12 WWE Failures Who Became World Champion
10. Bobby Lashley
Calling Bobby Lashley a failure for his first WWE run could be harsh, and it's definitely something nobody would want to say to his face, so here's a softer approach: Lashley didn't live up to the expectations management had for him between 2005-2008, but there were loads of shocked faces when the promotion announced his departure in February '08. Big Bob had been on the bench rehabbing injuries, and now he was...gone? Just like that!?
It was true.
Bobby wouldn't make his WWE comeback until 2018. Even then, he sputtered along offering decent (but not great) performances and was involved in some God awful storylines with otherwise awesome workers like Sami Zayn. That whole "Lashley's sisters" thing had to be seen to be believed. It didn't quite jolt Bob's career or hand him the likeable personality Vince McMahon had hoped it would.
Just when it looked like Lashley might be a midcarder for life, he beat The Miz to become WWE Champ on the 1 March 2021 episode of Raw. That was a star-making night for Bobby. He looked like a million bucks en route to winning the big one, and he'd go on to hold the prize for just shy of 200 days.
A second WWE Title reign followed in 2022 when he beat Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble. That run was shorter (approx 3 weeks), but the first had been so strong that it didn't really matter. Lashley had finally come through on the promise he showed during his earliest months back in '05. WWE bosses had to be pleased they eventually squeezed some value from him.