Winning the WWE Championship is a goal for a lot of wrestlers. While there’s no doubt that WWE boasts some of the best talent in the world, not everyone gets to taste championship gold.
These wrestlers not only got to be in the main event scene, but they also managed to become World Champions in WWE. Despite that, not a lot of fans remember their title reign today.
Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship came as a surprise to most fans. He defeated Randy Orton in May 2017 and captured his first World Title in WWE. Over the course of the next few months, he would defeat Orton a few times, and also Shinsuke Nakamura.
His title reign didn’t last for a long time, however. Mahal lost the WWE Championship after only 6 months. He was scheduled for a Champion vs Champion match against Brock Lesnar, the Universal Champion at that time, at Survivor Series. However, shortly before the Premium Live Event, WWE decided to end Mahal’s reign and give the belt to AJ Styles. A lot of fans consider Mahal to be one of the worst WWE Champions in modern-day WWE history.
The Great Khali
Back in 2007, The Great Khali became the WWE Champion. He won the title belt in a 20-man battle royal match on the July 17, 2007 edition of SmackDown. Khali only kept the belt for two months before losing it to Batista at Unforgiven 2007.
There weren’t a lot of memorable moments from The Great Khali’s WWE Championship reign. He was a giant, but that’s mostly it. He wasn’t really good in the ring or on the microphone, according to most fans.
Jack Swagger
Jack Swagger was pushed onto the main event scene in the 2010s. He became Mr. Money in the Bank and cashed in the briefcase on Chris Jericho after receiving an assist from Edge.
The problem with Swagger was just that he didn’t have much charisma. WWE made a bet on him, but didn’t see any returns from it. Another problem was his booking. As the WWE Champion, he didn’t prove himself worthy of the title. WWE would also have him lose many matches as a champion, which further hurt his credibility among fans.
Finn Balor
Unlike other wrestlers mentioned in this list, Finn Balor was not only popular among fans, but he was also insanely talented in the ring. In July 2016, WWE first introduced the Universal Championship to fans. Finn Balor became the number one contender for the title and was scheduled for a match against Seth Rollins to crown the inaugural champion.
He managed to beat Rollins and became a World Champion. However, his title reign was cut short due to a shoulder injury he suffered during the show. Balor would miss months of in-ring time before returning.
Despite being a popular name in WWE to this day, Balor hasn’t had another run with a World Championship.
Ishaan Sharma has been following wrestling ever since he was 8. That was over a decade ago. He loves to write about this pretend sport and has worked with online publications such as Sportskeeda and TheSportster, where he shared his insights about the wrestling business.