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After 3 weeks, I return with Part 6 of my series, this one being on one of, if not the most coveted prize in the WWE: the World Heavyweight Championship...

WWE's Greatest Champions Part 6: World Heavyweight Championship

by Justin Young (Analyst)

26

5,587 reads

Rankings/List

June 29, 2008


After 3 weeks, I return with Part 6 of my series, this one being on one of, if not the most coveted prize in the WWE: the World Heavyweight Championship.

There isn't a long list of winners, as the former WCW Heavyweight belt was introduced as WWE's Heavyweight title in 2002. There have been only 12 men that have held the title in the 6-year history, and so my top 10 will be listed, with the other 2 as Honorable Mentions.

Here we go...

10. The Great Khali (1 time)

One of the biggest men in pro wrestling, Khali was destined to win the belt at some point, and he made his mark on the industry’s history book by entering the 20-man Championship Battle Royal when Edge vacated the title. He survived an onslaught from the other hopefuls to earn his only Heavyweight Championship, and as expected, he would wreak havoc on anyone who stood in his way.

9. King Booker (1 time)

While definitely not the crowd favorite, the former King of the Ring won the tournament to face Rey Mysterio for the World Title. As fate would have it, the King would win the belt, securing his spot on Smackdown’s throne.

8. Rey Mysterio (1 time)

Of course, the biggest underdog story in wrestling history. After his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, passed away, Mysterio dedicated his Royal Rumble performance to his memory, and strangely enough, he overcame insurmountable odds to win the match, securing a title spot at Wrestlemania 22. But when Randy Orton managed to take his shot by beating him at No Way Out, GM Theodore Long decided to keep Rey in the match, making it a Triple Threat. Mysterio, after sending Kurt Angle out of the ring, hit a 619 and a West Coast Pop on Orton, allowing him to take the match and the World Heavyweight Championship in what was definitely a big Wrestlemania moment.

7. Kurt Angle (1 time)

Definitely one of the most decorated wrestlers in history, Kurt Angle surprised the wrestling world when he returned to Smackdown on January 10, 2006, in his hometown of Philadelphia, to be revealed as the final entrant in a 20-man battle royal for the vacant World title. As a RAW superstar, he had a huge target on his singlet, but he was able to win his only World title when he eliminated Mark Henry.

6. Shawn Michaels (1 time)

The reason I rank HBK so high is because he won his only Heavyweight title in near-impossible circumstances. The Showstopper was able to outlast Triple H, RVD, Booker T, Kane, and Chris Jericho in the most unforgiving structure known to the sports-entertainment world: the Elimination Chamber.

5. Chris Benoit (1 time)

Say what you want about what happened last year, but the Rabid Wolverine can not be made an Honorable Mention or left off my top 10 this time. The Canadian Crippler had been wrestling for years to obtain a World Heavyweight title, and at Wrestlemania XX, he defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels to finally accomplish his dream. After the match, he stood side by side with his best friend, WWE Champion, the late great Eddie Guerrero. He even managed to overcome the odds again, defeated Helmsley and HBK in a rematch at Backlash.

4. Undertaker (2 times)

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26 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Chris Allen about 1 year ago

    I agree exactly with your choices. Triple H should defintley be first on the World Heavyweight Championship list, because he was the best.

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  2. Nick about 1 year ago

    No Jericho? He was the 1st person to wear bith championships at the same time. And he had to beat The Rock and Austin in the same night.

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    • Ross about 1 year ago

      It was considerd WCW Champion back then

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    • matt mac about 1 year ago

      No Jericho? He was the 1st person to wear bith championships at the same time. And he had to beat The Rock and Austin in the same night.

      im sick of hearing bout this from him i dont need to hear it from u

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    • Ryan about 1 year ago

      Except that, again, it wasn't the World Heavyweight title..it was the WCW Championship.

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    • Tom Dillard about 1 year ago

      Jericho also was not the first undisputed heavyweight champion ever...that would be Ric Flair! Nature boy won it in a royal rumble in which he was NWA and WWF heavyweight champion so he was considered the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world which is similar to what Y2-Jerk did with the WCW & WWE titles!

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  3. kemdi ugbor about 1 year ago

    when is undertaker coming back? I know he lost a match to edge which was a screw job. where are the board of directors, the chairman anybody to fire or deal with vickie guerro GM for smackdown. she is using the show for her playground. to put it likely she is destroying smackdown and she need to be fired or deal with.

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  4. aj Y about 1 year ago

    My choice wud definitely include THE ROCK as well....... he cud laugh off at undertakers mickey mouse tatoos and dig the sucka bucka with the rock bottom for the title. taunt Austin while ur bangin him... well only one guy cud pull it all off.. tell the cops to eat pie....

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  5. K KAMAL49 about 1 year ago

    HI

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  6. Su BU about 1 year ago

    what about Bret "The Hitman" Hart??? or did he wrestle when it was still WWF before the name change, and therefore does not count???

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  7. Dante Hicks about 1 year ago

    Guys, I'm pretty sure this list is solely referring to the WWE Version of the World Heavyweight Championship. Any title reign occurred during the InVasion is not eligible for this list, it begins when Bischoff took the old WCW title belt out of the briefcase and handed it to HHH. Therefore no Rock, no Austin and no Jericho.

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  8. Ryan about 1 year ago

    I don't really see the point in doing this one as there haven't been that many World Champions to choose from....HHH, Goldberg, Benoit, Orton, Batista, Edge, Taker, Khali, Angle, Mysterio, Michaels & Booker. Not a ton of lineage.

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  9. Bob Warja about 1 year ago

    What about John Cena?

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    • Adam Wright about 1 year ago

      Cena has never won the World Championship .He's won the WWE Title, and turned it into that nauseating Spinner Belt.

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  10. fdnfsdmfnsd mdsnfmsdnf about 1 year ago

    hello

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  11. Derek Pivko about 1 year ago

    It's really sad to see the Great Khali on here. But what is even worse is seeing Rey Mysterio on here. Before you argue let me state I enjoy Mysterio's work... But he was probably one of the worst World Champions in recent memory he always got squashed. Then again look at his size, yes he showed that someone his size can be a champion but they will get squahed if they wrestle against someone twice their size (ex. Great Khali).

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    • Justin Young about 1 year ago

      i see your point, but with only 12 champions in its history, I had to put the ones I felt deserved to be recognized as my top 10. true, mysterio always got squashed, but he also held the title for 3 months and only lost because chavo interfered. and as for khali, i put him on here simply because as much as i and a lot of people dont like him, he dominated Smackdown until Batista finally came....the WWE Title top 10 will be a better list.

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    • Ryan about 1 year ago

      I would hope the WWE Title Top 10 would be better--a ton of legends to choose from.

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    • Justin Young about 1 year ago

      definitely a lot to choose from. wish i could say the same for the heavyweight belt, but triple h has pretty much dominated the division since its inception

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  12. sequoyah magroski about 1 year ago

    i love it i want it i want undertaker have it i like heam can undertaker can come to be with me i want to be like you undertaker i love you i like to see kane to be in ga i can see tham gmail me cill me it thes 678 699 3159 love ya sequoyah magroski

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  13. TexasCowboy about 1 year ago

    What about Stone Cold Steve Austin?

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    • Justin Young about 1 year ago

      Austin was technically a WWE Champ...the World Heavyweight Title started in 2002 when Bischoff wanted a World Title on RAW and awarded it to HHH

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  14. Gem Jefferson about 1 year ago

    I don't think there should have been a top 10 list-- a top five would've sufficed and in this instance .

    I would agree with your five, but Edge should be No. 1. Triple H is obviously the better wrestler, but as far as that belt goes, Edge, and Batista for that matter, have done more the title than Triple H has.

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  15. Matt Paglia about 1 year ago

    the great khali holding the title is a joke. these big guys can barely wrestle, but the industry builds them up so they are "unstoppable". the only reason khali held the belt was because edge was injured, and so was undertaker. why they didnt give it to batista is beyond me

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