10 Best Wrestlers Who Were Never WWE Champion

8. Ravishing Rick Rude

Razor Ramon Neville Mr Perfect
WWE.com

A superlative pr*ck heel against the Ultimate Warrior during a 1989 feud for the Intercontinental Title and a genuinely threatening one when both levelled up a year later, Ravishing Rick Rude sadly never got to deploy either version of himself against Hulk Hogan or Randy Savage during their own babyface title stints.

Rude was a villain in a hero's world for the entirety of his time in WWE. A stupendous heel, there was no place in Vince McMahon's heart for a long-standing bad guy on roster dominated chiseled 1980s icons. Rude's body was no less cut, but his cutting remarks instead made his body a show of unfiltered arrogance rather than aspiration.

As brightly as the 'Ravishing One' shone in the 1980s, his star burned out too quickly the following decade. By the mid-1990s he was all-but retired after a decent run in WCW, but his comeback as D-Generation-X's "insurance policy" was his final chance to make history with the organisation. He did so too, but only by leaving it - Rude appearing on a live Nitro whilst also working the taped Raw was a cute way to use and abuse the warring brands, but his chances of a top title run were long diminished before be bantered Vince McMahon off one last time.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett