Wrestlers who were nearly booked to win titles

 Wrestlers who were nearly booked to win titles (January 2017)

15. Ahmed Johnson- WWE World Title- It is hard to believe because his time at the top was so short, but Ahmed Jonson was super over for a very short period of time. He was the Intercontinental champion and very popular. It is said that he was considered for a world title run at this time. Of course, he got hurt and that derailed things. To be fair, he was sort of one dimensional and allegedly caused some injuries to others, so that did not help things. I don’t really believe he would have made that great a champion, but it could have happened.

14. Rockers/Rougeou Brothers- WWE World Tag Team Titles- Believe it or not, both of these teams actually beat the Hart Foundation in house show matches and were announced as the champions. Both times this was reversed. There were a lot of great tag teams at that time and only one title. It is interesting that virtually the same thing happened to both of these teams, once during each of the Hart Foundation’s title reigns.

13. Mr. Kennedy- WWE World Title- The WWE had big things planned for Ken Kennedy. He won the money in the bank briefcase and was scheduled to win the title. He was also meant to be involved in a story line that would have revealed him to be Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son. Unfortunately, because of an injury, a drugs accusation and the fallout of the Chris Benoit mess it never happened. Mr. Kennedy was then made to leave the WWE because of politics. This was around one Randy Orton. It’s amazing to imagine Mr. Kennedy as champion. He had so much potential, but ended up losing out. He was a very good TNA champion, however, so that’s something.

12. Butch Reed- Intercontinental title- The rumours have always been that Butch Reed was scheduled to beat Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental title, but this never happened and Honkytonk Man was given the title instead. It is unclear why. It has been said that Reed was late or that he did not show up for on the night of the match. It is interesting because, when you look back, the WWE seemed to be positioning Butch Reed for big things. They seemed to think a lot of him at this time. He never really ended up doing much in the WWE though. He did have potential, but I don’t think anyone now really views him as a capable Intercontinental championship threat. Honkytonk seems the much better choice despite his shortcomings.

11. Jake Roberts- WWE World Title- Ok, Jake may never have been considered a true threat to be the champion, but there seems to have been plans to at least give him a shot at a title feud. He was a heel at the time. Hulk Hogan was the champion and on the top of his game. A segment was shot where Jake DDT’ed Hogan. Unfortunately for Jake, this actually got a ton of cheers and DDT chants. This is extraordinary because this was not 1994 or even 1991, it was before Wrestlemania III. Hogan was a popular as anyone has ever been and people still cheered for Jake. This scared everyone. The feud was shelved and Jake was turned face.

10. Vader- WWE World Title- Vader was originally scheduled to win the championship. This was changed at one point and Sid was given the title instead. This was due to Sid being more over at the time, but I think the fact that Shawn Michaels did not like him did not help his cause. Knowing what we know now, I cannot imagine Michaels agreeing to lose too Vader. He was not a favourite of the clique. The result was that Sid was given two championship reigns and the main event at Wrestlemania against the Undertaker.

9. Brutus Beefcake- Intercontinental Title- There were two times at Summerslams that Beefcake was slated to win the Intercontinental title. The first time was against the Honkytonk Man, although this depends on the source. Beefcake was scheduled to face Honkytonk for the title, but was injured by Ron Bass. This might have only been a kayfabe injury though. Some say the Ultimate Warrior was always scheduled to win the title. It was not announced he would be in the match until he came out for the match. It was a great segment. The second time, Beefcake was scheduled to beat Mr. Perfect for the title at Summerslam. Unfortunately, he was severely injured in a parasailing accident and was unable to compete for nearly three years. Kerry Von Erich was put in his place. He won the title, but lost it back to Perfect shortly afterwards. Beefcake had beaten Mr. Perfect at Wrestlemania VI. It was Perfect’s first loss in the WWE.

8. David Von Erich- NWA World Title- This is a sad one. David was apparently in line for a title match against Ric Flair when he passed away in Japan. Who knows what he would have gone on to if he had not passed away tragically? Instead his brother ended up winning the title at his memorial show.

7. Magnum TA- NWA World Title- This is another tragic one. Magnum was very popular. He was scheduled to face Ric Flair, I think at Starcade for the championship. This never happened because of a motorcycle accident that left Magnum paralysed. It really was a tragedy. There seems little doubt he would have won this championship at some point if the tragedy had not happened.

6. Ted Dibiase- WWE World Title- It has long been rumoured that their were very real plans for Dibiase to walk out of Wrestlemania IV as world champion. There are many theories and stories as to why this did not happen. There is one story that blames the Honkytonk Man. That story is sort of complicated and farfetched. One story was that Dibiase was given the choice of winning the title or having the million dollar belt and he chose the latter. I can’t believe that. Being world champion is what every wrestler works their whole lives for. A manufactured belt that was bought by the person can’t really compare in any way. Even though it was a great belt and a good storyline. Dibiase as a heel champion is a great idea. It would have been really cool and has tons of possibilities. The trouble is that there was only one championship and you already had Hogan and Savage. Of course, he did buy the championship from Andre. That doesn’t really count. I always thought it would have been cool if Andre laid down for him and he would have won the title that way. Then Savage could have beat him anyway. There are some pictures of him with the belt, for what it’s worth.

5. Chyna- WWE World Title- Believe it or not, they actually considered giving Chyna a world title. This may not have been the worst thing in the world, but think of who was in title picture at the time; Steve Austin, the Rock, the Undertaker, Triple H, Mick Foley, Kane. For them to even consider this, it shows how big a star she actually was. It was a much stronger title scene than at other times. It is a real shame what happened to her and that a lot of what she has done has kind of gone forgotten.

4. Lex Luger- WWE World Title- Luger was clearly meant to win the title from Yokozuna. I believe it was even scheduled to happen until the locker room threatened to revolt. The result of this was an odd match ending where Lex won the match but not the championship, but celebrated as though he had. I am glad that he did not win it. The truth is I did quite like Lex in other roles. He was great in WCW when he was with Sting and Flair. He was great when he beat Hogan for the WCW title. He was even quite good as the Narcissist. The disingenuous Lex Express, red white and blue gimmick though was not great. It did not really fit him and seemed to be quite pandering. At the time I had no doubt he would be champion at the time. Thank goodness they actually made the right choice instead of shoving him down our throats like they have done with other guys since.

3. Tank Abbott- WCW Champion- Believe it or not Vince Russo had the idea to make Tank Abbot the world champion. I did not mind him actually, but he was never really a main event sort of guy at any point. On the other hand, he would have been a better choice than David Arquette or Russo himself.

2. Muhammad Hassan- Mohammed Hassan was doomed from the start. He started out as a Muslim American, (even though he wasn’t. I think he was Italian American) who was upset because he was mistreated and faced bigotry. The odd thing was that he was meant to be a heel. Then they went the whole hog with the character. This was offensive on many levels of course. He was pushed to the ceiling though. He feuded with the likes of the Undertaker. In the end they aired a really offensive sketch on the day that a real attack actually happened. He was demolished and erased. It was not his fault though, it was WWE’s. Believe it or not, they actually planned to make him champion at one stage. That is unbelievable. It is hard to believe that people out there are still going for the evil foreigner gimmick. It is pretty bad that it continues to happen even now.

1. Bam Bam Bigelow- WWE World Title- There was actually two times, reportedly that Bam Bam was, supposedly, close to getting a championship opportunity. The first was a similar time frame to the above mentioned Jake Roberts push. Apparently, Bigelow was being considered as a possible title opponent for Hulk Hogan, but the idea was scrapped because it was felt that he was getting too popular and that he might be cheered over Hogan. The second time was during his second run in the WWE. Apparently, Bigelow was told that if he lost to Lawrence Taylor, he would be given a title shot. I believe that this would have been the case. He should have known better though, because losing to a non-wrestler in such a high profile match would have killed anyone’s credibility. Losing to a football player doesn’t really do anything to help your career afterwards. Also, the clique reportedly never liked him much so I can’t imagine him pinning Diesel or Shawn Michaels at that time.