10 Wrestlers Who Became World Champions At The WRONG Time
Fingers crossed nobody else's first WWE Title reign is like Drew McIntyre's.
Timing is everything in life.
It's kinda weird to suggest there's a bad time to become World Champion, but it's true. Winning one of WWE's top prizes should be the pinnacle of anyone's career. Then, reality smacks them across the face with corporate nonsense, promoters who are already looking beyond them, or a global concern nobody could've predicted.
There are some proper big names here. Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Booker T, Bray Wyatt, Chris Jericho - it's a who's who of in-ring excellence and stunning character reinvention. All of them have something else in common aside from being great at their jobs though: Every single one of those guys lived a 'right man, wrong time' top title experience at some point over the years.
WCW is coming along for this ride too. That company was falling to pieces when three of the finest to ever lace up a pair of boots held the World Title. No, shockingly actor David Arquette has not entered the chat! We're talking linchpins of the 90s midcard who reached main event status when it was too late.
Let's bookend with the same statement. Timing is everything in life. Just ask...
10. Alberto Del Rio
...this man!
2011 was a big year for Alberto Del Rio, but it just so happened it was a bigger year for somebody else. CM Punk was the name on everyone's lips following his historic "pipebomb", and the people wanted more of him. Things might've been different had Del Rio been Punk's main adversary, but he wasn't: John Cena was.
That meant Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank winner Alberto was left fighting over scraps for the second part of 2011. He cashed in at SummerSlam and would enjoy a second run with the WWE Title before the end of the year, but neither lived long in the memory. How could they? The 'Summer Of Punk' and Cena's involvement pushed Del Rio down to third place.
WWE probably could've held their nerve and waited to crown Alberto, but they were desperate to keep the drama going and didn't want to make MITB look like a loser's purse. So, Del Rio cashed in then company creative cashed out shortly afterwards.