Greatest Superstar To Have Never Held a WWE Singles Title?

[The Dragon Saga]

It's pretty self-explanatory, who in your opinion is the greatest Superstar to have never held a WWE singles title?

Just to explain, that doesn't mean you can answer "Sting", because he has never been a "Superstar", when I say Superstar I mean somebody who at one time or another was under the thumb of WWE officials as a contracted employee. I think this question is rarely asked, usually in-terms of not holding titles the question which is routinely posed is "Whose the Greatest Superstar to Have Never Held a WWE Championship?" with the same answers always being given. This may actually get you to think.

A number of great performers have never held a WWE singles belt. Junkyard Dog, Terry and Dory Funk, Rick Martel and Harley Race who never held a singles belt in the WWE only gaining the 1986 King of The Ring. Some other names just so I can save the lazy posters the exhaustion of research, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Jerry Lawler, none of the three have held a WWE singles title.

The answer in my eyes is Dusty Rhodes. Eccentric, flamboyant one of the first wrestlers to embody "charisma", Rhodes competed for the WWWF World Title on two occasions. He defeated Billy Graham by countout and a month later was pinned in a Texas Death Match. As much credit as Dusty gets, some diehard Rhodes fans still believe he is underrated.

Who do you think is the greatest Superstar to have never held a WWE singles title and why?

 

[Best in the World 79]

Excellent thread. It really made me think.

To be honest, it's gotta be The Million Dollar Man.

He was THE best heel of that era. He was gold on the microphone and it was such a cool character. Then he had the million dollar championship. Awesome!

When he kicked the ball when the kid was dribbling. The look on the kids face was awesome! Priceless...

He was just overall a badass heel

Everybody's gotta price...everybody's gonna pay

HAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[TLK]

Ted DiBiase, hands down. And no, I don't count the Million Dollar Belt or the North American Heavyweight title (pre-IC title).

The Million Dollar man will go down as one of the greatest heels of all time. He was showcased in numerous title matches and main events, but always to put the face over. He did win the '88 (I think) King of the Ring tournament, but never tasted singles gold until he manufactured his own title. The bits where he'd offer money to members of the audience (usually kids) if they could, for example, dribble a basketball 10 times without fail - only to kick the ball away after the 9th dribble - are all gold. A complete heat magnet. Let's not forget the trademark maniacal laugh.

I'm really surprised he never won a major title in the WWF. He had all the tools - great character, superb mic work and he could go in the ring.

edit - BEAT ME TO IT!!!

 

[xavyer]

Well, Dibiase is a great choice, but in my opinion is Jake "the snake" Roberts, the guy had a great in ring psychology, he was very methodical, he had that "it" factor, wether he was face or heel he was great, i remember when he worked an angle with the Ultimate Warrior against the Undertaker, and he betrayed the Warrior, that was awesome......

 

[gooseholla]

Dibiase, or Vader.

Big guy, sure a bit sluggish at times, but seriously: look at some who have won the gold. They can't match Vader in terms of skill or character.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Dusty Rhodes is bar far the biggest name of full time competitors since 1980 in WWE in this category - In the 80s its hard to think of anyone nationally more popular as a good guy than Rhodes outside of Hogan - Heck as late as 1987 he was Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine's Most Popular Wrestler fan poll winner, a huge accomplishment at the height of the Hulkamania Era.

Roberts & DiBiase, while not as big of stars as Rhodes, were both very big and competed in WWE for several years. Race was another huge star nationally although it was very late in his career that he competed full time in WWE when his in ring days were almost over.

Other than his NWA run in the 70s Terry Funk never wanted to be tied down to one promotion long enough to merit a major title run, he enjoyed short term stints sandwhiched around his time off for movies and other projects.

I dont consider Blanchard & Anderson because they were brought in as a tag team and in fact were heavily promoted and won the Tag Titles. True, both had singles careers of merit prior to that and in fact Blanchard was one the Top 5 Best Heels in The Business in the mid 80s as a singles competitor but they were brought in as a team and as such they main evented and won gold.

JYD was never more than a mid carder except for brief runs in Mid South area before he joined WWE full time. He was entertaining at that but as a serious competitor he wasnt close to the status of DiBiase, Roberts, Rhodes, Race, etc.

Im a little surprised Orndorff never got a IC Title run, although after his feud with Hogan ended he stayed mostly in the mid card where as guys like Roberts & DiBiase went from feud to feud in high profile fashion, at or near the Main Event Level most of the time.

 

[TLK]

Jake Roberts and Ted Dibiase are great... funny though.. if they were in todays WWE, both probably would of held the world title on more than one occasion, they swap the belt these days pretty easily.

That, and the fact that they are miles ahead of any heel we have today (as far as character/gimmick is concerned), outside of maybe Jericho/Lesnar/Triple H when he's heel. The difference between the '80s guys and the guys of today is character. There aren't really any characters/great gimmicks these days. There isn't much differentiation between one guy and the next. Back then, you had "The Snake," "The Million Dollar Man," "The American Dream." Now it's just "First Name, Last Name."

 

[eljay7i]

Tatanka comes to mind, one of the earliest undefeated streaks that was done quite well and was very charismatic. Great fued with Martel and a good match with HBK over the I/C title. Was involved in one of the earliest swerves I can recall when he turned on Luger at SummerSlam 94.

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

WElll ive seen some good ones and great thread thats why i had to get on it, but i have a few that comes to mind.....

Rick "The Model" Martel- He was a great in ring technician very flamboyant and charismatic, good heel persona, and always teased around with the Intercontential championship when he became a single competitor, even almost winning the Battle Royal for the belt on RAW in 93 but eventually getting eleimnated by Razor Ramon... He became the T.V. Champion in WCW but in WWE he was only a two tag champion with Tito Santana as Strike Force, the first man to display stamina in the Rumble match, and had a good feud with Jake Roberts(Who i was gonna name until everybody took em)......

Crush- I always liked Crush and still cant believe he never won a singles title in any major organazation, Bryan Adams was a good wrestler for a big man his size,muscular build with long blonde hair, i liked his gimmick in 92-94 and even when he became a heel, he had great feuds with Macho Man, Shawn Michaels, and even made Doink look good... He also was one of the people that put Undertaker in the casket at the 1994 Royal Rumble and everybody involved in that angle(excluding Samu) became great Superstars in either other Organizations or the WWE/F period..... (R.I.P)

Honarable mentions- Bam Bam Bigelow, Lex Luger, Jim Neidhart, and EarthQuake........

 

[nick_theGreek]

Ted DiBiase, Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow and Jake Roberts are a few names that have already been mentioned that I whole-heartedly agree with.
But I would like to add another name into the mixer.
LUDVIG BORGA
This guy had it all at latter end of 1993. To start with, he was the guy who ended Tatanka's undefeated streak (with one finger!), granted he had a little help from Yokozuna and the Quebecers but was still damn cool at the time.
And from this time you could see some great Championship style feuds potentially building up with Bret Hart, Lex Luger and The Undertaker. Unfortunately he got badly injured just before the 1994 Royal Rumble and hasnt been seen or heard of since.
He was...IMO...the Brock Lesnar template. Attitude before the Attiude era. The Power before the Power trip.
ok, im getting carried away now. but Borga was awesome.

great thread by the way

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

Ted DiBiase, Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow and Jake Roberts are a few names that have already been mentioned that I whole-heartedly agree with.
But I would like to add another name into the mixer.
LUDVIG BORGA
This guy had it all at latter end of 1993. To start with, he was the guy who ended Tatanka's undefeated streak (with one finger!), granted he had a little help from Yokozuna and the Quebecers but was still damn cool at the time.
And from this time you could see some great Championship style feuds potentially building up with Bret Hart, Lex Luger and The Undertaker. Unfortunately he got badly injured just before the 1994 Royal Rumble and hasnt been seen or heard of since.
He was...IMO...the Brock Lesnar template. Attitude before the Attiude era. The Power before the Power trip.
ok, im getting carried away now. but Borga was awesome.



Just to answer your question on where he is, he died 2 yrs ago so he's either in heaven, hell, or pergatory either way R.I.P and i agree he was a beast at first until he got hurt but he shouldnt be in the conversation only because he wasnt event around for a yr so he's in the Waylan Mercy, and Rad Radford category of this list, wasnt around long enough to even make an impact, but like i said at first he was a beast.....

 

[wrestling fan 666]

Muhammed Hassan...he had talent and yet was the biggest heal during his stay. He got such heat that they brought in Hogan to make a good show of it. Also, I'd have to say Jake Roberts and Dusty (former NWA champ) Rhodes.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

To me DiBiase is DQ'd on a) having his "own" belt that was won or lost in matches, b) the North American title does count, however old a title is, just as Dynamite Kid's WWF Junior title reign counts and the King Of The Ring title, if it changed hands in a WWF sanctioned bout, it counts...

Most guys of any note from the Attitude Era got some kind of Hardcore title reign, so there aren't many real candidates from that time, although Chris Candido does come to mind along with Sabu. Big Bossman had it, Al Snow had it, Crash had it... all were excellent workers who could have had more push at different times.

You have to remember that titles were much more in the 80's than the mcguffins they became. Guys like Jake Roberts, Rick Martel and Dusty Rhodes had gimmicks that did not lend themselves to carrying a belt... Jake had his snake bag already, Martel had Arrogance, Dusty was "a common man" not a champ... A lot of characters would actually have been hurt by carrying a title, it would have seemed forced or made them ditch what made them over. Jake not doing the Snake drape in favour of parading a belt would have destroyed him.

So what do you base it on? If it's done on how they were pushed elsewhere then you are looking at Dory Funk, Terry Funk or Dusty cos they were all legendary NWA champs...

If you do it on guys politicked out of a title then you are looking at Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow or Muhammed Hassan

But if you do it on sheer underuse of real talent, which I think the OP is getting at then I think you are looking at Barry Windham, the original 2nd Generation poster boy. He could have been huge in 1985/86 as a singles guy, he came back in 88 as The Widowmaker and was a top 5 in the world talent that NWA poached back as soon as they could and he then became a Horseman and the rest is history.

 

[justin71]

1-Jimmy Snuka 2-Ted Dibiase 3-Harley Race 4-Rick Martel 5-Jake Roberts 6-Jerry Lawler 7-Vader 8-Paul Orndorff 9-Lex Luger 10-Colt Cabana that's my top 10 the Superfly has my top spot because of the high spots that have been remembered through the ages, and don't tell me Val Venus is more deserving of the IC title than Snuka...

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

Playboy Buddy Rose. Brookyln Brawler. Marty Jannetty. Duke Droese. Bastion Booger.

Ok, but seriously folks...

I have to agree with earlier posters that Ted DiBiase, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Vader and Dusty Roads fall into that category. While DiBiase and Roberts had been around a while, both hit their peaks while in WWF, but were held back from title reigns.Roberts would have been an excellent heel champion, especailly during his late "Trust Me" phase. Hell, DiBiase's character tried to buy the belt from Andre the Giant and even had a belt created just so he could have one! Vader really surprised me as never holding a singles title. They trumpeted his entry into WWF like it was the end-all, be all. He dominated in Japan and in WCW, but was never pushed to the top spot in WWF for some reason. Dusty was at the twilight of his career when he was in WWF, so I'm not surprised that he didn't hold a title. It's a shame that he was never able to add WWF Champion to his resume.

If I had to throw other names out there, they would probably be Barry Windham and Junkyard Dog. During the late 80s and early 90s, Windham was one of the best performers out there. While most of his success came in WCW, he had potential during his first WWF run. His "Widowmaker" run wasn't very notable. I'm surprised he wasn't presented better and given a chance for a world or even IC title run in WWF. With JYD, he was super over with the fans during the 80s, but was never given a chance to be a top champion face in the company, mostly because of Hogan's dominance of the industry at that time.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

Playboy Buddy Rose. Brookyln Brawler. Marty Jannetty. Duke Droese. Bastion Booger.

Marty Jannetty actually beat Shawn Michaels for The Intercontinental Title in 93.

That aside, my vote would have to go to Jake Roberts. It's weird to think he's never held one, considering that some of the top stars of the last two decades learned psychology from him, and his style of promo's is still being used to this day.

 

[Lowdown]

Hands down, I'd have to go with Dibiase on this one. Its still surprising that he never at the very least didn't hold the IC title. Definitely the best heel in WWF in the late 80's. Jake Roberts and Tatanka are notable choices as well. Also being that I was a huge fan of his, I'll throw in JYD as well.

 

[havenstorm]

I don't count Andre winning the WWE World Title on February 5th 1988 since Dave Hebner was not a registered referee in storyline and therefore the match should be and I consider a no contest. In that case Andre could be thrown into the convo and after "15 years of being undefeated" if you take out that bogus match that for every reason should never be allowed to stand, then Andre could and probably should take the lead in the convo.

 

[matty2thumbs]

DiBiase and Jake are the only two guys that should be in this argument. Most of the other guys mentioned all had their glory days in another promotion; NWA, WCW, AWA, etc...

 

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

May I throw another name I haven't seen into the mix?
Unless we are counting the WCW Light Heavyweight Title...
My pick is Brian Pillman.
Reasoning:
1.) GOLD on the mic.
2.) Great in-ring worker
3.) Had a 5-star match in 1991 (Pillman, Sting, and Steiner Bros. vs. Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham, and Larry Zybyszko)
4.) Was a great tag team worker, my favs with Bruce Hart and with Steve Austin (Hollywood Blonds anyone?)
5.) Stampede Wrestling Hall-of-Famer
There is more, but for the sake of this, I'll stop.
It's too bad he had to pass... I saw a world title in his future, or at least IC.
RIP Brian Pillman

 

[Pedigree1]

Good Thread but my answer is the Milllion dollar man. They missed the boat on that one big time he should have had the title at WM4 IMO! He was an awesome heel that better than you attitude and the audience ate it up boo'd him and that laugh!! MDM should have had at least a good reign and its a damn shame he didnt

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I don't count Andre winning the WWE World Title on February 5th 1988 since Dave Hebner was not a registered referee in storyline and therefore the match should be and I consider a no contest. In that case Andre could be thrown into the convo and after "15 years of being undefeated" if you take out that bogus match that for every reason should never be allowed to stand, then Andre could and probably should take the lead in the convo.

Totally! And I don't count Rick Rude because it wasn't fair that Heenan held Warrior's legs. What an idiot you are.

I immediately thought of Jake Roberts and fully agree with Ted DiBiase. To throw a new name in, how about Jim Duggan? I think an IC reign could have been successful. Unfortunately, his best time to do so was during Honky Tonk Man's brilliantly done run.

 

[King of the Words]

I don't think anyone has mentioned him, but I would like to go with Hillbilly Jim. In the late 80's he was really popular and I think could have made a decent Inc. champion for a few months or so. I remember seeing him having an Inc. match with Honky Tonk Man, in which Honky Tonk cheated to win. It ticked me off at the time because I was a big fan of Hillbilly Jim.(lol) He was unique at the time, fun to watch, and loved by the fans. I think he definetly should have gotten an Inc. title run during that time.

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

I gotta be honest, I didn't know Dusty Rhodes or even Million Dollar Man never had the a singles title! For some odd reason, the first person to come to mind was Gangrel.

I know he's not the greatest, but I know for a fact he hasn't held ANY titles in WWE. He was always cool though. He went out there and beat the hell outta whoever he was facing. Not only that, but he had the coolest entrance in WWE history, imo. The rising from the flames, walking down the ramp with that slight bop, holding his goblet, then spitting the "red liquid" in the air. He also was part of two major factions in the Attitude Era (The Brood and The Ministry of Darkness). I always thought that DDT of his was quite vicious too! Even if his purpose was simply to get Edge over (which was the main goal for Gangrel in the first place), I enjoyed the few years he was with the WWF. I remember as a kid, I even wanted to be him for Halloween. It would be kinda awkward though. A black Gangrel, lol!

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I'll say Vader. Vader was a great heel. It was a shame that the WWF did not use him right. He could of been the top heel for the next two or three years.

Im surprise that Jake Roberts never won a title. He could of been a great I.C champion.