10 Best Wrestlers Who Were Never WWE Champion

6. Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett
WWE.com

Tucked away inside Jeff Jarrett's lawsuit against GFW was a boy-popping qualifier about his pro wrestling pedigree, as if it were needed - and it was not. Totting up all the times 'Double J' was entrusted with an organisation's top strap, Jarrett's legal team noted how he was a 17 time World Heavyweight Champion.

The eye-watering figure wasn't technically false. Jarrett included all his runs with the WCW and NWA/TNA gold as well as significantly smaller titles won in USWA, WWA and AAA. Pointedly, 'WWE' were the initials missing from the needlessly loaded list.

At no point did Vince McMahon ever deem him worthy of his top title, and it twice resulted in Jarrett taking his business elsewhere. Furious with the company's decision to rush a feud between him and The Roadie in 1995, he walked out of the organisation on the same night Shawn Michaels took his Intercontinental Title. Just over four years later, he infamously switched sides on the promise of a WCW mega push from old friend and fellow WWE evacuee Vince Russo. Stuck underneath The Rock, Triple H and a Stone Cold Steve Austin vowing never to work with him, Jarrett was a spent force in Stamford yet again.

Contributor
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