8 WWE Stars Made Champion At The Wrong Time
Timing is key in WWE, especially when it comes to crowning the right World Champion at the right time. A World Champion is effectively the poster child of the brand and thus, WWE often needs to be meticulous on when to pull the trigger on elevating someone like this. In the best case scenario, it needs to be the right person in the right place at the right time.
WWE is not always so lucky when it comes to having the perfect timing for crowning their World Champions. Sometimes, a wrestler may have the perfect look for a champion, but the in-ring skills, promo skills, and crowd connection wouldn't be ideal until long after they faltered as champions when they weren't ready. In other situations, WWE has the right champion, but they get overshadowed by another wrestler better suited for the role. In any case, sometimes, WWE learns the hard way that, for World Champions, timing is everything.
8 Triple H's WWE Championship Run in 2016
Held From Royal Rumble 2016 to WrestleMania 32 (70 Days)
Dating back to 2015, WWE was trying effortlessly to push Roman Reigns as their most beloved top babyface, largely to no avail. In 2016, they would attempt to do so by dubbing onscreen (and real-life) authority figure, Triple H, as the heel champion for The Big Dog to overcome. At Royal Rumble 2016, The Authority forced Roman Reigns to defend his WWE Championship in the Royal Rumble match, leading The King of Kings to enter and win it all.
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The majority of the crowd was still not endeared to the rise of Reigns, but one WWE Superstar who won the fans over was Roman's former Shield mate, Dean Ambrose. In 2016, The Lunatic Fringe was undoubtedly the unanimously beloved babyface that WWE hoped Reigns would be. Still, though, WWE was committed to crowning Reigns at WrestleMania 32 by booking him to defeat HHH, which he did to a chorus of boos in the night's main event.
Nonetheless, WWE did have one chance to rectify things in a way that fans would've been pleased with, though. The month before Mania was Roadblock, where Dean Ambrose challenged Triple H for the title. Had Ambrose won, this would have given fans a champion they could get behind, and even an intriguing storyline of the former Shield brothers main eventing the Grandest Stage of Them All. Alas, it was not meant to be.
7 Big Show's ECW Championship Run in 2006
Held From July 4, 2006, Episode of ECW to ECW December to Dismember 2006 (147 days)
Upon Rob Van Dam's sudden suspension from WWE after being pulled over for speeding with a bag of weed in his possession, he'd have to drop both the WWE and ECW Championships quickly after winning them at One Night Stand 2006. He'd drop the WWE Championship to Edge on the July 3 edition of Raw, and the ECW Championship to Big Show the next night on ECW.
Big Show's ECW World Championship run was highlighted by an extreme win over Sabu at SummerSlam, an alliance with the McMahons against one of WWE's best factions, DX, culminating in a Hell in a Cell match, and then losing the title in an infamous Extreme Elimination Chamber to Bobby Lashley. Certainly not a bad run, but one has to wonder how different wrestling history would be if someone else were thrust into that same role, namely Kurt Angle.
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Fresh off of his World Heavyweight Championship run on SmackDown, Kurt Angle was still white-hot coming into ECW, but as he once explained to the Huffington Post, feeling like he was demoted to working smaller crowds in smaller venues was partially why he left WWE, in addition to feeling burnt out and injured. Considering that Big Show frequently flipped back and forth between the smaller ECW shows and working with the McMahons in bigger arenas, perhaps WWE giving Angle the ball as champion could've inspired him to stay at least a little longer.
6 Liv Morgan's SmackDown Women's Championship Run in 2022
Held From Money in the Bank 2022 to Extreme Rules 2022 (98 Days)
At Money in the Bank 2022, Liv Morgan won the women's Ladder Match, garnering the contract that guaranteed her a World Championship match at any time in any place of her choosing. She chose that very night mere moments after Ronda Rousey successfully defended her WWE SmackDown Women's Championship against Natalya. This would kick off a 98-day title reign that, unfortunately, did not garner the fans' support WWE hoped for. This isn't solely the fault of Morgan, as her reign as Women's World Champion years later was much better.
Truth be told, her reign as Women's World Champion in 2024 can be hailed among the best recent World Title reigns for the women's roster in WWE. Clearly, Liv is capable of putting on great performances, but her very first title reign simply did not have the same effect. The booking was largely the issue here, as Morgan was seldom booked to be a credible champion, often winning matches by the skin of her teeth or - as was the case in her SummerSlam rematch with Rousey - looking weak in victory.
By comparison, Liv Morgan's second World Championship reign lasted 226 days, ending on Monday Night Raw's Netflix premiere, to Rhea Ripley.
She did her best with what she was given. If any fault can be given to Morgan, some can argue that - as her much better, recent reign would suggest - Morgan makes for a better heel than a babyface. Alternatively, some could say that Morgan herself was working out the kinks, figuring out what performance she should be giving in the unfamiliar role as champion, and, thus, needed a lackluster run to pave the way for her crowning 2024 run. Maybe 2022 simply wasn't Morgan's time to shine, whereas 2024 very much was.
5 Hulk Hogan's WWE Undisputed Championship Run in 2002
Held From Backlash 2002 to Judgment Day 2002 (28 Days)
Readers can say what they want about Hulk Hogan and how hated he is today, but in 2002, he was white-hot. Upon returning to WWE from WCW alongside the nWo, Hollywood Hulk Hogan was getting cheers even when he was supposed to be booed. This was enough to prompt a babyface turn and a return to the red and yellow tights from the black and white, along with a WWE Undisputed Championship match with Triple H at Backlash. Miraculously, the 48-year-old would win his sixth WWE Championship.
At the time, from WWE's perspective, it was a no-brainer to put the title on Hogan given the reactions he was getting. However, the ascent of Hulk Hogan came at the cost of Triple H. Readers can't forget that in 2002, Triple H received one of the most electric babyface reactions upon his January return from a career-threatening injury. This prompted a Royal Rumble win, followed by becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion in the main event of WrestleMania X8. Because his push coincided with Hogan's adoration, The Game dropped the title a mere month later at Backlash to Hulkster.
Maybe it all worked out in the end, as he'd begin his Reign of Terror by the end of the year and, in time, become the most important man in WWE. Still, Triple H’s comeback run suffered as a result of Hulk Hogan's beloved reception. Yes, Hogan was more over than Triple H following his WWE Championship win and his proceeding title run was a fun ride in itself. Still, though, Hogan's popularity arrived at an inopportune time for Triple H.
4 CM Punk's World Championship Run in 2008
Held From the June 30, 2008, Episode of Raw to Unforgiven 2008 (69 Days)
After spending a couple of years in ECW (then used as a soft developmental territory, not unlike NXT today), the fresh-faced CM Punk was called up to the main roster following the WWE Draft and, with him, his Money in the Bank contract won at WrestleMania. He'd seek to make a name for himself by cashing in his contract on World Heavyweight Champion Edge seconds after the Rated R Superstar suffered a beating at the hands of Batista. This was meant to usher a new star into the main event picture - and yet, it didn't.
Few champions were victims of circumstances quite like CM Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign. He arrived on Raw in the middle of a stacked division that included the likes of John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, and JBL, just to name a few. Those hoping for a Summer of Punk were disappointed to see that Punk would be overshadowed by storylines revolving around Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels' heated rivalry, as well as the build up to Batista and John Cena's first dream match.
Punk was trying to build a following while established veterans were delivering some of the best work of their careers.
As a new face, Punk struggled to leave an impression on fans discovering him for the first time. Punk was trying to build a following while established veterans were delivering some of the best work of their careers. Thankfully, he'd get a second chance during his second reign as World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown a year later, where he'd have one of his all-time best feuds against Jeff Hardy, as well as some of his best matches.
3 Jinder Mahal's WWE Championship Run in 2017
Held From WWE Backlash 2017 to the November 7, 2018, Episode of SmackDown (170 Days)
Jinder Mahal's reign as WWE Champion is easy to pick on, but truthfully isn't as bad as some fans make it seem to be. Yes, many audiences hated seeing Mahal as champion, but as a heel character, that was the point. Mahal and his reign were designed to be hated. The problem wasn't that people hated Jinder Mahal. The problem is that Jinder Mahallacked the credibility to be taken seriously as a champion for these same fans. It is of no fault of Mahal himself and more the fault of his booking.
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When Jinder Mahal was first pushed to the main event picture, he went from being booked as an enhancement talent to being booked as a main eventer expected to be seen as a serious threat to the champion. And mere weeks later, he was the champion after defeating Randy Orton at Backlash. This all happened in the span of one month's time. Mahal's reign barred comparisons to John Layfield's transition from Bradshaw to JBL, but even then, JBL spent at least a couple of months being built up before winning the WWE Championship.
The swiftness of Mahal's rise to prominence felt unnatural for a lot of people watching. There is a scenario where WWE could make Mahal as a main event staple work and feel believable, perhaps by spending a little more time building his credibility as they did with JBL. Mahal was sabotaged by the suddennessof his reign. With a more natural growth, he may have even become more of a permanent fixture of the main event scene once his reign was over, rather than going right back to the undercard when it was over.
2 Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship Run in 2004
Held From SummerSlam 2004 to Unforgiven 2004 (28 Days)
From the moment that Randy Orton stepped foot inside a WWE ring for the first time, he was pegged as a diamond in the rough. A sculpted body with a Hollywood smile, Orton was always viewed as having a high ceiling in the wrestling business. Once he started having the great matches that earned his place in the company, WWE started etching a path to the main event scene for him. His coronation would come at SummerSlam 2004, where, upon defeating Chris Benoit, Orton became the youngest World Champion in WWE history at 24 years old, a record he still holds.
However, due to the timing of WWE cutting ties with the previous record holder, Brock Lesnar, that same year, it gave fans the impression that the only reason why Orton won the title was to phase Lesnar's name out of their record books. Some would say that's a theory supported by the fact that he was booked to lose the belt less than one month later, but it is a theory that's up for debate. What seems more substantial in this conversation is whether Orton was ready for such a large spotlight at this age and stage of his career.
A lot of fans would argue that he wasn't ready, and out of Orton's own mouth, he wasn't. In his episode of A&E's Biography: Legends, Orton admits thathe failed to have "the maturity" necessary for someone in his position. Orton recognizes that at his age, as someone pushed as quickly as he was and paid as highly as he was at 24, he was too cocky for his own good. Even if it didn't play a part in him losing the title so fast, it may have been reason enough for why he wouldn't win another World Title for three years.
1 Alberto Del Rio's WWE Championship Run in 2011
SummerSlam 2011 to Night of Champions 2011 (35 Days)
Before Alberto Del Rio (or El Patron) became synonymous with the controversies of the past decade, WWE was priming him to become the company's next Mexican-American superstar in the same vein as Eddie Guerrero or Rey Mysterio for his generation. In attempting to diversify their main event picture, they were convinced that Alberto Del Rio fit the bill through his look, persona, in-ring skill, and promo ability. In another universe, Alberto Del Rio would've fit right at home among WWE's top stars, but unfortunately, the Alberto Del Rio experiment was a victim of timing.
Del Rio's rookie year saw him win the first and only 40-man Royal Rumble match, challenge Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship in his first WrestleMania, and win the Money in the Bank briefcase. The case was meant to catapult ADR into the main event picture permanently, but that same night he won the contract, CM Punk solidified his star status in his own right by pinning John Cena for the WWE Championship in front of a roaring hometown crowd in Chicago.
When Del Rio cashed in his contract at the following SummerSlam, fans viewed this asmore of a disruption of what they hoped to be a Summer of Punk instead of a coronation. His reign was overshadowed by CM Punk's meteoric rise, as well as John Cena who used Del Rio as something of a stepping stone, defeating him the following month to win his landmark 10th World Title. ADR won it back in October, but he'd lose it again in November, never winning the WWE Championship again. In WWE's eyes, ADR was the right star at the wrong time.
Source: The Huffington Post
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