5 Superstars who have surprisingly never been WWE Champion
With a rich history tracing all the way back to 1963, the WWE Championship is one of the most prestigious titles in professional wrestling. Even though the Universal Championship appears to have taken precedence in recent years, it will eventually become the WWE's foremost title again.
Over the years, the WWE Championship has eluded some of the biggest names in the history of the promotion, especially after the advent of a second world title. Here are five stars who have surprisingly never been WWE Champion:
#5 WWE Legend Roddy Piper
One of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Roddy Piper never got his hands on the WWE Championship. Despite being a generational promo and one of the biggest drawing cards in the industry for several years, Piper's prime coincided with the Hulk Hogan era in WWE. This meant that the company's biggest prize was just out of reach.
While Piper's theatrics played a significant part in building up the main event of the first WrestleMania and taking WWE mainstream, he opted not to work with Hogan in a singles program as he knew his star power would be diminished by taking a loss.
Despite never enjoying a run as WWE Champion, Piper is one of the most important wrestlers in the promotion's history. His career serves as proof that you can be an all-time great and become a box-office attraction without ever holding the world title.
#4 Five-time WCW Champion Booker T
Despite racking up a number of accolades, two-time Hall of Famer Booker T never won the WWE title. As the reigning WCW Champion, he was one of the biggest stars to come over during the invasion. However, he floundered in the midcard after the Alliance disbanded and his stock plummeted even further after a questionable feud with Triple H.
Booker T had a resurgence once he moved over to SmackDown and Sharmell became his manager. The highlight of his WWE career was his run as King Booker when he adopted an English accent and had a royal court consisting of Queen Sharmell, Sir Finlay and Sir William Regal. The character was so well received that he went on to defeat Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship.
If there weren't two world titles at the time, Booker T would have likely won the WWE Championship and been presented as the top heel during this period.