'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAf/2gAIAQEAAAAAiT//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAECEAAAAC//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAEDEAAAAH//xAAeEAACAQQDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwEABRIhBAYRE//aAAgBAQABPwDp93nr3ObcVLNj4SxacGyqQPWB5Dv0S3TLspjCNnHYRlMyU/YtzX//xAAVEQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAP/aAAgBAgEBPwBC/8QAFxEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgABIf/aAAgBAwEBPwANHKn/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Remember World Championship Wrestling? The company that gave Vince McMahon a run for his money. True, they used former WWE Superstars to do it, but the nWo angle certainly worked for a few years as Monday Nitro beat WWE RAW in the ratings for 83 weeks. During that time and even before that, WCW had produced great World Champions.
A lot of those people won multiple titles within the WWE. That list includes Booker T, Ric Flair, Big Show (The Giant), Macho Man Randy Savage, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Chris Benoit, Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett, etc. While those names are fans that everyone remembers, there was a select group that didn't even win a WWE title of any kind during their time with the company.
It might be shocking to a few people, but it's true. They didn't even win a single title during their time in WWE.
Here are five WCW World Champions that didn't ever win a WWE Title.
#5 Vince Russo
The most infamous name in professional wrestling, Vince Russo was a WWE writer for years, before he was signed by WCW to take over booking duties. Some have even accused Russo of accelerating the demise of WCW, but that's up for debate. With that being said, Russo was a believer in 'Crash Television' which resulted in multiple face/heel turns, title changes, and more emphasis on entertainment.
Perhaps, the most controversial aspect of this approach was making himself an on-air authority figure and eventually booking himself to become WCW World Champion. While he only held the title for a mere seven days similar to how Vince McMahon won the WWE Championship, he would relinquish the WWE Championship.
Before it's pointed out that Russo never wrestled in WWE, it still counts as he did work for WWE and was WCW World Champion.
#4 Big Van Vader a.k.a. Vader
Big Van Vader a.k.a. Vader came to the WWE in 1996 as a monster heel. He had feuds with the likes of Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Kane. Before all this happened, Vader was a three-time WCW World Champion as well as three-time NJPW IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
It's fair to say that in WCW, at least in the United States, Vader had his most success. He feuded with the likes of Sting, Ron Simmons, Ric Flair, and Hulk Hogan. As a heel, Vader was as good or better than people could have imagined. But things didn't work out that way in WWE.
While efforts were made to establish him as a legitimate heel, such as destroying WWE President Gorilla Monsoon, his feud with Shawn Michaels turned out to be a wash. At the time, Vader believed that Michaels' attitude was just not right and was just a difficult person to work with at the time.
He was booked to beat Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 1996 to win the WWE Championship, but it fell through. Vader ended his WWE run on a string of losses in 1998.
#3 David Arquette
Many wrestling fans have loathed the fact that David Arquette became WCW World Champion. The decision to put the title on him was to get mainstream attention. Arquette did film the poorly received Ready to Rumble, which featured a plethora of WCW stars. It was Vince Russo who decided to give Arquette the strap.
When the decision was made, Arquette said that he was hated backstage. He also said:
"I remember telling one wrestler, I'm not sure who it was, wasn't Bam Bam Bigelow, but it was someone who hadn't ever been the champion before. And he was just so p****d. I was like I don't know what to say, man. You know, that was my first inkling on how sort of upset people were gonna get."
Arquette always respected professional wrestling, and in the last two years, he has been working on the independent wrestling scene for promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. The move to wrestling from acting has now documented in a documentary entitled You Cannot Kill David Arquette.
Arquette did wrestle on WWE RAW in 2010 in a losing effort when he teamed with Alex Riley in a handicap match against Randy Orton.
#2 Lex Luger
Lex Luger. The Narcissist. The Total Package. The All-American. Lex Luger had great runs in WCW. He was a two-time WCW World Champion, two-time WCW US Champion, a member of nWo Wolfpac, and feuds with several big stars with the company.
While Luger debuted in WWE as a heel, he was repackaged as an All-American, after Hulk Hogan left the company. He did get a push with the company primarily in feuds with Yokozuna as he was slated to win the WWE Championship at SummerSlam in 1993. Vince McMahon didn't give him the title as he didn't feel that Luger was a draw.
While Luger was joint-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble with Bret Hart, that didn't translate into a World Title win for Lex. After that, he began feuding with Tatanka and Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. In 1995, he was in a short-lived tag team with British Bulldog called The Allied Powers.
It didn't last long as Lex made his way back to WCW. While a rarity, it's quite interesting to see Luger remains one of the few headliners who never actually won a title in WWE.
#1 Sting
Sting will go down in history as one of WWE's missed opportunities. The man called Sting resisted going to WWE because he was never sure how WWE was going to treat his character. The Invasion angle storyline didn't seem to convince him as he signed with TNA/Impact Wrestling.
For years, WWE tried to court Sting, especially with a dream match with The Undertaker. Still, The Icon never took the bait. WWE had to wait till Survivor Series 2014, where Sting made his debut. This led to a match at WrestleMania 31, where he faced off against Triple H.
Considering the years that Sting put in defining himself as one of the greatest of all times, his time in WWE was mostly forgettable.
Ironically, it was in a match with Seth Rollins in 2015 at Night of Champions for the WWE Championship, resulted in a career-ending injury. Sting's debut in WWE was probably 10 years too late as the best that Sting had left was in Impact Wrestling.
WWE History might have been different had he taken the plunge years earlier.
