5 wrestlers who won the WWE Championship once

The WWE Championship is perhaps the most respected and prestigious titles in professional pro wrestling today. It has been in existence for a long time and has changed hands several times. Many wrestlers have won the title multiple times and have created an impact which will be cherished forever.

However, there are a few wrestlers who won the title only once but have generated the impact which others have failed to do even after several title reigns. Throughout their single reign, they have created feuds, rivalries which the world admires even today.

Here are 5 such wrestlers who, despite winning the WWE title only once is still remembered by the WWE Universe till date.

#5 Jeff Hardy

Hardy is a former WWE Champion

The tag 'extreme' is probably synonymous with Jeff Hardy. Throughout his career, he has gifted us several moments and championship reigns which one can never ignore or overlook. Whether it is jumping from the 18-foot height ladder, or winning the Tag team championship multiple times, Hardy has achieved what other superstars dream of obtaining over decades. However, he won the WWE title only once and had created an impact none will forget ever.

At the Armageddon PPV in 2008, Hardy competed and won the WWE Championship against Edge and Triple H in a triple threat match. Shortly after becoming the champion he suffered an injury owing to pyrotechnics during his entrance. Fans enjoyed his entrance and considered him as their hero. He proved himself to be a daredevil and fighting champion.

However, he went on to lose the title against Edge at Royal Rumble, following the interference from his brother. This created a feud between him and Matt Hardy and as a result, he was sidelined from the Championship picture.

Though he could never win the title again till date, his short stint as the WWE Champion is still arguably one of the best reigns ever.

#4 Rob Van Dam

RVD cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the title

RVD was one of the fewest high flying WWE Champions ever in the history. He won the Money in the Bank match and cashed his contract upon John Cena. It was a tough battle for any wrestler in WWE to compete against John Cena and still getting plaudits. RVD used his agility, combined with his in-ring techniques and also interference from Edge, helped him to win the title.

The title was re-branded as WWE ECW World Heavyweight Champion. He defended the title against Edge at Vengeance PPV in 2006. His short stint of 22 days as the champion was highly cherished as he was perhaps the only person from the ECW brand to grab the WWE Championship. He lost the title later to Edge in an episode of Monday Night RAW. He was subsequently suspended for 30 days from the company, making him a highly controversial WWE Champion. He won several other Championships in the WWE but never got to fight for the WWE title.

He returned to WWE but was never considered in the frame for the WWE Championship by the creative team and the WWE management.

#3 Chris Jericho

The first ever Undisputed WWF Champion

At the Vengeance PPV in 2001, Chris Jericho made history by defeating the Rock and Stone Cold in back to back matches and thus became the first ever Undisputed WWF Champion. He was the first wrestler ever in WWE to hold both the WWE and the World Heavyweight Championship (formerly known as WCW Championship). Throughout his career, Jericho has laid his hands upon several Championships and has had some of the greatest rivalries ever in WWE history.

Chris Jericho, however, failed to win the WWE title again in his career. He won the World Heavyweight Championship couple of times, but despite getting various opportunities he is yet to win the WWE title twice. Currently, he is working on a number of projects outside WWE and is thus not seen on-screen frequently.

However, he is a champion material and we hope whenever he returns, he gets one more WWE title shot and win the WWE gold again.

#2 The Miz

Miz is also a former WWE Champion

The Miz stunned the whole world when he decided to cash in his Money in the Bank contract (which he won at 'Money in the Bank' PPV) upon Randy Orton at an episode of RAW. He became the WWE Champion for the first time in his life and had a tremendous run as the Champion. He held the title for 159 days and defended against multiple superstars.

One of the major reasons behind Miz's success as WWE Champion was the constant support of Alex Riley. They both together feuded and fought against every possible superstar in the locker room. Finally, the Miz lost his title to John Cena. Miz is currently in the RAW brand of WWE and also the reigning Intercontinental Champion. If he returns to SmackDown as a part of the Draft, he can feud for the WWE title against any and every superstar in the brand.

Miz has promised that 2018 will be his year, and it will be enthralling to see if he can win the WWE title again.

#1 Eddie Guerrero

Guerrero was the most controversial WWE Champion ever

Eddie is perhaps the most beloved WWE Champion of all time. He won the WWE title from none other than the legendary Brock Lesnar at the PPV No Way Out. He held the title for 133 days. His famous tactics to 'lie, cheat and steal' is something the WWE used as a gimmick and garnered him a lot of crowd support.

Eddie Guerrero has feuded and fought several superstars in the WWE during his tenure as the WWE Champion. His classic rivalry was against JBL whom he defeated multiple times and defended his title. Either by pin-fall or via disqualification Eddie used any means to cling on to his WWE Championship.

Eddie finally Lost the title to JBL at the PPV 'The Great American Bash'. He could not win the title twice and this really disheartened his fans globally. His sudden demise was a huge shock to the wrestling fraternity and everyone was in disbelief. No wrestler could ever enjoy the love he got as the WWE Champion. Sadly, we won't be able to see this superstar ever with the WWE Championship.