7 WCW Champions Who Never Became WWE Champions (And Why)

3. Vader

WCW Champion: Three times (1992-1993)

Signed: 1996-1998

Reason: The recent passing of Vader struck a chord with many in the pro wrestling world. One of the greatest big men to ever lace up a pair of boots, Big Van Vader is remembered for his brutally stiff Japanese matches and his bullish run as WCW's top heel in the early-to-mid-'90s.

Sadly, he's also remembered for a WWF run between 1996-1998 that never seemed to take off.

Vader was World Champion on three different occasions between 1992-93 in WCW. That top line dominance didn't transfer over to the WWF when he was signed and debuted at the 1996 Royal Rumble. From the off, his own hesitance to be renamed "Mastodon" worked against him. After that, McMahon never put his all into marketing Vader.

On top of that, Vader seemed to lose his own motivation after jobbing to Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam '96, and he gained weight quickly. Already a big man, he couldn't afford to let that get out of hand, but it was visibly becoming an issue and management acted by sending him to a weight loss camp.

A combination of poor booking, his own failure to embrace Vince McMahon's vision and ballooning weight stopped Vader from being WWF Champion. If McMahon had the performer from years before at his disposal, Vader would've been.