10. Sgt.Slaughter (January 1991- April 1991)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz6M5sFwjss As you read this list you will find its inhabitants fall into one of two categories. Wrestlers who deserved to be champion at some point but not at the point where they were given the title and wrestlers who should never, at any point in their career have been given the most prestigious title in the business. Sgt.Slaughter is part of the first category. In the mid eighties, if someone had suggested Slaughter as a potential WWE champion I think most people would have bought into it. He had a solid body of work behind him and could put together hard hitting and emotional contests with most opponents and probably would have enjoyed some success with a title reign at that point. However, the Sgt.Slaughter who won the title from The Ultimate Warrior in 1991 was a shadow of his former self. Out of shape, in poor cardiovascular condition and lacking the fire and intensity that made him famous Sgt.Slaughter was unrecognisable as a worker from the man who battled Pat Patterson and the Iron Sheik. This issue was further compounded by being given the most distasteful angle possible to develop his heel character, that of an anti american iraqi sympathiser during the 1991 gulf war conflict. This was a disgraceful attempt by WWE to cash in on a real human tragedy that was occurring in the middle east which backfired spectacularly as the Wrestlemania clash between Slaughter and Hulk Hogan sold so few tickets it had to be moved to a smaller arena though it should be noted Vince McMahon kept going with this angle for a good four months after Wrestlemania which is nonsensical when you consider just how badly it was received and how badly it performed financially. Sgt.Slaughter was turned babyface by the end of 1991 and WWE did its best to pretend the whole thing never happened.