The World Heavyweight Championship is a title sorely missed by many longtime WWE fans. Not only was the design of the belt classic and beautiful, but oftentimes those involved put on stellar matches, sometimes even better than that of the WWE Championship.

Related: 10 Best World Heavyweight Championship Matches In WWE, According To Dave Meltzer

From 2002-2013, classic bouts and rivalries were built around the Big Gold Belt; whether it be Edge vs The Undertaker, Triple H vs Batista or Randy Orton vs Christian. That said, some forgettable, questionable and downright unforgivable people have challenged for one of WWE’s World Titles.

10 Sabu

Sabu vs. Rey Mysterio at ECW One Night Stand

When Sabu vs Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship was announced for the 2006 ECW One Night Stand PPV, fans of the extreme were salivating for this dream match, and even the possibility of two ECW stars coming away with each of the evil WWE’s top prizes in the same night, as Rob Van Dam challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in that evening’s main event.

The two put together an awesome and brutal contest that was living up to expectations up until the closing sequence. Sabu drove Mysterio through a table at ringside with a gnarly DDT in a spot that ended the match on a no-contest. As WWE wanted to protect both men, neither man won or lost the match and Rey kept his title.

While the match was phenomenal, many forget about it due to the disappointing finish.

9 R-Truth

Still under contract with WWE after an on-and-off relationship with the company since 2000, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that R-Truth once competed for the World Heavyweight Championship. That said, Truth’s most notable World Championship match has to be his WWE Championship match against John Cena in the main event of Capitol Punishment 2011.

Related: Every WWE PPV Main Event From 2011, Ranked Worst To Best

However, over one year earlier, R-Truth earned his first World Title shot for the WWE when he entered the Elimination Chamber in 2010. Ultimately not showing much of anything in the contest, Truth’s appearance in Satan’s Prison is forgettable.

It’s safe to say the former NWA World Champion has earned more 24/7 title shots than World Title shots.

8 Bubba Ray Dudley

Triple H v Bubba Ray Dudley Raw September 30, 2002 Cropped

In just the fourth-ever World Heavyweight Championship match in WWE history on Monday Night Raw September 30, 2002, Triple H defended his title against… Bubba Ray Dudley?

In a match that seems random now, was random then too! In the first-ever WWE Draft earlier that year, The Dudley Boyz were split up with D-Von heading to SmackDown as Bubba was drafted to Raw.

While D-Von was saddled with the brutal Reverend D-Von gimmick, Bubba Ray was the exact same character as he was during his time teaming with D-Von. That said, Bubba fared much better away from his partner, ultimately resulting in a World Title match.

7 Rhyno

via sportskeeda.com
via sportskeeda.com

On the March 22, 2004, edition of Raw, two former tag team partners clashed in a World Heavyweight Championship contest. Triple H vs Shawn Michaels? No. Edge vs Christian? Nope.

Chris Benoit vs Rhyno. Yes. Newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Benoit’s first defense was against his former SmackDown tag team partner.

His only chance at a World Title in WWE, the former ECW Champion should have gotten more opportunities, as he was one of the most underrated talents of the Attitude/Ruthless Aggression Era.

6 Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins

edgeheads

Picture this: your first WWE match as a non-developmental talent is a World Heavyweight Championship fatal-four-way match between you, your tag team partner and two future Hall of Famers.

That’s exactly what happened for Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins when they took on Batista and their mentor, and new champion Edge, on the December 21, 2007 edition of SmackDown. The two men debuted as Edgeheads at the Armageddon PPV just five days prior and were immediately at the top of the card.

Related: Every Version Of Matt Cardona, Ranked From Worst To Best

While each man’s WWE career never lived up to its potential, the two have had a lot of success over their long careers.

5 Maven

Triple H Maven

What would you do if you were Raw General Manager for one night only? If you’re Maven, or anyone smart, you would book yourself in a World Heavyweight Championship match!

After his Survivor Series team, led by Randy Orton, defeated Triple H’s team in a four-on-four traditional Survivor Series match, all members of Team Orton were granted control of Raw for one week each. Maven was General Manager of Raw the night after the event, and he and The Game squared off for the World Title.

This was one of the biggest matches of Maven’s short-lived career, as it all went down from here for the winner of the inaugural season of Tough Enough.

4 Muhammad Hassan

via ringthedamnbell.files.wordpress.com
via ringthedamnbell.files.wordpress.com

Much has been made of the canceled push of Muhammad Hassan. A risky character from the start, almost every wrestling fan knows why Hassan was on WWE TV for less than one year and found much less success than initially suspected.

The long-rumored plans for Hassan were for him to face and defeat Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2005, but the character was written off TV before the event could take place. That said, Hassan was able to compete for the title against Batista in 2005, just not at SummerSlam.

On the May 30 edition of Raw that year, The Animal faced Hassan in a match that went less than five minutes. Not quite the main event of SummerSlam, huh?

3 Mike Knox

Mike Knox Elimination Chamber

While R-Truth got his first and only World Heavyweight Championship match in the Elimination Chamber, that was at least somewhat believable. What was not, was one year earlier when Mike Knox challenged for the same title in the same match type.

Related: 8 Wrestlers You Forgot Appeared In An Elimination Chamber Match

Leading up to No Way Out 2009, Mike Knox had not been presented as a threat to any title, let alone the biggest title on Raw. However, he competed against Edge, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and Kane, five surefire Hall of Famers.

As one would expect, he stuck out like a sore thumb and didn’t last too long.

2 LayCool

LayCool Cropped

Somehow, two women competing in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship is not the number one entry on this list. That said, it truly is bizarre to look back on the February 4, 2011, edition of SmackDown and see Layla and Michelle McCool team with Dolph Ziggler against Edge and Kelly Kelly in a World Heavyweight Championship match.

The women involved could determine whether Edge or Ziggler would walk away with the gold, as whoever was pinned or submitted on either team, the male on the winning team would be the champion. A complicated and odd contest, LayCool technically competed for the World Heavyweight Championship, while Kelly Kelly technically defended it.

Clearly they were there so Ziggler wouldn’t have to take the pin, Edge retained his title thanks to Kelly Kelly hitting a match-winning Spear.

1 Ricardo Rodriguez

Even weirder than LayCool challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship on behalf of someone else, Ricardo Rodriguez challenging The Big Show for the title on Raw in 2012 may just make him the strangest major title defender in history.

Related: Ricardo Rodriguez & 9 Other Managers You Didn't Know Wrestled

In a special New Year’s Eve edition of Raw where every major championship would be defended against challengers of each champion's choosing, The Big Show found a unique way to continue his feud with Alberto Del Rio and keep his championship in the process. Rodrgiuez was never a wrestler on WWE TV, as he was Del Rio’s personal ring announcer at the time and eventually became a Spanish commentator, so one can imagine how this went.

The match went less than three minutes with Big Show winning by disqualification. Thrilling!