8 People You Won't Believe ALMOST Became A Wrestling Champion

4. Chyna

Wesley Snipes Blade
WWE

The wrestling world has changed enough over the last decade that an entry on a list such as this wouldn't be half the bombshell it once was, but Chyna's consideration for winning the WWE Championship in 1999 had jaws on floors at the time.

'The Ninth Wonder Of The World' was an established hard nut and had already made history by entering the Royal Rumble and King Of The Ring earlier that year, but ahead of eventual Intercontinental and Women's Championship reigns, she was very briefly set to tussle with Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event of SummerSlam 1999.

It was to be the night 'The Rattlesnake' lost the title ahead of an uneven Autumn/Winter period as he nursed, but hindsight has shown that she might have stood a better chance than partner Triple H of actually winning the thing - in that he had absolutely none at all.

WWE even gave the match graphic a week to breathe before settling on a Triple Threat headliner Austin didn't think the time, place or person felt right and ultimately surrendered the gold to Mankind who dropped it to 'The Game' one night later.

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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