10 Wrestling Championship Reigns That Didn't Fit The Wrestler
3. Scott Norton As IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Not many have led a double life quite like Scott Norton in the late '90s.
In his second run with WCW, he was maligned with several nothing feuds, starting with Shark (FKA WWF's Earthquake) before a tag team feud against The Steiner Brothers with partner Ice Train. He would split from Ice and eventually join the ever-increasing ranks of the nWo, before reigniting his feud with the Steiners, this time alongside Buff Bagwell, before eventually departing the company in 1999.
However, his concurrent New Japan run was thriving. After splitting from Ice Train, he won the NJPW Super Grade Tag League with Shinya Hashimoto, and while he was meandering with Bagwell and the nWo B-Team, he was a prominent member of nWo Japan, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in September 1996, one of only nine gaijin to do so.
His championship win was only mentioned once on Nitro and so he was never perceived to be a top guy to Western audiences, probably because at the same time, Hulk Hogan was the nWo frontman and WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
When he left WCW his Japanese successes continued, being named as part of Masahiro Chono's Team 2000 before defeating Kensuke Sasaki for his second IWGP Heavyweight Crown.