5 World Champions who Vince McMahon never believed in

In WWE, every superstar must earn the right to be a World Champion. Of course, there are those who are handpicked and superstars such as The Great Khali who were anything but deserving of it, but they were chosen for marketing reasons or otherwise.

There have been many other superstars who clearly deserved to win the World Championship, but either didn't or had to take the long route because Vince McMahon never believed in them as World Champions.

In these cases, they either had to prove him wrong, or he was never high on the concept of them becoming World Champion in the first place. As a result, their title reigns were either cut short or they constantly had their legs cut from underneath.

In a way, it almost felt like the title reign was a token, but the way they ended left much to be desired and gave the feeling that they were never backed in the first place. On this list, we'll take a look at five World Champions who Vince McMahon never really believed in.

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#5. Christian

A missed opportunity

When Edge retired in 2011, he retired as World Heavyweight Champion, the best possible way to go out. With the vacant title up for grabs, there was a heavy demand for Christian, his best friend, to be the one to win the title.

After much struggle, he beat Alberto Del Rio to win the title, only to lose it days later on SmackDown to Randy Orton. Despite Christian being hot at the time, Vince McMahon seemingly did everything to make it worse for him, turning him heel and then having him win the title again from Randy Orton after the latter DQ'd himself.

This reign would last all but 28 days before he dropped it back to Orton. It was a waste of a great moment and a great story.

#4. Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose's title win was an epic one

When Dean Ambrose became WWE World Champion, it truly was a great moment and it felt long overdue. The only problem was that WWE did nothing to capitalize on his reign despite of the fact that he was red hot at the time.

He had lost a lot of momentum thanks to the squash match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32. Despite this, he was quietly protected and pushed and the Money in the Bank and WWE title victory gave him all the momentum in the world.

It felt as though he was given the title because they wanted to make all Shield members WWE champion at one point in the night. Roman Reigns walked in champion, Seth Rollins won the title from him and Dean Ambrose cashed in to win his sole World title.

His reign saw him become the face of SmackDown Live, but it was more to put over AJ Styles. Either way, WWE did no justice to Ambrose as World Champion and it was clear that they didn't fully get behind him.

#3. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler had all the momentum in the world

2013 was the hottest that Dolph Ziggler had ever been in his career and the fact that he never got an extensive run with the World Heavyweight championship was nothing short of tragic.

Not only was he an excellent holder of the MITB briefcase, but his cash-in still is the second greatest of all time (only behind Seth Rollins' heist of the century). People had no desire to see Alberto Del Rio as World Heavyweight Champion despite the fact that he was a babyface.

When Dolph Ziggler came out on the RAW after WrestleMania, the reaction was absolutely deafening. The people really desired to see Dolph Ziggler as World Champion and that itself made him a de-facto babyface.

Unfortunately, a concussion delayed his title defence and then shortened his title reign, with Alberto Del Rio and Ziggler having a double turn when Del Rio won it back. Despite the fans being fully behind Ziggler, Vince McMahon clearly didn't see him as a World champion and it was seen in all the years after where he floundered around.

It's truly a shame, because Ziggler is still one of the most underrated superstars in the company.

#2. Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt's WWE title win felt long overdue

When Bray Wyatt became WWE Champion, all felt right with the world. His line "Now I have the whole damn world in my hands" was an epic one, and it cemented the fact that everybody wanted to see Wyatt win.

The run that Wyatt had on SmackDown between 2016 to early 2017 was easily the best stretch of his career, because he was protected and only lost once in singles competition between July 2016 and March 2017.

Many fans believed that his match against Randy Orton was one to cement him as a future star, so it made sense for him to retain the title, right? Wrong.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that the main reason Wyatt won the title was because McMahon promised it to him. He was clearly never behind him and Wyatt lost the title in a lacklustre contest.

After that, he did next to nothing for two years, minus a brief tag team title reign on RAW.

#1. Rey Mysterio

A great moment for all but one man

Rey Mysterio's World Heavyweight title win at WrestleMania 22 was one of the most feel-good moments at the time. After Eddie Guerrero's tragic death, Mysterio's momentum catapulted and everyone from fans to backstage officials wanted to see Mysterio win.

All but one man wanted it - Vince McMahon. Ex-WWE creative writer Court Bauer described the situation, stating that McMahon was essentially pressured into making Mysterio World Champion even though he didn't believe him to be one, saying "He'll never be my World Champion".

As a result, McMahon finally relented, but stated the exact date when Mysterio would be dropping the title. To add to his misery, Bauer said that McMahon buried Mysterio every opportunity he got, citing it as a reason why Mysterio wouldn't succeed.

This is the saddest case of McMahon just making someone world champion out of pressure. Mysterio would end up having a short, forgettable reign with the title.