Sports
7 Legends Who Somehow Never Won a Title in WWE
0 of 7Dusty Rhodes.Dave Kotinsky/Getty ImagesPro wrestling may be predetermined, but when a promotion tells a Superstar it trusts them enough to represent the company by holding a championship, it has meaning.There will always be debate when it comes to the importance of titles. Are they real accomplishments due to the competitive nature of the…
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Dusty Rhodes.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
Pro wrestling may be predetermined, but when a promotion tells a Superstar it trusts them enough to represent the company by holding a championship, it has meaning.
There will always be debate when it comes to the importance of titles. Are they real accomplishments due to the competitive nature of the business or are they just props used to tell a story?
It's a little of both. The WWE title has only been held by 52 different people since its inception in 1963. That is less than one new champion per year. Management doesn't just give it to whoever the crowd cheers for.
Other belts tend to trade hands more often, which means most of the legends who have worked for WWE at some point have at least one title reign to their name.
Surprisingly, some of the most memorable stars in the industry have never held a WWE-branded championship. While some of the names on this list only worked for the company a few times, others spent years with the promotion without ever winning a belt.
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Sting is an obvious name for our list because he is one of the most recognizable names in the history of pro wrestling but only worked a couple of matches in WWE.
He spent the majority of his formative years working for WCW where he would end up winning several championships, including multiple world titles under both the NWA and WCW brand names.
Sting spent most of his later years working for TNA/Impact Wrestling where he served as a mentor to many young stars we now see in WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
By the time he came to WWE in 2014, he was already retired for the most part. He was only ever going to work a part-time schedule, so the odds of him winning any championship were slim.
While it's possible he could still have his moment with the 24/7 title like so many other legends and non-wrestlers, it isn't likely.
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Jushin “Thunder” Liger retired from in-ring competition in 2019. During his 35-year career, he worked exactly two matches for WWE.
The first came at an event co-produced by WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990 at the Tokyo Dome.
His second appearance happened 25 years later at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015 against Tyler Breeze. He won both bouts but never held a title in WWE.
For Liger, being the WWE champion was clearly never his end goal. He could have joined the company multiple times but chose to work for other promotions instead, helping them grow along the way.
He is arguably one of the most famous Japanese wrestlers in the world. His trademark mask is unmistakable and his resume speaks for itself. He doesn't need a WWE Championship to validate his incredible career.
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The late Brian Pillman was an accomplished wrestler who held titles in a number of promotions, including WCW as its first light heavyweight champion.
However, his brief tenure with WWE in 1996 and '97 did not include any title wins. Most of his time was spent with The Hart Foundation and feuding with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
One of his most memorable storylines was also one of the most controversial in WWE history. It involved a gun, something the company has not used as a storytelling device since.
Flyin' Brian was immensely talented in ways many wrestlers work for years to achieve, and it seemed to come naturally to him due to his athletic background as a football player in college.
These days, his legacy is being carried on by his son, Brian Pillman Jr., who was named Pro Wrestling Illustrated‘s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and appeared at AEW's first Double or Nothing pay-per-view in a Battle Royal.
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Dusty Rhodes is one of the most celebrated legends in WWE history, and he is also one of the many who never held a single title during his time with the company.
The American Dream has a lot of accolades on his resume, many of which came from his time touring the territories and working with the National Wrestling Alliance.
He spent many years feuding with the likes of Ric Flair and teaming with stars such as Dick Murdoch to win multiple tag team championships.
His WWE career lasted from 1989 until 1991 when he returned to WCW as a member of the booking committee.
Rhodes is widely considered one of the most influential trainers during his time at the WWE Performance Center and one of the most beloved characters of all time. He even managed to make polka dots cool.
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Bam Bam Bigelow is possibly one of the most memorable Superstars of all time. The flames tattooed on his head and painted on his attire made him stand out from everyone at a time when most wrestlers had unique gimmicks in WWE.
He only spent a few years with the promotion but was involved in some high-profile storylines, including one that put him in the main event of WrestleMania 11 against Lawrence Taylor.
While a lot of fans know him for his time with WWE, he spent significantly more time working for WCW and ECW along with other independent promotions.
He never held gold while working for Vince McMahon, but he did manage to win several titles elsewhere.
Outside of wrestling, many will remember his memorable role in Major Payne as a biker hired by a group of children to beat up Damon Wayans' character at a military academy.
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Casual fans may not know this but Jerry Lawler is one of the most decorated champions in pro wrestling history. He has held well over 100 titles, although there are some asterisks next to the championships he won in promotions he ran.
Still, The King is a legend in the business and has provided countless memorable moments, but none of them include winning a title in WWE.
Many of his belts were won before he became a full-time commentator while he was working with numerous territories around the country.
He may be most famous for his feud with Andy Kaufman, which Lawler relived while filming the movie Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey.
The closest he came to being the WWE champion was in a ladder match against The Miz in 2010.
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Lex Luger won Yokozuna's Bodyslam Challenge and was named the co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble with Bret Hart, but his time in WWE never led to any titles.
The powerhouse found more success in WCW where he became part of an exclusive club of Superstars to win the WCW world, U.S., television and tag team titles, all of which he held more than once.
He also became a member of The Four Horsemen for a brief period of time and won the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup in 1988 with Sting.
Unfortunately, Luger is one of the many Superstars who found himself being overlooked due to the larger New World Order storyline that overtook WCW for years.
His most famous moment came on the debut episode of WCW Nitro on September 4, 1995 when he appeared just days after his final appearance with WWE.
He was the first major WWE star to jump ship to WCW to help kick off the Monday Night War.
Which legends are you surprised never won a title in WWE?
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