10 WWE Champions Who Deserved Longer Runs

In the eyes of many, WWE’s world titles don’t mean as much as they used to. Whereas once they would mark a wrestler as The Guy, the face of the company and most likely its top earner, nowadays there’s so much going on that the belt can get lost in the shuffle.

And yet, it can still do wonders for a superstar. Just look at Drew McIntyre, a former also-ran who has been transformed into a bonafide main eventer in no small part due to a well booked, lengthy run as champ.

Transitional champions will likely remain a part of wrestling forever, but then there are those performers who have every attribute to be a respectable, money making champion, and yet never seem to spend long carrying the strap. Fate might intervene, or, more often, Vince McMahon might get bored.

These wrestlers all had their moment in the spotlight, but for some of them it was just that - a moment. Had the bookers held their nerve or simply thought more about the long term plans for their workers, they could have had something really special.

Christian’s initial title run was a bit of a proxy win. In the wake of Edge’s shock retirement and relinquishing of the belt, it was decided that his best pal and former tag partner was the next best thing, and Captain Charisma won the vacant strap at 2011’s Extreme Rules.

Not the way he’d like to have won it, perhaps, but no one could say he didn’t deserve it. One of the more undersung talents of his generation, Christian had absolutely everything going for him. He had proved himself as a main eventer in TNA - surely the stage was set for a similar run in WWE.

Well, sort of. He went on to perform in some of the best matches of his career against Randy Orton, with whom he had exceptional chemistry, but the Viper was clearly WWE’s guy for the future. Christian held the belt twice, for a combined run of about a month. He was also booked as a consistently cowardly, whining heel - it was a role he played well, but not necessarily the best use of his skills.

Now retired, Christian has a superb career to look back on, but this aspect could have been far better.