10 Wrestlers Who Gained Nothing By Being WWE World Champion

2. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger World Heavyweight Champion
WWE.com

Which Belt: World Heavyweight Title.

Why They Gained Nothing: Speaking of title reigns without any game plan or objective, here's one Jack Swagger.

The element of surprise was all WWE banked on when Swagger left Chris Jericho's mouth agape and cashed in MITB days after WrestleMania XXVI. Jericho, who had himself became a surprise champ at Elimination Chamber, wrote in one of his books that even he was skeptical of creative's decision to put the strap on Jack.

Jericho, apparently, could see the trouble ahead; without any real meaningful feud for Swagger, he'd be found wanting in the role. It wasn't like he was especially known for cutting blistering promos either, so their logic was skewed. 80 days or so later, Jack lost the belt to Rey Mysterio in a throwaway Fatal-4-Way.

Immediately, he received the then-contractual rematch before enlisting the 'Swagger Soaring Eagle' mascot and once more becoming a mid-card act. He, like Jinder Mahal and Rob Van Dam elsewhere on this list, didn't get another crack at glory.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.