Every WWE Champion From The '90s Ranked Worst To Best
12. The Ultimate Warrior
Number of Reigns: 1
Total Length: 293 Days
The Ultimate Warrior achieved a rare clean victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI to win the WWF Championship. This was supposed to be the coronation of WWE’s hero of the '90s, but as the subsequent Bret Hart, Diesel, and Shawn Michaels experiments show, that did not pan out for Jim Hellwig. Ultimately (ha), Warrior wasn’t the draw Vince was hoping for, and less than a year later, he pulled the plug to once more resume the Hulk Hogan Show.
Part of the problem was that Warrior didn’t have a great list of opponents. His only successful PPV title defense was against Rick Rude at SummerSlam, but fans had already seen Warrior beat him handily for the Intercontinental Championship a year prior.
In addition, while Hogan technically passed the torch to Warrior, he didn’t step aside gracefully to allow Warrior the spotlight. So while fans liked Warrior, Hogan was still in their hearts and minds, creating a Hulkster-shaped shadow too big for Warrior to escape. In the end, while Warrior won his title in one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time, he didn’t have the momentum needed to lead WWE in the '90s.