The WWE Championship is the most important title associated with greatness in the wrestling industry. Names like Steve Austin, John Cena and Bruno Sammartino have added iconic memories to make the title respected. Not everyone will always have perfect title runs despite the opportunity to deliver strong results. The reason for disappointment can vary between the talent or creative dropping the ball.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Why John Cena Should Break Ric Flair's World Championship Record (& 5 Why He Shouldn't)

We will look at the memorable moments of wrestlers having a great opportunity on paper before having a terrible title run. The talent involved each hoped to use their title reigns to create something special. Most fans and people backstage had high hopes for each wrestler on the list. Find out just how things shaped out for each performer involved. These are ten failed WWE Champions that should have worked.

10 Sheamus

WWE gave Sheamus a shockingly fast push to the top that only a handful of wrestlers have ever experienced. Sheamus started his main roster run on the lower ECW brand to learn from working with names like Finlay and Goldust.

RELATED: 10 Underdogs We Want To Believe Will Win A World Title In WWE

The move to Raw saw Sheamus winning the WWE Championship from John Cena within a few months of his debut. Fans were stunned, but they never gravitated towards him in the same way of other title winners. Sheamus never had momentum for any of his world title reigns, which always doomed them.

9 Diesel

The start of Kevin Nash’s run as a top star came when he debuted as Diesel in WWE. Shawn Michaels wanted Nash as his bodyguard, and they had outstanding chemistry together. Diesel eventually turned face and won the WWE Championship from Bob Backlund in a handful of seconds.

The title run of Diesel didn’t have the same momentum as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker in that era. Nash felt disrespected that WWE didn’t treat him on the same level as the other three despite having a long title reign, but it flopped in the long run.

8 Alberto Del Rio

WWE found instant success with Alberto Del Rio debuting as a top heel on Smackdown. Del Rio had strong experience wrestling all over the world to gain that level of confidence. Vince McMahon specifically felt Alberto was ready for the main event spot.

The first WWE Championship win of Del Rio came when he moved to Raw and won the Money in the Bank title shot. Alberto failed as WWE Champion with fans not viewing him on the same level as John Cena and CM Punk. The timing of the win led to general disappointment.

7 Hulk Hogan

The 2002 return of Hulk Hogan showed that the WWE fans still loved him. Hogan initially returned as a heel leading the New World Order with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to poison the company. WWE was forced to turn Hogan heel after the audience treated him like a king in his WrestleMania 18 classic against The Rock.

The pops for Hogan were huge for weeks and convinced WWE to go all the way with his face turn. Triple H’s WWE Championship reign ended after just a month for Hogan to get the title at his hottest. The title run was a disaster with awful matches, forcing WWE to have him lose it the following month to Undertaker.

6 The Miz

The Money in the Bank title shot helped create new stars getting a chance at the world picture. One wrestler to win the title thanks to the MITB title shot was The Miz. The momentum of Miz was strong enough after rising up the card as a hated heel.

Miz’s title reign unfortunately led to him losing a lot of his appeal since he flopped in the role. WWE fans just never bought Miz defeating names like Randy Orton and John Cena in title defenses. Despite still having a good role on television, Miz has not received another world title reign after losing it almost nine years ago.

5 Chris Jericho

The legendary career of Chris Jericho saw a few great world title reigns, including the current run as AEW Champion. Unfortunately, the biggest win of Jericho’s career led to the worst of all his major world title reigns. Jericho defeating Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night to become Undisputed Champion should have made him an instant top star.

RELATED: 5 WCW Wrestlers Chris Jericho Loved (& 5 He Had Backstage Heat With)

The weak heel character saw him failing to build the reputation that would keep him in the main event picture. Jericho moved back down to the mid-card for the rest of his first WWE run after losing the title to Triple H.

4 Big Show

WWE always had major plans for Big Show when he debuted in 1999. The first massive win of his run came at the end of the year when winning the WWE Championship. Big Show replaced Steve Austin in the Survivor Series main event to defeat both Triple H and The Rock.

Fans didn’t buy into Big Show as a world champion and WWE realized a change was needed. Triple H defeated Big Show on Raw about six weeks after Big Show’s win and the latter turned heel. WWE’s hope that Big Show could be a face world champion in the Attitude Era ended without success.

3 Bray Wyatt

The WWE Championship win of Bray Wyatt in 2017 felt like a huge moment. Wyatt ended John Cena’s record-tying 16th reign in an outstanding Elimination Chamber. The title run only lasted a few weeks until Randy Orton defeated him at WrestleMania 33.

Wyatt’s title run is remembered as a flop for both the short time and the horrific match with Orton. WWE moved Bray lower down the card and he didn’t rebound from this mess until the new character in 2019. If Wyatt didn’t come up with The Fiend alter ego, it may have taken longer to climb back to the top.

2 Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam was someone fans always wanted to see win the WWE Championship after becoming a fan favorite in the early 2000s for WWE. The company never felt it was right until the ECW brand returned in 2006.

Van Dam defeated John Cena to become the WWE Champion and was crowned the ECW Champion as well. The reign was going well until RVD and Sabu were pulled over for possession of marijuana in their car. A suspension for Van Dam ended the title reigns faster than expected with no second chances at that level.

1 The Ultimate Warrior

WWE fans of the late 80s and early 90s loved the act of the Ultimate Warrior. No one would have accused him of being a great wrestler or strong promo, but the character work and unique presentation made him a fan favorite at Hulk Hogan’s level at his peak.

Warrior defeating Hogan cleanly in the main event of WrestleMania was a star-making moment. Unfortunately, he couldn’t grow more in the new role. Fans started to lose interest in Warrior, and it became obvious he wasn’t at the level of Hogan or Randy Savage. WWE had Warrior drop the belt before WrestleMania 8 to get him away from the title picture.

NEXT: 5 Best Rivalries Of Ultimate Warrior's Career (& 5 Worst)