The Top 20: Who Are The Worst World Champions Of All Time?

[One to Remember]

19. Ricky Steamboat: NWA World Heavyweight Championship - I know I'll probably get some heat for this. I love Ricky Steamboat, always have but his single run as NWA World Heavyweight Champion didn't last. As I said, I love Steamboat but the man wasn't a draw and it's hard to not see him as someone that they just let carry the belt for a little while before putting it back on Ric Flair. To put it bluntly, that's exactly how it was. He had a couple of tremendous matches against Flair after he won the title, classics really and that can't be taken away from him. However, Steamboat is someone that always looked great chasing the big one but once he finally got it, after all the adulation and celebrating died down, it became quickly obvious that Steamboat didn't have the charisma to really be a serious successor to Flair.

Flair meant so much to JCP, WCW and the NWA but the NWA World title was not Flair's personal championship. They put the belt arounf Steamboat because he was always popular and the brass needed to know what the result was going to be, good or bad. So they gave him the belt and added steam to Ricky by having him take it from Flair. It didn't work out but everyone was aware that might happen. Sometimes its all about the adulation, the post match tears, the champaign bath in the back the gatorade bath in the front.. Thats a proper ending too. Depending on the wrestler their title win could either be a kin to winning a trophy or capturing a championship. Steamboat was the former and while he couldn't do anything with his World title he still has the journey to attain it as a nice showcase.

18. Sid Vicious/Psycho Sid: WWF Championship & WCW World Heavyweight Championship - Sid always struck me as one of those "what were you thinking?" champions. Sid was often known for botching moves, generally unprofessional behavior and, at times, showing little regard for the safety of other wrestlers. Both of his WWF Championship runs were marked by Sid being overshadowed by two vastly more talented individuals in Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker. His WCW WHC runs both began in January 2000, a time in which the WCW WHC had no value whatsoever. Having a mediocre talent like Sid hold the title certainly didn't improve things.

I have heard that when WCW and the WWF felt in danger or needed short term stability to reavulate the overall situation thats when Sid was put on top. He was an interim champion and he done his job well all four times. He bought precious time for both companies, one of which still couldn't get its act together to make use of it..

17. Rey Mysterio: World Heavyweight Championship - Rey Mysterio's time as a World Champion just hasn't been all that fruitful. His first reign began at WM 22 and the entire reign, including Mysterio winning the title in the first place, was done as something of a tribute to Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero's "presence", for lack of a better word, completely overshadowed Rey during his first 112 days. The fact that Mysterio was about 8 inches shorter and 60 pounds lighter than the "average" wrestler on the WWE roster didn't do him any favors in the minds of a lot of fans either. Mysterio's 2nd run began in June 2010, lasted only 28 days and he won the title from Jack Swagger, who hadn't exactly had a run that'd been the stuff legends are made of.

The irony of it is I had writen a letter to Inside Wrestling that was published stating that guys like Mysterio would need size buffers. By that I mean a guy like Batista couldn't lose to Mysterio but Batista could lose to an Angle who could lose to an Eddie who could lose to a Mysterio. Eddie was the only guy other then someone like Jericho Mysterio could get his title win from. And even then his title had to be the "WWE Championship" and had to be a smaller sized belt plate. Him beating a Swagger in a match makes wrestling look dumb. Fatal 4 Ways and Royal Rumbles and buffers are all he can realistically go to so his reigns were fundemental failures..

16. Scott Steiner: WCW World Heavyweight Championship - By the time Steiner won the WCW WHC on November 26, 2000, WCW was literally circling the drain. Steiner was the last WCW WHC before WWE bought the company. Is it possible for a title to be worth less than nothing? Steiner himself was so jacked by this time that he was a living breathing advertisement for steroids. Due in part to this, Steiner's wrestling ability was barely a fraction of what it once was.

Hows that Mr. Pump's fault..? he never had sway in WCW.. His main thing circa 2000 was his out of control behavior and shoot interviews, not his wrestling ability.. Thats how he became popular enough to be rewarded the title and he moved around enough.. No slower then Scott Norton..

15. Lex Luger: WCW World Heavyweight Championship - By the time Luger won the WCW WHC for the first time on July 14, 1991, he'd been a huge staple in the Crockett Promotions/WCW mid-card scene for about 5 years. Luger was someone that'd been surrounded by so many talented wrestlers that, by this time, he'd long since looked good by association. Aside from his look, Lex had nothing going on for him. His first run was a very respectable 230 days but aside from a long feud with Ron Simmons that had some pretty damn boring matches in it, Luger did nothing. He was in the middle of contract disputes with WCW and it got to the point where he would have long absences from the company. He ultimately dropped the title to Sting with really nothing of great worth to boast about. His second title run came in August 1997 and lasted a total of 5 days. Luger is just a guy that never should have been World Champion.

So what are you saying he should not have had such a long reign or what? It could had been put on other guys to see how that would go? And his second reign in 1997 was one of those "we won the battle but lost the war" incidents but WCW needed one because the NWO could not literally kill its host..

14. Kevin Nash: WWF Championship & WCW World Heavyweight Championship - Kevin Nash's first World Title was a 51 week run with the WWF Championship in the mid 1990s. While charismatic and good on the mic, Nash was often horrible to watch inside the ring and his time as champ came during what many fans think is the worst period in WWE history. However, Nash's run with the WWF Championship was FAR greater than the 5 he'd have with the WCW WHC. His 5 runs lasted a total of 97 days and came...yes you guessed it, the last few years of WCW. The first ended with the infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" incident and the other 4 weren't much to speak of either. The guy was just a lousy World Champion.

He was a better WWF champion no doubt. He should not had been the one to end Goldie's streak and the taser hurt goldberg, WCW, The title, and Nash all at the same time. He hadno business cutting into Goldberg's steam which had only been 30 percent milked for all it was worth.. And the last few years? From my standpoint and a legal standpoint WCW only existed for 10 years.. The forerunners to WCW are not WCW themselves..

13. Diamond Dallas Page: WCW World Heavyweight Championship - As you may have guessed, I'm not particularly fond of the WCW WHC runs that took place during WCW last few years, though I think it's hard to blame me. Diamond Dallas Page that was supremely over in WCW in the late 90s. Page is someone that, like some others, maybe have just been in the wrong company at the wrong time. The booking in WCW was beyond chaotic and Page, to me, was something of a victim of said booking. He held the WCW strap on 3 occassions for a grand total of 29 days. By the time Page got his first turn at bat, it was common for the title to be vacated at any given point or for reigns to last only a couple of weeks. It didn't help that Page was the champ at the time the whole David Arquette fiasco took place.

I was happy for Page Faulkenberg and felt he deserved it. I was not interested in seeing him have it thrice and I felt he could had hurt the title because he was always teaming with celebs. They had no business there and then here comes Arquette as the coup de grâce of celebrity interference. Because Page had a history of bring guys like Karl Malone and Jay Leno into the fray the brass might had felt more comfertable putting Arquette in a match with Page. Page will have to suffer some guilt by association on that debacle.

11. Jeff Jarrett: WCW World Heavyweight Championship & NWA World Heavyweight Championship - If ever there was someone that should have had "Mid-Carder 4 Life" tattooed on somewhere on his body, Jeff Jarrett was and is that person. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING, about the guy says "I'm a pretty good overall mid-card wrestler". Between April 16 2000 & May 29th 2000, Jeff Jarrett won the WCW WHC 4 times, 3 of which lasted a grand total of 17 days. Hot damn. Eventually, Jeff Jarrett forms TNA and, as the owner of the company, follows the tradition of other wrestler/promotion owners of the past by constantly booking himself in the main event scene and with long championship runs. Jeff Jarrett was never even remotely a draw.

I don't like him but at the height of his "chosen one" gimmickI would had accepted a single run. One of his other reigns could had been used for the likes of helping Lance Storm or Shane Douglass or Tank Abbott. He is definitely not Vern Gagne so him holding his own fed's top title was not viewed well..

10. Sabu: ECW World Heavyweight Championship & NWA World Heavyweight Championship - Like the vast majority of ECW "greats", Sabu was a guy that looked absolutely lost and with no idea what to do with himself. If he wasn't in a setting where he went through tables, wrestled on barbed wire or got smacked with chair in the head half a dozen times then he was completely out of his element. I suppose an argument could be made for Sabu being a "good champion" in ECW as his style was what most people think the company was all about anyway. Yeah yeah, we've all heard the same old chesnut about ECW being more than just hardcore wrestling. That's all well and good but how can anyone be blamed for thinking otherwise when the hardcore wrestling aspect is what's always been hyped and celebrated the most? His as NWA World Heavyweight Champion happened in November 2000. It lasted 38 days and most wouldn't have a chance to even know about it if not for the net, though I'm sure that most wouldn't care in either event.

He was ECW apprpriate and as an employee of ECW obviously he was going to mesh well with ECW's top tier.. What you said is like telling a penguin in the artic you can't stand how hot he gets whenever he comes down south to the bayou... Whats it matter how bad he does in a place he had no business in..?! The NWA was nothing when ECW slapped it in the face in 1994.. The NWA title in 2000 was not a world title at all..

9. Rob Van Dam: ECW World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Championship & TNA World Heavyweight Championship - One of the few ECW alumni that actually was worth a damn, all seemed right with the internet when RVD defeated the IWC hated John Cena to become WWE Champion on June 11, 2006. Two days later, RVD is awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, thereby making history. However, RVD's bright future in the WWE would be crash into a brick wall as he & Sabu were arrested and charged with drug possession not long after. As a result of RVD's foolish choices, whatever faith Vince McMahon had in the guy quickly evaporated. RVD was suspended and became just another guy on the roster before shortly leaving the company due to his wife contracting cancer. In 2010, RVD pops back up in TNA and wins the TNA WHC, again igniting a flurry of excitement among the IWC. Rather than Van Dam's own choices, his run was rendered mediocre due in part to the TNA Ranking System, which basically resulted in single match feuds for the title. Another World Championship run might be in RVD's future at some point but, for now, he definitely earns a place on my list.

Vince never liked him.. VKM used RVD's 420 as an excuse to recut him down to size in "ECW" and WWE.. Vince already knew how he was and his drug issues atleast weren't as horrible as Hall's war with the bottle, Jake the Snake's vices, Von Erich's substance abuse issues, or even McMahon's own drug charges which caried like ten YEARS as opposed to Van Dam's possible ten MONTHS.. He would be a good fit on SD right now if Vincecould get over his issues with him and leave him the fuck alone..

6. Vince McMahon: WWF Championship & ECW World Championship - It's never a good thing when a non wrestler is running around carrying a World Championship. McMahon won the WWF Championship on September 14, 1999 from Triple H, held it for 6 days, then vacated it. It's always bugged me to see titles used so blatantly as props. The ECW World Championship was no different and was during a time where you really were just kind of over Vince McMahon's "Mr. McMahon" character.

I think his reign was just a reminder that no matter how much ground the wrestlers gain the WWF was still his universe and they only wrestled in it. If a CEO can have a half decade long fued with an employee of course he can take the championship, If he set it up to were they could not beat him for it that would be outragious. In the context of the Mr. Mahon storyline it all made sense. McMahon fiddling with the ECW title gave its status a boost though.

5. The Sandman: ECW World Heavyweight Championship - The Sandman always looked to me as the epitome of most ECW wrestlers: an out of shape, no talent hack that can't wrestle to save his life outside of a hardcore environment. There's just not really much to say about the guy. The best thing about him was, easily, his entrance, because his matches were nothing to write home about. He did have some good long runs with the title at various points but anybody with a month's worth of training would be every bit as skilled as The Sandman.

Again he was ECW apprpriate..

4. The Great Khali: World Heavyweight Championship - Khali is almost universally recognized as one of the worst wrestlers of the decade. He's extremely slow, clumsy, uncoordinated and probably couldn't successfully perform a hip toss if he had to. Khali's run with the WHC was another "what were they thinking?" reigns. Khali is freakishly big and I think that Vince was hoping that he'd be able to get over based on that alone, but it didn't happen. We live in an age where being a freak of nature isn't enough to make you a superstar in wrestling.

They needed him to hold the belt, he was a classic choice, and how much longer could you have him on the roster at his size with nothing to show for it?

4. Jeff Hardy: WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship & TNA World Heavyweight Championship - Jeff Hardy is a perfect wrestler, in many ways, to not model one's self after. Jeff Hardy's substance abuse problems were a huge reason why Vince McMahon didn't trust him, and it's not as if he didn't have good reason. By late 2008, Jeff Hardy was so popular that, despite his misgivings, Vince gave him a run with the WWE Championship. Again, I think due at least in part to trust issues, the reign was kept only at 42 days. By the summer of 2009, Jeff Hardy entered into an incredible feud with CM Punk. It's easily the best feud Hardy's ever had. But, Hardy wanted to leave the WWE in the middle of the biggest push of his career. So, the WWE used the feud to give him a couple of brief runs with the WHC and to build up CM Punk. Hardy departed and showed up in TNA on January 4, 2010. Prior to that, on September 11, 2009, Hardy's home was raided by North Carolina police and numerous drugs & drug paraphanelia was removed from Hardy's home. Hardy wins the TNA WHC in October 2010 as a bloated, drugged out shadow of the man he'd been only 18 months earlier. His first run was beyond mediocre as he had virtually nothing to do in help building his feud with Matt Morgan, he was presented with arguably the ugliest championship in wrestling history, and one of his own design I might add. His second run began on February 12, 2011 and lasted 11 days. He dropped it to Sting at Victory Road and we all know why. Some might wonder what the hell is Khali doing higher up on the list than Jeff Hardy. For me, as limited as he was, at least Khali did try his best. Jeff Hardy, on the other hand, is a guy that's had all the talent in the world but has made some idiotic choices that could result in his future, even his life, being pissed away.

His drug issues were only TNA's problem.. In WWE regardless of how much he made McMahon sweat he done his job w/o incident. We call people with substance issue who can still work FUNCTIONING ADDICTS. The good thing about FUNCTIONING ADDICTS is they FUNCTION. When they are only hurting themselves or atleast staying afloat on the surface you, me, or nobody else has the authority to step in and try to assume jurisdiction over them. If I was a TNA Fan who wasted money on that PPV he was high on or whatever yea it would be my business but i mostly seen him in WWE and he never was a waste of my dollars.. You can't retroactive attack his WWE title runs because of spectacles we witnessed in TNA months and months and months after the fact..

1. Vince Russo: WCW World Heavyweight Championship - The worst of the worst in my opinion was Vince Russo's 7 day run as WCW WHC. He defeated Booker T in a cage match, held the title for a week, then vacates the title in a promo in which he decides that he isn't a wrestler and doesn't want the title. To Russo, championships were nothing more than meaningless props and he felt that the audience should feel the same way. Most fans didn't and still don't feel that way but Russo insisted on shoving that viewpoint down the throats of fans to such a degree that wrestling championships in general still have something of a stigma about them in the eyes of fans. The icing on the cake was putting the title on himself.[/QUOTE]

Its equal to 2 or 3 other debacles but I agree with it making it atop so many lists. It was infamous, it was dangerous, it exposed innerworking of pro wrestling that should not had been referenced even after the collapse kayfabe absolutism..

 

[One to Remember]

Just to clarify my criteria, I am allowing recognised champions for the following World Championship Titles:

1. WWWF / WWF / WWe World Heavyweight Championship.
2. NWA World Heavyweight Championship from inception to Ric Flair quit for the WWF.

the WWWF title from 1963-76 was just as regional based as ECW and its title from 1992-4.. Why the double standard..? And the NWA World's heavyweight title was a World title until september of '93 when WCW formally widthdrew. If you don't think it was a World title until 1993 or '94 then how can you recognize the ECW title starting in 1994 if it usurped its status from the NWA title Douglas through down at theend of his legendary speach?

17. Mikey Whipwreck (ECW Champion for 42 days):
Seriously? This was during a period when they had a reasonable roster including a certain Mr Austin who, whilst not 'Stone Cold' famous was still very well known.

He had worked their for awile and they wanted to reward him. Its not like Austin wasn't respected in ECW and its not like he wasn't in ECW title matches but why invest in a guy just stopping through..?

16. Stan Stasiak (WWWF Champion for 9 days) & 15. Ivan Koloff (WWWF Champion for 21 days):
Two unfortunate souls given minuscule title reigns to move the belt between Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino. Ivan gets the slightly higher position because of the cheap Cold War heat character, think early days Vladimir Kozlov only with the public having a legitimate fear of the country he came from.

Are you crazy?! They weren't bad champions just because they didn't bogart the belt for nearly 8 years. And you can't have the pride of italians dropping the belt to the pride of puerto ricans if you expect to keep both ethnic fan bases intact. Both served their purposes like they should have..

14. Iron Shiek (WWF Champion for 28 days):
Buffer between faces Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan and only there to elicit cheap xenophobic heat to get Hulkamania off the ground.

Again so what? Its not like WWE chose any clown from the back not busy to serve as its interim champions. All of WWE's transitional or interim champions had value..

12. Kerry Von Erich (NWA Champion for 12 days):
Kerry had a great chance to be a great World Champion. He won the belt from Ric Flair in front 45000 enthralled and ecstatic Texans but was forced to drop it back due to his drug dependency. To alter a Vince quote 'The NWA didn't screw Kerry, Kerry screwed Kerry'.

Get the fuck off the guys ass, he already shot himself or hung himself or whatever.. To quote any respectable psychologist "Kerry didn't screw Kerry, depression screwed Kerry."

8. Great Khali (World Heavyweight Champion for 61 days):
How the Giant Gonzales (RIP big man) must have laughed.

At what? Khali went further then him.. He was a 7 foot guy who couldnt even win the WWF title and hes dead and his ring attire was goofy as fuck.. laughing at what..?


now my list:

1. BoBo Brazill This guy was supposed to be the Robinson of Rasslin.. in 1962 or '63 he wins the NWA title from the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. The win is clean, the ref call is reversed because of a dispute over medical clearence. Subsequent investigations show Rogers was fit, the NWA reverses its ruling on the health of Rogers but not the title change itself which was invalidated by said medical dispute. WTF?! AND THEN NOTHING ELSE IS SAID OF IT THEN 3 DECADES LATER BAM Ron Simmons beats Vader in an upset for the WCW title.. He lost credibility, the title had to because of such a bizarre loss, the NWA loss credibility because of this Jim Crow joke, 26 years later I arrive in the world and that shit still wasn't clarified??? What the fucking fuck.. Some Black remodel..

2. David Arquette Even he admitted it was wrong for him to have it.. Nuff said, period, forever, infinity, yatta yatta, badda fuckin bing..


3. Vince Russo Been said, to death.

4. Slaughter as WWF World heavyweight champion. It was too divergent from his persona and beliefs, made no sense because he was an Iraqi sympathizer working with a Persian of all ethnicities, and it occured during a war? Those were the fireworks needed to distract us from the fact that Hogan needed this old G.I. Joe rip off to be the fall guy because the Ultimate Warrior would had tore him limb from limb in a strait forward title change attempt?!

5. Ron Simmons as WCW World heavyweight champion. He took the championship, from the dominating Big Van Vader who was in his prime, and he made history as the first Black champion yet did not head line PPVs or take part in the last matches on the card? Maybe Watts did get the last laugh..

6. Dolph Ziggler as World heavyweight champion. I still don't even understand how it went down and how it was ended I just know he is a former Worldchampion. Even when I was watching the spectacle unfould on SD I was confused over it..

7. Rey Mysterio as WWE Champion and WWE World heavyweight champion. The name of the title seemed bizarre when used in the same sentence with the light heavyweight Mysterio. The belt itself was too big for his midsection and it was widely regarded as a mere tribute. His WWE title reign lasted less then an hour and had him fed to John Cena hurting the belt because of excessive hot potatoing and destroyed the remaining credibility of Mysterio.

8. Kane as WWE World heavyweight champion. His 1998 WWF title reign meant more then his 3 month or whatever World heavyweight tenure. His 23½ hour reign featured a victory over Stone Cold at his zenith, it occured during the pinacle of the Attitude Era and even the lost the next night was memorable. Kane's WHC run featured none of that and he had already defeated the underdeveloped Rey Mysterio Jr.

9. Edge as WWE Champion and WWE World heavyweight champion.Every match featured non stop cheating, it got to the point were i just said "dude make your own belt and just wear that and be a selfr proclaim champion.." His wins were so cheap I couldn't even see how Edge even as a heel could even value the victory.. I had always like Edge and Christian but I just got sick of him after he started stacking up on World titles..

10. Jeff Jarrett as WCW World heavyweight champion & NWA World's heavyweight champion. I did not buy him as a top star and I don't want to be the 1,333,876th person to call him an overglorified midcarder.

11. Rick Rude as NWA World's heavyweight champion/WCW International World heavyweight champion. He won the title before it was officially given to him and then had to curry the belt around without it being a championship at all. The NWA refused to recognize his reign even though the tapes featuring him with the gold belt innitially were recorded at a time WCW did have the authority to declare him NWA champion.

12. Kevin Nash as WCW World heavyweight champion. Nothing was accomplished with him in the WCW title picture. He ended Goldberg's reign premature, an act that would be one of WCW's mortal wounds. He dropped the title to Hogan during the Fingerpoke of Doom debacle destroying its worth. His reigns were also short.

13. Jeff Hardy as TNA World heavyweight champion. He appeared ragged several times and the title picture seemed unstable. Add that to the controversy he was already embroiled in.

14. Mr. Anderson as TNA World heavyweight champion. nO IMPACT, no longevity, and it was safe to assume after the second time he was spotted with that ugly belt that he was dropping it back to the guy who asked TNA to waste the money and metal to construct it.

15. Antonio Inoki as WWF World champion. What harm would it had done to recognize Backlund's loss to him and more importantly what was even the point of the switch? To appease a home town crowd?

16. Andre the Giant as WWF World champion. What was the point of giving him the belt after his long and iconic service to the WWF if he was just going to drop the belt upon winning it? Then he sells it to Ted DiBiase who is then stripped of it. Thats a lot of trouble to go through just to create a vacancy and it hurt the belt's image..

17. Jack Swagger as WWE World heavyweight champion. All of his reigns were train wrecks, very forgettable and he went the cheap suprise money in the bank cash in rout which compunded everything else negative about him with the strap. Compounded ten fold....

18. Chris Benoit as WCW World heavyweight champion. He relinqueshed the title and then quit the company althought you would had thought the win would had cancelled out his gripes..

19. Ric Flair as WWF World heavyweight champion.
It just didn'tdo anything. It was obvious he was in between jobs anyways.. He made no impact in the WWF..

20. The Rock as "World title" holder. I agree with most lists herebut I would adjust the top five on the OP's..

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

the WWWF title from 1963-76 was just as regional based as ECW and its title from 1992-4.. Why the double standard..? And the NWA World's heavyweight title was a World title until september of '93 when WCW formally widthdrew. If you don't think it was a World title until 1993 or '94 then how can you recognize the ECW title starting in 1994 if it usurped its status from the NWA title Douglas through down at theend of his legendary speach?

Because the WWWF was separate from the NWA and not one of their regions. They also claimed their own 'World' Champion.

When Flair left with the NWA belt, WCW created their own World Champion and the NWA Champion became the secondary title on the same show.

In 1994 ECW split from the NWA.

He had worked their for awile and they wanted to reward him. Its not like Austin wasn't respected in ECW and its not like he wasn't in ECW title matches but why invest in a guy just stopping through..?

Austin was just an example of the quality they had at that time. Rewarding is okay, but that brings in contemporary 'what ifs' - both Matt Hardy and Val Venus worked in the WWF for quite some time providing quality for their employer too.

Are you crazy?! They weren't bad champions just because they didn't bogart the belt for nearly 8 years. And you can't have the pride of italians dropping the belt to the pride of puerto ricans if you expect to keep both ethnic fan bases intact. Both served their purposes like they should have..

So... they're not bad champions because they stopped a race war? If in the space of 2 careers totaling 59 years, your 2 title reigns lasted 30 days (were you finally manage to overcome one top face only for the next top face to brush you aside), I call that a pretty poor run.

Again so what? Its not like WWE chose any clown from the back not busy to serve as its interim champions. All of WWE's transitional or interim champions had value..

What value? A reign to build heel heat would add value. Finally overcoming the top guy only to be passed over screams 'fluke' and weakens the reign.

Get the fuck off the guys ass, he already shot himself or hung himself or whatever.. To quote any respectable psychologist "Kerry didn't screw Kerry, depression screwed Kerry."

Don't EVER talk to me about depression, I've been brought up around psychiatrics and I have very close people to me who have had and, in some instances, still suffer from depression.

Depression didn't kill him, the fact he was going to be sent to jail caused him to end it. Drug addiction was the fad of the 80's, Kerry was just to much a follower of fashion.

At what? Khali went further then him.. He was a 7 foot guy who couldnt even win the WWF title and hes dead and his ring attire was goofy as fuck.. laughing at what..?

Actually, he was legitimately 7'7", much bigger than Khali and just about as capable in the ring and he would have SUCKED as a World champion. Do you know who did suck as a World Champion? The 'Great' Khali.

now my list:

And I respect all of your opinions. One small thing though, the list is the Worst World Champions, not the Worst World Championship Reigns.

 

[AjStyles]

i remember when christian won the world heavyweight championship off of alberto del rio in a ladder match, only to drop it later that week to randy orton in his very first title defense, his second whc didn't last that much longer, again dropping it to randy orton, which christian had won via disqualification thanks to one of the stipulations that were placed on that match, christian had been trying every underhanded and cowardly way to constantly get another whc shot, because he refused to accept defeat, which i oddly admit i respect that

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Wow, I had no idea that Kevin Nash had such short WCW title reigns, in my head I pictured him as a long term champion...

I would certainly have put Jack Swagger on the list, his WHC reign was beyond piss-poor. He is a very talented wrestler, but he was booked terribly during his reign and just looked weak and out of his depth the entire time.

Great shout on Mysterio. Again, a phenomenal talent (or was in his prime) but I refuse to accept that a man so small and light should be eligible for the World Title, it just takes away from the suspension of reality, and makes wrestling look ridiculous.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

First of All no matter how many drugs they are on now, I really enjoyed Jeff Hardy and RVD both as world champs and they deserved it(at the time).

As for some other like Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash, Booker T....I know there title reigns kinda sucked but there were MUCH worse title reigns I feel.

Secondly, even though everybody will just think Im your average "I made a Miz-take" fan but I will say I appreciate some of what he has done but he has by FAR had the worst title reign in RECENT memory, post Khali!(besides maybe Del Rio) Miz not only won the title in week fashion by cashing in on a weak champ, thats something I could tolerate if 1.)He beat someone even slightly believeable(not Orton, the #2 in the company[maybe #1 at that time]) 2.)He did it in a believeable fashion, ya he used his finisher but its the weakest and stupidest looking finisher since the chicken face armbar(too be cont...). And with all that aside he continued to reign as WWE champ despite feuding with almost anybody except for a 60 yr old announcer, a guy who deserved a title shot more and never got it(and either way, there matches were good but Id hardly call it a feud, so speratic, and just occasonally facing off) and then finally losing the title To the guy he couldnt beat on his own at mania, in the most cliche way, less than a month after mania?! WTF?!?!?! and he was one of the longest reigning champs in recent memory??? The next "top star"???? yeah okay Rule #1 WWE should have, if you have feuds with Cena, Orton, Morrison and Jerry Lawler(I quess they call one or two matches a feud now, cause thats what he had with Morrison, Cena and Orton. The Only other guy besides cena and lawler[unless you count Morrison at extreme rules] he face on ppv was orton and that was ONCE!!!!!!!) and your best feud out of all of those is with Lawler, I think somethings wrong.

Continued....Now on to another subject, one name Im really suprised no one has mentions and my LEAST FAVORITE CHAMPION OF ALL TIME IS......BOB BACKLUND!!!!!!

I know a bunch of people will say he was a fantastic mat wrestler and in college wrestling but If you talk about no " mic skills", no "it factor", no charisma he is NUMERO UNO!!! in my book!!!! The mans gimmick was always either jsut himself a homebred wrestler which was SO bland or some kind of wierd creepier version of himself!!!!! He couldnt do a promo beyond belief!!!! He lacked anything and everything to me besides actual wrestling ability, of what it takes to be a Champion. I will be the first one to say I prefer wrestling ability first and mic skills second, but If you seriously are so pain achingly boring that no one wants to see you then why be the face of the company??? any of the Bret Harts or John Morrison's who are better wrestlers and athletes and movie stars and promo men are still MILES beyond that of Backlund. How he ever became champ is beyond me!!!!

 

[MrMojoRisin]

16. Stan Stasiak (WWWF Champion for 9 days) & 15. Ivan Koloff (WWWF Champion for 21 days):
Two unfortunate souls given minuscule title reigns to move the belt between Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino. Ivan gets the slightly higher position because of the cheap Cold War heat character, think early days Vladimir Kozlov only with the public having a legitimate fear of the country he came from.

14. Iron Shiek (WWF Champion for 28 days):
Buffer between faces Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan and only there to elicit cheap xenophobic heat to get Hulkamania off the ground.

12. Kerry Von Erich (NWA Champion for 12 days):
Kerry had a great chance to be a great World Champion. He won the belt from Ric Flair in front 45000 enthralled and ecstatic Texans but was forced to drop it back due to his drug dependency. To alter a Vince quote 'The NWA

10. Tommy Rich (NWA Champion for 4 days):
A title switch that only occurred to garner a couple days live gates in a certain territory for inside political reasons. A career mid carder whose 4 day reign will only be remembered as a footnote in Harley Race's championship career.

9. Ron Garvin (NWA Champion for 62 days):
Whilst a popular babyface, even the fans didn't regard Garvin good enough to be the better of heel Ric Flair AND this was back in kayfabe times!

I just wanted to comment on these ones.

Sheik - He wasn't chosen as the transitional champ to help get heat for Hogan. Sheik got the belt because Backlund refused to drop the title to Hogan, and would only drop it to someone with a legitimate athletic background and credentials. As an Olympic Bronze medalist... Sheik was the most qualified of the heels on the roster at the time. If you want to crap on Sheik's reign, crap on the fact that the majority of his matches as champ were against job guys (on house shows nonetheless)

Von Erich - He was never 'forced' to drop the belt because of drug dependency. Kerry's reign was a typical political move of the time. Fritz was a powerful member of the NWA, and politicked to get his son a reign, with the condition that he would drop it back to Flair in Japan (because he didn't want a Von Erich losing in Texas). He was never intended to be a long term champion... but he did have a good run working every day (except for his travel time to Japan) in Texas and the Florida territory as champ. He got his time with the big belt, and possibly would have had another run down the road if JCP hadn't monopolized the belt shortly after... and if he hadn't had his accident... while Flair got a much needed vacation after being on the road for a couple years straight, and an extra title reign to add to his list (at a time when multiple reigns weren't the norm and were more of a mark of greatness). For what it was supposed to be, Von Erich had a good reign. Better than the majority of transitional champs.

Stasiak and Koloff - can't really judge their reigns at all considering what they were. They were strictly to move the title from one baby to the next, and the WWWF at the time refused to ever give a heel character a chance to get over with the belt. Koloff especially got good mileage out of being the guy who ended Bruno's 7+ years as champ.

Rich - Again, not fair because he was never given the chance to get over with the belt, and like you said it was another political move. In a lot of ways, the worst thing that ever happened to Rich, because he was crazy over in the south at the time, and he never got back the momentum he lost from the quick switch. Who knows, he might not still be wrestling in gyms today in his 60's if that reign never happened like it did.

Garvin - Out of all the transitional champs who shouldn't be judged on the length of their reigns... he's the one that I feel can be called a failure. Yes he was just another guy who only got the belt to add to Flair's title count, but he had a good 40 days between when he won, and when he dropped the belt back to Flair at Starrcade. Plenty of time to make his mark as champ, get over as the champion, and if not potentially changing the booking plans, at least position himself as a top guy in the future. After all, before his program with Flair where he won the belt, he was a career mid carder. But what did he do? He never defended the belt once. He wasn't on TV. There might as well have not even been an NWA champ when Garvin had it. After losing, he quickly sunk back into the mid card... left for the WWF shortly after and proceeded to do nothing worthwhile.

 

[GrandSword]

There are a few on your list of would leave out and some I would add. I mean going on some of the criteria that you have used to explain as to why their title reigns were bad, then why isn't Jericho's title reigns on there? What about Mick Foley's? 3 titles with what 5 days worth.

I feel this list is a bit biased JH. You are saying certain wrestlers should never have been World Champion like Jarrett or Lex Luger when they are far superior superstars then a guy like Miz.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Continued....Now on to another subject, one name Im really suprised no one has mentions and my LEAST FAVORITE CHAMPION OF ALL TIME IS......BOB BACKLUND!!!!!!

I know a bunch of people will say he was a fantastic mat wrestler and in college wrestling but If you talk about no " mic skills", no "it factor", no charisma he is NUMERO UNO!!! in my book!!!! The mans gimmick was always either jsut himself a homebred wrestler which was SO bland or some kind of wierd creepier version of himself!!!!! He couldnt do a promo beyond belief!!!! He lacked anything and everything to me besides actual wrestling ability, of what it takes to be a Champion. I will be the first one to say I prefer wrestling ability first and mic skills second, but If you seriously are so pain achingly boring that no one wants to see you then why be the face of the company??? any of the Bret Harts or John Morrison's who are better wrestlers and athletes and movie stars and promo men are still MILES beyond that of Backlund. How he ever became champ is beyond me!!!!

Backlund never would have been the champ in New York of all places for close to 6 years if no one wanted to see him.

Backlund was over, and he drew money. For the time, he was a great champion. Yes, once wrestling started changing to 'sports entertainment', he wasn't able to adapt for a long period of time, but that doesn't diminish what he did in an era where 'wrestling' matter first.

Also don't dismiss his mid 90's heel run. He had a fun character and 'Crazy' Bob was a perfect challenger for Bret Hart... the Wrestlemania 'I Quit' debacle notwithstanding.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

I personally always loved the Sandmans work with Mick Foley, and Sabu in the ECW. Sandman vs Sabu in the "Stairway to Hell" match at House Party 98 was unbelieveble, vintage ECW. Both men were indeed deserving champions.

I agree with Mickey Whipreck. That whole "Do You Believe In Miracles!" thing they were doing with him was stupid. The stuff the ECW was doing with the World Title at the end of their days was stupid as well. Dreamer never should have won ECW gold. He was MR. ECW, he should have always been that guy that always came close, but just couldn't win the strap. Justin Credible, and Steve Corino should never have won the World Title either, I don't understand why RVD wasn't wearing the strap through the last half of 2000/GAC 2001. He was in his prime.