20 Incredible Images Of Wrestling "Champions" Who Never Were

20. Ryback - WWE Championship

Ryback always felt like an outside bet to dethrone John Cena so soon after 'The Champ' had gotten over his "bad" year by defeating The Rock at WrestleMania 29.

'The Champ' was surprised by 'The Big Guy' on the post-'Show Of Shows' Monday Night Raw, kicking off a series of contests between the two won handily by the Champion. Ryback taking the title and holding it aloft at least provided one glimpse of the alliterative outcome, though few ever bought this as a legitimate tease.

Authored by Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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

First Posted On: 7th Oct 2020

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