With the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships finally unified into one title, the WWE finally has one champion to represent the company and headline WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. That Champion is Randy Orton and whether you love him or hate him, he is certainly deserving of the role. With only one champion at the top, the wrestler must be worthy of being called "the face of the WWE". Being great in the ring, confident on the mike, having the right look, size, style or the mysterious "it-factor" that Vince McMahon favors so much makes a wrestler worthy of holding the title. But when WWE had two champions to represent their company, from 2002 to 2013, they had to expand the field of potential challengers. With two championships to defend, the WWE had to elevate younger talent to the main event playing field, or in later years, rehabilitate long time mid-carders rather than start from scratch with a fresh face. During that decade WWE crowned several new champions such as John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Edge, CM Punk, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan. All familiar names by now. All wrestlers who became mega stars during their respective reigns, so much so that they would continue to challenge for the title after losing it. All wrestlers who would go on to have multiple reigns on both Raw and Smackdown. Most of whom are still (for better or worse) in the title picture today. Then there are the champions during that era, whose victories did not ensure main event status for life. Champions whose reigns failed to live up to fans (and Vince's) expectations. Champions who were considered place holders, while the real stars were injured, failed experiments who just could not get over, or in one case, surely a joke at the fans expense. Those wrestlers may have held the title once, or even twice, but I am confident they will never receive another chance. This is my list of those champions who fulfilled their dreams of winning the WWE and/or World Heavyweight Championships, only to fall back down to the mid-card, all illusions of headline status shattered, possibly forever. Note: Retired and Deceased wrestlers obviously will never have another title reign so they are not included.
As a wrestling fan I've flown across the Atlantic for the last five years specifically to attend WrestleMania (28 and 30) as well as TNA, ROH, Evolve, Chikara and most recently PWG.
I may have a problem!
But if you're reading my work then you probably love wrestling too, so lets focus on that!
