WWE is all about entertainment and drama, and the Superstars aim to provide it in plenty, putting their careers on the line every time they take to the ring.
For their efforts, they are not only rewarded with fame and fortune but are also given some good Championship reigns to look back upon when their time is up.
Legends such as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, and many others are best remembered for coming to the ring with a certain WWE title wrapped around their waists.
In the year that went by, many Superstars in WWE, whom many deem as deserving to hold top Championships, were unable to get their hands on even one.
In this article, we will look at the six top deserving WWE Superstars who were unable to win a top title in the company this year.
#6 Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn spent a large part of 2018 away from the action owing to injury. Once fit, he was back training at the company's Performance Centre and made his return on-screen on an episode of RAW in early April.
He challenged Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship but lost the match to The Demon King.
After the match, Zayn cut a promo which signaled that he would be competing as a heel and showed his displeasure at the crowd. He continued to deliver promos against the WWE Universe, and got into a short feud with Braun Strowman, taking his Money in the Ladder Match spot in the process.
Zayn was attacked backstage at the PPV, and his spot in the match was taken by Brock Lesnar, who went on to win the briefcase with the contract.
This led him to rejoin Kevin Owens and the two formed a tag team for some time but weren’t too successful. He then entered the King of the Ring tournament, but was unsuccessful and lost in the first match against Cedric Alexander.
Since then, we’ve seen The Underdog from the Underground become Shinsuke Nakamura’s mouthpiece and he’s extended his services to many other Superstars, such as Mojo Rawley and Cesaro.
It has now almost been five years since Zayn held a title in the company, and he’s spent 2019 losing 15 matches with only one win to his name.
#5 Cesaro
Cesaro walked into 2019 as the SmackDown Tag Team Champion along with Sheamus (the duo was collectively called The Bar).
The two got into a rivalry with The Miz and Shane McMahon which saw them lose their titles to them at Royal Rumble. After the loss, The Bar started to lose to numerous tag teams, including New Day, DIY, The Hardy Boyz, and Aleister Black and Ricochet.
Soon after WrestleMania, Sheamus was reported to have suffered a concussion that took him out of competition for some time. This led to Cesaro returning to competition as a singles competitor after a long time in May on an episode of RAW.
He started off with a victory over Ricochet but soon started to see some mixed bookings, which led to a rivalry between him and Aleister Black. The Swiss Superman lost both the matches in the rivalry and started performing as nothing more than an enhancement talent.
He was also unsuccessful in the King of the Ring tournament and was moved to the SmackDown roster in the 2019 WWE Draft.
After suffering a loss to Mansoor at Crown Jewel, Cesaro has partnered himself with Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Even though the two men have had mixed bookings too, and lost after challenging New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, Cesaro has remained relevant on SmackDown but not won any Championships during the year.
#4 Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre’s year began as a crowd-favorite to defeat ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at some point in the year.
In January, he competed in a Fatal 4-way match to determine the #1 contender for the Championship at Royal Rumble. He fought against Finn Balor, John Cena, and Baron Corbin, but lost the match.
Throughout the first quarter, he fought to stay relevant on the upper card on RAW, but could not get as many good bookings as he’d have liked. After forming an alliance with Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley, he went after The Shield but their efforts did not bear fruit.
He lost a match to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35, after which he struggled to stay afloat at the top of the roster.
At a time when fans wanted to watch the villainous heel succeed and become a top Champion in the company, his bookings kept him down while reports kept emerging that he was in line for a big push.
He began working as a henchman for Shane McMahon in his feud with Roman Reigns, but the two men lost at Extreme Rules to Reigns and The Undertaker.
To round off the year, McIntyre competed with Team Flair at Crown Jewel but lost the match, and as a member of Team RAW at Survivor Series.
While fans have been desperate to watch him rise to the top and hold a Championship, the Superstar went the entire year without even getting any top Championship matches.
#3 Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin has had quite an eventful 2019, where he started the year as the Constable of RAW but was then relieved of his duties. He went to eliminate Braun Strowman at the Royal Rumble and continue his rivalry with the big man.
Corbin allied with Bobby Lashley and Drew Mcintyre and continued to attack Strowman, injuring him in the process.
After their feud ended, he immediately got into a rivalry with Kurt Angle. Angle then chose Corbin as his final opponent for WrestleMania 35 for his final match. The latter defeated the former in his final match, much to the crowds’ surprise, and became an even bigger heel in the process.
Following WrestleMania, Corbin got into a rivalry with then Universal Champion Seth Rollins and battled him for the title on several occasions. Even though Corbin came close to winning the title several times, he was unable to pull off the victory.
The third quarter of 2019 proved to be fruitful for Corbin, as he got some excellent bookings and entered the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament. He defeated The Miz, Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, and Samoa Joe to reach the finals of the tournament. In the final, he defeated Chad Gable to be crowned the King of the Ring and became 'King Corbin' in the process.
Since his victory, he has been engaged in some high-profile feuds, with the most recent one being against Roman Reigns.
However, the former United States Champion went without any Championship once again this year.
#2 Randy Orton
Randy Orton began his journey in 2019 at the Royal Rumble where he was the second-last entrant into the match. He was poised to win the grand match after eliminating Rey Mysterio but was eliminated by Andrade. Fans would remember his moment with Nia Jax in the match.
He then competed at Elimination Chamber but was eliminated by Kofi Kingston (who was rising up the ranks at the time). The Viper then went on to start a rivalry with AJ Styles and the two had some high spots, but he lost to Styles at WrestleMania 35.
This loss did not deter Orton and he then went after Kingston and his WWE Championship. While he tried to defeat the then reigning champion a few times for the belt and formed an alliance with The Revival to take down the other two members of the New Day, he was unsuccessful at winning the gold.
Orton was named the captain of Team Flair for Crown Jewel, but his team lost the match after a good fight. He was moved to RAW and slowly started to turn face on the Red brand.
To wrap up the year, Orton has once again gotten into a feud with a heelish Styles and The O.C. as a babyface himself.
Even though Orton has been active for the most part of the year, he hasn’t won a single Championship in 2019.
#1 Roman Reigns
At SummerSlam 2018, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to end his record-setting Universal Championship reign and winning the title for himself.
He held the title for just over two months but had to relinquish it on October 22 due to an illness. This was a major cause for concern for the WWE Universe who all stood together for the Champ for the first time in his career, and supported him in his battle against leukemia.
Reigns then made a recovery and returned to RAW on February 25, 2019. While he’d never lost the Universal Championship and had only relinquished it, he never got a shot at the title again.
He got into several feuds upon his return to RAW and continued to battle with men like Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, and Drew McIntyre. At WrestleMania 35, Reigns successfully defeated McIntyre to score a massive victory upon his return.
However, during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Reigns was drafted to the SmackDown brand where he Superman Punched Vince McMahon on his first appearance.
This led to an extended feud between Shane McMahon and him which lasted for several weeks and Elias and McIntyre also got involved in the mix.
Right after that, The Big Dog got in a rivalry with Daniel Bryan and Eric Rowan, and after Bryan joined his side, the two babyfaces took down Rowan and Luke Harper.
This kept Reigns out of any Championship feuds till the fourth quarter of the year, where he competed in only a single Intercontinental Championship match against Shinsuke Nakamura in October where the match ended in a disqualification.
The last part of 2019 has seen Reigns in an extended rivalry with Baron Corbin which has ensured that The Big Dog has gotten only a single Championship match during the year and won no titles in the process.