I was recently viewing the Championship Title holders from WWE and wCw past where I thought it would be entertaining to list the best wrestlers from past to present that have never had the top gold for their business. This list only includes the non-Heavyweight Titleholders, not the other mid-card titles (Lets face it, almost everyone has accomplished the feight of winning the U.S, Intercontinental, T.V, or European championships.)
Lets start first with the old fogies whove never worn championship gold around their waists. During the mid 70s to the mid 80s names like Billy Graham, Bob Backlund, The Iron Sheik, Andre The Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Pedro Morales, and of coarse Hulk Hogan were the top athletes of their time and highlighted many great events around the United States, hell around the world. But what name mentioned above has never won the Heavyweight Title or for that matter any other WWF/WWE title available in those times? Not Pedro Morales, hes a Triple Crown champion, its the famed Jimmy Snuka. Yes, the man who was the original high flyer and who inspired many young high flyers to fulfill their dreams of becoming wrestlers never won the World, Intercontinental, or Tag Team Titles. In fact, in the WWE 50 Greatest Superstars Of All-Time list (From WWE Magazine) he was one of the very few on the list that never won a championship belt.
Ricky The Dragon Steamboat also comes to mind as a one of the greatest wresters never to have World gold. Unlike Snuka, Ricky Steamboat did happen to grasp the Intercontinental Title and also the Tag Team Championship on a number of occasions. He broke into the business by winning against The Nature Boy Rick Flair and never looked back. His greatest accomplishment though, came when he won what would become one of the greatest wrestling matches ever against Randy Savage at Wrestlemania III for the Intercontinental Title. Still with all the great success The Dragon has had during his illustrious career has never been a World Champion for the WWF/WWE.
Can anybody believe that Roddy Piper never took the top gold for the WWE/F or the wCw? Now I could maybe understand him not getting the high spot for the WWF because the only way he got television time was with Pipers Pit and that didnÂ’t last very long, but with wCw and its backstage politics where the older, iconic superstar would get the belt before the younger, more athletic wrestler (Hogan, Sting, Luger, Flair, and Nash likely all were champions in their 40s, 50s, or even 60s) it seems almost impossible that Piper never claimed true gold. I suppose the wCw was too busy making David Arquette and Vince Russo champs then to worry about one of the all-time best in the business. Sure he won both the Intercontinental Title and the U.S Title while transitioning through the two top wrestling companies of the 90s, though he never got into the record books as a World Champion.
Other great names such as the Honky Tonk Man, Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect/Curt Henning, and Davey Boy Smith have done some spectacular things in their wrestling career but have never won the title that so few do.
Now on to the new blood of the WWE where names like Triple H, Kurt Angle, The Big Show, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit steal the spotlight. Ok, so its bluntly easy to see that Edge is the name on this list never to own the WWE Championship Title, but why? Hes won the King of The Ring, an event that has propelled many superstars like Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, and Kurt Angle into the main event ranks, and even though Edge is one of the most recognizable wrestlers on the WWE roster hes never really been up there with other upper card superstars. Besides the King of The Ring champ, Edge has also been a multiple Tag Team Champion and Intercontinental Champion. Memorable feuds with Christian and Kurt Angle are also career highlights for him; too bad WWE Champion isnt on the highlight list yet.
R...V...D, yes every columnist at one time or another has pondered over why Rob Van Dam hasnt gotten the gold yet and Im not going to be any different. Hes likely the most entertaining wrestler in the WWE now thats not a cruiserweight and fans go crazy over him every time he gets a near fall with his rolling thunder or when he finishes his opponents off with the ever so popular 5-Star Frog Splash. One thing that has kept RVD from going to the very top of the business is that mic skills were never his forte and in the McMahon world where you either have to be a beefy beast or an actor RVD portrays none of those qualitys. Mr. Thursday Night didnÂ’t even get an opportunity to win the ECW Championship, which highly surprises me since he was one of the top talents for the hardcore company. Oh well, soon (and hopefully very soon) RVD will fulfill his destiny of becoming the WWEs top dog, "Quote The Raven, Nevermore" (Yes, two cheap plugs for Raven.)
William Regal and Billy Gunn are the only other two WWE superstars that I can recollect at this time that really deserve to be given a shot for the championship belt, but age is a factor with both guys and I doubt that with WWE trying to get younger superstars over with crowds, that they will put two of the older wrestlers on the roster in the main event mix.
I went a little bit longer than I though I would with this column and I hope I didnt bore you with history, but it was just something I had on my mind. My next column with either be on John Cena/Randy Orton or another history column about Bret Hart, but any ways e-mail me at jayd7@sc.rr.com if you want to tell me who you think should be a WWE Champion...And Thats What I Think!
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