Ranking the Greatest Modern-Era WWE Wrestlers Who've Never Won a World Title

The current era of WWE has provided some immensely talented individuals the opportunity to hold a world title when, in years past, that may not have been the case.

Over the last five or six years, Superstars like Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Kofi Kingston and Big E have shaken off preconceived notions about their place on the card to rise to the top of the company as WWE or Universal champions.

There are still some, though, who have played key roles on Raw or SmackDown but have not yet had the chance to run with one of the top prizes in the industry, for one reason or another.

These are five of them, ranked in order by greatness.

For this article, only those who have not held the top two titles on WWE's main roster were considered.

5. Baron Corbin

Some people love Baron Corbin, others despise him, but there is no denying that he is one of the most effective heels on WWE programming over the last five years.

A big man who debuted with the look of a kickass biker has transformed himself to be a Raw authority figure, the King of the Ring, a down-on-his-luck loser, and now, an obnoxiously happy villain. He has found success in every single role, working with top stars like Roman Reigns along the way.

The fans hate him, he embraces every character and gets the absolute most out of it.

He is so good at getting the fans to boo him as loud, if not louder, than anyone else on the show that it is a wonder his company has not taken the opportunity to crown him by putting either the WWE or Universal Championship on him.

Of course, being on SmackDown at this time makes it incredibly difficult for that to happen given the unheard-of run of Roman Reigns, but there have been times in the past when the proverbial trigger could have been pulled and WWE held off.

Taking into consideration everyone else on this list, Corbin feels like the most likely to get a run with one of the titles. Hopefully, he has that opportunity while he is still in his athletic prime because he moves like few big men of his size and style could imagine.

4. Xavier Woods

Xavier Woods has it all: charisma, in-ring ability, crossover appeal. He is one-third of the wildly popular New Day but has simply had to watch as Big E and Kofi Kingston had their shot at running with the WWE title.

He did get the opportunity to win the King of the Ring tournament, something he admitted was very important to him, but one cannot help but think the most appropriate payoff would be for Woods to join his New Day brethren in capturing one of the two top prizes in the company.

He is an engaging performer, one who captures the attention of the audience but also plays to non-fans, thanks to his involvement in the gaming world. He has his finger on the pulse of pop culture, knows what is hot and could easily excel as a main event star based on that alone.

That he can back it up in the ring only strengthens the argument for him to get a run.

It remains to be seen if that will ever be in the cards or if his King of the Ring victory was a consolation. Hopefully, for his sake, it is the former.

3. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn realistically has been world champion material twice in his WWE career.

When he arrived on the main roster from NXT back in 2016, he was as popular an underdog babyface as there was in the company. Arguably, he was one of the best wrestlers on the roster, too. That summer, when WWE was looking for someone to push to the top of the card in hopes of freshening things up, he would have been an excellent candidate.

Fast forward four years to 2020 and the start of his conspiracy theorist character, which remains one of the best and most entertaining on WWE TV some two years later. 

Zayn has completely embraced his current heel persona, ranting and raving about being held down and talking about "what people are saying" without offering up any evidence that they actually are. His in-ring performances are different than they were previously, more cerebral than balls-to-the-wall, but he is arguably a better all-around performer now.

It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which he makes it to the top of the card on Friday nights given the omnipresence of Roman Reigns. A jump to Raw would help and open the opportunity for some great matches with the likes of AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Riddle, Randy Orton and longtime friend-turned-bitter-enemy Kevin Owens.

Zayn is so on with this latest incarnation of his character that it would really be a shame to see him go without a world title reign.

Friday on SmackDown, we saw a modest celebration for his Intercontinental Championship victory go interrupted by Johnny Knoxville. Imagine what said celebration would look like if he managed to pull off the greatest conspiracy-busting victory of all: winning the WWE title.

2. Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura's greatest shot at becoming WWE champion came in 2018 when he won the Royal Rumble match. From there, he was a WrestleMania headliner against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship and proceeded to feud with him after turning heel at the event.

Unfortunately, it was the closest Nakamura has ever come to capturing a world title in WWE.

He floated around the midcard as an evil henchman for Sami Zayn before a babyface turn and partnership with Rick Boogs brought him back to the Intercontinental Championship picture. For now, despite his greatness in Japan and even in NXT, he appears to be relegated to the company's midcard with no real sign of upward momentum.

It is unfortunate because there are few competitors who arrived on the main roster with the excitement and anticipation from fans the way The Artist did back in 2017. One of the best wrestlers in the world at that point, he probably should have dethroned Jinder Mahal that summer rather than losing consecutive pay-per-view matches to The Modern-Day Maharaja.

That he has not had that defining match or moment on WWE television, even with the Rumble win taken into account, does not help his odds of rising to the top of the card. 

1. Cesaro

The No. 1 entrant on our list will not see his aspirations of a world title on a major stage play out in WWE.

Cesaro has left WWE after failing to come to an agreement with the company on a new contract, as Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported on February 24. 

It is a massive disappointment for the wrestler himself and a huge missed opportunity for WWE.

There was no one hotter in the company coming out of WrestleMania 37 than The Swiss Cyborg. Fresh off a defining victory over Seth Rollins and entering a feud with Roman Reigns over the Universal Championship, the fans were red hot for him in a way they had not been during his nine years with the company.

They believed in him and wanted to see him succeed. He did not, though, losing his pay-per-view title opportunity to The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania Backlash.

That part was forgivable, especially considering how undeniable a star Reigns was and still is. What was not was the manner in which WWE just dropped Cesaro from there. He lost to Rollins, then plummeted back down the card, working midcard tag matches and losing more than he won.

A guy that talented, who had that much support behind him from an audience that is notoriously difficult to win over, should not have been allowed to return to wasting away with no real direction.

Now, he has the opportunity to go elsewhere and prove he can be a star of the highest level.