10 Wrestlers Who Were Only World Champion Because Of The Brand Split
6. Rob Van Dam
Even though he's one of a kind, the chances of the WWE ever putting enough faith in Rob Van Dam to be their solo World Champion were miniscule at best.
There's no denying how ridiculously over RVD was during his run in the WWE from 2001 until 2007. At this point in time, he was one of the most popular performers on the roster and one who many wrestling fans deemed worthy of a main event push and a spell as "the man".
Unfortunately for Van Dam, his outside-the-ring pursuits meant that the WWE were hesitant to pull the trigger on RVD as a World Champion.
With the success of the One Night Stand shows and the plans to relaunch the ECW brand, Van Dam was the perfect person to be given the WWE Championship when he took home the gold in 2006. RVD was simultaneously the WWE Champion and ECW Champion, but his run with both would be cut short after he was suspended for a drug arrest.
The fact that the WWE was so hesitant to give Van Dam the ball even with two brands (technically three when ECW relaunched) meant that he would have had no chance had the roster split never happened.