5 Superstars you might not remember challenged for the WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is the most prestigious title in wrestling, with a lineage dating back to over half a century ago. Its legacy is unmatched by any other belt in the business, with a litany of legendary names continually vying for the prize.
It remains at the very top of the mountain today, with only the top tier of Superstars vying for the WWE Championship. However, over the years, there have been some surprising names who challenged for the WWE Title. Those who you might not expect to see in a match for the richest prize in sports entertainment.
Some of these names received WWE Title matches through an open challenge, or to further a storyline. They were all placeholder challengers, some of them boosting the WWE Champion's record in title matches. Either way, seeing some of these Superstars have the opportunity to win the world title on WWE programming felt pretty weird.
Here are 5 Superstars you might not remember challenged for the WWE Championship.
#5 Hardcore Holly (WWE Royal Rumble 2004)
When Hardcore Holly broke his neck in a match against Brock Lesnar in 2002, hardly anybody would have expected him to return over a year later and challenge the Beast to a WWE Championship match. He did so, coming back at Survivor Series and immediately gunning for Lesnar.
The problem was that Holly was predominantly a lower card veteran, tasked with putting younger stars over and "toughening them up". It was hardly believable seeing him go one-on-one with a beast like Brock Lesnar. It happened at the Royal Rumble as well, one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year.
While a TV match for continuity's sake may have worked better for Lesnar and Holly, the WWE Title program did showcase the latter's toughness to a higher degree.
Anyway, this is one of Brock Lesnar's matches that doesn't stick out in our memories like some of his classics against the likes of John Cena, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle among many others.
Hardcore Holly had another WWE Championship opportunity but was unable to defeat JBL in a Hardcore Match on SmackDown in Manchester, England.