7 Superstars Who Deserve a WWE Title Run

The wrestling business, like most other ones, isn't very fair.

There are guys who get pushed because they look like a million bucks even though they can't wrestle their way out of a wet paper bag while other incredibly talented athletes either job or can't even get on TV.

Then, there are guys like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper who have Hall of Fame careers but never win a World title while guys like David Arquette—yes, David Arquette—can actually call themselves a former World champion.

Things like that will continue to happen in the future, too.

Even though a guy may deserve to win a World or WWE title, that doesn't mean it will happen at any point in his career.

But these seven superstars deserve to one day reach the top of the business and become WWE Champion.

7. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho returned to the WWE on Jan. 2, and in true Y2J fashion, he hasn't spent his time burying other superstars.

Instead, he's made them look good.

He put over Sheamus at the Royal Rumble, CM Punk at WrestleMania and Extreme Rules and then Sheamus once again at Over the Limit.

All Jericho has done in the nearly six months since his return is lose, which outsiders might look at as a failed WWE run. But on the contrary, my friends—his latest stint in the WWE has been a success.

He's worked his tail off to put on a number of memorable matches and help make others look good in the process, which is classic Jericho.

It's not Jericho's style to want to be rewarded for that with a WWE Championship reign, but the man is certainly worthy of carrying the company's top prize after what he's done in 2012.

6. Cody Rhodes

The majority of wrestling fans (at least the ones on the Internet) seem to agree that Cody Rhodes is a future World champion.

But there are two groups among those who see Rhodes winning a World title at some point: Those who think there's no rush to put the belt on him anytime soon and those who think he should get the strap within the year.

I wouldn't mind either one of those things happening, but the more I watch Rhodes, the more I think that's he's ready to carry the most prestigious title in the company, the WWE Championship, right now.

There have been several opportunities in which the WWE could have elevated Rhodes to the WWE title scene, but didn't.

Now that he seems to be officially done with the Intercontinental Championship, however, I think we could and should see a classic case of a midcarder dropping a midcard belt only to win a World title shortly thereafter.

Rhodes could go for the World Heavyweight title, but a jump to the WWE Championship sounds even more enticing. 

5. Christian

After 15-plus years in the business, Christian finally broke through the glass ceiling last May when he won his first World Heavyweight Championship.

Of course, we all know that his title reign lasted just five days, and he was then given a second run with the belt later in the year that was rather forgettable.

Now, here we are roughly a year later, and Christian's back in the midcard as the babyface Intercontinental Champion.

He's a great fit in that spot because he always puts on quality matches, but with the WWE thin on main eventers (especially on the babyface side), he could certainly step up into the WWE Championship scene if need be.

Christian has won the World title already, but he's never had a run with the WWE title, which is one of the very few things missing from his resume.

He's a great talent, an established veteran and someone whose career accomplishments make him worthy of a WWE Championship run at some point.

I don't think we'll ever see Christian holding this belt, but as someone who's been a huge part of the WWE since the late 1990s, a lot of fans would love to see it happen.

4. Kane

Kane returned under his mask last December, and his first two feuds with his new look were absolutely awful.

His rivalry with John Cena was garbage, and his forced feud with Randy Orton wasn't much better.

But when he had nothing to do after Extreme Rules, he was thrown into the WWE Championship feud between Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

Initially, I hated this. But the more the feud went on, the more I enjoyed the different dynamic that Kane has brought to the Punk/Bryan rivalry.

He has performed very well during this three-way rivalry, blowing away his lackluster performances in his feuds with both Orton and Cena.

Now, I'm not saying I'd be in love with a WWE title run for Kane, but I wouldn't be opposed to it, either.

He has been a huge part of the WWE for 15 years now, yet, during all that time, he's only had one WWE title reign, which lasted less than 24 hours.

Perhaps a second WWE Championship run is in the cards for Kane, and hopefully, it's one that lasts more than a day.

3. Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett received a massive push right out of the gate upon his arrival on Raw in 2010, but a number of things happened that have prevented him from getting to the level that I thought he'd by at by now.

Creative killed any chance The Nexus had of succeeding when the group lost at SummerSlam in 2010, moving Barrett to SmackDown in early 2011 was a bad move, The Corre was an even worse idea, and Barrett's struggles in the midcard killed a lot of the momentum he had built up in 2010.

Through all that, though, Barrett managed to get over big-time as an incredibly hated heel by the end of 2011, and there appeared to be huge things in his future before he got injured on the road to WrestleMania.

I thought for sure that Barrett would be headed for a World title shot, but now that he's still recovering from injury, I think we could see him go after the WWE Championship instead.

At least in my view, Barrett should have already held the WWE title at least once by now, and he's got a lot of history with the current champ, CM Punk.

When Barrett returns from injury (likely within the next couple of months), I'd expect another massive push and a WWE title win relatively soon.

For someone who's been so close to the belt so many times, he deserves it, too.

2. Dolph Ziggler

I'll just go ahead and say it: Dolph Ziggler is the most talented WWE star who has never really won a World title.

Sorry, but I'm one of those people who doesn't count Ziggler's 15-minute World Heavyweight Championship run as an actual title reign.

When I think of Ziggler, I consider him to be someone who has never actually won a World title, but also as someone who certainly deserves to.

I'd love to see him win the WWE Championship, too.

Since CM Punk won his first WWE Championship at Money in the Bank last year, the WWE title has been defined by quality matches, and there's no doubt that Ziggler, the best seller and bumper in the business, could keep that going.

There is virtually no one in the WWE who can do the things that Ziggler does in the ring, and it's only a matter of time before he gets rewarded with a much-deserved WWE title run.

He's the brightest star on Raw, who's just waiting to explode when the time is right.

Ziggler should have won the World Heavyweight title at No Way Out. But maybe he'll win the WWE Championship sometime soon instead.

1. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan was given the main event ball last December, and he's run incredibly well with it.

He has developed into arguably the best character on WWE TV, and he's finally been given the opportunity to consistently put on great matches.

Bryan has had a handful of fantastic TV matches with CM Punk as well as great pay-per-view matches with Punk and Sheamus.

He's also managed to seamlessly transition from the World Heavyweight title to the WWE title picture, and he's gotten ridiculously over in the process.

Throw Kane and Punk into the mix, and he's doing some of the—if not the—best work of his short WWE career so far.

Like I've said numerous times in the past, he's on fire right now, and the WWE is absolutely going to want to capitalize on that.

What better way to do that than by giving Bryan a run with the WWE Championship?

He's earned it, he deserves it, and if WWE officials are smart, they'll give him one.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.