It’s a well-known fact that Vince McMahon is calling the shots on every major happening in the WWE. Having been at the helm of the WWE for decades now, Vince has earned the right to make his own decisions, but not all of his choices are perceived that well. While Vince has been the brains behind the immaculate growth of WWE and has given the fans some fantastic content in the past, he’s also done some things booking-wise which have been very unpopular among fans. Vince might get swayed by others’ influence while booking minor things in WWE, but when it comes to booking his World Champions, he makes those decisions himself.

There have been different kinds of World Champions in the WWE over the years. While the WWE Championship has always been a mainstay, the World Heavyweight Championship and the Universal Championship are also considered major world titles. Vince might have given the fans some terrific World Champions over the years who made the product much more entertaining, but there has also been a share of underwhelming champions. Some wrestlers, who didn't deserve to be “top champions” because of their lack of ability or charisma, received the coveted titles mostly because Vince wanted them as champions, for whatever reason.

Many disappointing World Champions have been crowned in WWE over the years, as we look at 20 bad World Champions only Vince McMahon wanted as his top guys.

20 Brock Lesnar

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Brock Lesnar's decline in popularity is solely because of his growing egoistic nature and laziness in performing for WWE, as he earned the reputation of being one of WWE’s worst champions during his reign as the Universal Champion.

He was given the opportunity to put over the title, but because of him barely defending it in a year, the title became irrelevant to many fans.

Lesnar was known to have become a lousy worker, who only does it for the pay-day and doesn’t respect the product nor the fans. While Vince McMahon made a lot of money because of his decision to make a mainstream star like Lesnar champion, The Beast’s poor attitude and lazy behavior made him quite the disliked World Champion.

19 Diesel

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Diesel had the physique and ability to thrive as a main-eventer in WWE, with his character getting hugely over after he was paired up with Shawn Michaels in WWE. But after Diesel parted with Michaels and was pushed into the main-event scene, things started to crumble, as many fans turned on him.

Diesel won the WWE Championship in dominant fashion, but his reign is still regarded as one of the weakest ones in the company’s history.

Vince McMahon wanted a big guy like Diesel to represent his company and made him the champion for a long time, but Diesel’s poor ability in the ring and inability to compete with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels made him a highly unpopular champion.

18 Sgt. Slaughter

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Sgt. Slaughter was quite the unique character in WWE during the 80s and early 90s, as he not only played the role of a patriot to perfection, but later returned as a heel. It was during his heel tenure that Slaughter was pushed as WWE’s #1 bad guy, but he still didn’t seem fit to hold the top championship.

While Slaughter would win the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble 1991, he lost it quickly to Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII later that year. Slaughter was barely given enough time to be a successful champion, as the fans soon rejected him, something which allowed Hulk Hogan to go over once again.

17 Jinder Mahal

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When Jinder Mahal pinned Randy Orton at Backlash 2017 to win the WWE Championship, the entire wrestling fanbase was in utter shock because nobody believed it could actually happen. Mahal, who was infamous for being a jobber in WWE, had buffed up his physique and won the title.

It was all a ploy from Vince McMahon to garner more attention from the market in India and as a result, Mahal was given a lengthy run with the title.

He defeated many prominent stars during his reign, but couldn’t win over the fans because of his lack of ability in the ring. Mahal produced some horrible matches as champion and nobody but Vince could even think about making someone as underwhelming as him world champion.

16 JBL

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John Bradshaw Layfield’s sudden push into the main-event scene in 2004 wasn’t really appreciated by everyone when he was transitioned from The APA to a cocky, rich heel. While JBL did his work perfectly to garner heat from the crowd, he wasn’t really that good as a WWE Champion after winning it in a dirty manner from Eddie Guerrero.

JBL failed to put on entertaining matches and his heel tactics often spoiled the quality of his title bouts.

JBL might've had a lengthy reign, but he was very disappointing as a heel World Champion and the way he was booked made it evident how it was Vince’s unpopular decision to make him the champion for so long.

15 Goldberg

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When Goldberg made his much-anticipated return to WWE, everyone thought it would be a one-time deal where he has a match against Brock Lesnar. But after defeating Lesnar in surprisingly quick fashion, Goldberg challenged for Kevin Owens’ Universal Championship and even won it at Fastlane last year, something which did not go down well with the fans.

Nobody wanted the older, weary Goldberg - who couldn’t wrestle 10 minutes before getting gassed - to be Universal Champion.

He would become another part-time champion. Vince McMahon saw money in a Goldberg-Lesnar match at WrestleMania and made him the champion, but the fans' backlash on Goldberg becoming World Champion proved how much of a bad decision it was from McMahon.

14 Alberto Del Rio

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Alberto Del Rio was always a guy who was heavily disliked by much of the WWE fanbase, with his arrogant, heel character gaining a lot of heat during his time in WWE, both in the ring and backstage. While Del Rio did a really nice job as a heel of WWE, his tenures as WWE Champion was extremely underwhelming, to say the least.

Del Rio was WWE Champion two times in his career during his time at Raw, but his short-lived stint and poor work didn’t help his case at all. Despite being a more successful World Heavyweight Champion, Del Rio failed to carry the top gold around his waist and couldn’t impress anyone but Vince with his work as World Champion.

13 Kane

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Kane was quite the oddly booked character in WWE for a long time and while his work initially was superb, when he was awarded the World Heavyweight Championship in 2010, things didn’t really work out that well for him. Kane’s World Heavyweight Championship reign was quite underwhelming and despite his feud with The Undertaker, the fans wanted someone new to hold the title.

It was definitely Vince McMahon’s decision to have Kane as World Champion back then, something which didn’t turn out so great. It was mostly because of the feud between the relatively aged Brothers of Destruction that Kane became World Champion, but his reign was quite poor because of the lack of attention he received from the fans.

12 Vince McMahon

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Ah yes, of course. Vince McMahon has done everything possible to make the most relevant stars WWE champions over the years, so it shouldn’t have been that surprising when he made himself WWE Champion during the Attitude Era. Vince defeated Triple H on an episode of SmackDown, thanks to help from his son Shane, who was the special guest referee.

McMahon would hold the title for about a week, but nobody at accepted him as champion, since Vince was just a punching bag for wrestlers rather than a competitor.

McMahon obviously loved having the title on himself during those days, but it was an extremely unpopular decision at the time and garnered a lot of heat from the fans.

11  The Miz

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The Miz might be one of the top stars of WWE right now, but he was still finding his ground as a main-eventer when he won the WWE Championship back in 2010. He cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title and even went on to main-event WrestleMania XXVII as a result.

But The Miz’s reign as WWE Champion was far from great, as the fans rejected him as champion and he couldn’t really do anything great to prove them wrong either. The Miz was quite a poor worker back then who relied on his heel antics to bail him out; it was definitely all Vince’s booking to make such a poor World Champion out of The Miz.

10 The Big Show

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The Big Show might be one of the largest wrestlers to ever step foot in WWE, but he’s had the reputation of being an underwhelming world champion despite having all the traits of being a successful one. The Big Show received a big push after debuting in WWE and won the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1999.

But the World’s largest athlete didn’t get the best of reception from the fans after winning it, as everyone wanted the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold or Mankind to be champion back then. Despite Vince McMahon’s rigorous attempts at making him a dominant champion, The Big Show just wasn’t cut out to be a successful World Champion, as fans couldn’t accept him as one.

9 Sheamus

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Sheamus has been World Champion in WWE four times in his career, but probably won’t come anywhere close to being one of the greatest WWE Champions, mostly because of how disappointing his reigns were. Sheamus might always have retained a great heel nature, but he was known to be a poor worker in the ring and too aggressive at times.

The Celtic Warrior hasn’t really enjoyed any lengthy World Championship reign in WWE and was criticized by fans and critics for being an underperforming champion.

Vince McMahon has always been high on Sheamus and it was his decision to give him so many World Championship reigns, but those didn’t work out so well as Sheamus was never appreciated as a World Champ.

8 Roman Reigns

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Vince McMahon’s constant attempts at making Roman Reigns the top guy of WWE has frustrated fans to the extent that Reigns has become a hated figure despite actually being a decent performer in the ring. Reigns has had multiple stints with the WWE Championship and is the current Universal Champion, but his mannerisms and demeanor don’t make him look like a great champion.

Reigns might be a dominant champion in the future, but his lack of personality, poor gimmick, and mic skills don’t help his case at all.

Vince might love The Big Dog as his top champion, but in reality, Reigns has been a highly loathed World Champion who doesn’t seem to have the spark needed to be a popular top guy.

7 Jack Swagger

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Jack Swagger actually looked quite the promising individual during his early years with WWE, but it could be said that WWE pushed him way too early, something which badly backfired on them. Swagger might’ve been a great technical wrestler, but his gimmick and personality were still underwhelming when he won the World Heavyweight Championship after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.

Swagger had poor mic skills, a lack of charisma needed for a proper heel champion and Vince McMahon’s decision of wanting Swagger as a top guy fell flat. Swagger’s career ended up going downwards after his disappointing World Championship reign, which failed horribly due to him not being able to get over.

6 The Iron Sheik

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The Iron Sheik is regarded as one of the best heels in WWE history and he was used really cleverly by Vince McMahon in the 80s to put over Hulk Hogan and other babyface stars. The Sheik also got a WWE Championship reign, after defeating Bob Backlund for the title in dominant fashion, but he wouldn’t be as great a champion as he was a heel.

The Iron Sheik only had a reign of about 29 days, which itself validates how poor a champion he was.

It was Vince’s decision to make him WWE Champion, but that was only done so that he’d drop it to Hulk Hogan and kick-start “Hulkamania” and that underwhelming, short stint proved how nobody wanted Sheik as a world champion.

5 The Great Khali

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The Great Khali was quite the underwhelming “giant” in WWE many years ago, and it was due to his size and intimidating nature that he was given a mega-push in his initial years with the company. The Great Khali crushed The Undertaker on his debut night and went onto become the first Indian wrestler to win the World Heavyweight Championship on a Smackdown battle royale.

But Khali was, in reality, a very slow, lousy worker inside the squared circle and had a very limited skillset.

He failed to convince fans to appreciate his work as World Champion and while Vince saw money in making a giant like him a champion, Khali ended up being an extremely unpopular World Champ due to poor in-ring ability.

4 “Superstar” Billy Graham

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Billy Graham was a WWE Champion at a time when Vince McMahon was still learning the traits of the wrestling business, but one could say that he played a part in making Graham champion knowing his love for “muscular wrestlers.” Graham might’ve been this buffed up wrestler who loved to show off his body, but wasn’t really that good in the ring.

The fans were also pretty agitated at Graham defeating the infamous Bruno Sammartino back then, knowing his popularity at the time. While “The Superstar” did go onto have a healthy reign with the WWE Championship, he turned out to be a relatively disappointing champion who couldn’t live up to the standards of the man he’d taken the title away from.

3 King Booker

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Booker T was given a big push as the hilarious “King Booker”, which he transformed into after winning the King of the Ring and was joined at his side by Sharmell, his “Queen”.

While Booker did a really entertaining job as World Heavyweight Champ, the thrilling essence of his original character just wasn’t there.

WWE didn’t award him with the World Champion when he was truly over in the early 2000s and after that, the “King Booker” championship reign just didn’t feel right and ended up turning off the fans.

2 Rey Mysterio

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Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship following Eddie Guerrero's passing, making him the first Cruiserweight to do so. Rey might have been a huge fan favorite at the time and his road to capturing the gold was heart-warming, but he ended up being a very poor World Champion in the end.

McMahon seemed to have instantly regretted giving him the Big Gold, as Mysterio was booked horribly as champion and was referred to as “World Champion”, with the “heavyweight” tag being taken away. Vince McMahon had only himself to blame for booking Rey to be such a poor World Champion and that disappointing reign hindered Rey’s popularity as well.

1 Sycho Sid

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Sycho Sid had quite the scary personality back in the 90s, something which made him hot property for any wrestling promotion, but he didn’t really have the charisma of a World Champion. It was because of that his stint as a WWE Champion didn’t really work out that well, as his championship reign wasn’t taken that well by fans.

The infamous feud between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart was in full flow when he was made the champion, something which led to complete disdain from the fans. Sid didn’t have the ability to be a top champion in WWE because of his one-dimensional ability.