20 Incredible Images Of Wrestling "Champions" Who Never Were

15. KENTA - IWGP Heavyweight/Intercontinental Championship

Owen Hart
NJPW

KENTA robbing Tetsuya Naito of his celebratory moment following a double Championship win at Wrestle Kingdom 14 was an audacious booking flex by Gedo that positioned the Bullet Club man as the perfect first contender, and a new flavour of sh*thouse for a year that ended up being full of them.

He didn't win either belt there, but it's become harder to bet against him eventually scaling at least one of the mountains in this largely enjoyable role.

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Owen Hart WWE
 
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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