10 Wrestlers Who Saved World Championships

It's easy to make a world title feel less important than it should be: quick title switches, lacklustre reigns, overbooked storylines, and so on. A world championship needs reliable booking and stellar wrestling to feel as monumental as it should be. It's a difficult job to be on top of a company or a brand - not everyone can have a Ric Flair NWA style reign with a major championship and even some of the best of all time have struggled with the responsibilities of being champion.

While championships always have the potential to go through down periods, what every important title will receive at some point in its history is a performer who re-invigorates the belt's meaning. Whether that's through miraculous in ring performances, brilliant character work or a mesmerising storyline, these heroic performers make audiences care about the fate of the titles after a period of apathy.

All ten of these wrestlers have done great work with the belts they were tasked to carry, making their opponents and their brands seem more appealing through their towering work on top. They have created long lasting memories, forged other stars through the matches they put on as a champion and have left the torch brighter than they found it.

Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship reign hasn’t always been the strongest in ring, with notable disappointments against Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans being the majority of her reign with the brand’s blue belt. She hasn’t been given the opportunity to wrestle many of the women that she’d openly talk about wanting to face for her title like Candice LeRae, and after a year of holding that title, she’s yet to have a singles classic with it.

Despite this, her character work has been utterly phenomenal. The heel turn she had late last year didn’t work completely at first, but as soon as her on screen pairing with Sasha Banks was implemented regularly, everything clicked. Her promos became some of the most entertaining in the company, her chemistry with Sasha was through the roof and it helped cement her title reign as feeling monumental to the blue brand.

With her upcoming match with Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell being the biggest story in the company right now, it's hard not to feel that the SmackDown women's title has gained significant importance and prestige from being around Bayley's waist. It'll mean something substantial when she loses it.