Which World Heavyweight Champion Was Never Given The Chance?

[Tenta]

I guess I should be prepared for a million spam "Kane" answers. Nevertheless, this was something I thought up of a week ago, watching Kane win the World Title. For months and months, I'd heard that Kane never had "The Chance" as a World Heavyweight Champion. Mind you, he did hold the belt, but they still never took him seriously with it. One Stunner later the next night, and Kane's reign as Champion was over. Kane, as I've been told, has never been given a fair shake as World Champion. I will agree to some extent, but even looking farther, there were those that said Jack Swagger never got a fair shake all of these men who people have said never got the fair chance to carry the company, and I agree with plenty of them. Now, I'm going to ask you to boil it down, between every promotion you can find under the sun. Who, to you, just didn't have the fair chance. Which World Champion, to you, Was Never Given The Chance To Succeed?

Mine... It's actually probably going to shock you. He had long reigns, but in those long reigns, was never really given that much of a chance to succeed.

Yes, I'm fully aware that Randy Savage had a year lonf run as Champion, after beating Ted DiBiase at Wrestlemania IV. After getting plenty of help from... Wait for it.... Hulk Hogan.

First, let me get this off my chest; Randy Savage wasn't even scheduled to win the World Title. That honor was supposed to go to Ted DiBiase, as Savage was supposed to take the Intercontinental Title. Of course, Honky Tonk, being the little bitch he is, cause that's how he rolls, refuses to drop the title, which is cool for Savage, because now he's getting The World Title. But boy, did they ever treat it like he was an afterthought in the match. The Million Dollar Man actually somewhat dominated Savage through the match, and while they put on a great match, it was clear they were gearing it for a DiBiase win. That is, until Hulk Hogan hits DiBiase with a chair shot, which allows Savage to win the title. To us, the message was clear; Savage was nothing without Hogan. Savage may have been a great wrestler, but alone, he was nothing. With Hogan, that was the only way to man was capable of winning the title. Hell, one of the more infamous aspects of that match is, well, Hogan never allowed Savage to have his moment alone. Rather, he stayed in the ring, hogged the spotlight, in what should have been Savage's moment. The message was clear; Hulk Hogan still meant more than the World Heavyweight Champion. What should have been the coronation of a new face for the company became the obvious fact that The WWE's Champion was a Second Banana, and nothing more.

Which, humorously enough, became almost a running gag that Savage just wasn't as good as Hogan, which would begin with Savage needing help to beat a wounded Andre the Giant (You may recall the Jake Roberts "Andre's afraid of snakes" stuff), the same Andre cleanly beaten by Hulk Hogan, and still needing help to beat Ted DiBiase. In spite of all the fantastic matches Savage usually put out, mainly with DiBiase, the message was still clear to everyone that Hogan was the main point of the program. When time came for Summerslam, it was less about Savage's run as Champion, it was more about Hogan, oh, and here's his buddy who happens to be World Champion, Randy Savage. Rather than allowed the chance to defend his title in a one on one match, potentially a rematch with Ted, because they'd still yet to have a decisive winner, it was about Hogan and Savage. Again, we have the case of a wrestler not given the chance to get under Hogan's wing. I get that Hogan was the star of the WWE, but would it have hurt to give Hogan some breathing room from Hogan? The same issues would occur in the Survivor
Series, with Hogan saving his butt again, and The Royal Rumble, where tensions flared up between the two. It would also see Hulk Hogan setting the record for eliminations in a Royal Rumble in that time, again cementing the all known fact that Hogan was greater than Savage. They'd fight jealously over Elizabeth, and while the feud was good, it still never allowed Savage the chance to get out of Hogan's wing. What should have been the creation of a new cash cow for Vince became the World's first year long transition champion, only recreated by JBL. savage was asked to carry the likes of Hercules, Akeem, and Andre to championship matches, and when it was all said and done, in spite of his dutiful work, he was never allowed to get out of Hogan's wing.

Which brings us to 1992. We have Hulk Hogan taking on Ric Flair in the Main Event, but Hogan's having second thoughts, because his image is being killed in the media, for lying about steroids. Hogan decides to get the fuck away from wrestling, and it's decided to put the belt on the consistent wrestler who always worked fantastic matches, Randy Savage. Sound familiar? Anyway, once again, we have a match in which Savage barely edges out Flair, though even I admit it's probably my favorite match in the history of Wrestlemania. Still, again we have a controversial ending, in which the pulling of the tights cemented that Savage still wasn't good enough to win without trickery. Oh, and by the way, he didn't even go last. No, that went to Hulk Hogan, in what was balleyhooed as his "Well, it could be his farewell match, we're not sure, but we'll promote it as such anyway" against our residential Diaper Shitting Baby, Sid Justice. Actually, considering the amount of times I've heard Sid shit himself in the ring, I'm not shocked by that name. Again, worse match, terrible ending, brought the end of the event to a clunk. At which point, Creative just didn't know what to do with him. They kind of kept his feud with Flair alive, but asked that he try to recreate his past magic with the returning, and totally out of shape, Warrior. Even then, you had a case of a match that wasn't even put last on the card. Of course, the whole Bret-Bulldog thing went last, so I suppose it's justified. What wasn't justified, however, was having Savage lose by countout. Yes, yes, interference, but it was widely held, and believed, that Savage now was not only as good Hogan, but wasn't even as good as Warrior. Now, we have our champion as, yes, the third biggest name of the company. Soon enough, Savage was put out of his misery and Flair ended up with the title, but the damage was done. In spite of all Savage's work, and his ability to hold a company, he was always relegated to nothing more than an afterthought. Say what you will, Savage was not given a chance as champion.

But, that's just me. Who do you feel didn't get the fair chance as champion?

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

while several come to mind the one that really sticks out is Rob Van Dam. At the time of the invasion angle RVD was so over that even with ever attempt made to keep him in the background his star continued to shine brightest. So finally at One Night Stand after winning money in the bank, we see RVD facing off against the WWE's golden boy, and what do you know RVD actually pulls it off and becomes champ!

Less than a month later (now mind you this was due to his own stupidity), he gets pulled over while driving to a show with Sabu where he's apparently been smoking weed while driving, with WWE obviously having their hands tied on the situation, he's forced to drop the belt and serve a suspension. It does leave me wondering though, had that incident never occurred would the momentum have continued? How long may he have held on to the strap for, and what (if any) memorable feuds may have ensued as a result. As he gets up there in the years, is constantly outspoken about his love for marijuana, and his current stint in TNA, I'd say a return to WWE is less and less likely each day, so it's pretty safe to say that one month will be RVD's one and only run as WWE champ, and because of that I'd say he never really got a fair shake at the top.

 

[wiese7]

Which is why Savage can't stand Hogan to this day. Well put. Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit should also be considered. All were just given their moment in the sun but as always, politics, politics, politics, Guerrero lost to JBL while getting humiliated in the process, same for Benoit and Mysterio...and none of them got a high profile title match after that.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

This is a great topic. I really find myself loving every single one of your posts, Tenta.

There are so many transitional champs we could run with here. Kane is the clearly dead obvious choice here but I'll go with someone else. I'm going to say... CM Punk.

Each time Punk has held the title, he has been a weak transitional champion. He's had strong defenses but definitely has not had the opportunity to have the long reign he deserves. Punk has always been over with the crowd and has certainly paid his dues. As for his title reigns, his first was a 4 month thing after cashing in his MITB briefcase, his second came after defeating Jeff Hardy and then the two flipped the title a couple times. CM Punk has been a 3-time world champion and has held on to the title for maybe 5 1/2 months total. The last time he lost the championship was to The Undertaker... really?!? He didn't NEED the title at the time. This is when they should have given him the title for much longer. My vote is CM Punk.

 

[mongo51983]

If I recall correctly Kane won that World Title against Austin only because the Undertaker interfered in the match and made Austin bleed which the ref saw afterwards and that is how Kane became champion.

So would Kane became champ if it wasn't for the help of the Undertaker against Austin in that match?

So many people since then wanted Kane to become champ again but he will always be a shadow to the Undertaker.

Personally I love them both Kane and Undertaker and think they are great, once they leave the WWE I probably won't watch it anymore, I rarely watch it now as it is.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I guess I should be prepared for a million spam "Kane" answers. Nevertheless, this was something I thought up of a week ago, watching Kane win the World Title. For months and months, I'd heard that Kane never had "The Chance" as a World Heavyweight Champion. Mind you, he did hold the belt, but they still never took him seriously with it. One Stunner later the next night, and Kane's reign as Champion was over. Kane, as I've been told, has never been given a fair shake as World Champion. I will agree to some extent, but even looking farther, there were those that said Jack Swagger never got a fair shake all of these men who people have said never got the fair chance to carry the company, and I agree with plenty of them. Now, I'm going to ask you to boil it down, between every promotion you can find under the sun. Who, to you, just didn't have the fair chance. Which World Champion, to you, Was Never Given The Chance To Succeed?

Mine... It's actually probably going to shock you. He had long reigns, but in those long reigns, was never really given that much of a chance to succeed.

Yes, I'm fully aware that Randy Savage had a year lonf run as Champion, after beating Ted DiBiase at Wrestlemania IV. After getting plenty of help from... Wait for it.... Hulk Hogan.

First, let me get this off my chest; Randy Savage wasn't even scheduled to win the World Title. That honor was supposed to go to Ted DiBiase, as Savage was supposed to take the Intercontinental Title. Of course, Honky Tonk, being the little bitch he is, cause that's how he rolls, refuses to drop the title, which is cool for Savage, because now he's getting The World Title. But boy, did they ever treat it like he was an afterthought in the match. The Million Dollar Man actually somewhat dominated Savage through the match, and while they put on a great match, it was clear they were gearing it for a DiBiase win. That is, until Hulk Hogan hits DiBiase with a chair shot, which allows Savage to win the title. To us, the message was clear; Savage was nothing without Hogan. Savage may have been a great wrestler, but alone, he was nothing. With Hogan, that was the only way to man was capable of winning the title. Hell, one of the more infamous aspects of that match is, well, Hogan never allowed Savage to have his moment alone. Rather, he stayed in the ring, hogged the spotlight, in what should have been Savage's moment. The message was clear; Hulk Hogan still meant more than the World Heavyweight Champion. What should have been the coronation of a new face for the company became the obvious fact that The WWE's Champion was a Second Banana, and nothing more.

Which, humorously enough, became almost a running gag that Savage just wasn't as good as Hogan, which would begin with Savage needing help to beat a wounded Andre the Giant (You may recall the Jake Roberts "Andre's afraid of snakes" stuff), the same Andre cleanly beaten by Hulk Hogan, and still needing help to beat Ted DiBiase. In spite of all the fantastic matches Savage usually put out, mainly with DiBiase, the message was still clear to everyone that Hogan was the main point of the program. When time came for Summerslam, it was less about Savage's run as Champion, it was more about Hogan, oh, and here's his buddy who happens to be World Champion, Randy Savage. Rather than allowed the chance to defend his title in a one on one match, potentially a rematch with Ted, because they'd still yet to have a decisive winner, it was about Hogan and Savage. Again, we have the case of a wrestler not given the chance to get under Hogan's wing. I get that Hogan was the star of the WWE, but would it have hurt to give Hogan some breathing room from Hogan? The same issues would occur in the Survivor
Series, with Hogan saving his butt again, and The Royal Rumble, where tensions flared up between the two. It would also see Hulk Hogan setting the record for eliminations in a Royal Rumble in that time, again cementing the all known fact that Hogan was greater than Savage. They'd fight jealously over Elizabeth, and while the feud was good, it still never allowed Savage the chance to get out of Hogan's wing. What should have been the creation of a new cash cow for Vince became the World's first year long transition champion, only recreated by JBL. savage was asked to carry the likes of Hercules, Akeem, and Andre to championship matches, and when it was all said and done, in spite of his dutiful work, he was never allowed to get out of Hogan's wing.

Which brings us to 1992. We have Hulk Hogan taking on Ric Flair in the Main Event, but Hogan's having second thoughts, because his image is being killed in the media, for lying about steroids. Hogan decides to get the fuck away from wrestling, and it's decided to put the belt on the consistent wrestler who always worked fantastic matches, Randy Savage. Sound familiar? Anyway, once again, we have a match in which Savage barely edges out Flair, though even I admit it's probably my favorite match in the history of Wrestlemania. Still, again we have a controversial ending, in which the pulling of the tights cemented that Savage still wasn't good enough to win without trickery. Oh, and by the way, he didn't even go last. No, that went to Hulk Hogan, in what was balleyhooed as his "Well, it could be his farewell match, we're not sure, but we'll promote it as such anyway" against our residential Diaper Shitting Baby, Sid Justice. Actually, considering the amount of times I've heard Sid shit himself in the ring, I'm not shocked by that name. Again, worse match, terrible ending, brought the end of the event to a clunk. At which point, Creative just didn't know what to do with him. They kind of kept his feud with Flair alive, but asked that he try to recreate his past magic with the returning, and totally out of shape, Warrior. Even then, you had a case of a match that wasn't even put last on the card. Of course, the whole Bret-Bulldog thing went last, so I suppose it's justified. What wasn't justified, however, was having Savage lose by countout. Yes, yes, interference, but it was widely held, and believed, that Savage now was not only as good Hogan, but wasn't even as good as Warrior. Now, we have our champion as, yes, the third biggest name of the company. Soon enough, Savage was put out of his misery and Flair ended up with the title, but the damage was done. In spite of all Savage's work, and his ability to hold a company, he was always relegated to nothing more than an afterthought. Say what you will, Savage was not given a chance as champion.

But, that's just me. Who do you feel didn't get the fair chance as champion?

Goodness, you seem so bitter, really you seem extremely bitter. I hear your points and they're all vaild. Like in WCW, especially when Savage finally beat Sting for the World Title (which is upcoming on the following night's Nitro on WWE OnDemand I believe next week), what happens? Hogan comes out and robs Savage of the title. A year later when Savage again wins the World Title, he loses it to...Hogan. Both times he lost the title it was due to outside interference, with Bret Hart joining the nWo, which made absolutely NO sense whatsoever, I mean NONE and then Kevin Nash doing this interference on Savage a year later.

But I won't say it's Savage although I did mention on youtube that Savage's reign in April 1998 should have been longer. The man was over so well and they could have ran with that angle at least until July. I think Hogan knew that they were possibly grooming Goldberg and, looking at the big payday he was going to get, Hogan, being the man (or lack thereof) he was & still is today, decided HE wanted the title so HE could drop it to Goldberg.

My person is none other than Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, who beat Harley Race in 1981 for the NWA World Title. Oddly enough Tommy's reign lasted less than a week yet he proceeded one Ric Flair as World Champion first.

I say Tommy because he REALLY didn't get a chance to run with it back when the title actually meant something. Tommy's program with Buzz Sawyer among others were classics, and say what you will about the man, I would have loved to have seen him carry the belt over to Flair and be a transitional champion for him instead of Race getting it back just to pad his record. By the time '81 rolled around Race was already a legend so he didn't need to beat Tommy, instead he could have put Tommy over, let Race have a few MONTHS as champion and THEN give the belt to Flair. Ric Flair ended up with an almost two year reign from 1981-1983 when he lost the belt to...Harley Race, get my point?

Tommy Rich could have been a legend had the NWA, namely the people in Kansas City and Harley Race not stiffled his reign, cutting it short and causing him to be one the most unknown World Champions ever. Poor Tommy.

 

[Jslim65]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and alot of you will probably laugh but i think St. Slaughter didn't get a fair shake. Besides The great Macho King, Slaughter was the top heel in the company when he beat Warrior 4 the title at the 90' Royal Rumble. Or was it 91' i should remember this i was there 2 see it. I was a huge Warrior fan but was happy 2 see Slaughter finally get a shot with the belt. Of course it was just a a set up 2 put the belt back on Thunder Lips himself Hogan.

 

[GameOver]

Say what you will, Savage was not given a chance as champion.

But, that's just me. Who do you feel didn't get the fair chance as champion?

Couldn't agree more.

other names to throw into that is
Dibiase, once again product of the Hogan (heels can't be champs era)

Benoit - dominant until Randy Orton was thrown in. then thrown away like yesterdays garbage and people wonder why he fippled out

Eddie Guerrero - bit 50/50 on that one. He was good and deserved one title run, which he got, but i feel the title was just a gift for turning his life around, something to say to the others hey look even in your darkest point, there's a chance to turn your life around and be given an oppportunity


shouldn't be on the list

Rey mysterio - he should never have been considered in the first place. It was obviously a suck up to friends, family and fans of Eddie Guerrero. and possibly Eddie was scheduled to get another title run had he not passed away

Rey was horrible as champ and still is. sick of them shoving down our throats "the fight in the dog can constantly overcome 5 times the weight and 100's of times the punishment". oh but his opponents can take next to no punishment to be beaten.

Sorry but that was believable with Hogan as he was 300pounds of muscle. No way in hell is it with Rey Mysterio.

Kane - (masked) he was just a transitional champ to further the fued between Austin and Taker, his downfall, and in no shape or form could he have carried the company in it's fight against WCW

(unmasked) outside of the WWE/WCW war Kane was kept in the title scene often but wasn't just there as a filler it seemed. and without the mask he wasn't even taken serious by fans. He was the Big Red Machine that couldn't win to save his life, much like Big Show was the largest athlete in WWE and a monster yet he couldn't win. ???? Neither of them have much to offer than just imposing looks.

 

[Matyy256]

Chris Benoit def. As soon as he lost the World title it seemed he went back to midcard status. I've always thought that instead of Tey Mysterio Benoit should have been the one that paid tribute to Eddie by winning the Royal Rumble and winning the World Title at WM as he would have been more believeable as a champ and wouldnt have jobbed to Mark Henry and Kane like Mysterio did. I would say Eddie also, but i've heard numerous times that Eddie was planned to take the title from Batista a week after he died. And Stephanie actually said he was during her promo about him

 

[ilapierre]

Tenta, once again another great thread. I completely 100 percent agree with your argument that Randy Savage was not given the ball properly to run with ANY time
he was champ, no matter for what company. In the past 10 years, WWE spin doctors
have sort of written Savage out of history. The kids of today are told a story of him being nowhere near as important as Hogan, Hart, or Michaels although he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. Even back then though it's clear Randy Savage always had to appear second string in his important roles, always behind Hogan or Warrior or Flair regardless if he was World Champ. Regardless if his reigns were one year or one day, he was never given the proper opportunity to carry either company. I think Savage had all the potential in the world to be as big as Hogan and perhaps the best wrestler of all time. Imagine if he was chosen in 84 over Hogan to lead the company and then headline the following years first Wrestlemania. It could just have easily been him. Instead it was a power hungry jerk like Hogan who wrestled like shit and refused to lose to anybody. Savage cut some of the greatest promos, did the best interviews, did some of the most entertaining things in the ring for an 80s guy, and wrestled some of the greatest wrestling matches against the greatest wrestlers ever. Fans went beserk for this guy. In eras where it was hard to get that ever elusive pin, he's pinned guys like Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Bruno Sammartino, Ricky Steamboat, Lex Luger, Sting, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero..and the list goes on..But never Hogan. Or Warrior. Or Andre. Or Taker. Or Piper. Or Yokozuna. These guys were big guys (with the exception of the immortal Rowdy Roddy Piper who rarely if ever got pinned in any match) who Vince wouldn't let him beat. If Savage were given a proper chance as a real world champ he would have been able to beat all comers including most of these guys.

Even though Savage was still huge and regarded as one of the best world champs, i still think there was a little something extra WWE could have capitalized on and didn't when pushing the Macho Man. In WCW in 98 when Savage won the World Title, (like some guy posted here earlier) Savage was SUPER over. He was now the leader of the NWO because he won the World Title. There was SO much WCW could have done with that storyline that fans would have ate up. They could have built Savage up as the new leader of one side of the NWO against Hogan and the other. But instead, Kevin Nash booked himself as the leader, regulating Savage to his assistant (Savage was legitimately injured so this might be the reason for that). A lot of fans today think Hogan was so much better and over than Savage. But i would argue that if it weren't for Savage, Hogan wouldn't be as big as he is today. Savage took a back seat to Hogan when he should have been the new top draw for the company in 1988. Savage's in ring ability, the reality like promos he cut badmouthing Hogan, and the chemistry they had together in and out of the ring helped Hogan just as much as Savage and Hogan really didn't need any extra help. Sure Hogan may have cut the best promos of all time and sure he probably sold more merchandise than anybody else times ten, but Savage made Hogan look good when Hogan wasn't wearing the gold and that was never ever reciprocated. Hence, why Savage hates Hogan to this day. When it came to wearing the World Heavyweight Title, Hulk Hogan essentially cockblocked the Macho Man.

 

[gameshowfreak]

I just looked through the list on wwe.com and here's a few that stand out to me:


Andre The Giant: Yes, he was past his prime when he finally won it, but he was still a top star in the company and had been dominant for years.

Kane (wwf title run): Should have lasted longer than a day, even if he only held it a month, he should have gotten a credible reign. He was a rising heel and it could have really helped get him over, but when he lost it the next day, it sort of buried him.

Jeff Hardy (all 3 reigns): his wwe title reign lasted about a month and a half, his first world heavyweight title reign lasted only a few minutes (when CM Punk used the mitb) and his next world title reign was only about a month again because he was leaving the company. always over, he was getting better on the mic and still could have had many years ahead of him.

CM Punk: his first reign was a joke, it was WAY too early to make him the champion, the 2nd reign was so short lived and it was so predictable he was going to lose it back to Jeff Hardy, his 3rd reign got cut short because of backstage politics (something he said about Cena). Plus, 2 of his reigns began becuase he cheap shotted with the mitb, they made him look weak as the champ, too bad, cause he could pull it off if they'd let him.

 

[god-soldier]

I agree with you about Randy Savage he was an underated and never was given a real title run in WWE or WCW. I feel like thats not really fair to a guy who was a great athlete and a huge fan favorite but it seems to me that promoters only wanna rely on the one person making money for them n thats it no matter how great of wrestler you are i have a list of guys for both companys n here is WCW first

Ron Simmons: held the WCW title from august-december and he defended the title 4 times in those months against Cactus Jack Steve Williams Vader n the Barbarian in all of his championship matches he was never the main event he was always under carding to Sting n i felt personally because even though he was the first black champion in the eyes of WCW staff he wasnt able to be main event as champion because of Sting was the biggest draw n when you have a new champion shouldnt he main event the event
and the WWE he was never allowed to even be a world champion

Goldberg: He was hyped to be the greatest world champion ever and after he lost too Nash and lost his streak he never saw another WCW title again which i believe wasnt fair at all because they booked him as so dominate of a wrestler to only hold the title for 174 days i think Goldberg as champion with more long regins may have saved WCW
When Goldberg came to the WWE his world title run was tarnished when he held it from september-december because HHH wouldnt let anyone be better than him on raw which wasnt fair because Goldberg was a bigger name then HHH even then maybe not now but definatly then the WWE never wanted to admit Goldberg was one of their if not their biggest name in 2003-2004 He shou;d of had a long regin as champion n should of challeneged Brock lesnar for the WWE title at Wrestlemania XX I love Eddie n i use to like Beniot but Goldberg should have been given his due because he never really got it. When you think about it who could really beat goldberg 1-2-3 in the midlle fo the ring???

Booker T: Booker has been shitted on in the wrestling business for some reason he is a great athlete and a great wrestler n he is okay on the mic but every time Booker T had a title regin it was very short lived even in the WWE he had one shot at being a champion atleast he was considered the champion of champions in his little title regin but Booker always deserved too be a long term champion he was great in the ring and so many titles and acolades to his credit

Kerry Von Erich: He won the NWA title from Ric Flair in a tribute match too his brother match he held the title for 2 weeks and dropped it too Flair. I believe if Kerry had a long term chance at being NWA champion he could have been one of wrestling hugest stars he had the look charisma and coming off an emotional lost of his popular brother would have put him over the top of the wrestling world with a long sucessful mutliple title regins it may have saved Jim Crockett Promotions

Ricky Steamboat: he should have had long n multiple regins as the NWA champion as well as WCW n WWE champions. He was a great athlete and one of the most popular wrestlers in the world and he beat all the old stars n all the up and coming 90's star his regin in any of the companies would have been profitable

 

[god-soldier]

In the WWE/WWF there has been alot fo champions who never got their fair share as being a world champion of some kind. We already heard about the injustice done to Randy Savage but here are a few more in my book.

Mankind/Cactus Jack/Mick Foley: He only won the title 3 times and he fought for it dozens of times but only had 2 regins and they werent even a combined month he should of had 4 regins one as cactus jack in 99 especially since he was in the main event of wrestlemania anyway he might as well had the belt going in plus Mick deserved it he was hard working and a great competitor even though some people think he is a glorified stunt man but thats for another time overal Mick should of had longer regins as champion

undertaker: yeah i said it undertaker every time undetaker wins a world title he never holds it longer than 3 months in 3 months he gives up the title i mean come on he is dominate popular and unbeatable why can he only hold a world title for 3 months so many regins n no time to enjoy them

Ric Flair: had 2 regins as champion they were only combined 111 days as big of name ric Flair was his regins should of been longer if he were to win the belt from Savage in september again anyway n drop it a month later why waste time let him hold the belt from the rumble till october in Saskatoon Ric deserved a 9 month regin after all yokozuna had one its a travisty it wasnt long enough

Sgt.Slaughter: he waited forever to be a champion finally got it and it only lasted barley 2 months all those years of waiting and you get 2 louzy months the WWF is unbelieveable they really loved that Hogan because its just not fair to competitors

Of course their are guys who didnt get their due as champion like Rob Van Dam Chris Beniot Eddie Guerrero Rey Mysterio and of course Kane who are all great wrestlers who never really had a chance to showcase being champions because they always had to side steps for losers like John Cena, HHH, JBL, and Edge all guys except for HHH who should of never been world champions anyways thats just my opinion but as a fan i'm tired of waiting for good wrestlers to win world titles and having too step a side for an old loser or a new joke thats just not fair give the wrestlers who pay their dues put everyone over and are great talent what they deserve long mulitple title regins

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Rather good picks for this. Mine is one that most people sort of overlooked: The Giant in WCW. Let's break down both title reigns here.

1st reign: Won the belt after a special clause that if Jimmy Hart interfered then Hogan would lose the title. This led to a Hart heel turn and Hogan losing the title. Reign was ended after about a week due to forced vacating of the title. Tried to win the title back in the WW3 battle royal but hogan screwed him over.

2nd reign: Defeated Ric Flair for the title, lost it rather quickly to nWo Hogan thanks to Hall and Nash.

You see the common denominator: Hulk Hogan. Sgt. Slaughter and Ted Dibiase fell under the same problem of Hulk's influence. I'm willing to bet that's how come we have RVD as the TNA champion instead of AJ styles, who's arguably the real face of TNA.

 

[That Don Guy]

I assume this is not limited to WWE (especially since somebody included The Giant's two WCW titles).

My choice is the guy that, from what I have heard, intentionally was not given a chance (and, in fact, knew this would be the case when he won the title): Ron Garvin, in 1987 (apparently, they needed somebody besides Flair to be NWA World Champion going into Starrcade so Flair could win the belt back).

As for WWE, in addition to the obvious choices (Kane, and Stan Stasiak), how about Yokozuna? True, after the WrestleMania IX incident, he would win the title back (thanks to the one person in the history of professional wrestling to make it as far as the ring apron without security hauling him away having the one camera in the history of modern photography that explodes - right into Hogan's face), but it seemed that the first King of the Ring (Bret Hart?) was being treated as the WWE's top wrestler.

-- Don

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Rick Rude was clearly not given a fair shake, they gave him the NWA title in WCW, so he could defend in Japan... but he never got either a WWF or WCW full blown title run...

It's sad that when he died he was training to come back cos then I think we would have seen him lift the WWF title at least once...

There have been some really stupid title changes over the years that harmed the belt rather than helped it... I think Yokozuna's 1st title win was pointless and served only to massage Hulk's ego... his 2nd was long and kinda made up for it...but again you could see that it was all geared towards Luger... Only Luger managed to cock it up...

Bob Backlund deserved better 2nd time around...at least a televised match to lose to Diesel...

I think the worst culprit was Vince with the 4 guys who legitemately kicked his ass for years... Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat 2nd time around and Kerry Von Erich... what happened to them in the WWF was nothing short of blasphemy... Sure all were older but their previous title reigns in the NWA deserved better... Kerry was limited but still far better than he was pushed and allowed to be... he was pretty much punished for David not signing... The IC title was only cos Davey Boy had his car crash... he was gonna be the hot new star.... Harley was treated like a cartoon joke rather than the legend he was and Dusty was treated like an abortion once he managed to shove the polka dots to Vince... the only highlight of his time was his short lived team with Dustin... Ricky's 2nd run was just sad... you could tell he'd been promised the earth and got a pile of soil...