5 WWE Superstars who were supposed to win the World title but did not

Winning the World title is the ultimate aim for every wrestler in WWE, with it being the most prestigious prize in the wrestling industry. Be it the WWE, Universal or World Heavyweight Championship, any Superstar who wins a World title is instantly revered as the top guy on their roster.

However, not everybody gets to be the World Champion. There have been times where a Superstar is positioned to attain the top title of their brand, only for WWE to change their plans for one reason or another.

These scenarios were all under different circumstances, with each Superstar's career trajectories varying after their planned victories were scrapped. Some of them had won the WWE Championship before or managed to grab hold of the title after they were intended to, but others were not so lucky.

It is always unfortunate when a WWE Superstar's planned world title victory is scrapped, whatever the reason may be. Here are five of them who came close to winning the world title, before WWE changed their plans.

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#5 Ted DiBiase (WWE WrestleMania 4)

He nearly ended WrestleMania 4 on top.

The 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase was a wonderful heel in the late '80s, with his gimmick able to garner immense heat among the WWE fans. This led him towards the main event picture, alongside Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant.

DiBiase even bought his way to the WWE Championship in 1988, before his and Andre's title wins were annulled, and the belt was declared vacant. The new WWE Champion would be crowned over the course of a tournament at WrestleMania 4.

The winner of the said tournament was supposed to be Ted DiBiase, before another issue within the company made WWE change their plans. With the Honky Tonk Man refusing to drop the Intercontinental Championship to Randy Savage, the 'Macho Man' was compensated with the WWE Championship.

Savage defeated the ultra-rich villain in the tournament final to become the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 4. In the aftermath of this disappointment, WWE decided to give Ted Dibiase his own title, and thus, the Million Dollar Championship was created.

#4 Roman Reigns (WWE WrestleManias 31, 34 and 36)

The Big Dog has had three WrestleMania world title victories scrapped.

While he did eventually win the world title months later, Roman Reigns has had multiple major WrestleMania moments taken away from him at the last minute. WWE has had this desire to solidify The Big Dog as the top guy by putting the WWE or Universal Championship on him at The Show of Shows.

But the reactions of the fans towards him forced the company's hand a couple of times. Not wanting Reigns to defeat Brock Lesnar amidst a chorus of boos, Vince McMahon changed the finish to both WrestleMania main events involving the pair.

Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 31, after finding out merely two hours before the main event. Meanwhile, Reigns stunningly lost to Lesnar three years later as the Chairman decided to wait until SummerSlam to pull the trigger.

Roman Reigns eventually won the title at later dates, but more disappointment was to follow for the Big Dog. The planned Universal Title victory over Goldberg was scrapped once he decided to pull out of the WrestleMania 36 tapings for safety reasons. Reigns will likely win the title upon his return to WWE, and rightly so.

#3 Mr. Kennedy (WWE SmackDown 8/5/2007)

Extremely unfortunate circumstances.

Following an extremely promising start to his WWE career, it seemed like Mr. Kennedy was destined to become a main event megastar in the company. He was put in prime spots on SmackDown, winning the United States Championship and feuding with The Undertaker.

At WrestleMania 23, Kennedy won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and was virtually guaranteed to become a world champion. That time nearly came a month later, as Undertaker got injured. The plan was for him to cash in his contract on The Deadman and win the World Heavyweight Championship.

However, Kennedy suffered an injury of his own, which was deemed to be severe, and Edge took his place as SmackDown's top champion. It turned out that the injury was misdiagnosed, and the up-and-comer returned around three weeks later.

This was a terrible stroke of luck for Mr. Kennedy, who was set to receive another shot at success as Vince McMahon's illegitimate son before a suspension threw those plans in the water. Ken Anderson definitely looked like a WWE World Champion, as he had the tools to go all the way, but it just did not happen for him.

#2 Chris Jericho (WWE WrestleMania 33)

This segment should have set up the main event of 'Mania.

Chris Jericho has won several world titles in WWE, including the time he defeated The Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in one night. But he did not win any during his last seven years with the company. The closest Jericho came was during the early days of the second brand split, on Monday Night RAW.

He formed a partnership with Kevin Owens on RAW, one filled with genius heel tactics, hilarious comic timing, and of course, the 'List of Jericho'. The pair were the most entertaining characters on Monday nights for a long time. It did help that KO was the Universal Champion, while Jericho was getting more and more over with the fans.

WWE had plans to have this partnership explode in the main event of WrestleMania 33, with Jericho defeating Owens to win the Universal Championship. Unfortunately for JeriKO, there was a more attractive proposal for the Universal Title at 'Mania.

Brock Lesnar suggested an extension of his story with Goldberg, which would see him lose at Survivor Series before defeating the WCW legend for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Vince McMahon liked the idea and decided to have Jericho and Owens fight for the United States Title instead.

It was a massive disappointment, considering how hot the angle was following the 'Festival of Friendship'. A segment like that deserved to set up the WrestleMania main event, not second on the card. This drop in position may have contributed to Chris Jericho's decision to leave WWE.

#1 Muhammad Hassan (WWE SummerSlam 2005)

WWE came extremely close to making a huge booking decision that may have changed the course of history, but some unfortunate happenings forced their hand to alter their plans. Muhammad Hassan was earmarked for significant success in WWE, rising to prominence as one of the most hated heels on the roster.

The real-life Marc Copani adopted an Arab-American gimmick, speaking about prejudice towards Arabs. He quickly became a top villain and entered a feud with The Undertaker in mid-2005, where the plan was for him to win en-route to becoming the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history by defeating Batista at SummerSlam.

Copani confirmed that he had heard of plans for a world title win during a Q&A session as part of Sportskeeda's UnSKripted series.

However, WWE booked a segment on SmackDown, where Undertaker got attacked by five masked men. It aired on the day of the London bombings, and the company was pressurized to remove the Muhammad Hassan character from TV.

As a result, he was written off after taking a Last Ride through the stage from The Undertaker. Copani was sent back to developmental, before subsequently being released from WWE. He retired from wrestling and is now enjoying success as a school principal.