9 WWE Wrestlers Who Won ONLY World Championships

Arguably the reason for the term "transitional champion," Stan Stasiak won the WWWF World Championship from Pedro Morales in 1973. This title change was shocking to everybody, including Stasiak.

Morales had been champion for nearly three years by this point, so it was difficult for the fans to imagine anybody else with the belt at the time. As the story goes, Stasiak found out just minutes before that he'd be winning the title by taking a belly-to-back suplex, which would see Morales' shoulders stay down for the three while Stasiak kicked out at two.

However, his title win came with a prerequisite; he would have to drop it to Bruno Sammartino just nine days later.

Evidently, the company wanted Sammartino as their champion, but they did not want him to beat fellow hero Morales for the belt, so they needed the heelish Stasiak to take the fall. He did, and Sammartino would go on to hold the title for over three years.

Stasiak, however, left the WWWF six years later without another championship to his name.