10: Ronda Rousey (RAW Women’s Title, 2018)

Fans had mixed views when WWE booked Ronda Rousey to win the RAW Women’s Title in 2018. On one hand, whilst Rousey had indeed impressed with her in-ring work, there was concern that Rousey didn’t have the experience both inside and outside the ring to carry the top prize in the women’s division.

Thankfully, due to strong booking, and Rousey putting in 110%, the title reign was excellent, and Rousey had great matches with everyone ranging from Nia Jax to Sasha Banks. Whilst the crowd did turn on Rousey towards the end of her title reign, this didn’t take away from the quality of the matches she was delivering.

9: Jeri-Show (WWE Tag Team Titles, 2009)

When Edge went down with a serious injury in the summer of 2009, it put a major strain on WWE creative, as WWE were implementing a long-term storyline that would see Edge and Chris Jericho join forces to become WWE’s top tag team.

WWE decided to shift gears, and their plan was to replace Edge in the tag-team with Big Show. Whilst Jericho had a positive relationship with Big Show, he was personally hoping that Kane received the nod. When Big Show debuted as Jericho’s new partner, there were definitely fans who rejected the booking decision. The move seemed random and out of place, and it was unclear what the relationship was between the two men.

Over time, the chemistry seemed to grow, as Jericho and Big Show became more comfortable with each other. Their 2009 Tag Title reign greatly benefited the tag division as a whole, as Jericho and Big Show were two former WWE Champions, so they were often placed at the top of the card, which in-turn gave great exposure to a limited tag division.

8: Drew McIntyre (WWE Title, 2020)

Nobody expected Drew McIntyre’s inevitable WWE Title reign in 2020 to be a failure, that was until the world shut down due to COVID-19. How on earth could McIntyre have a strong, compelling reign with zero fans watching on?

McIntyre truly came into his own during this era, and his WWE Title reign was tremendous, despite being presented under extremely difficult circumstances. McIntyre had great feuds with the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton, and more importantly, he was able to deliver high-level PPV main event title defences in the absence of the fans.

McIntyre solidified himself as one of the top names in the company, and when the fans eventually came back to WWE shows in 2021, there was an active push to see McIntyre receive a run as WWE Champion in-front of the fans. In-fact this has been a key motivation for McIntyre during his acclaimed heel run on WWE TV, and hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before McIntyre is representing the company once again at the highest level.

7: Neville (Cruiserweight Title, 2017)

The main concern when Neville became Cruiserweight Champion in 2017, was whether or not WWE would give Neville the platform to have a decent reign. In the first few months of the revival of the Cruiserweight Title, not a single reign captured the excitement of the fans, and this was mainly down to lacklustre booking, and the champion in question having zero direction.

Neville, mainly due to having such an interesting and unique heel character as champion, gave the Cruiserweight Title the boost it needed, as although his segments were brief at first, Neville was acting as if he was World Champion, and he was delivering in all areas.

It took some time, but eventually, WWE started to book Neville more and more, and he would even receive a spot on the kick-off show at WrestleMania 33.

When Neville eventually dropped the title to Enzo Amore, there was a major uproar from the fans, as WWE, specifically, Vince McMahon had just annihilated and destroyed one of the best Cruiserweight Title reigns in company history.

6: Big Show (World Title, 2012)

It came as a huge surprise when WWE decided to have Big Show become World Champion in 2012. Fans weren’t exactly crying out for a Big Show World Title reign at that particular stage of his career, and fans collectively wondered what WWE had in store.

It wouldn’t be controversial to state that this is without a doubt Big Show’s finest World Title reign. His feud with Sheamus was fantastic, and their matches could have easily headlined PPV events in late 2012. Big Show’s feud with Alberto Del Rio also delivered the goods, and helped take Del Rio’s babyface run to the next level.

Big Show’s final World Title run in WWE was brief, yet it did exactly what it needed to, and it was 72-days of Big Show showing the entire world that he was still a big-time player for WWE.

5: Mark Henry (World Title, 2011)

Mark Henry had improved dramatically by the time WWE decided to give him a World Title run in 2011, yet that didn’t mean everyone was expecting the reign itself to be great. Henry had been given main event pushes time and time again in WWE, yet they always seem to either fizzle out, or Henry would get injured.

This time, Henry put in the work to make sure his main event run was one that was memorable, as Henry delivered one of the most exciting and unique World Title reigns of the past two decades.

Henry didn’t get the World Title for too long, but this ultimately worked in his favour, as it left fans wanting more. Henry’s character work during this reign was exceptional, and it’s a massive shame that this marked Henry’s first and only World Title run in the company.

4: Christian (ECW Title, 2009)

Re-debuting Christian in 2009 on the ECW brand was a bold move; however, in hindsight it was a move that helped Christian re-establish himself in WWE.

When Christian won the ECW Title at the Backlash event in 2009, there was apprehension amongst fans, as the main worry was that WWE wouldn’t give Christian a fair chance to succeed as ECW Champion. This thankfully wasn’t the case, as Christian had multiple reigns as ECW Champion, and he became the face of the entire ECW brand during the final year of the brand’s existence.

Christian was magnificent in this role, and he showed WWE that he had what was needed, not just to be a main event player, but to also carry an established brand, and elevate young talent along the way.

3: John Cena (US Title, 2015)

In 2015, John Cena embarked on arguably the most acclaimed run of his career. Cena would win the US Title at WrestleMania 31 and introduce fans to the John Cena ‘US Title Open Challenge’.

When Cena first won the US Title, the main sentiment amongst the fans was that Cena didn’t need the US Title, and Cena wouldn’t give the reign his all, because it wasn’t a World Title. These fans were proven wrong, when Cena put his life and soul into the US Title reign, and at one point in the summer of 2015, it was a common opinion throughout the WWE fandom that the US Title had become more prestigious than the WWE Title.

2: Daniel Bryan (WWE Champion, 2018)

The majority of heel turns are usually hinted at for weeks or even months in advance; however, when Daniel Bryan turned heel to win the WWE Title in 2018, nobody saw it coming.

Bryan would cheat to defeat AJ Styles on SmackDown, and this sent shockwaves through the fanbase, as the idea of Bryan as a heel in 2018 was one fans couldn’t even fathom in their heads, and a lot of fans believed the reign and heel turn would flop, and Bryan would quickly revert to his babyface status.

Bryan would debut a brand-new eco-warrior style gimmick, and this was a gimmick-based WWE Title reign, and it was vastly different to anything on the show. Bryan was hilarious yet terrifying and credible at the same time, and he managed to have one of the greatest heel runs ever as WWE Champion, and no that’s not hyperbole.

Also, during this reign, Bryan would enter into a feud with Kofi Kingston, and the KofiMania storyline was WWE at its very best, and Bryan deserves a ton of credit for being the villain that the KofiMania storyline needed to work so amazingly well.

1: JBL (WWE Title, 2004)

Upon losing a sea of main eventers during the Ruthless Aggression Era, WWE needed to create new household names, and one of the names they looked towards was Bradshaw. Bradshaw had been a tag team wrestler for the majority of his WWE tenure, yet Vince McMahon believed that Bradshaw had what it took to reach the next level.

Bradshaw would ditch the APA persona, in favour of the JBL gimmick, which was basically a rich bigot who now had his eyes set on becoming WWE Champion.

JBL would quickly become WWE Champion, and fans, as well as critics questioned the move, as it would be a tough task to ask the casual fan to accept the former APA member as SmackDown’s new top guy.

Due to incredible work by the likes of Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker, JBL was eventually accepted in his role, and his heel WWE Title reign between 2004-2005 had numerous high-spots, and it helped pave the way for the next era of WWE to come to fruition. JBL would eventually drop the WWE Title at WrestleMania 21 to John Cena, and although this was JBL’s only WWE Title reign of his career, it was insanely memorable, and JBL deserves all the credit in the world for the reign turning out so well. 

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