Ranking All 50 WWE World Heavyweight Champions - From Worst To Best

35. The Iron Sheik

WWE Champions
WWE

Perhaps the most famous transitional champion of all time, the brilliance of selecting The Iron Sheik as the middle-man between Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan was in its simplicity.

Vince McMahon Jr had decided that 'The Hulkster' was the man to head up his aggressive 1980s expansion over Backlund, with the race-baiting Sheik ideally placed to win and lose against the diametrically opposed-yet-subversively similar American heroes.

Contributor
Contributor

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