It takes a lot to make a world champion. The stars have to align just right for the bookers backstage to pull the trigger on a wrestler and give them the biggest prize in the sport. Most importantly, Vince McMahon needs to ultimately sign off on them.

Throughout history, 50 men have held the WWE Championship. That number only goes up by three if you include the men who have held the Universal Championship. That means the odds of holding one of the company’s most important titles is slim to none.

It’s also incredibly difficult for guys to reenter the title picture once they’ve been out of it. There are also wrestlers who seemingly deserve the belt but are never able to grab it. For both of these examples, there’s no hard or fast rule as to why they get relegated to the midcard. Behind the scenes may give up on them, injuries may stall their progress, or they might be forced to retire before reaching their potential.

Let’s take a look at the wrestlers whose time is up when it comes to winning the big one. Guys who have previously won the belt but will never match their success as well as men who have yet to grasp the big one and never will. Here are 15 Current WWE Stars Will Never Be World Champions Again and 6 Who Never Will Be.

21 Not Again: The Undertaker

Right now, it’s uncertain if The Undertaker will ever wrestler again. Since he hasn’t officially retired, and WrestleMania is right around the corner, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Dead Man were to don the leather duster again. Recently, rumors were circulating that The Undertaker was going to take on John Cena on the grandest stage of all. There’s still time for this to happen, as Cena still does not have an opponent for the show.

We’ve been saying for years that ‘Taker should hang it up and ride off into the sunset, but he has yet to answer our pleas. Even if he does continue his career, there is no chance he will ever be in the title picture again. He wrestles less than Brock Lesnar and seemingly needs months and months of recovery after every single match.

20 Not Again: Jinder Mahal

Kudos to WWE for trying something different by putting the WWE Championship on Jinder Mahal. Before his out of nowhere massive push in 2017 Mahal was a jobber. It was really interesting to see the company take a guy with seemingly very little upside (besides a great physique and dope theme song) and make him champ within a few months.

Criticism to WWE for bungling the entire ordeal. It seemed like Mahal’s run on top was designed for him to wrestle in India while holding the title. It would have been huge for him to represent the massive country as WWE’s top talent. Instead, after months of matches and promos that were exhausting and exactly the same, they took the title off of Mahal. He went to India, beltless, and lost to Triple H. WWE saw their experiment as a failure and will not revisit Jinder as champion ever again.

19 Never Win One: Baron Corbin

During the summer of 2017, it seemed like we were destined for a Baron Corbin WWE Championship reign. He was the holder of the Money in the Bank briefcase and was seemingly biding his time before cashing in. When he tried to cash in on Jinder Mahal, the Lone Wolf lost the match, making him one of three men to have unsuccessful cash-ins.

As a consolation prize, Corbin wound up with the United States Championship later that year. The midcard is a great place for Corbin to remain. He’s a big guy, with a great look (minus the hair), and can put together a decent match when he’s challenged. It wouldn’t be surprising if he were to regain the US belt down the line, but a World Championship run seems out of the question.

18 Not Again: Finn Balor

There are certain people within the WWE that are always getting chance after chance to be one of their top guys (see: Roman Reigns). But for every Roman Reigns, there are tons of Dolph Zigglers, Dean Ambroses, and Jinder Mahals. Guys who made it to the top but have been unable to reclaim their success and get another shot at glory. Finn Balor is going to be one of those guys.

Sure, he was crowned WWE’s first even Universal Champion, but once he was forced to relinquish the title the next day, it was curtains for him. In the eyes of the company, the Demon is always going to be injury prone. They are always going to feel like they can never fully get behind Balor out of worry that he will once again let them down.

17 Not Again: Bray Wyatt

When Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family were called up to the main roster in July of 2013, they were. Breathe of fresh air. They were a group of anarchic cultist hillbillies who wanted to destroy the machine. Sadly, their mission statement would never truly be accomplished. Every feud would be the same. Wyatt would want to destroy a wrestler, try and spook them with scary bugs and sleek editing tricks, and continuously lose to them.

Somehow, in early 2017, Bray Wyatt won the Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship. This only happened so he could drop it to Randy Orton at WrestleMania in the infamous “Oogie Boogie Projection” Match. It was a dull run with a bad ending. Since then, Wyatt has returned to his love of being on the losing end of angles that go on for far too long, and that’s where he’ll stay.

16 Never Win One: Rusev

I hate to break the news to you, one Rusev Day of all days, but the Bulgarian Brute is never going to win the big one in the WWE. The man went undefeated on the main roster for over a year. That would have been the perfect time to put the World Title on him. Once he tasted his first loss at the hands of, who else, John Cena, the bloom fell off the rose.

Then, a very special day happened, once he uttered the two words, “Rusev Day,” Rusev was suddenly the most over guy on the roster. He is now showing off his impeccable comedic chops and getting the best reactions on Tuesday nights. Apparently, the brass backstage hates that since he’s hardly even on the show that chants his name. The fans may want him to be champion, but sadly, that’s not what counts.

15 Not Again: Triple H

The 14-time world champion may have ruled the ring with an iron fist for over a decade, but it would be extremely surprising if he were to return to dominance. To put it simply, Triple H is too busy to be a full-time wrestler. He is currently WWE’s Chief Operating Officer, a job that he has been excelling at. Hunter is currently the driving force behind the NXT brand and has been influential in the emergences of new superstars like Asuka, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Roode. Not only that, but the Game has also taken the reins of 205 Live and has breathed new life into the show by putting together an incredible tournament.

It also seems that, with Vince McMahon’s impending XFL relaunch, Triple H is about to have more behind the scenes responsibility. This is where the definitely belongs as his in-ring career winds down.

14 Not Again: Dean Ambrose

When The Shield first made their mark in the WWE, many fans pegged Dean Ambrose as the standout. He was the team’s best talker, had an unorthodox in-ring style, and oozed charisma. However, since the group broke up, he has been outshined by both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns - for different reasons too. Obviously, Roman Reigns is the golden boy that Vince McMahon will keep pushing and pushing until we all give up and accept him. Seth was able to go from hated villain to “cool heel” to beloved workhorse. Ambrose has just stayed pretty stagnant.

He was able to win the WWE Championship after cashing in the Money in the Bank Briefcase on Rollins, but that will most likely be his only time with the prize. Ambrose is constantly being surpassed by the competition and will remain a sturdy, midcard hand.

13 Never Win One: Big E

All three members of the New Day could actually fill up this spot and all for different reasons. Kofi’s too old and Xavier Woods is too small. Big E definitely has the most upside when it comes to the stable, but it looks like his career won’t see him win a world championship either.

Sure, he’s super talented, strong, has charisma, and is wildly entertaining, but the nearly four years of him prancing to the ring and gyrating his hips is what’s going to stop him from reaching his potential. From bell to bell he puts on good matches, but it will be hard for the public to not perceive him as a goon. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when the New Day eventually breaks up. They all deserve success, they’ll just never be able to top what they created together.

12 Not Again: Jeff Hardy

The Charismatic Enigma has won three world championships, eight tag team championships, the Intercontinental championship four times, and holds many other accolades to his name. He went from being a staple of the Attitude Era’s tag division to being one of the most popular acts during the early-2000s.

Despite his popularity, it would be very surprising if Jeff were to return to the top of the card for two reasons. The first being his history with drug issues. His past runs have been riddled with Wellness Policy violations that stalled early pushes. The other reason is that Jeff has proved to be injury prone within recent years. His stuntman-like lifestyle has seen him break his leg after crashing his dirt bike, and he is currently on the shelf due to a shoulder injury. It seems like it’s finally time for Matt Hardy to step out from his brother’s shadow.

11 Not Again: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is currently extremely busy with various projects outside of WWE. He’s the host of the wildly popular Talk Is Jericho podcast, the lead vocalist in Fozzy, he’s set to embark on his own cruise and returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first time in almost 20 years.

That being said, there will without a doubt be a day where he returns to WWE. It’s where he has had his greatest success as an entertainer. He’s been able to create new and interesting characters over time because he always takes a break before he grows stale. This is his greatest strength but also his downfall. WWE isn’t going to put a major title on a guy like Y2J who’s going to leave after a few months. He just doesn’t have the drawing power of a Goldberg of Brock Lesnar that would allow him to be a part-time champion.

10 Not Again: Sheamus

For months there have been rumblings that Sheamus is on the cusp of retiring. He is apparently suffering from spinal stenosis and working through it to the best of his abilities. This is the same injury that forced Edge to retire at the top of his game and something that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has to deal with on a daily basis. With a career-threatening injury looming in the distance, WWE would be wise to keep Sheamus away from their biggest titles. Not that he needs it, as the Irishman has already done so much in his career, racking up just about every prize one can.

Plus, Sheamus has never seemed to enjoy himself half as much before he started teaming with Cesaro.

9 Never Win One: Cesaro

Somehow, the Swiss Superman has fallen into the role of “tag team specialist.” This first happened when he began teaming with Jack Swagger in 2013 and continued when he won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Tyson Kidd in 2015. He had a brief resurgence following Tyson Kidd’s injury that saw fans really get behind Cesaro. This was squashed when he was paired up with Sheamus following an incredible “Best of 7” series.

It’s easy to find proof that Cesaro will never win a world championship. When Vince McMahon as a guest on Steve Austin’s podcast, the chairman said, “He doesn’t quite have the charisma, he doesn’t have the verbal skills as well.” Vince putting this out there very publicly will make it very difficult for them to pull the trigger on the ridiculously talented Cesaro.

8 Not Again: Dolph Ziggler

There was a time when Dolph Ziggler was the hottest wrestler in the WWE. When he cashed in his Money in the Bank Briefcase at the Raw after WrestleMania XXIX, it seemed like the company was ready to go all in. He had been consistently putting on the best matches on the card and living up to his “Show-Off” moniker. However, after a nasty concussion, the company lost all hope in the promising athlete.

That was five years ago, and he has never recovered. Sure, he’s had a bunch of Intercontinental Championship runs since then, but he’s never been able to once again become World Champion. His current gimmick of “being too cool to care” isn’t doing him any favors. Taking six months off of television wasn’t nearly enough time for the audience to forget years and years of poor booking.

7 Not Again: Kurt Angle

Just looking at Kurt Angle try and stand up straight is difficult. With his knees bent and back stiff, it looks like the Olympic Gold Medalist is in pain 24 hours a day. His body has gone through a number of injuries throughout his years as a wrestler, dating all the way back to when he won the Olympics with a broken (freakin’) neck. The American hero has had a plethora of surgeries to fix his neck, spine, and ACL. Another reason why a major championship isn’t in his future is his age. Angle will be 50 years old later this year. He’s not the spring chicken he once was.

Granted, Angle has proved to be surprisingly impressive inside a wrestling ring in his past two matches, at 2017’s TLC and Survivor Series, but he’s better off kept as a part-time attraction than a fighting champion.

6 Never Win One: Sami Zayn

Poor Sami Zayn. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. For the entirety of his career, the ska-loving superstar has played second fiddle to his best friend Kevin Owens. Even on the independent circuit, Owens was the one winning world titles. In Ring of Honor, Owens won their World Championship and Zayn only won their TV title.

It seemed like Zayn was ready to break out from this shadow of his friend when he was signed to NXT alone. However, the night he won the NXT Championship was the same night Kevin Owens debuted. Owens would then be the one to defeat his best friend.

On the main roster, Owens has won just about every singles championship there is to win while Zayn has yet to touch gold. That seems to be the way it’s destined to be. Owens wins the belts and Sami stays by his side.

5 Not Again: Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar’s current reign as WWE’s Universal Champion has not been very well received. It all boils down to the number of matches he wrestles every year. In 2017, the Beast only wrestled twelve matches. When the person holding the company’s top prize only competes in a dozen matches, it’s a problem. Folks want to see championships defended at shows, especially one that is supposed to be held above all. Lesnar’s arrangement doesn’t allow for this. It also hurts that his reign came on the heels of Goldberg’s similar deal. WWE would be wise to not repeat this setup and keep the belts away from Brock.

It is worth noting that Lesnar’s current contract is set to expire in April of 2018, so we may see the end of Paul Heyman’s “Guy” for a long, long time.

4 Not Again: Kane

Like the Big Show, Kane has had a ridiculously long career, especially for a big guy. He debuted all the way back in 1992 and only recently has his role began to wind down. This is because the Big Red Machine is currently seeking office. If you’ve been under a rock, Kane is running for Mayor of Knox County Tennessee. With the election coming in May of 2018, the Devil’s Favorite Demon doesn’t have much time to spend in the ring. His most recent program with Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar ended at the Royal Rumble and he hasn’t been seen on TV since the following Raw.

If Kane’s mayoral bid is successful, it’s pretty clear that will mark the end of his career as a professional wrestler and eliminate any future world title runs.

3 Never Win One: Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is in a very interesting situation. Had he been signed to WWE along with his buddy John Cena in the early 2000s, he would have floundered in their developmental system. Since he wasn’t built like Batista, Brock Lesnar, or Randy Orton, Joe would have struggled to get noticed.

Instead, he made a name for himself in Ring of Honor and TNA, gaining a reputation as one of the best workers in the business. He was eventually signed to much different WWE development system: NXT. Along with other indie darlings like Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and foreign stars like Shinsuke Nakamura, Joe thrived. In addition to being almost 40, Joe has suffered two different injuries since being called up to the main roster. Injury prone and aging is not a good combination and something that will hurt the Destroyer when it comes to world title goals.

2 Not Again: Big Show

He may have recently gotten into the best shape of his career, but the Big Show’s days as World Champion have come to an end. His surprisingly awesome feud with Braun Strowman that saw the men break the ring, cages, and just about everything else in their way was a perfect way for one big man to pass the torch to another. The World’s Largest Athlete hasn’t been on television since Strowman bested him in a Steel Cage match and is currently recovering from hip surgery. The Giant is hoping to make a return at this year’s WrestleMania, but we’ll believe it when we see it.

Show has over 20 years of in-ring experience and is a great hand to keep around. At 46-years-old, he is an extremely well-respected worker who is better off acting as a wealth of knowledge for younger talent.