Guys Who Should've Been World Champion

[philbrooks]

Tazz
He was huge in ECW and carried that momentum into WWE, He had a great finisher, and the rest of his moveset was brilliant as well. He could even cut promos. The guy had no obvious weakness, apart from his size, but he always seemed like a legitimate bad-ass

Move sets shouldnt come into this discussion it isnt a video game. Taz cleary had an obvious weakness - his height in a time where they that mattered a lot. Taz couldnt work WWF style and lost a lot of momentum after getting hurt two months after his debut.

Aside from the obvious choices like Piper and DiBiase, I would also throw in Billy Gunn.

Now before I get ripped apart for this just hear me out.. He had the look of a champion, a great gimmick, and he had a varied arsenal of moves. When he left DX he was way over with the crowd. If you watch some videos you'd see the pretty huge pops he was getting. I THINK they only gave him one shot against Triple H and if you watch the match the crowd was very into it. With the right marketing, Billy Gunn could have been a great champ.

I completely disagree. He couldnt work a main style match and couldnt cut a main event style promo.

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

Umaga

Umaga was booked very strongly UNTIL he lost to Cena at New Year's Revolution 2007. Cena should have won by DQ and not pinned him. This leads me to Royal Rumble 2007. This guy could and should have held the belt. He was the best monster (I mean monster as in beast like) heel the company had in a long time and could have had a strong run with the title.

would like to start my saying i agree with you 100% on this one. umaga was the last great monster heel the wwe had and it was a shame that they let him go and that he died so young. this man could wrestle and he worked his monster gimmick perfectly. his feud with jeff hardy was jeffs final push to the top and i think umaga could and should have followed him up the ladder.

another one i got is The Pope D'Angelo Dinero. wwe majorly dropped the ball with him and not letting him use this gimmick, or really give him any mic time. he could have been something big. the next rock perhaps? well i can dream. anyway he could easily be maineventing smackdown right now. how great would a pope v punk feud have been? straight edge society vs popes congregation. dam you wwe.

 

[Cookie14]

Move sets shouldnt come into this discussion it isnt a video game. Taz cleary had an obvious weakness - his height in a time where they that mattered a lot. Taz couldnt work WWF style and lost a lot of momentum after getting hurt two months after his debut.

Tazz had a great arsenal of moves. His 'Tazz capture' suplex, german suplex, Tazzmission etc were all great. I agree he lost momentum when he got injured. I also think that the only reason he never won a world title was because he was a bit too similar to Kurt Angle, who's career started at a similar time, and Kurt was always going to get a bigger push than Tazz because of his Olympic medals

 

[Draper1989]

I've always thought british bulldog should have had Diesel's spot. Bulldog could go when given the right opponent. I've been watching MY JOURNEY and HBK said he didn't think Davey really wanted the spotlight but given someone like Bret, Owen or himself he would tear it up.

Ron Simmons is someone who could've had a real significant run as champ during the nation angle.

 

[AndrewA0615]

Let's not forget Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. I always thought it should have been Steamboat vs. Savage in the finals at Wrestlemania IV. Judging from their match at WM III, they could have easily had another classic match a year later. Steamboat was also the ultimate babyface with a physique and charisma that few wrestlers had back then. It's too bad Steamboat chose a family life instead. When looking at his WCW/NWA Title matches with Ric Flair a few yrars later, one must say Steamboat would have made one hell of a WWE Champion.

 

[thebokchoyman]

I personally think that Lex Luger should have been Champion during the "Lex Express" days. Also agree that Ricky Steamboat should have had a chance as well.

 

[philbrooks]

Tazz had a great arsenal of moves. His 'Tazz capture' suplex, german suplex, Tazzmission etc were all great. I agree he lost momentum when he got injured. I also think that the only reason he never won a world title was because he was a bit too similar to Kurt Angle, who's career started at a similar time, and Kurt was always going to get a bigger push than Tazz because of his Olympic medals

Sorry but your post is largely nonsense. Arsenals, movesets, finishers arent reasons why a person should main event. Your belief that only reason why Kurt got pushed over Taz was because of Kurts Olympic medals is laughable. Erm Taz got a bigger build up to his debut than Angle and oh Taz beat Angle on his debut. Also Angle was a class above Taz in every way.

Ron Simmons is someone who could've had a real significant run as champ during the nation angle.

He flopped as WCW champion and WWF had HBK, Bret, Taker etc at the time so I dont see how. He was a very good heel promo I have to say.

I personally think that Lex Luger should have been Champion during the "Lex Express" days.

Yet again he didnt draw on house shows and fans didnt get behind him to the required degree.

 

[Draper1989]

I personally think that Lex Luger should have been Champion during the "Lex Express" days.

Wasn't the orginal plan to have Lex win the title against yokozuna? He just wasn't cutting it. I never liked Lex and am so glad Bret was the one who got the title that year.

 

[DgenX1232]

I agree with alot of choices but theres a few that I think may have been left out.

Bam Bam Bigelow- In 1994-1995 he maybe shouldve held it for a quick stint. He fueded with some of the biggest stars and people always said that he was one of the best big men they have ever worked with.

Lex Luger- He had the look and the push to the moon. The Lex express was the hottest thing during the Summer of 93 into 94. Im not saying he wouldve made a great champion but he couldve filled the void as the American hero since Hogan had just left.

If we were to go with current stars which I know we are not I would say Christian but on Smackdown only and the same with John Morrison. Also can we give the title to Matt Hardy even for a single day so he can be called a world champ like Edge. I know Edge is 100000x better than him but the man took his woman and went straight to the top, Matt deserves one day on top of the world.

 

[Cookie14]

Sorry but your post is largely nonsense. Arsenals, movesets, finishers arent reasons why a person should main event. Your belief that only reason why Kurt got pushed over Taz was because of Kurts Olympic medals is laughable. Erm Taz got a bigger build up to his debut than Angle and oh Taz beat Angle on his debut. Also Angle was a class above Taz in every way.

Credit where it's due, you know your stuff, unlike a lot of others. Like I said, I've always been a huge mark for Tazz. To me, he was one of the best wrestlers in the late 90's. IMO he always deserved more than a few hardcore title runs and a fued against the Mean Street Posse lol

 

[CrAzY mIkE]

ricky the dragon steamboat (vinnie u r a dumbass 4 not making the dragon the champ, he was 1 of if not the best wrestler u had when he was in wwf - it's 1 of 2 many 2 mention dumbass mistakes u've made)

 

[groo13]

im shocked that no one thought of big john studd. at the time, he was one of the perfect heels to go with andre and hogan. he might have slow matches, but had tremendous heat.

 

[PEP3]

Crush - a big man that was talented in the ring and had a great feud with Macho Man. he actually had a title shot on Raw once which actually started his feud with Savage.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan - he never really gets the credit he deserves but he was a great worker in the ring. didnt have a ton of moves but sold like mad.
Rick Martel - he was a great heal in his day and could carry matches with almost anyone

Unfortunately, I couldn't disagree with you more on any of these men. None of these men deserved to be anywhere near the WWF World Title, but I do think they might have been greater contenders for the Intercontinental title.

Though I was never a fan of Crush, I thought Bryan Adams was a decent performer and put on some good matches with Savage. Duggan was wildly over with the fans during his late-80s hey-day -- a carry over of his more rugged, less slightly-developmentally-challenged Mid-South/UWF character before WWF -- and I think he would have made an excellent challenger for the IC title. Of these three, I'm most fond of Rick Martel. A former AWA World Champion, Martel had the ring skills to really go with most anybody and his "Model" gimmick -- though I felt it was a knock-off of Rick Rude in many ways -- proved effective enough in getting him over with fans.

 

[PEP3]

Ok real quick, i was a huge wcw mark before russo came on board, and i think you guys forgot something real important. Scott hall held the wcw world title for around 2 months or so. Then he lost or handed it off to someone. If noone remembers he beat sting for it not long after sting beat hogan, it was probably 1 or 2 ppvs after that starcade.

As for my pick it would have to be piper. Good in the ring, great promos, and to be bluntly honest he had more to do with hogans success then he will ever be given credit!

.

Let the record show -- rather emphatically -- that Scott Hall has never been a World Heavyweight Champion in any of the organizations in which he has competed. The closest he has ever come to a run at the top of any company is when he was given the World Wrestling Council Universal title in Puerto Rico.

It was a waste, in my opinion, as I have been a Scott Hall fan since he first arrived in AWA many years ago. While there, Hall teamed with the future "Mr. Perfect" for a lengthy tag team title run before returning to try his hand in WCW. After being squandered there, he was off to WWF, where he made history as Razor Ramon.

I do agree fully that he would have done extremely well as WWF World Heavyweight Champion. He was massively over with the fans, put on great matches with an incredibly broad range of top names and had the mic skills to back it all up. One would think that with the backing of the Clique, he would have gotten at least one, brief chance to carry the ball.

He didn't, and that's a shame.

 

[PEP3]

The first three names which come to mind for me have already been beaten into the ground in this forum: "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, "Ravishing" Rick Rude and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. All three excellent examples of people who had all the raw tools to succeed but were, more than likely, held back by some internal politics. Of the performers I grew up watching, these men rank among my favorite, so for very personal reasons, I would have loved to see each get a World Title reign.

Hennig was certainly the total package. It would have incredible to have him make history as the only former AWA World Champion to go on and win the WWF title. That would have been a terrific feather in his cap.

Rude had some great opportunities to take the WWF title, but always fell short. As a fan since Rude (then Rood!) debuted down in Florida, I'll have to take solice that WCW almost believed in him enough to give him a World title run. That's if that stupid International World Title they put on him when Flair left counts?! Convoluted, ridiculous story-telling. They should have just made him champ!

DiBiase is probably the biggest surprise of these three, though. The WWF certainly believed in this man. They brought him in under a then extremely-lucrative contract one would have thought pretty much GUARANTEED a World title reign. They kept him at the top of their roster for years. They had him come close -- even buying the belt, as we all know -- but never let him win it legit. It was an incredible loss to the company, in my opinion.

However, to better understand the decision, you have to look at the historical context of what was happening in the wrestling world then. While NWA/WCW built itself around the sneaky, almost unbeatable heel champion in Flair, WWF built itself around the drama of those same sneaky types of heels pursuing the unstoppable face champ Hogan.

Many people at the time felt WWF brought in "The Million Dollar Man" character to mirror Ric Flair. By placing DiBiase, representing a Flair model, into a feud with Hogan, it allowed people to answer the then-nagging question of who would win in a feud between the two top men in the industry. Even if this wasn't the WWF's actual motive in signing DiBiase and giving him this incredible makeover, it was the perception of many, and that often counts for more than the actual facts.

Therefore, the WWF clearly couldn't let a knock-off version of the NWA champ beat their homegrown hero. As a result, this probably more clearly answers the ongoing questions as to why DiBiase never had an opportunity to legitimately hold the WWF World Title. Personally, I think it's probably one of the biggest missteps in the company's history.

At the time, there was no bigger heel in the entire industry -- not even Flair, I don't think -- than "The Million Dollar Man." Rather than worrying about the idea that Flair-lite character took the strap from Hogan, seemingly answering the question who would win a Flair/Hogan war, the WWF COULD have repositioned the question into which company had the sneakier, more conniving, scheming champ: Flair or DiBiase.

For my 12 year old mind, that was really a much more interesting question anyway.

 

[huegtoad]

i think scott hall would have been great for that era. I think if jake the snake was in his prime during the attitude era, he would have been a great W. Champ, but in the superstars/wrestling challenge era, the WC needed to be hogan. remember savage was WChamp in an effort to give hogan time off, and when savage didn't mustard it in the only department that really mattered, dollars and cents, they gave it back to hogan, then they tried warrior, and when that didn't cut the mustard, they gave it to hogan. Like him, hate him, be a technical wrestling mark or not, hogan knew what to do with the belt, knew how to draw a crowd and a television audience. that said, dibiase, would have been the one heel champion worth a damn in that era. i am sure i can think of others but i have a customer.

 

[jmitchell34]

Let's not forget Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. I always thought it should have been Steamboat vs. Savage in the finals at Wrestlemania IV. Judging from their match at WM III, they could have easily had another classic match a year later. Steamboat was also the ultimate babyface with a physique and charisma that few wrestlers had back then. It's too bad Steamboat chose a family life instead. When looking at his WCW/NWA Title matches with Ric Flair a few yrars later, one must say Steamboat would have made one hell of a WWE Champion.

Ok, I agree with you that Steamboat would have been a great WWE champion but choosing that over family??? Are you kidding me? Yep, family is never as important as a title from a fake sport like pro wrestling.
Anyway, there are alot of good choices and alot of them i agree with. Here is my list in short

1. Curt Hennig. If I remember correctly, injuries kept him out of the ring alot after his feud with Hogan. How cool would it have been to see him and Bret feud over the world title. And I really think Bret would have been one to lose the title to Curt, if Curt could have stayed healthy. I, for one, really wanted to see him beat Hogan. He was definitely more fun to watch than Hogan.
2. Andre the Giant - Another case of bad health holding a guy back. The match at WM 3 was historic but how much more historic would it have been if Hogan beat Andre for the title there or one of the previous 2 WM's? Just a thought. I think one reason Andre never held the title was because it may have been impossible to choose someone that was over enough to beat him.
3. Rick Rude - Who else was cheering for him to beat Warrior at SummerSlam 92? I know I was!
4. Ricky Steamboat - I agree that he and Savage should have been the finals at WM 4 but with Dibiase's heat at the time and the WWE always having to have good guy v. bad guy, that wasn't going to happen.
5. Scott Hall - I always thought he should have been World Champ in the AWA. He was big, had a great look, and was definitely more over than about anyone else they had. As far as the WWE goes, he actually had plenty of oppurtunities. He was never there when there was a dominant champ like Hogan.
6. Kane - I know he was technically champion for one day but doesn't he deserve better??
7. Ted Dibiase - Put Ted Dibiase, in his prime, in the ring 10 years later and think of how many titles he would have won. The only reason he never won was Hogan was dominating the scene. It had to be frustrating. I would love to see him manage his son to a run at the WWE title. The promos they could do together. Especially if Orton were involved!
8. British Bulldog - I always thought it was wrong that HBK ALWAYS got over Bulldog the way he did. Especially the way Bulldog lsot to him so quickly after he beat Bret for the IC title. Even if Davey was injured at that time, they should have had HBK drop the belt to Davey upon Davey's return or something. I think Davey definitely derserved the world title over guys like Nash, IMO anyway.

 

[huegtoad]

i think kane in the mask for a few more weeks would have been great. i think mr. kennedy would have run with the ball well. lex express would have been a perfect mcmahon champ. and owen would have been great. and dusty rhoads might have had a run or two with the belt. i don't know if steiner should have been given the belt, but they definatly should have run him better than they did. i disagree with steamboat. i love ricky, he is my favorite wrestler, and as nwa champ, he fit. he was the symbol of what the nwa was about. and he should have had a better IC run, no doubt because a guy with his skill set was better suited for that title. but as world champ? in that era in that company? he would have fit in about as well as journey fitting in oz fest. just completly wrong fit for him.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

One guy for me,

Rick Rude,

He was great on the mic, had the perfect body and was a solid performer in the ring.

I mean he was simplym ravishing, he had a nice intercontinental title run, but thats about it, most intercontinental champions go on to become wwe champion, but I guess that wasn't the case for Rick Rude...RIP..

 

[Bartlett Finchley]

In my opinion the main three who should have been world champions are RODDY PIPER , TED DIBIASE and ANDRE THE GIANT (HEEL)

Piper was a ultra heel who could get the crowd stirred up in a minute and Ted Dibiase was another one who could make you hate him. Andre as a heel would have been great as world champion.

 

[huegtoad]

you guys, you guys, you guys, you forgot what that era was all about. the IC belt was for guys who deserved a push, but not THE PUSH. back then it was about one thing, the butts in the seats and the viewers viewing in. HOGAN BROUGHT THAT, there is no doubt he brought that. remember, THE MAIN EVENT brought in 33 million viewers, HOGAN vs ANDRE broguht 33 million viewers, on a FRIDAY. Rick rude couldn't do that, but they couldn't deny that he was good, so they gave him the ic belt, that was the point of it, saying your good, we like you, but be honest, people aren't paying to see you. Judging by merchandize sales, the ultimate warrior was bringing people to their show, so they thought, so they made him champ. and for other "ROH"ISH views, you have to look at the whole picture, the whole hisotircle picture to see why "the best workers" didn't get the title. it wasn't about htat. it was the 80's. it was regan, the fall of communism,the rise of the hero, and not just a hero, a white bread with the crusts cut off hero, an american hero that people were getting behind, that is why hogan worked so well, that and he knew how to sell it!!! Ric Flair was boasting a different type of 80's icon. the mega haves. the 80's brought three things: patriotism,family values, and excess. Ric Flair exemplified excess, and sold it, that's why it worked. Hogan brought about patriotism, heroism, sold it, it worked. Steamboat tried bringing on family values? WRONG AUDIENCE, didn't work that's why no title.

 

[thegreatestshowontheweb]

guys that should have been champ, Mr. Perfect, rowdy piper, jake the snake, ravishing rick rude, owen hart, british bulldog, test would have been good, umaga, rikishi when he was a bad man, kerry von erich, and kane. Now i know kane was a champ but one day come on give me a break. He should have held that title till survivor series

 

[nutt]

Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig was an AWA World Champion...yes, I know you stated WWF/E Champions only, but Hennig was the guy who carried the AWA upon it's last legs after Bockwinkel retired and Martel left for the WWF. Hennig did the same and dropped the belt to Lawler.

Also, there were plans within WWE to put the World title around Owen Hart and turn him babyface against Jarrett before his death.

 

[philbrooks]

guys that should have been champ, Mr. Perfect, rowdy piper, jake the snake, ravishing rick rude, owen hart, british bulldog, test would have been good, umaga, rikishi when he was a bad man, kerry von erich, and kane. Now i know kane was a champ but one day come on give me a break. He should have held that title till survivor series

Jake was in and out of rehab during his 80s run, he also falls into he doesnt need a title status

Owen Hart couldnt cut a main event promo and his program with Bret only did ok

Test? are you insane, anyway he won the ECW title

Rikishi's big heel turn didnt catch on with fans

Kerry Von Erich won the NWA title and was so unreliable the NWA took the title off him within a month. He no showed house shows, turned up in condition to perform at many house shows and TV shows. Was in and out of rehab while in WWE.

Kane's title was hurt by the poor ticket sales leading up to King of The King 1998. He won the ECW title too.

The rest I explained in other posts.

Also, there were plans within WWE to put the World title around Owen Hart and turn him babyface against Jarrett before his death.

Which was said after he died when Vince was looking in the face of a major lawsuit. According to others like Bret Hart and Dave Meltzer than wasnt true.

 

[whatalife1683]

I do not think we are counting the ECW as a major title. In fact, the WWE did not treat it as a major. However, Test did not deserve to get a title push. He was perfectly fine in his role. Owen Hart did deserve a title run when Bret was champion. In the mid 90s, there was a down period for the WWE. He could have been given the belt for a few belts, and then let Bret win it back. He was able to cut a good promo, and I think he would have done fine at the main event level. It is your OPINION to feel that way towards Owen, but some people will disagree with you. I think Mr. Perfect, Ted Dibiase, Owen Hart, Ricky Steamboat, and Rick Rude deserve a little run. It might have worked, and it might have failed. However, these wrestlers IMO deserved a WWE title run. Oh by the way, I think Vader deserved a title run in the WWE. Like the OP stated we are talking about WWE/WWF title, and not other organizations or if they had belts in other places. I think the posters who keep saying he had a title did not read what the thread said. It was being kept for WWE/WWF only and your OPINION. There are reasons these wrestlers did not get titles, but some posters are pointing out reasons for why THEY believe the wrestlers deserved a run.