the most tedious within the industry. Though he was able to remain employed within the WWE due to his real-life status as the World's Strongest Man, his career had always been hampered by the minimal improvement he displayed during the first-third on his tenure in WWE. With such a painstakingly slow progression of in-ring prowess, he settled comfortably into the midcard, using his formidable stature to dominate middling opponents while posing a believable yet beatable threat to the top stars. However, Henry became a beneficiary of a brand split that left Creative scrambling for fresh main-event stars, leaving Henry in a favorable position to unexpectedly ascend up the card.

Once he reached the mountaintop, however, Henry found himself unable to put forth the types of efforts that fans have become acclimated to when investing in top championship feuds. Thankfully, his run did not last long, as only 91 days after obtaining the World Heavyweight Championship, he would drop it to the Big Show in the infamously terrible "Chairs Match" at the 2011 edition of TLC.

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10) Sgt. Slaughter



How Sgt. Slaughter Became Champion: Following outside interference from "The Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sgt. Slaughter dethroned then-champion the Ultimate Warrior at the 1991 Royal Rumble.

Why He Was A Terrible Champion: Coinciding with the United States of America's rapidly rising tension with the Middle East in 1991, Sgt. Slaughter's turncoat character was able to generate an inordinate amount of heat, which he used to promptly propel himself up the card. However, despite his brief status as champion, Slaughter was never viewed as a legitimate threat, transparently serving as nothing more than a transitional champion between two of the biggest stars of the era, the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan. Additionally, at the time of his championship victory, Slaughter was noticeably past his prime, lumbering in the ring and relying heavily on his gimmick to keep himself relevant. Sgt. Slaughter epitomized the notion of a "flavor of the week" heel, unceremoniously departed the company merely a year and a half after main-eventing the "Greatest Spectacle of Them All", Wrestlemania.

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9) Rob Van Dam



How RVD Became Champion: At the 2006 edition of ECW One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase, defeating defending WWE Champion John Cena in an engrossing affair that featured John Cena's rare portrayal of a heel. One day later, on the debut episode of the reinvented ECW, Van Dam was awarded the ECW championship by ECW founder and president Paul Heyman, which RVD decided to concurrently hold, yet separately defend.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Make no mistake about it, Rob Van Dam is one of the most entertaining and talented performers to ever step inside a WWE sanctioned ring. The avenue taken for Rob Van Dam to achieve the WWE's top prize was enthralling, as we watched an ECW pillar ascend from dwelling in the upper midcard to conquering perhaps the most heralded name in WWE history in John Cena. However, Rob Van Dam's actual title reign left a lot to be desired, starting off with a flourish before magnificently crumbling before our eyes.

During his simultaneously reigns as WWE and ECW Champion, Van Dam recorded a humbling single successful title defense, defeating Edge at Vengeance 2006. Within the next month, however, Van Dam would proceed to lose both the WWE Championship -- which he lost to Edge in a triple threat match that also featured John Cena -- and his ECW Championship, which he dropped to Big Show one day later in his first and only ECW Championship defense. The decision to abruptly and shockingly strip Rob Van Dam of both championships directly influenced by his violation of WWE's wellness policy, which was breached when Van Dam and longtime counterpart Sabu were discovered by Ohio State Troopers to be in possession of approximately eighteen grams of marijuana, five Vicodin pills, eight servings of Testolactone, and a plethora of drug paraphernalia. RVD's championship run only featured one memorable moment, which happened to the be the moment he obtained the title. Outside of that instant, however, Van Dam's reign is a unfortunate combination of forgettable and disappointing, as we were never able to see him reach his full potential as the face of the WWE.

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8) Diesel



How Diesel Became Champion: Abruptly interjected into the Backlund-Hart feud of 1994 which saw Bob Backlund end Bret Hart's 248 day title reign, Disel would face the WWF Championship from Backlund three days after the newly crowned champion commenced his reign. After executing a Jackknife Powerbomb, Diesel would pin Backlund a mere eight second after the opening bell, leaving the Madison Square Garden House Show crowd in a shocked frenzy.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: The first-third of Diesel's championship reign was serviceable, if unspectacular, seeing him compete in entertaining affairs against the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at the 1995 Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania XI, respectively. However, the final two-thirds of Diesel's championship run were a casualty of what is widely acknowledged as the worst calendar year in WWE history, hampered by uninspired booking, a gimmick flooded product, and a noticeable lack of worthy challengers. Diesel, who was not an in-ring technician by any stretch of the imagination, was given the impossible task of carrying the 487 pound Mabel to an respectable match in the main event of Summerslam 1995, a contest which is universally regarded as the worst main event in Summerslam history. A few months later, at In Your House: The Great White North, Diesel, the British Bulldog, and Bret Hart would find themselves booed out of the building after Hart's attack on the British Bulldog prematurely ended an entertaining championship contest, an occurrence that provoked an ringside berating from Vince McMahon.

The initial plan for Diesel's run was to provide additional stakes for the budding rivalry between he and former ally Shawn Michaels. However, once they rectified their issues, the man formerly known as Oz was left floundering in a main-event scene that was slightly above his head, expected to carry a burden that was simply too heavy for the first time champion to withstand.

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7) Rey Mysterio



How Rey Mysterio Became Champion: Rey Mysterio obtained his first World Championship (the word 'Heavyweight' being omitted from the title due to Mysterio's status as a Cruisterweight) after defeating both Kurt Angle and Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 22 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Four years later, he would capture his second and final World Championship (not including his one-hour reign as WWE Championship) after defeating defending champion Jack Swagger, CM Punk, and the Big Show at Fatal 4-way 2010.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Rey Mysterio became the recipient of a substantial push which was directly influenced by the untimely death of WWE great, Eddie Guerrero. The absence of a main-event superstar of Mexican heritage within the WWE combined with the well documented friendship shared between Mysterio and Guerrero fused to create a magnificent opportunity for Mysterio amidst the mourning and sorrow.

During his time as World Champion, Rey Mysterio embodied the role of the valiant underdog, consistently going to battle opposite men who were both exponentially larger and stronger than he. However, the entire purpose of professional wrestling is to coerce us fans into suspending our disbelief, an ability that sometimes proves difficult even during the most even of contests. Mysterio's inclusion in the World Heavyweight Championship scene saw him standing opposite men who were both a foot to a foot-and-a-half taller, as well as more accomplished than he, simply introducing too much incredulity to the forefront of the mind of a fan (one of the most comical matchups in recent memory came at the 2010 Royal Rumble when Rey Mysterio went toe-to-toe with none other than the Undertaker, although Rey Mysterio did not enter nor leave with the championship belt on that occasion.) Creative recognized the conundrum it constructed for itself, as having the entire roster continuously lose to a 5'6 superstar would make the the superstars of WWE look incredibly weak. Consequently, Rey Mysterio would repeatedly go on non-title losing streaks, including a 3-6 stretch between April 22nd, 2006 and June 7th, 2006 that saw him get pinned cleanly four times.

Though Rey Mysterio is a surefire WWE Hall of Famer, being one of the most gifted men to ever grace WWE television, his two reigns as World Heavyweight Champion greatly sedated our ability to adhere to the world or kayfabe, the sole characteristic that keeps WWE thriving as a weekly episodic program.

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6) Alberto Del Rio



How Alberto Del Rio Became Champion: Unbelievably, Alberto Del Rio has actually claimed ownership to a top prize within the WWE on four separate occasions. twice winning the WWE Championship and twice winning the World Heavyweight Championship. His first reign as WWE Champion commenced at the 2011 edition of Summerslam, when he took advantage of a battered CM Punk, who had just received a post-match dismantling at the hands of Kevin Nash. At the next two pay-per-views, Night of Champions and Hell in A Cell, respectively, Del Rio would go on to trade the WWE Championship with John Cena, regaining the title in a triple threat Hell in A Cell match opposite both Cena and Punk. After dropping the title to CM Punk at Survivor Series 2011, Del Rio would bow out of the championship picture before re-emerging in 2013, when he would defeat the Big Show in a Last Man Standing contest to obtain the World Heavyweight Championship, which he would exchange with Dolph Ziggler before eventually conceding his fourth reign to a returning John Cena at Hell In A Cell 2013.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Shoehorning Del Rio into the main event scene had the underlying feel of a recurring attempt to fit circle into a square opening. Though Del Rio is an excellent in ring competitor, whenever he stood opposite of legends of the industry, such as Edge, Cena, or CM Punk, he simply seemed outclassed, as he struggled mightily to keep fans interested in his participation in high end feuds, relying heavily on a pretentious gimmick and obnoxious manager to generate a semblance of heat.

Additionally, hindsight reveals to us that Del Rio's first reign as champion was used to suffocate a situation WWE had yet to embrace: During the summer of 2011, CM Punk and John Cena were uniquely dividing live crowd support, though Punk was clearly painted as the heel of the feud, causing a fraught situation for WWE Creative. To re-establish the status quo of the face receiving cheers while the crowd showers the heel with boos, WWE elected to have Del Rio cash in his money in the bank championship on a hampered CM Punk, putting an unfortunate hold on the enthralling Punk/Cena feud, before having him separately feud with each competitor, respectively. Simply put, Del Rio was a glorified transitional champion during an age that doesn't tolerate such.

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5) John "Bradshaw" Layfield



How JBL Became Champion: John "Bradshaw" Layfield's lone title reign came at the expense of the late Eddie Guerrero, whom he defeated in a Texas Bullrope Match following a controversial finish at the 2004 edition of the Great American Bash.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Granted, JBL was dedicated to the gimmick he was portraying: a brash, cocky businessman who truly believed his financial accomplishments made him superior to you. However, as an in-ring competitor, JBL never progressed past a lumbering, out of shape midcarder who's deficiencies were predominantly masked during his time in the tag team division. Prior to his ascension to the main-event echelon, Bradshaw had never even obtained a singles title outside of the ridiculous 24/7 Hardcore Championship era, which netted him a comical seventeen title "reigns." Nevertheless, thanks to a severe lack of established main-event talent during the middle of the decade, WWE implemented a panicked decision to rehash Bradshaw's previous cowboy-themed gimmick -- albeit with a number of noteworthy tweaks -- and place him in contention for the WWE Championship, consequently leading to him ending the title reign of the late, great Eddie Guerrero.

Unfortunately, as JBL's insufferable nine-month reign advanced, his character became increasingly stale, which directly correlated with his abominable in-ring contributions. During his time as champion, JBL sacrificed the prestige of WWE's most acclaimed prize while simultaneously failing to provide a single classic match as a headliner. However, if there is a single redeeming quality for JBL's run as champion, it is that, in it's conclusion, it helped put over John Cena as WWE Champion, who in turn helped spearhead a renaissance for a stagnating WWE product.

4) Brock Lesnar (2014)



How Brock Lesnar Became Champion: After dominating as a part-time superstar during the latter half of 2013 and the first half of 2014 -- picking up wins over future Hall of Famers CM Punk, The Big Show, and the Undertaker, who's Wrestlemania streak was ended in a dominating fashion -- Brock Lesnar set his sights on then-WWE champion John Cena. At the 2014 edition of Summerslam, Lesnar infamously displayed a clinic of German Suplexes, defeating Cena in what many believe to be the most lopsided championship match in WWE history.

Why He Is An Awful Champion: Brock Lesnar's current run as champion is the only isolated title run to warrant inclusion on this list, as during his run current WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar has essentially reduced the WWE Championship to nothing more than a glorified prop. Due to unwavering contractual stipulations, WWE has been forced to soldier on without its top accolade for three consecutive pay-per-views, providing fans with a surprisingly compelling Hell In A Cell pay-per-view before succumbing to a severe lack of card depth at the annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, which is still considered a "Big Four" event. However, the pay-per-view that suffered the most was TLC, as it became apparent that WWE was struggling to add plausible incentives to it's featured contests without the WWE Championship available at their disposal.

On a personal note, I'm a fan of Brock Lesnar, for his contributions immediately improve the WWE product, as evidenced by his captivating feud with John Cena this year. However, there is no justification in allowing a part-time superstar to disappear for months on end with the company's premium reward in hand while providing minimal mention of the title's status. Grudge matches can only take a promotion so far before becoming stale, leaving fans wondering what exactly the roster is jockeying for if not the company's most storied accolade. No one man should be perceived as more valuable than the WWE Championship, and with WWE management failing to acknowledge that, they have greatly devalued their own productions.

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3) Jack Swagger



How Jack Swagger Became Champion: Interjecting himself into the feud between WWE Hall of Famers Chris Jericho and Edge, Jack Swagger would cash in his Money In The Bank contract on the March 30th, 2010 edition of Smackdown, exploited a semi-conscious Chris Jericho. After executing a gut-wrench powerbomb on the incapacitated champion, Swagger was able to obtain a three-count, subsequently commencing his lone World Heavyweight Title Reign.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Jack Swagger epitomizes the cautionary tale of pushing a superstar too fast, too soon. An accomplished All-American wrestler the University of Oklahoma, his run with the World Heavyweight Championship completely exposed his faults as a WWE superstar, including an incredibly apparent lack of charisma that left his feuds devoid of fan interest. WWE Creative deserves the lion's share of the blame for the abysmal decision of placing an acclaimed championship on such a green wrestler; prior to his shocking Money In The Bank victory at Wrestlemania XXVI, Swagger had been dwelling in midcard obscurity, particpating in underwhelming feuds against the likes of Santino Marella, Evan Bourne, and MVP. Had WWE taken it's time in establishing Swagger as a reputable contender, fans may not have responding with such incredulity once he dethroned Chris Jericho as World Heavyweight Champion. However, without any marquee victories prior to his Money In The Bank victory and no defining wins following his he World Heavyweight Championship victory -- Swagger would be decimated by Big Show at Over the Limit, getting himself disqualified in a last ditch effort to save his championship -- Swagger was made to look like a lame duck champion before dropping his title in a Fatal Four-Way match to Rey Mysterio.

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2) The Miz

How The Miz Became Champion: Red hot as a heel in the year 2010, The Miz capitalized on his ascendance up the card by cashing in his Money In The Bank contract on a vulnerable Randy Orton, who has just survived a championship battle with Wade Barrett. Near the four-minute mark of the impromptu match, the Miz would reverse an attempted RKO into a "Skull-Crushing Finale", allowing the Miz to obtain both the three-count as well as his first and only WWE Championship.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Main-eventing Wrestlemania is the pinnacle of a superstar's career, as only 31 superstars have ever had the honor bestowed upon them. To put that statistic into further context, legends such as Ric Flair, CM Punk, Kane, and Eddie Guerrero never received the privilege of going on last at the "Granddaddy of Them All', despite their superior contributions to the promotion as well as their ability to put on all-time classic matches. However, to further emphasize just how extraordinarily the WWE rewarded the Miz, consider that not only did Miz enter the main event of Wrestlemania XXVII as the defending champion, he also won via pinfall against the face of both the Ruthless Aggression and Reality era, John Cena, albeit due to outside interference.

Despite his ability to garner positive heat at will, the Miz simply did not fit the criteria of a WWE Champion. The Miz's place amongst the WWE hierarchy never should have ascended past the midcard, as despite WWE's adamant attempts at establishing him as a legitimate threat, he never seemed to belong on such a spotlighted platform. Everything about the Miz, from his look, to the way he obtained the championship, to his weak in-ring moveset, portrayed a weak, vulnerable champion. Combining the aforementioned aspects of Miz's persona with his complete lack of drawing ability and it's absolutely mind-blowing that The Miz was able to achieve as much as he did as WWE Champion.

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1) The Great Khali

How The Great Khali Became Champion: After World Heavyweight Champion Edge was forced to vacate his title due to a legitimate pectoral injury, a 20-man battle royal was organized to determine a new champion. After outlasting 16 other competitors, fans were left to witness as the final four of Kane, Batista, Finlay, and the Great Khali competed for Smackdown's top prize. After dispatching of Finlay, Batista aimed to eliminate Kane before The Great Khali stealthily approached from behind, simultaneously eliminating both men to win his lone World Heavyweight Championship.

Why He Was An Awful Champion: Absent of any redeeming qualities whatsoever, the Great Khali easily tops this list as the Worst WHC/WWE Champion of all time. Solely contracted due to his unique combination of mammoth size and Indian ethnicity, The Great Khali was nearly incapable in every aspect of professional wrestling, proving unable to display any semblance of mobility, let alone execute a proper bump, due to irreversible stressors on his delicate knees. Even some of the greatest performers in WWE history were unable to coerce a decent match out of The Great Khali. WWE tried to counteract his complete lack of in-ring prowess with innovative stipulation matches, such as the Punjabi Prison Match, which expectedly crashed and burned. Fans would frequently flood arenas with chants of "You Can't Wrestle", nearly going into open rebellion over the notion of being forced to watch a lumbering giant continually mock pro wrestling. The Great Khali, without a shadow of a doubt, is the worst top champion in WWE history, if not the worst superstar, overall.

Overall, I agree with much of the list, however I think the article writer was way too harsh on The Miz. Mysterio and JBL, especially JBL; who in my own view does not deserve to be as high on the list as he is if be on the list at all. RVD also seems to be misplaced in my view, but what can you do I guess?

Anyway, do you agree with the list, disagree; other candidates that should have been included?
 
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#39 ·
agreed and repped.

I disagree with the entire list except for Khali, and even he's not the #1 worst. I don't think a single person aside from Khali should be on the list. JBL? Good shit Brock Lesnar? Not around but not in the top 12.

Did the writer forget about Del Rio? :lol
 
#25 ·
Overall, I agree with much of the list, however I think the article writer was way too harsh on The Miz. Mysterio and JBL, especially JBL; who in my own view does not deserve to be as high on the list as he is if be on the list at all. RVD also seems to be misplaced in my view, but what can you do I guess?

Anyway, do you agree with the list, disagree; other candidates that should have been included?
Yeah, I completely agree about being too harsh on all those, especially JBL like you said. JBL was a great heel champ, and his reign was actually very entertaining. His matches with the Undertaker were really good, and it was awesome how his first three feuds as champ culminated in a desperate fourway between all four of them. In fact, the low point of his reign was that he lost to Cena in a crappy match in the midcard of WM after being booked much more significant and stronger (heel-wise) than that.
 
#32 ·
JBL was one of the last great pure heels the WWE has ever had, he had amazing matches with both Eddie and Taker, and overall his reign (at least what I have watched of it over the years as I went back and viewed old stuff) was a great heel run; but ultimately completely and utterly wasted on Mr. Fruity Pebble himself.
 
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#11 ·
Imho, it's bullshit Swagger is that high on the list. You can only blame a guy so much for his circumstances and his WHC title reign would have been utterly different if the booking had been different. He did the best that he could with the trash he was given and he was hardly 'pushed' so much as he was punished with a shitty, rushed, and poorly booked reign. The fact he's higher on the list than Del Rio who failed because of his complete and utter lack of character and connection with the crowd when he had five star booking and plenty of experience is bullshit.

And Miz being on this list? Sure, he's not well liked, but ffs...dude was a heat magnet. List is pretty garbage and seems like it was made by a bunch of pissy indie marks. Some of it is valid, but the placements are all wrong.
 
#80 ·
Imho, it's bullshit Swagger is that high on the list. You can only blame a guy so much for his circumstances and his WHC title reign would have been utterly different if the booking had been different. He did the best that he could with the trash he was given and he was hardly 'pushed' so much as he was punished with a shitty, rushed, and poorly booked reign. The fact he's higher on the list than Del Rio who failed because of his complete and utter lack of character and connection with the crowd when he had five star booking and plenty of experience is bullshit.

And Miz being on this list? Sure, he's not well liked, but ffs...dude was a heat magnet. List is pretty garbage and seems like it was made by a bunch of pissy indie marks. Some of it is valid, but the placements are all wrong.
Swagger belongs where he is on the list. He failed mostly because of no character, a generic All American American with below decent mic skills. The fact that no on even remembers his reign makes it worse than Del Rio's.
 
#17 ·
The description of Miz and JBL are spot on. JBL was a horrid experiment. I give Bradshaw credit for completely and totally changing his character from APA Bradshaw to JBL, and making it convincing enough to somewhat get over. I credit him for that. But it was never a main event caliber persona. Maybe he could have been a main event filler or something, but carrying the belt for as long as he did was amazingly bad. And his ring performance was fucking terrible.

And since he was a mid carder randomly changing characters to this goofy rich person, all of his matches had to be overbooked trash, since he couldn't convincingly win clean against most guys he competed against.
 
#44 ·
Of course The Miz made the list fpalm. Have no idea what they are talking about, The Miz's title reign was great. Miz and A-Ry was only one of few entertaining things going on in the WWE at the time. It's really a shame that he will probably never get another title reign.
 
#16 ·
Incorrect list, and inlcude The Miz, JBL Rey (1st title reign) and Rob Van Dam makes the list more innacurate. Probably whoever made this list don't know WWE existed before 1984, Iron Shiek's by no means define what an transional champion is, Stan Stasiak and Koloff define what transional champions are, that's their only "legacy".

I'll be honest and I know what I'll write will not be in line with the thinking of some users of this forum but the WORST world title reign in the last 25 years was Christian's 1st world title reign, I'm not blaming Christian, I blame WWE. He (like Eric Young and Chris Sabin in TNA) are the kind of guys who were always viewed by the crowds as perenials midcarder acts, and when they became world champions the crowd still viewed they as midcarders, so much that hurt the legacy of the title. The worst part of this came because he won it as FACE in a ladder match (gimmick made to favor the heels), and was booked to dropped it CLEAN.

So in kayfabe: he won the title in a cheap way and in his first title defense he lost it CLEAN, that means only one thing: YOU NEVER DESERVED TO BE CHAMPION IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Some could argue that a lot of guys drop the title in their 1st defense after won it in a cheap way: Ziggler Kane; yes but the difference is that they won it as HEELS and in kayfabe heels are supposed to never be "good enough" to be champions so they rely on cheating.

My answer ended up being longer than I expected, but to me Christian 1st title reign is the worst title reign of the last 25 years because is the epitome of how you SHOULD NEVER booked an title reign.
 
#29 ·
lel JBL inclusion



His title win really wasn't dirty. He was about to win the title clean before Brodus interfered, so Edge coming in was really only evening the odds.

I would indeed put his world title "reigns" on this list, but for slightly different reasons. Mostly because he was one of those lifetime underdogs that finally made it akin to Benoit at WMXX, but then WWE threw it all away as if to say he really wasn't any good in kayfabe at all. Real example of them shooting themselves in the foot. It's like if Rocky 2 ended with Apollo winning via knock out in the first round.

Disagree w/ the whole "fans viewed him as a midcarder" thing. They were completely behind him in both 05 and when he won the title.
 
#19 ·
12) The Iron Sheik - He was a great heel who got a boatload of heat and set the way for Hulkamania. It was the right call.

11) Mark Henry - Yeah, he sucked in the ring, but he was a big guy who could talk trash and his monster push in 2011 was perfect.

10) Sgt. Slaughter - He deserved it, but I wish he would've won it as a babyface instead of a heel.

9) Rob Van Dam - Again, he deserved it. He should've won the World Heavyweight Title in 2002, but better late than never. It was more of a "Thank You!" win and he wasn't going to have a serious run with the belt.

8) Diesel - I didn't have anything against Diesel winning the title. The guy was huge, could talk, and had a good look to him. Turning him was a face though was a big mistake as he had a weak heel roster to work with.

7) Rey Mysterio - I'm glad he won it, but losing the WWE title to John Cena on the same night was complete and total bullshit!

6) Alberto Del Rio - I'm a huge Del Rio fan so I was stoked when he cashed in to win, but the problem was how the whole thing was booked. If Punk had to come back, have Del Rio take the belt off him and hold it until Survivor Series dropping it back to Punk instead of giving a pointless title to Cena in the meantime which hurt ADR's credibility as a main eventer.

5) John "Bradshaw" Layfield - I absolutely hated it at the time. He was UNdeserving given that he was a tag team jobber prior to winning the most coveted prize in the game. I even stopped watching Smackdown for 4 months straight because I was so upset. I changed my tune when I realized how good he was at cutting a promo so ironically, I couldn't care less for him as an in-ring worker, but give the man a mic and he had my full attention.

4) Brock Lesnar - Bittersweet. I'm glad he won the title back after 10 years after destroying John Cena in glorious fashion, but the reign has been so disappointing given its been wasted on feuding with Cena instead of...you know...different opponents.

3) Jack Swagger - I was all for new main eventers being made, but Swagger was sabotaged the moment he won the World Heavyweight Title. They changed his character for the worst, booked him to be a weakling once he feuded with Big Show, and his reign ended on a whimp on a throwaway PPV. His reign was an afterthought.

2) The Miz - Poor in-ring worker with a less than stellar physique and mediocre on the mic. Lacked the talent to belong in the main event and hasn't been back since. Vince McMahon was smoking crack when he made this decision. fpalm

1) The Great Khali - Couldn't talk or work. Still a more believable champion than The Miz though. :lol

- Vic
 
#26 ·
The hell, I thought JBL's reign was one of Smackdown's greatest runs on the show. One of the greatest heels ever.

Also, Sheamus' first reign should definitely be here. So pointless.
 
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#49 · (Edited)
lol i forgot Jack Swagger was a former world champion.

I pretty much agree with this list except for JBL and the Miz as i found JBL to be a very good heel and widely entertaining with his fueds with Rey Mysterio, John Cena and Chris Jericho.

I also liked the Miz's work as the top heel but he was ultimately ruined by John Cena.
 
#65 · (Edited)
The double World Champion format really yielded some terrible champions.

I don't agree with JBL, Iron Shiek, or Sgt Slaughter being on that list. JBL was a solid heel champ that basically carried Smackdown on his back. My only issues with his reign were how it started (he got pushed to the title too soon) and how it ended (that match with Cena was anti-climactic as hell). Iron Shiek was just a transitional champ. Nothing more. He was really just a footnote in Hogan's career. Now some would say that would make him one of the worst, but to me, being a blip on the radar doesn't necessarily equate to being bad. And Sarge was an awesome heel during his run in 91. You can say it was in poor taste, but he played that character to the hilt and made the most out of it.

Anyways, here are my picks for 12 Worst World Champions in WWE History:

In no particular order:

John Cena = I'n sorry, but I have never in my entire life been more sick of a top baby face champion in the history of wrestling than I have John Cena. I mean MY GOD! I've seen heels get fed to him left and right and that 13 month reign of his was ended...by an injury. 13 months of hell and nobody even got to benefit from it. GAH!

Vince McMahon = I'm surprised more people don't talk about this. I mean, OK, the promoter (who is not a trained wrestler or in any shortage of stars at this point) put the belt ON HIMSELF. And it really seemed to serve no purpose beyond shock value because he just forfeited the thing the next week anyway. If anything, to me it kind of halted Triple H's momentum. I know, for a multitude of reasons, it sounds strange to say Triple H wasn't booked well enough, but he was the budding top heel at that point and losing the strap to Vince just didn't feel like the right move to me.

Diesel = After Cena, I would practically kill for a year long Diesel reign, but at the time, this was as bad as it got. It wasn't Nash's fault. I've heard him talk about it before where his character was just booked all wrong because Vince just loves the white hat wearing smiling doofus good guys, and that was what he turned Diesel into. In WCW, you really got to see Nash's true personality shine through and he was a far more interesting character. But 1995 was like the dark ages for the WWF and Diesel was the head of that. It also didn't help that Diesel didn't have much to work against. I mean 3 PPV main events with Sid and a Summerslam main event with Mabel, all in a row, and this is the first championship reign of the Once a Month PPV format? Yikes.

Rey Mysterio = Mysterio is working uphill anyway due to his small size. What made it even worse was, you guessed it, he was booked into oblivion. I watched this guy, as champion, get destroyed by Mark Henry & Great Khali, and then NEVER beat Kurt Angle (all of these matches on free TV mind you). It was just horrible booking. I get you want to make Rey and underdog, but there is a difference between giving him obstacles to overcome and just making your top guy look like a loser, and they accomplished the later. Oh and do not even get me started on that BS where he won the vacant title and then lost it to Cena later in the same night. How on Earth does that not make Cena a gigantic heel? How is that even remotely fair? Oh whatever.

Jack Swagger = I've never been high on Swagger, and to me, he is just a poor man's Kurt Angle, but whatever. Make the guy look good and book him well, and you could probably make him into something. Oh wait, they jobbed him out for a year, made him insignificant, and then he won MITB out of nowhere, and became champ two days later because FU that's why! And WWE wonders why they struggle making new stars. You can't bury a guy and then expect me to care when you put a belt on him. That isn't how it works.

The Miz = People like to crap on Miz, but I think one upside to him is that he is naturally hate-able. Don't you just want to punch him just as you look at him? Maybe, and it might be a stretch, but MAYBE there is something to be done with him. But once again, the booking for him sucked. I know! Lets have a 60 year old announcer beat him up to a point where Miz has to cheat to beat him and then lets focus on building up Rock & Cena and let our champion be the insignificant pawn in the storyline. That'll work!

Sid = This guy just sort of bumbled his way into two title reigns. He won the first one because, well, they wanted to draw a big house for the Royal Rumble in Shawn's hometown, so they thought it'd be better if Shawn was chasing the gold rather than holding it. The reasoning isn't awful, but Sid really only took the belt from Shawn just so he can hand it right back. And then he inexplicably got the belt again just in time for Wrestlemania 13 because, well, SOMEBODY had to hold it. And then Undertaker got the spot to face him because SOMEBODY had to take it from him. There wasn't much of a plan there.

Kane = How does this not come up more? I am not even talking about the one night title reign he had in 1998. I am talking about his dumb as hell world title reign in 2010 where he had one of the WORST World Title programs I have ever seen with Undertaker as they had about 30 more matches to add to their ever growing list. And then he had that cartoon feud with Edge that only served up bad joke bits with Paul Bearer every week. It was just awful and by 2010, Kane was no longer the cool character he once was, so putting him back into that World Title picture just seemed silly to me.

Christian = Not his fault! He was a great World Champion in TNA, but by the time he FINALLY got up to that level in WWE, it felt like he only got it because Edge retired. Sure enough, he quickly dropped it to Orton and only got it back because after losing to Orton 12 times in a row, they felt the need to change things up.

The Big Show = Why did he even get the belt in 1999? I still don't get that move. Ultimately, Triple H just won it back anyway, so what was the point of even taking it from Trips in the first place? Actually, it probably would have been more effective to have Triple H as champion from Summerslam all the way to Wrestlemania 2000 instead of doing things like the Vince run or the Big Show run. And then the next time Big Show got it, he was basically just a tool to get the belt onto Angle to set up Lesnar/Angle at Wrestlemania. It also doesn't help that Big Show has been probably the biggest victim of modern day big man booking, which is, have him lose 80 times, but have him beat people as a weak attempt to make me think he's a monster when he's really just a guy that loses all the time.

Goldberg = Talk about a far cry from his WCW days, Goldberg's victory over Hogan 1998 is, to this day, one of the most exciting title changes I've ever seen. Fast forward to Goldberg's tenure in WWE. Basically, he spent his whole time as champion working with Triple H. Whether he won or lost, it didn't matter. It was just Goldberg Vs. Triple H from Summerslam to Armageddon at the end of the year.

The Great Khali = Hey I have an idea, lets have our big unstoppable giant lose to John Cena at consecutive PPVs AND THEN put a World Title on him! Khali has no talent. We know this, but at least you could present him as this unstoppable force. However, once he loses to Cena...you know, twice, the unstoppable monster image is kind of dead, and he isn't talented enough to make up for that, so putting the strap on him at that point was just dumb.
 
#71 ·
Henry was absolutely brilliant during that title reign. Was booked as well as any monster heel could be an pulled it off brilliantly. When he beat Orton it was a great moment. Horrendous to put him on that list.

JBL's was really a matter of taste and I didn't always like how he was booked but I generally loved it. His promo's were absolutely brilliant.

Also thought Miz was a better champ than given credit for. He was booked awfully though, from start to finish.
 
#72 ·
JBL and Miz are actually pretty comparable. Miz as a main eventer was an embarrassment, but him as an annoying mid carder is perfect. That's what JBL should have been.

But JBL luckily had a golden opportunity in front of him, since all of SD's main eventers were hurt, then Brock left. And the WHC was treated as a midcard belt by management anyways. Ironic, since SD was way better than RAW for most of the 00-05 when a champion who isn't on this list was killing the WWE product with his awful reigns of boring every week.
 
#78 ·
Unfortunately, as JBL's insufferable nine-month reign advanced, his character became increasingly stale, which directly correlated with his abominable in-ring contributions. During his time as champion, JBL sacrificed the prestige of WWE's most acclaimed prize while simultaneously failing to provide a single classic match as a headliner. However, if there is a single redeeming quality for JBL's run as champion, it is that, in it's conclusion, it helped put over John Cena as WWE Champion, who in turn helped spearhead a renaissance for a stagnating WWE product.
Huh? What did I just read? How about JBL's matches with Eddie? JBL was a great heel during that period and was a guy that everybody could hate. And thank God that we're all experiencing the renaissance of the WWE product with Cena on top, right guys?
 
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#83 ·
Hulk Hogan in 1992 was the worst title reign in history. At WrestleMania IX, he defeated Yokuzuna in half a minute, while Bret had to blindingly saunter ringside, making both main eventers of that era look like low-rent renditions of superstars. He then promptly left to shoot and promote his new movie. During this time, he only made a handful of appearances on RAW via pre-taped promo vignettes. When he finally returns to PPV, he drops the belt again to Yokuzuna in a forgettable match to ensure that Hulk didn't look weak, and as a result no one got over. Of course, Hulk Hogan was penned to drop the title to Bret at that SummerSlam, but he told Bret to go fuck himself because he wasn't in the same league as the Hulkster.

Hulk's '92 reign set the precedent for champions getting away by having limited schedules and the precedent for wrestlers booked to win well past their prime. To add to that, it is one of the most selfish and harmful uses of creative control ever used in the business.
 
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