5 forgotten WWE Championship challengers from the 2010s

The WWE Championship is considered to be a sacred title in the world of professional wrestling, and that's been the case for well over 50 years now. However, there have been times as of late when challengers have competed for the illustrious belt, and a few years on, fans are left looking at the record books thinking "Really? THEY were in a WWE Championship match?".

That doesn't mean that the guys we're about to list are bad, and it's actually quite the contrary - they're all extremely talented. Still, when you look back at the names, it's odd to think of them as main eventers given that most of them have spent their WWE careers in the mid-card.

So with that being said, here are five forgotten WWE Championship challengers from the 2010s.

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#5 Zack Ryder

We aren't going to sugarcoat this: Zack Ryder's run in the last few years has been incredibly disappointing. In the wake of WrestleMania 32, where he won the Intercontinental Championship, it genuinely felt like Mr. Woo Woo Woo himself was on track to becoming a future main eventer with WWE.

Alas, that didn't come to fruition, but he did actually get a WWE Championship shot years prior to his crowning moment in Dallas. It came against Raw's top heel Sheamus who was enjoying his second reign with the belt, as he claimed that because he was defending the belt against Ryder, it meant he didn't have to defend it at Night of Champions.

Of course, he did, in a Six-Pack Challenge.

#4 R-Truth

Fans who only recently started watching WWE in the last few years will look back at this match and think "why on earth did this happen?" That makes sense, given that R-Truth has been firmly positioned as a jobber for years now. Alas, at the time, Truth was on something of a roll after turning heel and becoming this 'conspiracy theorist' kind of character. It sounds odd, but trust us, it was fun.

The match itself was a little bit disappointing, and now, it's clear to see that this was only being done in order to kill some time before CM Punk came into the limelight with his Summer of Punk storyline.

Still, that doesn't mean that fans should hate on Truth because there was a time when him winning the title felt like a genuine possibility.

#3 John Morrison

John Morrison should probably still be with WWE to this day, and he should've probably become a multi-time world champion in the process. Unfortunately, things don't always work out how they should, and Morrison has spent the last few years carving out some great matches with both Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground.

But back in 2011, he was on the verge of becoming 'the man' as he went head to head with former tag team partner The Miz for the biggest prize in sports entertainment on the first Raw of the year. It was a great Falls Count Anywhere match, but from that point on, Morrison continued to slip down the pecking order until he finally left the company less than a year later.

#2 Neville

We really miss Neville, and we're pretty sure that we aren't the only ones. The high-flying sensation did some phenomenal things during his time with the Cruiserweight Championship, but ironically enough, one of his biggest career highlights actually came more than a year prior to his heel turn.

Neville went one on one with Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on a random episode of Monday Night Raw, in one of the best 'champ vs underdog' encounters we've seen in a very, very long time. Rollins genuinely seemed like he was in a lot of trouble, and when Neville hit the Red Arrow, it seemed as if the unthinkable was actually about to happen.

Now, all we can hope for is that he steps foot back in a WWE ring again sometime soon.

#1 Jerry Lawler

Unbelievably, there was a time back in 2011 when we wanted to see Jerry Lawler win the WWE Championship. It seems bizarre to think that was only seven years ago, but it's the truth - and it's all because of The Miz. The Awesome One was treading water in his first reign with the belt until an unlikely feud with The King elevated him to that next level.

While the inclusion of Michael Cole could've been and probably should've been avoided, it certainly added to the drama of the occasion. Lawler came within a whisker of dethroning Miz, and bizarrely enough, this wasn't the only time they faced off for the title.

They wound up having a match at Elimination Chamber, and if you have the time, go back and watch the promo for it. While he didn't win the championship, Lawler was certainly made to look like an icon by WWE.