The goal of most wrestlers is to win a world championship for a major promotion. Wrestling is obviously scripted, but there is a real accomplishment involved in getting booked to win a world title. It shows the company views the talent as one of the best and provides confidence in their drawing power. Unfortunately, not all talented wrestlers will have strong title reigns.

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The stories of great wrestlers struggling to leave strong legacies as champion happened for differing reasons. Some struggled in the top spot, while others received poor booking along with various other stories in the middle. From WWE to WCW to even NJPW, find out which of the better wrestlers couldn’t find success as world champions.

10 Rey Mysterio (World Champion)

Following an epic victory at the Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio winning the World Championship in 2006 was a beautiful moment both for his honoring of the late Eddie Guerrero and for his own improbable journey. However, Vince McMahon never viewed smaller wrestlers as world champions, and it showed in the title reign.

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SmackDown often featured bigger wrestlers cleanly defeating Rey in non-title matches, effectively destroying his momentum. Mysterio’s title run was one of the worst booked reigns in WWE history.

9 Chris Sabin (TNA Champion)

Another feelgood story that ended poorly featured Chris Sabin winning the TNA World Championship. Sabin worked his way up from the X-Division to tag team action to a main event spot here when defeating Bully Ray.

Instead of trying to make Sabin a credible champion, it was a transitional reign that saw him lose the belt a few weeks later. TNA didn’t even try to keep Sabin in the upper card afterwards, which is just one of their many costly mistakes.

8 Rob Van Dam (WWE Champion)

Rob Van Dam finally won a world title in 2006 after defeating John Cena at ECW One Night Stand. The moment was special, as seeing RVD win it after all a long grind in front of a crowd who viewed him as their hero.

WWE wanted to give Van Dam a few months holding both the WWE Champion and the ECW Championship for the returning brand. However, Van Dam struggled with maintaining the top spot following his win. Making matters worse, he and Sabu later got pulled over by the police, leading to drug charges that forced him to vacate the titles due to a suspension.

7 Dalton Castle (ROH Champion)

The ROH World Championship is one of the most respected titles in wrestling, despite being the prize for a smaller promotion. ROH protected the title for years with only legitimate top stars holding it until recent years.

Dalton Castle defeating Cody Rhodes to win the belt was a great moment to spark excitement moving forward. The overall skillset of Castle made him a top name for ROH, but injuries ruined his title reign. Dalton struggled to have high caliber matches and lost the title sooner than expected to Jay Lethal.

6 Dolph Ziggler (World Champion)

Dolph Ziggler was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, especially when he cashed his Money in the Bank to win the World Championship. Fans expected Ziggler to have a great title reign with must-see matches against other top stars, but this never came to be.

WWE soured on Dolph instantly when he suffered an injury a few weeks into the win. Ziggler was not used effectively and lost the title back to Alberto Del Rio in his first PPV defense. The promising title win turned into his biggest downfall.

5 Big Show (WWE Champion)

Big Show is obviously a legend in both the WWE and WCW. However, he has struggled with most of his world title reigns throughout his otherwise impressive career. One stood out as the worst of them all.

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WWE had Big Show replace Steve Austin in a star-studded match against Triple H and The Rock to win the WWE Championship. The hope was that he’d become a top star, but Big Show still felt a notch below Triple H, Rock and Mick Foley. Triple H ended Big Show’s reign in under two months.

4 Tessa Blanchard (Impact Champion)

Tessa Blanchard winning the Impact World Championship was supposed to elevate the company. Blanchard became the biggest star in the company and was the first woman to win that title, all but ensuring a championship run to remember.

Multiple variables put a stop to this, such as her co-wrestlers outing her as a bully, the current pandemic preventing her from traveling to the United States, and her contract expiring without renewal. Impact stripped Tessa of the title after a disappointing title run. The two sides have parted ways, with Blanchard trying to rebound elsewhere.

3 Sheamus (World Champion)

WWE tried to make Sheamus a world champion on multiple occasions with wins over huge names like John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. Sheamus’ biggest opportunity with the World Championship in 2012.

Sheamus beating Bryan in 18 seconds was supposed to make him the face of SmackDown moving forward. Instead, Sheamus’ run went poorly again due to fans turning against him out of resentment for WWE's poor treatment of Bryan on the biggest stage possible.

2 Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Champion)

Diamond Dallas Page was a breakout star for WCW due to the fans connecting with him before the company even pushed him. This led to Page joining the likes of Sting and Lex Luger as the top fan favorites.

Despite the writing on the wall, WCW made an all-time strange decision of turning DDP heel just a few weeks before his first WCW Championship win. This confusing choice made the highly anticipated title win a bittersweet moment instead of a unanimously epic one. Page suffered from extremely short reigns when winning as a face later.

1 The Miz (WWE Champion)

WWE made a bold move by having The Miz win Money in the Bank and cashing in to win the WWE Championship from Randy Orton. Miz wasn’t top level yet, but he had strong momentum thanks to his fans enjoying his heel work.

The title reign unfortunately exposed Miz as not being ready for the responsibility of being champion. Disappointing matches against Orton and John Cena sent him lower down the card after losing the belt. Miz’s best title defenses came in secondary angles with John Morrison and Jerry Lawler.

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