10 Wrestlers That Would've Been WWE Champion Without Hulk Hogan
9. Jake Roberts
Jake "The Snake" Roberts is a superstar that is often classified as "not needing the WWF Championship". With his Hall Of Fame career not including one single WWE title of any kind, Roberts proved that he didn't need a belt to get over. Still, that doesn't mean he shouldn't have been given a run, especially given that his level of popularity rivalled even that of Hogan's at times.
In fact, Jake was due for a program with Hogan himself in 1986 before that was abruptly dropped, supposedly due to concerns that Roberts would be cheered too much as the villain. If that's even partially true, imagine how popular Jake would've been in the absence of Hulkamania?
When Jake went full-on babyface by mid-1987, he was popular enough to carry the gold at any point during the next 4 years of his career as a top babyface superstar.
But perhaps Jake's best work came during his second heel run in 1991. His memorable vignettes and work with The Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man showed his dual potential as a top-tier heel.
No, Jake Roberts didn't need the WWF Championship, but the promotion certainly would've benefited from making Jake the top guy, even with Hulk Hogan in the mix. Without Hogan, they would've been straight up foolish not to.