10 Times WWE Completely Buried Ring Of Honor World Champions
8. Short Changed
After a passable period as Cruiserweight Champion and Vince McMahon's latest hillbilly following the buyout of his WCW contract in 2001, Jamie Noble rebuilt his early-career promise with a sterling run in Ring Of Honor that saw him defeat then-World Champion CM Punk ahead of his own rocky WWE journey.
Wrestling under his real name, James Gibson 36-day reign with the company's top title was short but perfectly formed. An underrated flyer and technical maestro, Gibson was the ideal choice for transitioning the title onto next longterm prospect Bryan Danielson in September 2005, and impressed enough McMahon underlings to find himself back in the WWE fold by the end of the year.
Following a missable tag team run with Kid Kash, he slotted back into his natural home as a Cruiserweight ring general, generally suffering dignified defeats against fellow lightweights Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Brian Kendrick.
He sadly went down with the ship when the division as a whole steered into an miniature Irish iceberg. Pinned by Hornswoggle in a multi-man match at July 2007's Great American Bash pay-per-view, Noble's humiliation intensified with a weekly cartoonish cat-and-mouse game with the former 'Little B*stard' that left him almost entirely (more on that later) bereft of credibility.
He failed even to reclaim the title, which was ultimately abandoned later that year.