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When the WWE reintroduced the brand extension in 2016, it meant that there would be a world title for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live.
It also meant that more WWE superstars had the opportunity to get a world title run. The WWE Universal Championship was created for the red brand while the WWE World Championship was assigned to the blue brand.
Since its creation in 2016, there have only been five WWE Universal Champions while 50 superstars have won the prestigious WWE World Championship over the course of its history. Currently, Roman Reigns is the WWE Universal Champion and A.J. Styles holds the WWE World Championship.
They will eventually lose their respective titles and new champions will be crowned. While some members of the WWE Universe would want someone like Braun Strowman, Shinsuke Nakamura or Samoa Joe to become the next world champion, there are many former WWE world title holders who deserve another run at one of the main championships.
Here are the five former WWE World Champions who should get another world title run.
#5 Bray Wyatt
Many might forget it due to how he has been poorly booked but Bray Wyatt is a former WWE world champion. Wyatt lasted five other WWE superstars including John Cena, A.J. Styles, The Miz, Baron Corbin, and Dean Ambrose to win the title in an Elimination Chamber Match on February 12, 2017. He followed it up by successfully defending the WWE title two days in a Triple Threat Match against Cena and Styles.
However, his WWE title run ended after just 49 days when he lost it to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33. Wyatt failed to regain the title and he was subsequently moved to Monday Night Raw, where his career has stalled once again. A short reign with Broken Matt Hardy as Raw Tag Team champions has been the highlight of his 2018 but he has been off WWE television since August.
The Eater of Worlds started teasing his return to the ring via social media. Wyatt just needs to be properly booked for people to start taking him more seriously again. He certainly deserves another run at a world title but repairing his image should be his priority.
4. Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy is one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. He has won a total of 21 championships during his three separate runs with the WWE including the WWE Championship once and the World Heavyweight Championship twice.
Hardy earned all those titles, especially the big ones, but his reign in all of those three world title runs only lasted for a total of 70 days. Since making his second return to the WWE last year, Hardy has won the Raw Tag Team Championship and the United States Championship. He also missed seven months due to a shoulder injury.
At the age of 41 years old and countless crazy bumps, Hardy only has a few years left in him but his charisma is still of the charts. He certainly deserves one last run as WWE champion before finally hanging up his boots to spend more time with his family.
3. Finn Balor
At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor made history when he became the first ever WWE Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins. However, Balor suffered a shoulder injury during the match and he had to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship the next night on Monday Night Raw. He underwent surgery to repair the injury and he missed a total of seven months because of it.
Kevin Owens, Bill Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns all held the title with Balor not getting another chance at winning back the WWE Universal Championship he never lost. Ever since returning from injury, Balor has had ups like defeating A.J. Styles clean at TLC 2017 and downs like losing to Kane in a squash match a day later.
Currently, Balor is engaged in a mini-feud with Jinder Mahal after months of back-and-forth matches with Baron Corbin. The WWE also teased a feud between Balor and Bobby Lashley recently, and if Balor ends up looking good in that feud, it's only a matter of time before he gets another shot at winning a world title.
2. Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan reached the pinnacle of wrestling when he defeated Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat Match in the main event of WrestleMania 30 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, that title reign only lasted 64 days as Bryan had to relinquish due to a neck injury. He underwent surgery and returned seven months later that culminated in an Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 31.
The injuries did not stop there as Bryan had to vacate the Intercontinental Title due to concussion-like symptoms. He retired on February 8, 2016 in front of his hometown crowd in Seattle, Washington. He went on to become the general manager of SmackDown Live but he eventually got clearance to return to the ring.
Bryan is now wrestling full-time and free from injuries. He is engaged in a years-long feud with The Miz while also being in the WWE World Championship picture. He certainly deserves to win the big one again and have a proper reign as WWE world champion.
1. The Miz
There is no other former WWE world champion deserving of another run than The Miz. It has been eight years since The Miz won his first and only WWE championship. He had a good reign as champion but he was never able to replicate his success until now. After losing the WWE title, The Miz formed various teams like Awesome Truth and his alliance with Damien Mizdow while also making a case for being the greatest Intercontinental Champion ever.
The Miz caught fire after an intense worked shoot promo directed at Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack in 2016. Since then, he has been in the upper midcard to the main event of every show including a clean win over Roman Reigns. Now, he is involved in an amazing rivalry with Bryan that could culminate in a WrestleMania match or even another WWE World Championship run. The Miz put in the hard work to further improve his character and wrestling skills so he deserves another shot at being the top dog once again.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
