When procuring a great legacy as a performer in WWE, championship gold isn’t the only thing that ensures that an individual reaches a legendary status. For instance, great matches, strong moments, and even success outside WWE can lead to someone being a notable name inside the world’s number one professional wrestling company.
There are several top names who had just one championship reign during their time in WWE, despite carving out Hall of Fame worthy careers either elsewhere or within WWE. It could be argued that these individuals no doubt deserved more gold during their time in WWE, but alas, it did not happen.
10 Haku
Haku is someone who is renowned for being one of the toughest people in professional wrestling history, with there being several anecdotes over the years when it comes to his real life fights.
He spent six years in WWE, challenging for several titles. During his time in The Islanders team, he failed to win the Tag Team gold, and would later challenge Randy Savage for the WWE Title following his win in the King of the Ring tournament. However, the tournament wasn’t a championship, with his only reign being when he and Andre the Giant won the Tag Team Titles in 1989.
9 Billy Graham
“Superstar” Billy Graham was a revolutionary figure in professional wrestling history, with his style influencing the likes of Hulk Hogan. Despite a lot of notoriety both inside and outside WWE, he won just one title in the promotion.
However, that title was the WWE Championship - arguably the top prize in professional wrestling history. He defeated Bruno Sammartino for the title, holding it for nine months and battling some all-time greats like Don Muraco, Pedro Morales, Harley Race, and Mil Mascaras.
8 Tully Blanchard
During his time in the Four Horsemen, Tully Blanchard rose to prominence in a big way, with him being a major part of the NWA, where he would win a variety of different belts.
However, his time in WWE was only fleeting, with he and tag team partner Arn Anderson winning just one WWE Tag Team Championship during their time as the “Brain Busters”. Blanchard would leave WWE not long after in not-so spectacular fashion, as his release came after a failed drug test.
7 Arn Anderson
NWA and WCW legend, Arn Anderson, also arrived in WWE at the same time as Blanchard, due to contract disputes in the NWA. This meant that their sole reign as WWE Tag Team Champions was also his only one in the company.
This was due to Anderson also leaving WWE at the same time as Blanchard, although unlike his partner, Anderson would go back to WCW.
6 Sensational Sherri
Sensational Sherri was one of the most prominent female performers in WWE during the 1980s and 1990s, at a time where the women’s division was seldom featured at all.
Right at the start of her run, she would defeat the Fabulous Moolah to become the WWE Women’s Champion in a long fifteen-month reign before dropping the gold. However, with WWE deciding to not have a women’s division for quite some time, she was instead used as a manager, accompanying the likes of the Honky Tonk Man, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Savage. However, without a division, she was unable to win more than her singular Women’s Title.
5 Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson became a great wrestler throughout the 1960s and 1970s, winning multiple titles in the NWA within several different territories.
He would join WWE in 1982, with he and tag team partner, Tony Atlas, winning the WWE Tag Team Championship, which made them the very first black champions in WWE history, which was a hugely notable achievement.
4 Terry Funk
Terry Funk has wrestled almost everywhere in several different decades, with a career of near unmatched longevity. During his time wrestling, he didn’t spend all that long in WWE, with just a few stints here and there.
In 1997, during his second run, he teamed up with Cactus Jack under the moniker of Chainsaw Charlie, entering the tag team division. At WrestleMania 14, the pair won the Tag Team Titles in the infamous Dumpster Match, although this would be Funk’s one and only title in WWE.
3 Rick Rude
The “Ravishing” Rick Rude character is a favorite among WWE fans, even though his tenure in the promotion only lasted for three years. In that time, he had several great matches and all-time feuds - notably his rivalry with Jake Roberts.
However, despite his great work, his only reward came in the form of one Intercontinental Championship reign. He would challenge on several occasions for WWE’s top prize, but unfortunately never got the chance to hold the big one.
2 Gail Kim
Gail Kim is one of the best in-ring performers of the last two decades, but in WWE her talents were hardly ever recognised or used, and that was due to her wrestling in WWE during the “Divas” era of women’s wrestling.
She would win the WWE Women’s Championship in her very first televised match, shocking the WWE Universe with a battle royal win, though this reign only lasted a month. Despite another two years in WWE, and then a further three years in her second run, this would remain as her sole title reign in the company.
1 Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat is regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time, with him putting on endless classics over the years. He didn’t spend too long in WWE, but still made himself one of the most notable Intercontinental Champions of all time, with him competing in arguably the first ever “classic” WrestleMania match.
After some backstage issues in which Steamboat reportedly wanted time off, he dropped the gold. Steamboat explained in an interview with WrestlingInc that it was due to the birth of his son. This caused bad blood in WWE though, and he would leave over the next year, continuing his legacy instead in WCW.