Who Should Have Been a WWE World Champion?

[Lockard 23]

Vader would have made a great champion. He was quite mobile and agile for a man of his size and he debuted in the WWF amidst a lot of hype and credibility stemming from his time in WCW and New Japan. Hogan even respected him to the point where he had no problem letting him kick out of his leg drop after only a one count at Superbrawl V (keep in mind Hogan had full 100% creative control in WCW and could have nixed that if he wanted to, but he didn't.) The thing is, Vader was booked strongly upon his arrival (he was the first person in WWF history to ever attack and decimate an authority figure, in fact) and was originally supposed to get Sid's spot for taking the strap off of Michaels at Survivor Series 1996 (that's why the December In Your House PPV that year was called "It's Time", after Vader's catchphrase) but it was not to be. Some say he wasn't given the belt because of politics (HBK), some say it was an injury of sorts, but either way, it didn't come to pass. Vader is still one of the WWF's biggest misfires imo.

Other honorable mentions: Owen Hart (like the idea of him defeating Bret instead of Backlund being given the honor), Mr. Perfect (he would have won it if he hadn't gone into semi-retirement again in 1993 due to his back problems), Razor Ramon (never wanted the title), Piper (Hogan was on fire and wasn't dropping the strap anytime soon and Piper never wanted to lay down for Hogan anyway), Dibiase (originally rumored to win it at WM4 but didn't, and there was never a time after that where it would have made any sense to give it to him), etc.

 

[Gav back in the championship]

William reagel

 

[Wacokid27]

Great list, but everybody on it should have won at some point. I picked Vader because he was the most obvious one to me. He had size, quickness, power, and everything he did in the ring looked like it hurt like hell (not for nothing, according to Mick Foley, everything he did in the ring did hurt like hell).

I also think Owen, because of his resilient nature, probably would have had a world title run at some point had he lived a few more years. I might be wrong about that, but we'll never know now. As for others mentioned, the fact that Piper, DiBiase, and Hennig never had world title reigns in WWE is almost an insult to pro wrestling. All three were great wrestlers in their primes and great entertainers. It's a shame none of them was ever crowned.

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