Who is the worst WWE World Champion of all time?

[Tequila Dave]

Since the WWE Championship’s inception in 1963, roughly 47 wrestlers/superstars have officially held either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship in the WWE. My question is, out of those 47, who was the worst champion?

This may seem like a simple straight forward question at first, but I also want to know what makes that particular champion the worst, and what makes a champion bad in general. Below are a few examples of what some may consider to qualities of a ‘bad’ champion.

Short title reigns and few title defences
This is the easy option. Many wrestlers/superstars have had short title reigns, but only Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon, Stan Stasiak, Buddy Rogers and Rob Van Dam had their only title reign last less than a month. Does this make them bad champions?

Being a ‘bad wrestler’
There have been many world champions in WWE history who have lacked the technical abilities to be regarded as a ‘good wrestler.’ I’m on about the people who were huge and scary looking and got the belt despite being shit in the ring (The Great Khali is the first one to come to mind) and anyone else who couldn’t deliver in the ring.

Didn’t draw or wasn’t over
Essentially, if no one is watching or if no one is reacting, can someone still be a good champion? A lot of time people talk about Shawn Michaels not drawing in fans even though he was such a good entertainer and technical wrestler, but does this mean he was unsuccessful as a champion?

Made the championship look less credible
There are certain champions who have really hurt the prestige of the belts they’ve held. A lot of people talk about Vince Russo and David Arquette making the WCW Championship look like a piece of shit due to the fact they weren’t wrestlers (even though I don’t hear a lot of people complaining about Vince McMahon’s title run in 1999) and others complain about Jack Swagger’s recent title reign made the belot look weak due to the fact he was an un-established borderline jobber before his he won it.

These are just some possible qualities of a ‘bad champion,’ now it’s up to you to decide: Who is the worst WWE World Champion of all time? And why?

 

[WWTNA]

The worst WWE Champion was Kevin Nash. He really was a boring Champion and didn't draw anything. I really think IMO that the reason Nash was WWE Champion is because they wanted to take him out of Shawn Michaels' spotlight which did not work at all. It worked in WCW but not in WWE.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Vince McMahon.

WWE has always tried to depict their world title as a time-honored, prestigious asset that has been held by some of the greatest wrestlers in history. Then, they make a mockery of it by handing it to VKM.

-We knew he won it by accident and not by his own honest effort.
-We knew he was never going to have a serious defense of the title.
-We knew he wasn't destined to hold it very long. If you want to compare his reign to Kane's first title run, the difference is that we didn't know Kane was destined to hold it for such a short time. With Vince, we knew it.


Yes, we knew this was done for storyline purposes (the WWE's answer to David Arquette in WCW). That's fine......but when we're asked to name the worst WWE champion ever, I give you Vince McMahon.

 

[The Man They Call WMD]

Khali is the worst champion ever. He cannot wrestle , he cannot talk. I dont know what he offers now as well as then

 

[acstylez]

Ladies and gentalmen I give you "The Miz". He appitomizes what's wrong with wrestling and why he shouldn't be champion. His wrestling skill is sub-par and so is his appeal. He has no buisness parading around with an actual championship. His only skill is talking and getting his ass handed to him. See Jerry Lawler vs The Miz for proof. He needs a title drop and a pink slip IMO.

 

[CAPT SPAULD1NG8]

wel there are two guys who immediately come to mind. john bradshaw layfield and the great khali.

jbl - he was just a shitty wrestler. i kind of feel wwe just gave him the title because they had no other top guys to give it to. they build him up and put the strap on him. he was never a good singles guy in my opinion. he was ok on the mic and drew alot of heat but thats where it stops. he was a botch machine and his in ring work was sloppy and ok at best.

khali - he should have never of held the belt. he is probobly the worst wrestler in history and he couldnt speak english witch made it hard for him to build his character. the only reason he had the belt was simply because of his size. you cant be 7 ft 3in and be a jobber so they put him up against established names and for some reason had him win.

 

[Strife3]

I've said it before on the TNA Forums and I'll say it here. by far JEFF HARDY!

WWE put the WWE and WHC into Jeff's hands and he is a druggy. They don't see fit to give MVP a chance while he was still with the WWE yet they gave it to Jeff Hardy. Jeff is a pour wrestler and Matt carried the Hardy boys. It doesn't take much talent to do a flip off a 25 foot ladder into a table or stick my fingers up, turn around and give a different version of a stone cold stunner to someone.

Jeff was overrated before he got to be WWE Champion and he's even more so since then.

Atleast with "The Miz' being champion it is a step up from Jeff Hardy. The Miz is atleast worth watching even if it's to get his butt kicked by an announcer.

 

[vampirek]

The majority will pick stupid ones, like the one above about The Miz (who might I add has only been champion two weeks!). The likes of Cena, Nash, Rey, JBL will all appear for stupid reasons to.

The worst champion is The Great Khali, no decent feuds, a dodgy title win and hardily an epic way to lose the title (something JBL, Nash both had). In terms of individual reigns, Bob Backland's last run as champion was the worst run of any champion

 

[StraightEdge for Life]

Without a doubt it was The Great Khali. He couldn't wrestle for shit. It's also nice to have the World Champ actually be able to speak English so most of the people watching know what he is actually saying. Even his title reign was a means to put the belt on somebody following Edge's injury, the fact that he held the title for 2 full months is beside me.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

I've said it before on the TNA Forums and I'll say it here. by far JEFF HARDY!

WWE put the WWE and WHC into Jeff's hands and he is a druggy. They don't see fit to give MVP a chance while he was still with the WWE yet they gave it to Jeff Hardy. Jeff is a pour wrestler and Matt carried the Hardy boys. It doesn't take much talent to do a flip off a 25 foot ladder into a table or stick my fingers up, turn around and give a different version of a stone cold stunner to someone.

Jeff was overrated before he got to be WWE Champion and he's even more so since then.

Atleast with "The Miz' being champion it is a step up from Jeff Hardy. The Miz is atleast worth watching even if it's to get his butt kicked by an announcer.

I am sorry but this is all wrong You are entitled to your opinion but no!
The difference why MVP doesn't get a chance is because he already has served a jail sentence, compared with Jeff Hardy who hasn't so having an exconvict as a champion is bad for business more than druggy. Either way Jeff Hardy was a mediocre champion not the worst of all time.

Worst has to go to Jack Swagger, it was pointless unwarranted and nobody realy cared. He got nothing out of it look at him now, he has all the potential in the world but his world title run was anti climatic he just wasn't ready at all.

 

[BatistrioFlyPunt]

I say the Miz too. He has been shoved down out throats with the "money in the bank" storyline for months. Now he is champion. Really? I am more of the John Morrison fan to be honest, so it kills me that the more talented of the two is a high mid-carder at best. What did Miz do to deserve the title so quickly? Why does it get handed to the one-sided wrestlers like Miz, Sheamus, or Jack Swagger? I do agree that the same people shouldn't hold the belts all of the time. But you can at least get someone actually talented to hold the belt. Yes I know Randy Orton is talented to an extent, but besides him who has held a world or WWE title that has been over-all talented in a while?

 

[Killswitch1337]

mine would have to be either batista or andre the giant.
batista mainly because i dont like his mic skills, wrestling ability, or overall look. plus the reign in question is the one in which he held for only one night.
i say andre, because he currently holds the record for shortest title reign with 45 seconds.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Yes, we knew this was done for storyline purposes (the WWE's answer to David Arquette in WCW). That's fine......but when we're asked to name the worst WWE champion ever, I give you Vince McMahon.

I agree that McMahon is the worst champion ever, but just a fact check; Vince McMahon won the WWE Championship in October of 1999, while David Arquette won the WCW Title in the Spring of 2000, so while both were extremely bad ideas, it was WWE who did it first, so it wasn't their Answer to Arquette... There answer to Arquette's title win was buying WCW less than a year later with the change that Vince happened to have in his pocket that day

 

[The Brain]

I'm sure plenty will disagree, but I think Mankind was one of the worst champions. I'm not saying he didn't deserve the title. I thought his first title win on Raw was awesome. His title reigns however were nothing special at all. He is a three time champion for a comibned total of about one month. His first two reigns were just one feud with The Rock and his thrid lasted 24 hours. He had no business winning that third title in the first place. Of course guys like Vince McMahon or Andre The Giant had worse reigns but that's obvious and everyone recognizes it. On the other hand everyone always seems to praise Foley for being a three time champion without realizing his reigns weren't very good.

 

[blackmetalbuick]

I'm gonna go with the Miz as well. I'm supposed to believe that this guy is our World Heavyweight Champion? The guy is way overrated and must have a horseshoe up his butt that he was lucky enough for WWE to want to push him so hard for no apparent reason. He is ok on the mic, but incredibly cheesy and overdone. Compare to someone with natural charisma like CM Punk. He doesn't stand there and make MySpace picture "duck lips" facial expressions to try to appear upset. Mic work is okay, but there are plenty better. Hell, Alex Riley plays his role more naturally than the Miz. In ring work? He offers nothing. Corner clothesline is about the one interesting thing he does. Skull Crushing Finale? Bad move, dumber name. He's not quick, he's not technical, he's not powerful, he's not anything special. How about his looks? He physique is nothing special. Not extremely muscular and not extremely ripped, so he ends up looking pretty damn average.

 

[Strife3]

I am sorry but this is all wrong You are entitled to your opinion but no!
The difference why MVP doesn't get a chance is because he already has served a jail sentence, compared with Jeff Hardy who hasn't so having an exconvict as a champion is bad for business more than druggy. Either way Jeff Hardy was a mediocre champion not the worst of all time.

I agree that Khali was a bad champion I still say jeff is worse. Now Wolf your telling me i have the right to my opinion but at the same time your telling me it's totally wrong. MVP served his time. What he did and went to jail for is over, He was released with his debt paid. This should not have effected his work life but that's the way of the world.

It was a bad move to begin with to give Jack Swagger the MitB cause his run was nothing and no body cared yet it still pulled the numbers cause people wanted to see him lose it.

I am a fan of the Miz but I think he was given the title a bit early.

Going back to Jeff Hardy. He was suspended from WWE for drug use, He was pulled from MitB at WM because of drugs. The trial he has now he's not gonna have to server time cause of how popular he is with the woman and Guys who like Guys. Jeff needs to be thrown in Jail for what he did and serve his time like MVP did and see if he can still be in line for a WHC match.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

To me Foleys third reign just felt like Austin didn't want to put over Triple H so they gave it to Foley instead. I don't know if that's what really happened, but if you look at it that's what it looked like to me. Why did they give Foley the title only to have him lose it the next night to Triple H? Why didn't Austin just drop the title directly to Triple H? And why was Foley even in that match?

 

[TheSaintSays]

I'm surprised that no one has gone with Jack Swagger yet. He was relentlessly buried at every chance while he had the belt until he dropped it. I honestly have no idea why they put him over in MITB if they were just going to bury him that bad.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

having an exconvict as a champion is bad for business

Are you nuts? It's called a redemption story. People LOVE redemption stories. Just look at what is happening right now with Michael Vick. Getting behind a guy who is making an honest attempt to change his life after being incarcerated is a great story and one the WWE could have exploited in pushing MVP.

Vince McMahon won the WWE Championship in October of 1999

I believe Vince won it in September 1999, then vacated it which led to the first six-pack match. Your point still stands, and Vince won it well before Arquette.

As for the question, I think Khali's run was pretty pointless. Andre's too. He beats Hogan with the crooked ref and then sells the belt to Ted DiBiase. The only reason for the whole thing was to get the belt from Hogan to Savage without having Hogan lose to Savage. I don't even know if you can consider what Andre had as a title reign.

 

[EEPunk]

Any champion who was given a run as a "feel good moment". I.E. Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy, the kid who grew up wrestling in his backyard, blah blah blah, did nothing as champ except establish CM Punk as an awesome heel. Rey's first reign happened ONLY because he was Eddie's friend and Eddiesploitation was huge after his death.

 

[[cL]]

Ladies and gentalmen I give you "The Miz". He appitomizes what's wrong with wrestling and why he shouldn't be champion. His wrestling skill is sub-par and so is his appeal. He has no buisness parading around with an actual championship. His only skill is talking and getting his ass handed to him. See Jerry Lawler vs The Miz for proof. He needs a title drop and a pink slip IMO.

my sentiments exactly. I got crucified on this thread weeks ago when I said this exact thing. But someone helped me realize something. The WWE title has lost a lot of prestige since they brought in the WCW title. When people could wrestle for 2 world titles instead of one, no matter how much they still tried to differenciate the WWE title from the WHC, its still TWO world championships...and then when they brought in the ECW championship it got even worse. My whole point is, I totally agree that the MIZ isn't a credible champion, but is the wwe title even a credible title anymore?

 

[mrbooker]

I agree that Khali was a bad champion I still say jeff is worse. Now Wolf your telling me i have the right to my opinion but at the same time your telling me it's totally wrong. MVP served his time. What he did and went to jail for is over, He was released with his debt paid. This should not have effected his work life but that's the way of the world.

It was a bad move to begin with to give Jack Swagger the MitB cause his run was nothing and no body cared yet it still pulled the numbers cause people wanted to see him lose it.

I am a fan of the Miz but I think he was given the title a bit early.

Going back to Jeff Hardy. He was suspended from WWE for drug use, He was pulled from MitB at WM because of drugs. The trial he has now he's not gonna have to server time cause of how popular he is with the woman and Guys who like Guys. Jeff needs to be thrown in Jail for what he did and serve his time like MVP did and see if he can still be in line for a WHC match.

Because your opinion is garbage and you back it up like a 4 year old So Jeff Hardy is the worst WHC because of what he has done outside of the ring. Your argument might as well have BIAS written all over it. You going to judge WHC on things that dont even happen on you TV screen.

Jeff Hardy was the 2nd most over, arguably most over superstar in wwe over john cena in a time where guy like HBK, HHH, Taker, CM Punk, Orton where all on the WWE roster and on wwe regualar programming week after week.

Unlike Strife here i will actually pay attention to the things that matter when evaluating wrestlers who hold titles. charisma, match excitment, and the ability to make people care.

Great Khali, Jack Swagger, CM Punks 1st title reign(see jack swagger). Neither one did any of these Khali and swagger where both heels who had none of the above, cm punk had charisma, and good wrestling skills but lacked the ability to make people people care or generate match excitment and had the title punted off of him in a backstage segment 3 months into his reign.

 

[Calamity-Jim]

The difference why MVP doesn't get a chance is because he already has served a jail sentence, compared with Jeff Hardy who hasn't so having an exconvict as a champion is bad for business more than druggy.

Wait, so it's better to have some drugged out hack who hasn't been arrested yet, can jump off high things and can't do much else than a guy that has actual talent, been given a second chance and trying to do right with it as a champion?

Ouch...

But anyway, my pick would be The not so great Khali. Just another big guy who couldn't really do anything, not even speak english. If he where actually good in the ring, I wouldn't mind. But he wasn't even good at that either! All he did was chop people in the head. The only interesting thing we got out of that sham of a tittle reign was the weird punjabi prison match, which sucked.
So glad wwe never made that into a ppv concept.

 

[hdchz013]

To mrbooker....I may be wrong here...but doesn't the WWE give their heavyweight championships to people that they want representing their company? In the WWE's mind...they feel that they want the Miz right now as their "main guy"....that's not just on television...that's in the public eye too. You have to judge how the person is when they aren't on television too...if you didn't...then the WWE wouldn't suspend wrestlers for "wellness violations" because it's simply "not on the TV screen".
So going to the question...I do believe that Jeff Hardy would be (in MY mind) the worst champion ever...because the WWE wanted us to look up to him as a "good guy" when most of us know the way he was when he wasn't on television.

 

[MMSoldier]

I have to say either the miz or khali. Neither of them can wrestle, khali can't speak english, equaling horrible promos, and miz is just anal about everything.