The Greatest Never-Was WWF/WWE Champion?

[Dre Guevara]

I think both Rude & Hennig had the charisma & look 2 be GREAT heel champions. Y Vince didn't put the belt on neither of those guys is an enigma. Rude was already over with his "CUT THE MUSIC" pre match deal....imagin this....
"CUT THE MUSIC....WHAT I'D LIKE 2 HAVE RIGHT NOW, IS 4 ALL OF U FAT, OUT OF SHAPE, (ADD CITY & INSULT HERE) 2 KEEP THE NOISE DOWN, SO I CAN SHOW THE LADIES WHAT THE WWF CHAMPION IS SUPPOSED 2 LOOK LIKE" that would've been classic. as 4 Curt, I think a run with the WWF title would've taken his "Perfect" gimmick 2 the next level. someone mentioned Tito Santana, rumor has it that he was considered in 92 B4 they put the belt on Bret. Piper would've made a great champion as well, however he said he didn't need the WWF title although he regrets never winning it. another guy I think should've had a run is Junkyard Dog, although @ the time a Black Heavyweight champion was considered taboo, he was the 2nd most popular wrestler behind the Great Yellow & Red Hype.

 

[GrandSword]

I will always believe that the fact that these great superstars who enever became Champion are part of the reason the World ttile was so presitegious unlike today where just about every single person on the roster has been champion. When all the greats that you guys spoke of didn't receive the belt it is a testiment to their work that they will be remembered even without becoming Champion and that they helped build the company and ensure that the title was the most important thing.

fast froward to today and just like the titles, the WWE is pretty much a joke and a shadow of it's former self. If Cena is thought of as the top guy then just give him the damn title. I think of Punk as a modern day Piper. If things were booked they were back in the 80s, maybe he would never had been champ, and maybe that would have been ok with him.

So I don't think of this thread as who should have been champion, more than I can't beelive who has been champion in this day and age and how it's an insult to those guys like Perfect, Piper, Dibiase, Andre, Roberts, Rude etc....

 

[btsjigs]

Hey guys, I believe Ive posted once before on this forum but love coming here and reading all the great threads... anyways on to the topic.

Pretty much everyone that has been mentioned I agree with, My top pick would have def. been Mr. Perfect... but not for the same reasons. I always think back to the time when Stone Cold won his first world title and how Vince wanted a "corporate champion". Its a fun what if? scenario.. If hennig wouldn't have gone to WCW he would have been perfect (no pun intended lol) for this role. WWF always went awesomely over the top with his promos, imagine the "perfect" champion vs. Austin's anti everything build up to a big ppv match.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat!

I think if it was the current era, "The Dragon" would have had a run at some stage, even as a transitional champion (though I hope it was longer), but he was around in the time of Hulk Hogan holding it for years, and due to Vince not pitting face against face, Steamboat never even got a shot at the title.

Steamboat has said that he asked Pat Patterson why he never got a shot at Hulk Hogan, and he said that Vince was worried that it might hurt Hulk Hogan's popularity.

Steamboat had all the tools to be champion- great in-ring skills, was a company guy, and was even quite procifient on the mike.

At least he won the WCW World Championship, it is just a shame that he didn't get a run at the major prize.

Consider this. Ricky Steamboat beat Randy "Macho Man" Savage at "Wrestlemania 3", and yet it was Savage, not Steamboat, who headlined and won the World Title at Wrestlemania IV.

 

[GameOver]

80's Ted Dibiase - he was the best heel in the 80's and was a great technical wrestler in his own right, and was third only to Hogan and Macho Man in that era.

as for Savage vs Steamboat discussion, Steamboat wanted to take time off after WrestleMania 3 as his wife gave birth to his son and subsequently he was stripped of the title and had his time off then returned in time for Survivor Series and Macho Man was turned face and finished off the fued with Honky and then went onto fill the void for Hogan who was scheduled to be back and forth making movies between WrestleMania 4 and 5.

and to your point about Steamboat vs Hogan, that's bullcrap, Steamboat is no different then anyone else that had to job to Hogan. Hogan was always gonna be the face of the company with his popularity. no way in hell would Steamboat have been a bigger star and hurt Hogan's popularity, Macho couldn't do it and he had ten times the popularity Steamboat had.

 

[HBsam31]

Going with the crowd here in Jake the Snake, Piper, Diabiase, and Curt Hennig. The one that stands out to me the most though is Diabiase. I could never believe he wasn't at least given a short run. He would have made a great heel champion in his time.

 

[IT Factor]

Not only has this topic been done, but it seems that a new thread exactly like this pops up every other fucking week! We get it, Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Razor Ramon, it's the same EVERY time. Enough already.

Right, because you are such a knowledgeable topic starter..... Get over yourself already. If you hated the topic that much why even reply? Just to bitch? How sad.

My answer, BTW, is Henry Godwin because he was my favorite pig farmer of all time. Phineaus was a close second.

I guess I should've said SERIOUS Never-Were WWF/WWE Champions. That answer, while a lame attempt at humor, would NEVER be on any real wrestling fans list.


As for the topic at hand, I forgot alot of these guys that never got to become WWF Champion. Rowdy Roddy Piper was the main guy I'd forgotten. Piper main-evented the first Wrestlemania and yet never wore the major WWF gold. With Piper's memorable moments and matches, he'll go down as quite possibly the biggest legend to never win the title. Owen Hart is another on that list. Although as some have already mentioned, he might have well become WWF Champion had his accident not happened. I doubt it highly though, merely based on McMahon's hatred for Bret at the time and Owen's past stop-and-start push history.

Jake Roberts is another travesty. He was the epitome of what a great 80s heel and heels in general should aspire to be. He had the look and gimmick and everything needed to become champ. Although I'm assuming both he & Scott Hall both never won because of personal demons with alcohol. Which is a shame, because both guys did innovative things in their eras.

Then of course, there's Rick Rude. With his over-the-top persona, it's a wonder why WWF never made him the man. And size couldn't have been too big an issue, because he was no smaller than either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels.

 

[The Eighties]

A lot of the guys mentioned would have been great champions but in most cases the reason they didn't get the belt was down to how big their gimmick already was and how over they already where.

Guys like Jake, Piper and Dibiase had such defined characters that lent themselves to personal feuds so well that putting the belt on them seemed unnecessary. Mr Perfect was a great wrestler but injuries prevented him having a reign. Bulldog was an amazing all round wrestler, powerful, fast, athletic and technically excellent, but his best chance of winning the belt came at a time when mic work was becoming ever more important, and he lacked in that department.

The one guy from that era who really should have been WWF champion was Rude IMO. I never bought the idea that Hogan thought he was too small given he was bigger than Savage, but something prevented him getting it and he jumped ship to WCW, had he not I think he'd have feuded with Bret over the title eventually.

One last name is Vader, I know overall WWE didn't handle his run there very well be it for political reasons or whatever, but he should have been the one to take the belt off HBK at MSG and then went on to feud with Bret, Taker, Austin and HBK as the faces chasing the belt.

 

[thebarber]

Yeah, Mr. Perfect is a good choice. Razor Ramon is another one that immediately came to mind. And I think Owen Hart and Brian Pillman both warrant mentioning, though their circumstances obviously were a little different.

Perfect maybe, but those other guys do not come close to Ted DiBiase. He was over hugely as a heel in the Hogan era, and would have been brilliant as the WWE Champion. Raxor, Pillman and Owen were mid cards guys for the most part in their WWE runs, DiBiase was a main eventer for 4 straight years

 

[Troll420]

My vote goes for Curt Hennig. He held a couple of belts for different organizations(WWF,WCW,AWA, etc), was a great wrestling technician, was vastly underated on the mic ,and oh yeah he was...............PERFECT!!

 

[Skinsley]

This is not an easy one.

We have William Regal, who is a personal favourite of mine, an excelent in ring performer and Microphone Magician.
Razor Ramon, another great talent and certainly someone who whould have been World Champ and Main event at some point.
Owen Hart, certainly an underated talent and I certainly think if it was not for his untimely death he would have been champ eventually I am almost certain.
Brian Pillman goes the same, his feud's alone were thoroughly entertaining and I preferred him to Austin before the Gimmick Changed to SCSA.
Ok, current star and almost certainly going to be champ and main event eventually is Dolph Ziggler....if he does not make it, it would be a total travesty.

However the final goes between two guys.
Mr Perfect Kurt Hennig, the total package...as a wrestler, as a gimmick, as an image.....everything. How was he never at the top of the Mountain?
And
Rowdy Roddy Piper, in my personal opinion he may very well be the best Talker in the business, and without a doubt the most over guy in the history of Wrestling to never have been at the very pinacle.

Its close between.
Piper and Hennig, and I just can't decide.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

If I had to pick five, they would be:
1.) Mr. Perfect
2.) Owen Hart
3.) Ted Dibiase
4.) Rowdy Roddy Piper
5.) The Berzerker (just kidding, but wouldn't it have been great to see a champion whose catch phrase was "Husss!!!!"?)
- Actually number 5 would probably be Ravishing Rick Rude. I suppose he wasn't in the WWF long enough to warrant the title, but he had a great run with the Intercontinental championship.