2. Eddie Guerrero
WWE had very high hopes for Eddie Guerrero as WWE Champion in 2004. The company had highlighted the growing latino market as an important source of increasing revenues, so a champion who appealed to the demographic was key to the decision in making Guerrero champion. In many ways this harked back to the old days of the WWF, when successful champions like Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales would draw heavily from ethnic crowds. He won the belt from Brock Lesnar in a very good match at No Way Out 2004, then went on to a good match with Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 20. But Eddie failed to live up to WWE's expectations after that. A lot of his failure was following the company being rocked by bad circumstances after Mania 20. Lesnar quit the company and Angle went out injured, leaving Eddie isolated on the Smackdown brand as the one major star. His title run was now the sole thing responsible for drawing shows. His work load went up significantly, with more appearances and increased onus on his matches. That pressure got to Eddie, which he later admitted. He couldn't cope with carrying the Smackdown brand, which was seeing steep declines in house show attendance, hence why he lost the title to John Bradshaw Layfield in June 2004. It wasn't that JBL was a better choice, but the idea was that an underdog babyface chasing the belt would draw better. JBL's long reign saw the decline in business continue, but it wasn't as if that was a surprise, as no one ever expected much of Bradshaw. He was there as a place holder, until John Cena was ready for the main event scene. In retrospect, Guerrero is another example of a great wrestler, but limited champion.