The 10 Best Wrestlers Who Never Won A WWE Championship

From Jake Roberts to Sting & legends like Dusty Rhodes, some of the best wrestlers have surprisingly never won a WWE championship.

WWE has had plenty of its greatest wrestlers win multiple championships. However, at the same time, fans are still left in awe realizing that some of WWE’s greatest older and latest wrestlers have never won a championship there.

At WWE, the reality is some of WWE’s best talents’ roles are minimized, they don’t win as many championships as other wrestlers (whose talents are more utilized), and may feel as if they are better off at another wrestling promotion. Here are 10 of the best wrestlers who never won a WWE championship.

10/10

Harley Race

Harley Race was known for pioneering the diving headbutt move, which was later used by current WWE wrestler, Daniel Bryan.

Race never won a WWE championship, but he still captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship — which stood as a record until it was broken by fellow legendary wrestler Ric Flair in 1991.

After his retirement, Race founded his own wrestling school in 1999, the Harley Race Wrestling Academy. Last August, Race passed away at the age of 76, losing his battle to lung cancer.

9/10

Jimmy Snuka

For about 40 years, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka wrestled for several wrestling promotions. In the 1980s, Snuka may have been portrayed as a villainous heel. However, that didn’t matter much because he won fans over with his unique athletic style and high-flying wrestling moves, which he’s credited with introducing into the WWE.

Before Snuka, no other wrestler performed high-flying moves as much as he did. In 1996, Snuka got inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame. Snuka’s daughter Tamina wrestles and is currently signed to WWE.

8/10

Bam Bam Bigelow

Between 1987 and 2001, Bam Bam Bigelow had graced the halls of WWE, WCW, and ECW — and he’d won fans from every one of these promotions.

Bigelow was not only known for his natural and agile wrestling style, but most notably for his intimidating appearance — he weighed almost 400 pounds and had a distinctive flame tattoo that covered the most of his bald head.

Bigelow never won a championship at WWE, but he did win several championships at both ECW and WCW.

7/10

Jerry Lawler

Before joining WWE in 1992, Lawler had already wrestled in numerous territories and won many championships. Lawler has never won a championship at WWE, but he’s actually held more championships than any other professional wrestler in history.

At WWE, Lawler has mainly been known for working as a color commentator, most notably alongside Jim Ross (who is now at AEW). Lawler’s currently signed to WWE’s Monday Night Raw as a color commentator. Since 2007, he’s been inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame.

6/10

Vader

In addition to WWE, between the 1990s and 2000s, Vader had performed for various other promotions — New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).

Not only was Vader known for his monstrous wrestling persona, but he was also capable of performing aerial moves, such as the diving moonsault — all while weighing at around 400 pounds. Even after his passing, Vader’s still considered to be one of the greatest super-heavyweight pro wrestlers of all time.

5/10

Lex Luger

Besides being known for his incredible physique and bodybuilding, Lex Luger is best known for his work with both WCW and WWE. During his time at WCW, he’s made some impressive accomplishments by being a WCW World Heavyweight Champion twice and WCW’s second Triple Crown Champion too.

Luger may have never won a WWE championship, but he at least challenged for every title there. In 1994, he co-won the Royal Rumble with Bret Hart. Since 2011, Luger’s been working with WWE on their wellness policy.

4/10

Jim Duggan

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan is popularly known for his American patriot persona and is currently signed to WWE on a Legends contract. However, it baffles long-time WWE fans that he’s never won a title there.

At WWE, Duggan’s biggest achievement may as well have been winning the first ever Royal Rumble match in 1988. At WCW, he was a one time US Heavyweight Champion, including a one time (and final) World Television Champion. At 66 years of age, Jim Duggan still wrestles and does sporadic appearances.

3/10

Jake Roberts

Jake “The Snake” Roberts worked two stints at WWE, also wrestled for NWA and WCW, and made several appearances at both ECW and Impact Wrestling.

Roberts is known for a lot in wrestling — he created the DDT finishing move, often brought snakes into the ring, had intense promos, and had applied considerable use of psychology into his matches.

Roberts is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), working as manager for wrestler Lance Archer there. In 2014, Roberts was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame.

2/10

Dusty Rhodes

If there’s one wrestler who ever embodied charisma at best, it was Dusty Rhodes. Dusty may have not had a typical wrestler’s physique, but he sure knew how to wrestle.

The following promotions Rhodes worked for included WWE, NWA, and Jim Crockett (which later became WCW). Rhodes may have never won a title at WWE, but he at least won several titles at both NWA and WCW.

Both of Dusty’s sons, Dustin and Cody, became wrestlers, performed for WWE, and are now working at AEW.

1/10

Sting

There’s no other wrestler who will ever get as iconic as Sting. Throughout the bulk of his career, Sting mainly wrestled for WCW and Impact Wrestling. At WCW, he held a total of 15 championships and made more pay-per-view (PPV) appearances there than any other wrestler.

In 2014, Sting finally joined WWE and had his share of matches there. Two years later, Sting announced that he’d be retiring from professional wrestling, and hasn’t wrestled since. In total, Sting has held 25 championships throughout his career.