5 Hall of Famers who were not World Champions in WWE
As it stands, 228 wrestlers have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame since its inception in 1993. The Hall of Fame honors the greatest stars to have ever performed inside the square circle.
Elite names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair and Bruno Sammartino have all been inducted over the years. Not all Hall of Famers have won the big one in WWE. That "one" being a WWE World Championship that very few have had the privilege to carry.
That being said, let's take a look at five WWE Hall of Famers that have never been a world champion in WWE.
#5 Sting never became a world champion in WWE
#FBF #FlashbackFriday
At @Sting’s #WWE Hall of Fame induction (Apr. 2, 2016) https://t.co/eNpjn3G1N4
Sting has had an illustrious career in professional wrestling. He had his best runs performing for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling. He became a world champion in all of those promotions and left a mark and legacy that his fans will remember forever.
One accomplishment that The Icon never achieved was winning a world championship in WWE. Sting was reluctant to sign for Vince McMahon's company in his prime, but eventually signed for WWE in 2014 during the tailend of his career.
At the Night of Champions pay-per-view in 2015, Sting received his first and only shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins. This turned out to be Sting's final outing in WWE as he sustained a serious injury during the match.
4/2/2016
The WWE Hall Of Fame took place from the American Airlines Center in #WWEDallas, Texas.
#Sting #Stinger #CrowSting #FabulousFreebirds #MichaelHayes #TheGodfather #PapaShango #JacquelineMoore #TheBigBossMan #StanHansen #WWEHallOfFame #WWEHOF #WWE #WWELegends #WWEHistory https://t.co/EYaVv53beC
Many wondered why Sting was so reluctant to sign for WWE. He answered that question on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast:
"Number one, WCW would always give me what I asked for. I knew that the commitment that I would have to make with Vince was being gone a lot more, a lot more time on the road, a lot more time away. With WCW at the time, I was able to kind of tailor make my schedule to something that I could tolerate and something that was easier for my family at the time. Financially they always gave me what I wanted, but I was really close to leaving on a few different occasions and I was ready. If WCW didn’t give me what I wanted, then I was willing to take that risk and go to WWE. One of the other reasons why I never did, I always talked about this as well, I at the time and I still don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but I thought that Vince wanted me as a talent to undermine WCW more than he wanted me as a talent working for him," Sting said. (h/t WrestleTalk)
We can certainly be grateful that we eventually got to see Sting perform in a WWE ring. His legacy was honored when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and now he continues to perform for All Elite Wrestling.