10 Wrestlers Who Turned Down Title Reigns

5. The Undertaker

Shawn Michaels World Title
WWE.com

What could have been. Wrestling history is full of those discussions, so let's jump into another one. We already know that Eddie Guerrero reportedly asked to drop the WWE Championship in the summer of 2004 and that John 'Bradshaw' Layfield ended up dethroning him. Was JBL the only option? A look at SmackDown's roster in 2004 makes it clear that the obvious was the case. The Undertaker, Big Show, Booker T and Kurt Angle were alternative options, although injuries scuppered one or two of them.

The first of those Hall of Fame names was pitched the idea of dethroning Latino Heat as champion, but the Deadman decided against the move. Undertaker had only just returned to his zombie mortician persona, after all, and obviously felt that rushing into the title scene wasn't the best of ideas. Besides, Eddie was a beloved babyface champion; better to have a dastardly heel knock him from the mountain he so desperately scratched and clawed his way up.

So The Undertaker said no, and the world was given Bradshaw: WWE Champion and main eventer. What would have happened had 'Taker decided to run with the title? Would JBL have still become JBL? Butterflies, hurricanes, and all that jazz.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.