10 WWE Champions Who Hated Their World Title Reigns
These WWE stars might have been Champions, but they hated it!
The goal of every professional wrestler is to become the top Champion in his respective company, as a major title run brings the money, the fame, and the more guaranteed spot on the top of the card.
Throughout WWE history, top names such as Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and many more have held the company's top prize, and while Champions established themselves as household names in the worlds of wrestling and entertainment.
But as much as being a Champion in WWE can be have a tremendous upside, numerous stars of WWE's past have admitted to battling personal and creative issues which cast a giant, dark cloud over their title reigns.
Inspired by recent comments made by current WWE star Kevin Owens, this piece will take a look at 10 WWE Champions who hated their World Title reigns, despite being top stars in the company and holding pro wrestling's ultimate prize.
10. Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens made major waves in the pro wrestling world when he turned babyface and channeled his inner Stone Cold Steve Austin. Attacking Shane McMahon and cutting a CM Punk-style "pipebomb" promo, Owens reframed his gimmick as an everyman instead of somebody out entirely for his own gains.
However, during a recent discussion on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast, Kevin Owens admitted to having numerous issues during his run as WWE Universal Champion following Finn Balor vacating the title.
“My wife will tell me all the time, ‘you were the Universal Champion and I had never seen you more stressed,’ admitted Owens. "And now I look back and I think, ‘Oh yeah, you know, I probably would have done things differently when I was Universal Champion if it had been up to me.’ Some storylines might have been different, or I would have done different things, or I would have loved to have this match and stuff like that. But ultimately I was still the Universal Champion. And I don’t remember, I honestly don’t remember enjoying it. Which sucks.”
Should Kevin Owens' time as a face culminate in a WWE Title win, perhaps his next run at the top will fare better than his first.