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Whenever a Superstar joins WWE, he has two major dreams. The first is to main event WrestleMania and the other is to win the most prestigious title of the company.
Earlier, there was only one WWE World Heavyweight Championship which played the role of the company's top title. However, because of the brand split in 2016, WWE had to introduce the Universal Championship so as to give a world title to each brand.
In the brief history of the Universal title, multiple Superstars have tried their luck to win the title but, very few have been successful in doing so. The same can be said of the WWE Championship. A plethora of Superstars have challenged for the title only to fall short in the main bout.
The Superstar Shakeup and the Wild Card Rule allow the Superstars to join the other brand's roster and since there are only a selective group of people who stay in the main event scene. In the past three years, a host of Superstars have challenged for both the Universal title and the WWE title.
When one battles for the top two titles of the company in a space of three years, it is almost assured that the Superstar will at least have one world title reign. But, these 5 credible challengers failed to win either one of the world championships.
#5 Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe is the first name on this unlucky list. The NXT graduate entered the Universal Championship picture in mid-2017 when he won a Fatal-5 way Extreme Rules match to become the new No.1 contender for the Universal Championship. He had a one-on-one fight with Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire but, the Beast Incarnate overcame this challenge.
Joe was even a part of the Fatal-4 way Universal Championship match that main evented SummerSlam 2017 and, even had a bout with Brock Lesnar at a live event. Unfortunately, he could not win the title.
During the same time of the year in 2018, Joe went after the WWE Champion AJ Styles and also involved his family in the title feud. Despite getting multiple title matches during the course of that feud, Joe could not defeat Styles for the title.
#4 Sami Zayn
It is surprising that Sami Zayn, who is one of the best in-ring technicians of the world, is yet to win his first championship in WWE. He had won the NXT title but is yet to hold gold on the main roster.
The Canadian Superstar was an integral part of SmackDown Live in 2017-18, the time duration during which he competed in WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view as well as the Fastlane show of 2018.
Also, he had competed in a WWE Championship Triple Threat match with AJ Styles and Kofi Kingston on a SmackDown episode.
While many fans would be aware of Zayn's WWE Championship matches, very few would know that The Underdog from the Underground has even challenged for the Universal title.
None of Zayn's Universal Championship matches took place on WWE TV but all of them happened at live events where he used to have matches with his buddy and then Universal Champion, Kevin Owens. On some occasions, Seth Rollins also used to be a part of the match involving Owens and Zayn.
#3 Braun Strowman
The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman has been in the Universal Championship picture since 2017. He had a short feud for the title with Kevin Owens.
But, Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship was one of the most memorable WWE feuds in recent history. Both the men were ready to tear each apart as they collided in a singles match at No Mercy 2017.
Though Strowman stayed in the title scene for almost six months, he could not take the title off Lesnar. After a brief run in the tag team division, The Monster Among Men won the Money In The Bank briefcase in 2018. He tried to cash-in at multiple occasions only to fail. He is set for yet another Universal Championship, this time against Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions 2019.
A little known fact about Braun Strowman is that he had once competed for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship back in 2016 when Roman Reigns had put his title on the line in a Royal Rumble match. Strowman was a part of the Wyatt Family then and had entered the match with a bid to win the championship. Co-incidentally, Brock Lesnar was the one to eliminate Strowman from that match.
You can watch his elimination in the following video at 12:50.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
Just like Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn, the Japanese Superstar, Shinsuke Nakamura enjoyed a successful run in the developmental territory, NXT and the fans had high expectations from him when he arrived on the main roster.
However, he has not held any major titles during his stay in the main roster.
In his first ever WWE Championship match at SummerSlam 2017, Nakamura lost to Jinder Mahal as WWE pushed the Modern Day Maharaja as the next big thing. He even emerged victorious at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view which sent Nakamura out of the title picture.
However, The Artist won the Royal Rumble match to progress to the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 34. He had a long feud with AJ Styles spanning over four months but, all Nakamura got was a host of losses.
He has been out of the main event scene on WWE TV ever since. However, he recently had a Universal Championship match with Seth Rollins when WWE toured Japan for a live event. The match was well received by fans and critics but The Artist emerged on the losing end in this match as well.
#1 Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin has always impressed the backstage officials with his work and thus, they had awarded him with the coveted Money In The Bank briefcase in 2017. Also, the on-air commentators always used to put special emphasis on the fact that Corbin is destined to win the WWE Championship.
However, his off TV behavior sent him into the doghouse as he failed to successfully cash-in his contract. Not only that, he even failed to win the multi-man WWE Championship matches that he took part in.
Baron moved to RAW during the Superstar Shakeup and he has been in the main event picture since 2018-19.
He had a feud with Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship then and a rivalry with the Universal Champion, Seth Rollins. Throughout both the feuds, he came up on the losing end.
Given that the backstage officials are happy with the way Corbin performs, The Lone Wolf may soon capture his first world championship in WWE.
