Every WWE Champion Of The 2000s Ranked From Worst To Best

If you grew up watching the Ruthless Aggression era, you undoubtedly look at these moments with fondness: Eddie Guerrero winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 2004, and the celebration he had with Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX after the latter had won the big gold belt.

These were emotional moments, especially since guys like Eddie were never supposed to be world championship material. He had been held back in WCW, and his initial years in WWE were full of roadblocks. Still, through perseverance, charisma, and a lot of bulking up, Eddie climbed his way to the main event, and with the help of Goldberg, he defeated Brock Lesnar and won his first world title in one of the era's greatest moments.

However, that's where the good news mostly ends. After Kurt Angle took time off to heal after WrestleMania, and Brock Lesnar high-tailing it out of the company, SmackDown was now a barren wasteland. This, combined with Eddie's shot confidence due to insecurity, led to WWE changing their plans about him as champion. He would drop the title to JBL at the Great American Bash, and never hold a world title again. It would be a little over a year later when he died.

As disappointing as his title run ultimately was, it was the connection Eddie had with the audience that forever makes him a great WWE Champion in their hearts.