10 WWE Stars We Expected To Be World Champion By Now

8. Triple H

Stone Cold Steve Austin Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE

Well, how hasn't he got around to adding the Universal Title to his collection?

Triple H's 2016 WWE Championship victory was earnest enough. 'The Game' tried hard to get Roman Reigns over (with a few notable self-serving moments along the way), but his eventual loss did nothing to get 'The Big Dog' beyond the hump that trips him up to this day.

His laughable Monday Night Raw promo on the post-SummerSlam show was another reminder that Triple H - even the one overseeing NXT - still can't help himself. Suggesting that he'd effectively disappeared into the corporate jungle since his WrestleMania XXVIII battle with The Undertaker was b*llocks enough before he proceeded to pretend that The Undertaker's return at this year's 'Show of Shows' hadn't actually happened.

He even artificially boosted the likely attendance of October's WWE Super Show-Down to something far higher than the expected gate. The worker of old exists in Hunter no matter how sternly he looks towards the future of the industry, with a point sure to come eventually where he believes only he can be trusted with the company's richest (or, at very least, reddest) prize.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett