6 WWE Superstars who lost popularity after becoming World Champion

Rising to the top in WWE is no easy feat. The World Championship, whether it's the WWE title, the World Heavyweight title, or the Universal title, have all been the pinnacle of the professional wrestling industry and they wouldn't be if every Superstar could reach it.

Only a select group of Superstars have reached that level, but as they say, staying on top is a lot harder than reaching it. This has applied none more so than to many babyface World Champions, who were at the height of their popularity when they reached the top, only for their popularity to fumble along the way.

This has resulted in title changes, heel turns, and more. There have been few babyfaces in WWE history who managed to maintain their popularity, particularly in the modern era where fans have access to backstage information, storyline direction, and more. Here are six top Superstars whose popularity dipped after becoming World Champion.

#6. Shawn Michaels - 1996

Shawn Michaels' boyhood dream came true when he defeated Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12 to capture the WWE Championship. It was his crowning career moment, one that truly proved that the cream will always rise to the top.

Michaels would reign as WWF Champion for over half a year, facing a few top Superstars in his run. Many believed that he should have lost to Big Van Vader at SummerSlam 1996, but the story behind that allegedly saw Shawn Michaels politicking his way into beating the legend.

By November 1996, it was clear that his popularity as Champion had dropped. This was clear at Survivor Series that month when the babyface Champion Michaels took on a top heel in Sycho Sid.

MSG booed Michaels out of the building and treated Sid as the biggest babyface of the night. The Heartbreak Kid would drop his title that night in a perfectly-timed change, but he would win it back a couple of months later in the Alamodome in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, at Royal Rumble 1997. Soon after, he would vacate the title after 'losing his smile'.

#5. Randy Orton - 2004

Randy Orton is the youngest World Champion in WWE history

Randy Orton was always destined for World Championship success. Many believe that had it not been for John Cena's undeniable work ethic, The Viper would have been the natural pick to take the throne in 2005.

At WrestleMania 20 in 2005, Cena and Batista were the two Superstars who were coronated, winning the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship respectively. The two men would go on to be the two top babyfaces for the next few years, with Cena's longevity exceeding Batista's.

However, Randy Orton was the Superstar who was originally intended for Batista's spot, having won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2004 and becoming the youngest World Champion in WWE history - a record that he still holds to date.

It led to Evolution ejecting him from the faction before Triple H took the title off him soon after. Once he won the World Championship, it was clear that Orton wasn't the natural babyface that WWE had hoped for him to be.

He would turn heel a few months later before feuding with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 20. While he's had one of the greatest and most accomplished careers in WWE history, he's always been a better heel. 2004 was the first of many instances to prove that.

#4. John Cena - 2005

John Cena's career reached a new level in 2005

John Cena is undoubtedly one of the most polarizing Superstars in WWE history. While there have been many instances of the 16-time World Champion being booed out of the building, the reality is that the 'polarizing' status didn't just apply to the fans present in the arena.

It applied to the millions watching across the world - particularly children who grew up idolizing the biggest babyface in the company.

He held the fort for a decade-and-a-half before transitioning into a well-deserved part-time status. No Superstar in the last 30 years has had a run on the top for a decade the way Cena has, including the likes of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock. However, it's easy to forget that it was 2005 where the 'polarizing' status would creep up on John Cena.

In the summer of that year, the famous "Let's go, Cena! Cena sucks" chants emerged and it would become one of the defining parts of his career. He had lost popularity rapidly after becoming WWE Champion, but his merchandise sales and impact outside of WWE led to Vince McMahon canceling a planned heel turn during the peak of his run.

#3. Roman Reigns - 2015-16

Roman Reigns ended 2015 as a 2-time WWE Champion

This is an addition on the list that feels like the odd one out. Especially since Roman Reigns didn't have too much popularity among live audiences in the United States of America in 2015, to begin with.

Seth Rollins was the undeniable star of 2015, but the first and last parts of the year were heavily focused on the push of Roman Reigns - something that backfired in a big way. While John Cena at least held a high level of popularity in 2005 by WrestleMania, fans seemed dead-set against the idea of The Big Dog as the heir to Cena's throne.

The more WWE pushed Reigns, the more it backfired. However, by December 2015, Vince McMahon decided to take matters into his own hands and feuded with Roman Reigns for an episode of RAW after TLC - leading to him winning the WWE title for the second time.

Surprisingly, Vince McMahon's presence was enough to make Reigns cheered in the same city that booed him for winning the Royal Rumble earlier that year - Philadelphia. He held a level of popularity for a few weeks, but it all went away by Royal Rumble 2016 a month later.

#2. Goldberg - 2017

Goldberg returned to WWE in 2016 to wrap up some unfinished business against Brock Lesnar. When he returned to RAW after 12-and-a-half years away, the Denver crowd welcomed him back, treating him like the babyface legend that he was.

Nobody had an issue with Goldberg vs Lesnar main-eventing Survivor Series 2016, especially since that was the big attraction match. Surprisingly, it ended in just 1 minute and 26 seconds with Goldberg squashing his old opponent.

Despite the legend declaring that Lesnar was "last", he revealed that a conversation with Stephanie McMahon backstage led to him signing on for the Royal Rumble 2017 match. While he didn't win, he made quick work by eliminating Lesnar within seconds of entering the match.

He would win the Universal Championship from Kevin Owens a month later at Fastlane and this marked an instant drop in popularity, with fans turning on him and chanting "CM Punk" while he was trying to cut a promo.

He was booed at WrestleMania 33 as well, with fans going wild as Lesnar became Universal Champion in a five-minute thriller.

#1. Seth Rollins - 2019

WWE continued their efforts to coronate Roman Reigns, but after his unfortunate leukemia announcement, the company had no idea when their biggest full-time star would return. Given the seriousness of the issue, they would have had to operate under the assumption that he wouldn't be returning for a long time.

Seth Rollins was the natural pick to take his spot and was always the second-most pushed full-time Superstar behind Roman Reigns. His momentum would lead him to a Royal Rumble win in 2019 before challenging and dethroning Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35.

He would lose the title back to Lesnar a few months later via a Money in the Bank cash-in, which led to a rematch at SummerSlam, where Rollins became one of the few Superstars to pin Brock Lesnar clean. Despite this, his popularity would dwindle a month later after making unpopular comments on social media.

Many fans also felt that The Architect was stale as a babyface Champion, leading to him dropping the Universal title to 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt a month later and turning heel before the end of the decade.

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