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| And to think, it seemed like such a good idea at the time... |
Regardless of the times they've been tarnished over the years, the two top titles in WWE are still seen as two of the biggest prizes in the wrestling industry.
Granted, Brock Lesnar's extremely limited schedule has often meant that one of WWE's main championships has been held hostage at times lately, yet the WWE Championship held by Paul Heyman's Beast and the WWE Universal Champion held by 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt are undoubtedly the pinnacle that any WWE talent - and the majority of non-WWE-contracted talent - strive for.
Being handed a World Championship in any organisation should be considered a big deal, and that has largely been the case throughout for decades for Vince McMahon's company. Whether it was as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, World Wrestling Federation, World Wrestling Entertainment, or whatever, being handed the top prize in the company is a major moment for any wrestler.
Hindsight, of course, is a truly wonderful thing.
When reflecting back on the performers who have been given the task of leading WWE forward as the company's champion, it doesn't always make for good reading for WWE. And by WWE, that means Vince McMahon.
Here, then, are eight wrestlers who Vinny Mac and WWE must surely regret ever making a World Champion.
8. Jinder Mahal
May 2017's Backlash PPV sprung one of the more 'what, seriously?!' moments in recent WWE history, as Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to become WWE Champion. Yes, the one and the same jobber supreme of 3MB fame had now been given a shot at carrying one of the biggest prizes in the wrestling business.
Jinder would actually embark on a 170-day reign as WWE Champion, although his spell on top was nauseating. Bar a couple of rematches with Orton and a brief feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, Mahal's time as WWE Champion saw him amass few notable wins in his six months with the gold. Not only that, but the bigger picture - and the more concerning matter for WWE brass - saw SmackDown's ratings tumble to worrying low after worrying low during the Calgary native's time on top.
To his credit, Mahal looked like a top star, he carried himself like a top star, and he had the elaborate entrance of a top star. It was just that the material Jinder was given to work with was lazy and dull, and his plodding ring style and dry delivery made for boring TV.
WWE should be commended for taking a shot on trying to elevate a talent to the status of WWE Champion, but that experiment failed on every level - be it TV ratings, match quality, or entertainment value.
The fact that Jinder Mahal hasn't been anywhere near the the main event scene since his failed WWE Championship run - in fact, Jinder was in the hunt for the 24/7 Title before undergoing knee surgery this past June - should be enough to tell you that WWE regrets ever taking a chance on the Modern Day Maharaja.
7. Rob Van Dam
For years, fans had been clamouring for WWE to finally go all in with Rob Van Dam. The ECW icon had regularly proved to be one of the most popular stars under the WWE banner, and the wrestling world held out hope that WWE would finally give RVD the ball to run with.
It may have been a little later than some would have liked, but WWE did eventually get behind Van Dam - only for it to spectacularly blow up in their face.
Not only did WWE have The Whole F'n Show go over John Cena at 2006's One Night Stand PPV to become WWE Champion, the company also had RVD head up the relaunched ECW brand as the ECW Champion. Unfortunately, Van Dam's time as WWE Champion last just 22 days, with him being arrested for drug possession and subsequently handed a 30-day WWE suspension.
Sure, RVD's WWE Championship One Night Stand win was a brilliant moment in a white-hot environment, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is that Rob Van Dam will forever will remembered as the World Champion who was popped for drug possession - and for WWE, you can bet they regret ever finally giving Van Dam a chance with their top prize.
6. Billy Graham
There's no doubting 'Superstar' Billy Graham's place in wrestling history. Graham was positioned as the top tier heel who served as the link between Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund.
After returning to the then-WWWF in 1977, Superstar soon put an end to Sammartino's 1,237-day reign as the company's World Champion. And after a 296-day run of his own, Graham dropped the title to Backlund.
Despite his status as a trailblazer whose unique and colourful charisma helped to lay the foundations for what was to come from the likes of Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, and Ric Flair, Vince McMahon and WWE must regret ever having any sort of association with Billy Graham.
In the years since his in-ring days came to an end, Graham has been involved in a whole host of unsavoury incidents that must surely have Vince pulling his wig out.
Even after Graham had sued WWE in 1994 on the accuastion of forcing him to take steroids, then admitted to making up lies about sexual abuse within the company in order to extract money from McMahon, the company still put Superstar into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.
Following that Hall of Fame induction, Billy Graham would sell his Hall of Fame ring in 2009, citing medical expenses. To an extent, that may be understandable, but Superstar went further to irk WWE by lambasting Linda McMahon during her 2010 Senate campaign, asked to be removed from the Hall of Fame after Abdullah the Butcher was inducted, and has spent the past year encouraging WWE stars such as Kofi Kingston and Adam Cole to take steroids.
5. Jack Swagger
You can understand why Vince McMahon would take a punt on Jack Swagger as a World Champion. A tall, well built, good looking grappler with a legitimate amateur background, there was - and, to a lesser extent, still is - a huge upside to the University of Oklahama graduate. And let's face it, Swagger was handed the World Heavyweight Championship when that belt was often viewed as an afterthought.
To say Jack Swagger's time as World Heavyweight Champion was forgetful would be a huge understatement. Simply put, fans just didn't care.
WWE decided to pull the plug on Swagger's championship reign after barely three months, with The Real American's spell with Big Gold not helped by the fact it was preceded by a hot Chris Jericho vs. Edge rivalry, The Undertaker having a memorable 140-day run with the belt, and a fantastic feud between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. In comparison to the year prior to his win, the World Heavyweight Championship just fell completely and utterly flat in the hands of Jack Swagger.
After losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Rey Mysterio at June 2010's Fatal 4-Way PPV, Swagger's fall from grace was spectacular as he was soon handed the Swagger Soaring Eagle mascot before eventually becoming Michael Cole's trainer ahead of Cole's WrestleMania XXVII match against Jerry Lawler.
4. Finn Bálor
Upon debuting on the main roster in July 2016, Finn Bálor made an instant impact by beating Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion at that year's SummerSlam - which took place merely a month after Bálor was drafted to Raw.
Sadly, that same SummerSlam bout saw Finn sidelined with a shoulder injury which rendered him out of action for seven months. Forced to vacate the Universal Championship, Bálor's chance to run with the ball as the face of the Raw brand was cruelly taken away from.
After Finn returned from that unfortunately-timed injury, it took months for the Irishman to even acknowledge that he'd never actually been beaten for the title and that he'd yet to receive a rematch for the gold. To be blunt, WWE creative conveniently kept Bálor away from his rightful Universal Championship rematch until the night after SummerSlam 2018 - two years since he had to give up the the belt.
Since then, various reports have surfaced online to suggest that Vince McMahon has rarely had faith in Finn, that he doesn't think he's ever been 'over', and that the former NXT Champion is too small.
The consensus is that McMahon wasn't particular behind Bálor in the first place, and his return to injury has proven that time and time again. To the point that Finn had so little going for him on the main roster, he's recently been moved to NXT in a move that's completely reinvigorated the talented Prince.
3. Ultimate Warrior
For a period of time, there's no denying that The Ultimate Warrior was the most explosive and energetic personality in the wrestling industry. But while we fans got to see an electric, frenetic ball of vibrant energy, WWE brass got to see the other more unsavoury side of Warrior.
The Ultimate One did the unthinkable and toppled Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI to become WWE Champion and the new face of the company in a passing of the torch. Skipping ahead to SummerSlam 1991 - Warrior having dropped the title to Sgt. Slaughter at the '91 Royal Rumble PPV - and that's when Vince McMahon had his first serious problems with the Parts Unknown native.
It was at SummerSlam '91 that Warrior famously held McMahon up, as he refused to perform unless Vince agreed to pay him $550,000 for that year's WrestleMania VII. At the risk of losing his SummerSlam main event, McMahon agreed - but then fired Warrior directly after the PPV.
The '90s featured a few problematic returns to the then-WWF for Warrior, with lawsuits never far away. Yet it was years later when Ultimate Warrior really showed his true colours, as he'd write plentiful blogs and post various videos in which he made racist, homophobic, and generally xenophobic comments - to the point that he mocked Bobby Heenan for being diagnosed with cancer, and he claimed that those killed in the atrocities of Hurricane Katrina would not be missed.
Even after all of this WWE inducted The Ultimate Warrior into their Hall of Fame... but thankfully the heinous acts of Jim Hellwig have begun to be thrown back at WWE as Warrior's past has been discovered by more and more people.
2. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank cash-in on the post-WrestleMania 29 episode of Raw received one of the biggest pops in recent memory. After years of trying to get through that ever-familiar glass ceiling, Dolph had finally done it as he took the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio to a monstrous reaction.
Just over two weeks later, Ziggler received a concussion courtesy of a stiff kick from Jack Swagger. And that, sadly, would eventually lead to WWE losing all faith in Dolph.
It wasn't Ziggler's fault, of course, as injuries are part of the business and, if anything, any blame should lay at the door of Swagger. Either way, it was Dolph who felt the true repercussions of this concussion in every possible sense.
Not only did his concussion-caused two-month absence from TV deflate the huge momentum Ziggler had upon winning the World Heavyweight Championship, but his return to action saw him immediately lose the title to Alberto Del Rio and then WWE seemed to lose all faith in Dolph Ziggler as being World Champion material.
This all played out in mid-2013, and here we are now in 2020, with Dolph having been an undeniably fantastic in-ring talent throughout the past seven years, yet Dolph also having not been anywhere close to becoming a World Champion again.
Vince McMahon was hesitant to ever go with Ziggler as a World Champion in the first place, and the concussion saw McMahon regret ever doing so - as highlighted in the reports of Vince then thinking Dolph was injury prone, before the star then returned to the midcard for the following years.
1. Chris Jericho
From 2008 until 2010, Chris Jericho embarked on a legendary heel run that is easily one of the best of the modern era. During those years, the self-proclaimed Best in the World at What He Does managed to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship an impressive three times.
While WWE is likely mildly irked that those reigns are now attached to the top star in burgeoning rival promotion AEW, it's Jericho's time as WWE's first ever Undisputed Champion that's the focus of attention here.
The simple fact of the matter is that there can only ever be one first Undisputed WWE Champion. And as much as it surely now gets under the skin of WWE brass, that first was Chris Jericho.
For WWE, they now get to see the top star of a potential rival organisation parading around and proudly proclaiming himself as the first ever Undisputed Champ. There's no direct mention of WWE in Le Champion's words, yet everybody knows that this is clearly a reference to the December 2001 Vengeance PPV which saw Jericho defeat The Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in the same night to hold the newly-created biggest prize in the business.
You can only imagine how much Vince McMahon must now regret handing that prestigious Undisputed WWE Champion honour to Jericho back on that '01 night - and how much Vince must cry himself to sleep at the fact that Triple H was out injured during the crowning of the inaugural Undisputed WWE Champion.
