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- The 1990s were a big decade for pro wrestling with the Monday Night Wars and the rise of the Attitude Era in North America alone. If that weren’t enough, the Internet wasn’t so widespread that fans could get up-to-the-second updates on every wrestling development happening across the globe. As a result, there are loads of championship wins for well-known performers than fans to this day are unaware of — even more than the original 10 covered in this list. Let’s take a look at a few more, including one of the longest reigns with one of the most prestigious world titles.
There is no bigger honor in wrestling than holding a world title. No matter the promotion, being a world champion is the dream of anyone who steps into the ring and is usually an honor reserved for the cream of the crop. The 1990s was one of the greatest eras in the history of wrestling. It was the time when wrestlers grew from "sports entertainers" to true stars in the eyes of the masses.
Being a world champion in the 90s means you were at a status reserved for the likes of Stone Cold, Hollywood Hogan, and The Undertaker. Although those names still resonate with wrestling fans to this day, many forgotten wrestlers had world title runs (of varying success) in the 90s.
UPDATE: 2022/09/23 15:30 EST BY Danny Djeljosevic
The 1990s were a big decade for pro wrestling with the Monday Night Wars and the rise of the Attitude Era in North America alone. If that weren’t enough, the Internet wasn’t so widespread that fans could get up-to-the-second updates on every wrestling development happening across the globe. As a result, there are loads of championship wins for well-known performers than fans to this day are unaware of — even more than the original 10 covered in this list. Let’s take a look at a few more, including one of the longest reigns with one of the most prestigious world titles.
13 Big Van Vader - Triple Crown Championship
Fans might be aware of Big Van Vader’s success in Japan, where he’s not only a three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but also the first gaijin to ever win the belt. But after his disappointing run with WWE in the late 1990s, Vader returned to Japan, wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling, capturing the other big title of the country’s wrestling scene, the Triple Crown Championship. Vader would enjoy two reigns with the belt, with his initial 57-day run ended by Mitsuharu Misawa before he won it back for a 120-day reign before losing to Kenta Kobashi.
12 Tito Santana - ECW
Before it adopted the name Extreme Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Eastern Championship wrestling featured a lot of seasoned 1980s WWE veterans in its early days, with Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka becoming the inaugural ECW Champion and other early champions including Don Muraco and the Sandman. Muraco had a big feud in the early 1980s with Tito Santana over the Intercontinental Championship, renewing their rivalry in 1993. This would result in Santana dethroning Muraco for the ECW Championship, holding the belt for about a month until he relinquished the title to Shane Douglas.
11 Dan Severn - NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Dan “The Beast” Severn spent the mid 1990s to the early 2010s as an MMA fighter, but he was a pro wrestler before that, debuting in the early 1990s. In 1995, Severn showed up in Tennessee-based Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he defeated Chris Candido to capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Severn would hold the belt for 1,479 days, which would end up becoming one of the longest reigning NWA World Champions ever.
During his four-year-long reign, Dan Severn would also capture a UFC Championship, becoming the only performer to hold an MMA title and a pro wrestling title at the same time. During his reign, Severn would defend the NWA Title in the various territories, internationally in Japan and Canada, and would even show up with the belt in WWE.
10 Val Venis - CMLL World Heavyweight Champions
Val Venis became a mid-card staple in the 1990s. His time in the WWE is often remembered for his gimmick as an "ex-adult actor" and a storyline where his member was chopped off (welcome to the Attitude Era).
Before he was competing in the WWE, Venis was a world champion in the Mexican wrestling promotion CMLL, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Venis was under the ring name Steele and would be the WWE Intercontinental champion less than two years later.
9 Ron Simmons - WCW World Heavyweight Champion
Ron Simmons's solo career is way too often forgotten. Yes, his time with APA (Simmons and Bradshaw) saw the star become a staple in the tag team division, but many forget he was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion for five months in 1992.
Although his feuds with Vader were particularly memorable, he was never booked in a way that would set him up to be a huge star, but too few people know about his world title run in WCW.
8 Mikey Whipwreck - ECW World Heavyweight Champion
The Sandman and Shane Douglas becoming the first two ECW World Heavyweight Champions makes sense. Mikey Whipwreck becoming the third Extreme Championship Wrestling Champion is a bit of a head-scratcher in retrospect.
Whipwreck was a kid who started as a member of the ring crew before becoming champion in 1995. His reign lasted a little over a month, but he defended the titles against legends like Rey Mysterio and Steve Austin.
7 Road Warrior Hawk - CWA World Heavyweight Championship
After dominating the tag team scene as one-half of The Road Warriors, Hawk attempted a solo career in the indies. In 1992, he won his only singles title at Catch Wrestling Association.
The German and Austrian wrestling promotion lasted from 1973 to 1999. Although the organization was small, Hawk would hold their world title for 196 days.
6 Scott Norton - IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Many nWo fans remember Scott Norton holding an international title on Nitro. The title he held was no small title, it was the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He was one of the most important members of nWo Japan and defeated Yuji Nagata to earn the title in 1998.
Norton never held a single title at WCW but did win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship again after he left the company.
5 Mabel - WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion
Mabel did get a WWE Championship title shot against Diesel in 1995. Many wrestling fans assumed that might be his last world title opportunity, but Mabel did become the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship in 1996.
World Wrestling Council (WWC) is a Puerto Rican wrestling promotion that was established in 1973. WWE Hall of Famers Carlos Colón and Scott Hall both also held the title at one time.
4 Konnan - IWC World Heavyweight Champion
Konnan had a great career in WCW. Although anyone who looks at his success in the 90s may only point to his days with nWo or his tag team title run with Kidman, Konnan was a world champion before he arrived to WCW.
Not only did he once hold the EMLL World Heavyweight Championship (as Konnan El Barbaro) he also held the IWC World Heavyweight Championship for over 200 days. The IWC title was once one of the most prestigious titles in Mexico, especially in the 90s.
3 Barry Windham - NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Best remembered as a member of the Four Horseman, Barry Windham has had one of the best tag team wrestling careers ever. Few forget he once held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, one of the most prestigious titles in the history of wrestling.
The 147-day reign happened in 1993 but did little to bolster Windham as a main eventer. Windham also didn't win another title until five years later when he teamed up with Tully Blanchard to win the NWA World Tag Team Champion.
2 Raven - ECW World Heavyweight Champion
Raven's career in the '90s was replete with triumphs. His time in WCW saw him rise up and down the mid-card and his WWE career was full of moments where he stood out despite the stacked WWE Attitude Era roster. His time in ECW was extremely memorable, but he was never associated with the company at the level of Sabu or Rob Van Dam. Still, Raven held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship through two insane title runs.
He defended it against every top star at the company and even held the title for a combined 379 days. He never made any guest appearance at One Night Stand or the WWE/ECW reboot, but Raven was a huge ECW world titleholder.
1 Norman Smiley - CMLL World Heavyweight Champion
Normal Smiley is often remembered as a WCW comedy act. He became more known for dancing than wrestling despite the fact he was one of the best wrestlers on any roster he was on. He was relegated to the lower midcard at WCW competing for the WCW Hardcore title.
Before his WCW run, Smiley was a world champion at CMLL. He competed at a high level against all the top Mexican stars at CMLL and held the title for 219 days. Unfortunately, this success never translated to anything in the Americas and his world title run is a forgotten aspect of his career.