5 WWE Superstars who were 'awarded' Championships without winning a match

Modified May 21, 2020 07:59 GMT

Orton and The Rock were both awarded titles

#4 Vickie Guerrero hands the World title to Dolph Ziggler

In early 2011, Dolph Ziggler became the #1 contender to Edge's World title by defeating Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, and The Big Show in a Fatal Four-Way match. Ziggler challenged Edge at the WWE Royal Rumble PPV, but failed to defeat him for the title. Ziggler was involved in a romantic angle with Vickie Guerrero at the time, who also held the position of SmackDown General Manager.

She banned Edge's finishing move, the Spear, and made it clear that Ziggler would become the World Champion if Edge used the move during their rematch. Edge again defeated Ziggler on the February 11 edition of WWE SmackDown, but used the Spear while doing so.

Three nights later, Vickie awarded the World Heavyweight title to Dolph Ziggler, and fired Edge. During the celebration, Theodore Long made his return to WWE TV, and set another World title match between Ziggler and Edge. The latter won this match as well, and bagged the World title in the process.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Becky Lynch has been challenged HERE.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram