4 Surprising WWE World Champions of the 21st Century

WWE is surely full of surprises. They have enticing storylines, creative matches, shocking breakups and the list goes on and on. WWE is full of drama and we all just love it. Start counting the wow moments given to us by the company during the '80s and '90s and you’ll be amazed by the efforts this business put into just to make us tune in every week.

One of the most prominent thing in the company is its world championship. The main championships we are mostly used to is the WWE title and the retired World Heavyweight Championship. The Universal title hasn't been seen this year. The magnitude is high, the potential is immense Lives change as soon as a person is crowned the world champion of the WWE considering the fact the competition this brand receives is significantly inferior.

Talking about world champions, some legendary names have held the alpha title in the company. Names like Triple H, John Cena, Hulk Hogan and many more have been the recipients of the greatest prize in the company. When we look at the list of men who’ve been world champions then we find few superstars on the list whose presence is quite a bit of a shock for the universe.

The WWE universe went in absolute shock upon watching these men become world champions:

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#1 The Great Khali

The Great Khali

Over the years many giant men have been associated with the WWE and The Great Khali is one of the largest of them all. The giant from India was a nightmare and his massive hands had done a hell lot of damage in the WWE ring.

Khali was a feared opponent courtesy of his massive structure but apart from that, the giant man from India didn't put on much in the ring. The WWE universe went in absolute disbelief upon watching Khali become the world heavyweight champion.

The WWE universe and the board loves big men. Men who are capable of destroying their opponents, men who despite their huge size are able to put on a tremendous show but that can't be said about The Great Khali as the Indian wrestler never really gave a 5-star match and lacked immensely in the desire in-ring attributes.

#2 Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger after successfully cashing in his MITB contract

Money in the Bank has proved to be a great instrument in building stars of the future. MITB guarantees a world title shot and in most cases a definite title reign. In 2010, Jack Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Chris Jericho after Edge attacked Y2J on Smackdown. The cash in went successful as Jack Swagger became the new World Heavyweight Champion of the world.

Now the point of a shocking champion comes up. How did the All-American end up on this list? How did the WWE's decision to make Jack the world champion go with the WWE Universe? The answer is that it didn't go very well. Jack wasn't a heel nor was he a face and most importantly he wasn't up for the main-event picture and it seemed like the WWE pushed the button too soon as the fans weren't ready to accept Jack swagger as their world heavyweight champion.

Despite being a good wrestler, jack lacked the spark, the aura needed to boss the locker room. His successful cash in shocked the entire WWE universe considering the fact that the World Heavyweight Championship, a highly prized asset was the subject of rivalry between Chris Jericho and Edge back then. Two legends who were giving the fans a show for their money until Swagger entered the frame and made it a bit less interesting.

#3 Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton and became the 50th WWE champion

The most recent world champion on this list is Jinder Mahal. The Modern Day Maharaja became the WWE Champion in 2017 as he defeated Randy Orton at Backlash to secure a major upset win.

To this point it remains quite a mystery on what were WWE's actual plans for Mahal because looking at his stint as the WWE champion, it amuses us the WWE Universe to a great extent.

Mahal was part of the faction named 3MB and if someone had to put their money on Mahal being the WWE champion in future then there would have been many raised hands.

With the amount of talent in the Smackdown locker room, it remained confusing as to why did Mahal receive such a major push. The Modern Day maharaja worked impressively on his physique and does deserve to go up the ladder but putting him directly in the main-event picture wasn't wise.

#4 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt pinned Aj styles and became the new WWE champion

Bray Wyatt has had quite an interesting career so far in the WWE. The Eater of Worlds formed the famous Wyatt Family which was a major hit as the faction proved to an entertaining one. Wyatt feuded with superstars ranging from Dean Ambrose to Matt hardy but the most successful he has been till date was when he was the leader of the Wyatt family.

Wyatt famously won the WWE championship at the Elimination Chamber in 2017 when he defeated John Cena, Aj Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Baron Corbin inside the Chamber. The move to make Wyatt the WWE champion that too just before WrestleMania seemed quite absurd and didn't go too well with the WWE.

Back in the day Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt collaborated as the viper joined the Wyatt Family but their alliance didn't stand strong for long as Randy went toe-to-toe with Bray at WrestleMania courtesy of the championship contract he earned after winning the Royal Rumble.