The WWE Championship is one prize every superstar in WWE has desired at some point. Every wrestler wants to achieve as much success as possible for the personal and/or financial aspect of their careers. The title history features iconic names like Steve Austin, Bret Hart and John Cena defining the strong legacy that still exists today.
However, there have been quite a few talented wrestlers who only held the title once despite doing well in the grand scheme of things. Timing sometimes plays the biggest role in how many reigns someone will have with the belt. There is no guarantee a successful title run will lead to more in the future. But sometimes, all a Superstar needs is one great reign with the WWE Title.
10 Rob Van Dam
The WWE Championship win of Rob Van Dam was something fans wanted for years. Van Dam missed out on a title reign during his rise from 2001 to 2003 as arguably the most beloved face in that time frame.
ECW returning under the WWE banner led to RVD finally winning the big one, defeating John Cena for the WWE Championship. The moment and short reign of Van Dam connected with the fans, but his suspension for violating the wellness policy ended it with no future title runs coming in WWE.
9 JBL
JBL had a long WWE Championship reign, almost running a full year as the top heel on SmackDown. The run was planned to set up a hated villain for John Cena to defeat at WrestleMania 21 in a crowning moment.
WWE booked JBL with heat-creating moments each week looking to build him at the most hated man in the company. He even made Eddie's mother a heart attack in the storyline. JBL scored victories over The Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Booker T and many other beloved stars before his sole title reign ended at the hands of Cena. WWE never wanted another world title run from JBL again.
8 Diesel
Kevin Nash’s run as Diesel made him the fourth most important star of the New Generation Era behind Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker. Diesel defeated Bob Backlund within seconds to win the WWE Championship in shocking fashion.
The title matches against Bret and Shawn were decent, and fans did enjoy Diesel as a character. Nash had top star credibility when joining WCW based on his WWE success. However, the company never felt it was ideal to put the title on Nash afterwards or in any future returns.
7 Chris Jericho
The various world title reigns of Chris Jericho only saw him winning the WWE Championship once. Jericho unified the WWE Championship and WCW Championship, becoming the first ever Undisputed Champion. Jericho had a historic win defeating Steve Austin and The Rock in the same night at Vengeance 2001.
The heel work of Jericho proved he could work as a top star. Unfortunately, Jericho suffered from the Triple H vs Stephanie McMahon feud when dropping the belt to The Game at WrestleMania X8. WWE did not book another world title reign for Jericho for another six years when Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship.
6 Billy Graham
The star power and character work of Billy Graham made him ahead of his time. Graham had the larger-than-life character along with the jacked physique that essentially created the blueprint for the next decade or two in WWE.
The WWE Championship win of Graham cemented his status as a top star. Graham did well in the role, but he didn’t stick around long enough in WWE for another reign. Future acts like Hulk Hogan and Scott Steiner used a lot of Graham’s influence in their work.
5 Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy winning the WWE Championship was a huge moment that every fan of his took pride in. The long road for Hardy made his story even more touching to make the audience connect with him in the strongest manner.
Hardy’s WWE Championship reign was short and ended to Edge a little over a month later during the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The future saw Jeff removed from the title picture until winning the World Championship. Hardy has yet to win the WWE Championship again in his career.
4 Kofi Kingston
The wrestler on this list with the best chance to win a second WWE Championship is Kofi Kingston. WWE found lightning in a bottle with the fan base rallying behind Kingston due to his long road of never having a reign with the WWE Championship.
Kofi had a great reign as a valiant face overcoming a few heels. However, WWE ended the run in humiliating fashion when Brock Lesnar squashed him in under 10 seconds. Kingston has been removed from the WWE Title picture since then, but there is hope he will win it again since he has plenty of gas left in his tank.
3 Kane
Kane only held the WWE Championship for one day, but he made it memorable. The first WWE Championship reign of Steve Austin at his peak ended with Kane defeating him in a First Blood match through controversial means at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view.
WWE booked Kane to lose the title back to Austin one night later on Raw. The move made sense since Austin was the biggest star in the company. However, Kane proved that fans would buy him as the champ on a loaded roster. There was never a second WWE Championship reign for Kane, but he did win the World Heavyweight Championship in 2010.
2 Dean Ambrose
The Shield members all had incredible careers after the group disbanded. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns had multiple WWE Championship reigns, but Dean Ambrose had the least with just one title run coming in 2016.
The Money in the Bank contract allowed Ambrose to cash in on Rollins just seconds after Rollins defeated Reigns. Ambrose was over with the fans and had a decent title run as WWE started the brand split. The battles with Rollins and AJ Styles gave Ambrose some great matches, but he never had another title run. A move to AEW has him thriving there as the world champion with a fresh start.
1 Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero is remembered as a legendary WWE Champion despite only having one title run. The incredible moment of Eddie defeating Brock Lesnar saw his hard work pay off when reaching the top of the mountain.
Guerrero had a great WrestleMania moment at WM XX, defeating Kurt Angle in a classic match. Even the title losing feud with JBL delivered strong matches to put him over strong. Eddie passing at a young age prevented another world title reign, but he created a main event legacy with his sole WWE Championship run.