12 WWE Failures Who Became World Champion
7. Naomi
From "Funkadactyl" to "Proceed With Caution" and a cheerful family moment.
That's the lengthy journey Naomi has been on since she danced onto screens as part of Brodus Clay's new 'Funkasaurus' gimmick in 2012. At first, WWE viewed Naomi as little more than Diva-style eye candy alongside her pal Cameron. They were exclusively there to dance and smile as big Brodus tried to mesh Flash Funk with Dusty Rhodes-style charisma. How's that for a combo you didn't expect to see?!
Clay's gimmick had short term appeal, but Naomi stuck around and eventually spun out into Team B.A.D alongside Sasha Banks and Tamina. Once that experiment ended, she actually won the old SmackDown Women's Title in early-2017. That isn't the World Title win needed to grace this list though. No, that'd only come after a lot of heartache and a departure from WWE.
Naomi walked out on the company with Sasha in mid-2022. She'd seek solace in Impact Wrestling/TNA before launching a WWE return in 2024. Being honest, Naomi didn't actually turn a lot of heads when she made her comeback. Some of her matches felt less-than, and it seemed she'd always be stuck in a smiling babyface role.
The Jade Cargill whodunit mystery offered something completely fresh. Naomi was outed as the aggressor, then won the Women's World Title after cashing in Money In The Bank at Evolution 2025. She'd cut her title reign short by announcing her pregnancy on the 18 August Raw. Creatively, that was a shame (she was doing some great work and was poised for an epic run), but some things are more important than wrestling.
Serving up another future Bloodline member is one of them.