Every WWE World Heavyweight Champion Ranked From Worst To Best

Between 2002 and 2013, WWE boasted two major world titles. Every figurehead needs a good second-in-command, and while the WWE Championship remained the biggest title in wrestling, the World Heavyweight Championship was never far behind. Not so much Batman and Robin, but rather Batman and a marginally smaller Batman.

In 2001, as we all know, Vince McMahon bought WCW and absorbed some of their assets. One such asset was the WCW World Heavyweight Title, which was unified with the WWF Championship at Vengeance to create the Undisputed Title.

Chris Jericho beat The Rock and Austin in the same night, and stood atop the wrestling world, albeit briefly before he lost to Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 18. The Undisputed Championship then made its way to Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, and The Rock, before eventually falling into the hands of 'the next big thing',  Brock Lesnar… and then the brand split happened. SmackDown GM Stephanie McMahon convinced Lesnar to sign an exclusive deal with her brand, leaving Raw without a top champion.

This led to Eric Bischoff, now general manager of Raw, creating the World Heavyweight Championship - represented by the famous Big Gold Belt that had been worn by NWA and WCW world champions over the years. Instead of holding a tournament for the new title, however, Bischoff simply gave the title to Triple H - his excuse being that the Game had been Lesnar’s number-one contender before the split.

Triple H became the first of 25 WWE World Heavyweight Champions and this is every World Heavyweight Champion ranked from worst to best.

Disclaimer: The new WWE World Heavyweight Championship created in May 2023 is a separate title, according to WWE, and won’t be included in this list.

25. The Great Khali

If you asked a complete non-wrestling fan to place Khali on this list, they’d probably put him somewhere near the top. After all, why would a terrifying 7-foot behemoth be a worse champion than a short hairy environmentalist who shouts ‘yes’ a lot?

Khali certainly had the look, but one small factor prevented him from being a good wrestler. He couldn’t really wrestle.

When the title was vacated in mid-2007 by Edge due to injury, a 20-man battle royal was hastily scheduled for later the same night. The match featured powerhouse favourites such as Batista and Kane, as well as exciting dark horses like Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, and MVP. Instead, the Great Khali won, and embarked upon a two-month reign of terror.

While wrestling isn’t just about work rate, you don’t have to be a mid-2000s Ring of Honor fan to realise that this was a bad idea. Khali defended the title in a series of clunky, clumsy matches, often getting himself disqualified to keep the gold. He finally lost it to Batista in a triple threat match at Unforgiven, after taking a spinebuster.

24. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger is a former 5 Star Wrestling Champion and it’s easy to forget the fact that he also held WWE’s World Heavyweight Championship.

Unfortunately, even before Swagger held the Big Gold belt, his reign was foreshadowed by bad omens. He won the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 26, taking an ungodly amount of time to unhook the briefcase. Then, the night after WrestleMania, Swagger almost cashed in on WWE Champion John Cena. At the last second, he realised what the hell he was doing and backed off.

On SmackDown, Swagger enjoyed better luck, successfully cashing in on a weakened Chris Jericho. He then gave possibly the most boring reaction of any wrestler to win their first world title.

Swagger wasn’t actually bored. This was supposed to be the beginning of an ultra-serious heel character, but his title reign was abandoned after 79 days of underwhelming crowd reactions. He eventually dropped the title in a fatal 4-way at Fatal 4-Way to Rey Mysterio.

Multi-man title matches are often used to protect the champion in defeat, but Swagger actually took the pinfall here.

23. Kane

When Kane eventually won the World Heavyweight Title 12 years after his one and only WWE Championship reign, it was a very satisfying moment. His reign didn’t quite live up to the hopes and dreams of many, though.

Kane became the quickest person to cash in their Money in the Bank contract, doing so just 47 minutes after winning the briefcase. His victim? An exhausted Rey Mysterio, who had just defended the title against Jack Swagger.

Not content with being World Heavyweight Champion, Kane also decided to pull double duty as a detective. Undertaker had been beaten into a vegetative state, and the Big Red Machine was determined to find out who did it. After Kane defeated Rey again at SummerSlam, Taker returned to reveal that his attacker had been...Kane.

The Brothers of Destruction then had a feud that was more weird than anything else. Shockingly, Kane beat the Deadman at Night of Champions, prompting Undertaker to bring back Paul Bearer. Bearer then ended up turning on ‘Taker again at Hell in a Cell 2010 in a moment everyone saw coming except The Phenom himself.

Kane then moved into a feud with Edge, another strange one, which saw Edge kidnap Bearer and hold him hostage for weeks, despite being the babyface of the programme. Kane's reign would come to an end at TLC 2010, with Edge winning a Four-Way TLC Match that also featured Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio to win the gold.

Ultimately it was nice to see Kane finally get a meaningful title reign  - but sadly, it was also nice to see it end.

22. Dolph Ziggler

We all remember Dolph Ziggler’s cash-in the night after WrestleMania because it was a genuinely magical moment. The pop when his theme music hit; the intense entrance with Big E and AJ Lee; the emotional in-ring celebration - everything worked perfectly.

Unfortunately, this was the high point of Ziggler’s time with the belt. He was concussed at a SmackDown taping before he could even make a televised title defence, keeping him out of action for a month.

Dolph returned for a rematch against Alberto Del Rio, the man he cashed in on to win the gold. At the fittingly-named Payback pay-per-view, Del Rio certainly did gain his revenge, ruthlessly targeting Ziggler’s head to end his reign in strangely muted fashion, while executing a double turn in the process.

It’s often forgotten, but Ziggler actually had two World Heavyweight Championship reigns, the first coming before his feud with Del Rio. The theme of this reign was bureaucracy, which is as thrilling as it sounds. Vickie Guerrero stripped ex-boyfriend Edge of the title because he used the banned Spear, awarding it to Dolph. Then Teddy Long defied Vickie and booked a rematch that same night, which Edge won in 3 minutes.

21. Goldberg

If you pretend you have no idea who Goldberg is, his World Heavyweight Championship reign sounds completely run-of-the-mill.

He beat Triple H in a career vs. title match at Unforgiven 2003, defeated him again at Survivor Series, and lost the belt back to The Game at Armageddon.

Sounds like any flavour-of-the-month babyface, right? Except we’re talking about Goldberg - the guy with the undefeated streak and the entrance and the spear and the jackhammer, and the absolute domination of everybody he stepped in the ring with.

To put things in perspective, Goldberg came back when he was 50 and beat Brock Lesnar in seconds. So why couldn’t a 36 year old Goldberg do the same to Triple H!? Well, it may have had something to do with the fact that he was a WCW icon during the height of animosity between the two promotions. After all, it’s all about the game, and how you play it. More on that later.

Goldberg, so unhappy with his one year run in WWE, left the promotion following his infamous WrestleMania 20 match with Brock Lesnar in which the crowd knew both men were leaving.

20. The Big Show

When we first started making this list, it seemed as though Big Show would be nearer the bottom of our rankings. Although a gigantic figure in WWE history, in both a literal and metaphorical sense, he’s never fused his star-power with elite-level wrestling ability like Austin or Undertaker.

However, of Show’s two World Heavyweight title reigns, the latter certainly had its moments. The first only lasted 45 seconds when Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase at TLC 2011.

Big Show’s second reign began at Hell in a Cell 2012, where he beat Sheamus in the match of the night. Unfortunately, WWE did what they sometimes do when they realise two Superstars have good chemistry. They booked the same match again and again. Show retained against Sheamus at the next two pay-per-views, by which time the feud had lost its sparkle.

The title was then shuttled off to Del Rio on an episode of SmackDown, and the giant had a well-deserved rest.

19. Rey Mysterio

Rey is probably the hardest person to rank on this entire list. His first title reign is regarded as THE example of how not to book a world champion, but also began with one of the most emotional victories in WWE history.

Rey won the 2006 Royal Rumble from no. 2, before outfoxing Kurt Angle and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22 to win the World Heavyweight Championship. He did so in honour of Eddie Guerrero, a fitting tribute to a close friend of Rey’s and a truly beloved figure.

Then things started to go wrong. Horrified at a SHORT PERSON holding the heavyweight title, WWE didn’t exactly make Mysterio a strong champ. He lost to Mark Henry and Great Khali in the build to his first PPV title defence, and even put over ECW Champion RVD. He also went to a no-contest with Sabu at One Night Stand.

Mysterio’s controversial reign ended at the Great American Bash, where he was betrayed by Chavo Guerrero in defeat to Booker T.

Rey had a second title reign in 2010 where he was booked to look slightly less like a massive loser, and even his first reign had some positive moments - such as a big victory over JBL.

18. Sheamus

Sheamus’ World Heavyweight Championship reign is the third longest in title history, as the Irishman held the gold for 211 days.

It’s probably fair to describe this reign as uninspiring, although nothing particularly offensive happened. He feuded with Del Rio and Orton a lot, which admittedly did get a little tiresome - but there were also fresh match-ups against the likes of Chris Jericho.

He kept ahold of the belt through thick and thin, including a tricky fatal 4-way match at Over the Limit 2012 - before losing it to Big Show in that sleeper hit at Hell in a Cell. Not the most spectacular reign, but again, nothing particularly wrong.

His reign didn’t exactly begin in the best of circumstances, though, as he won the belt by beating ultimate internet darling Daniel Bryan in 18 SECONDS at WrestleMania 28. In hindsight, it’s hard to know what WWE were thinking at the time. But if that mistake had never been made, Bryan’s fan base might never have rallied with such intensity. Who knows?

17. Alberto Del Rio

In the context of  Alberto Del Rio’s two World Heavyweight title reigns, it’s hard to distinguish the good from the bad. After he cleanly defeated Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match, WWE seemed fixated on transforming Alberto into the ultimate Latino babyface.

In wrestling, some people are natural babyfaces, and some people are natural heels. Needless to say, it didn’t work too well.

Still, his matches were often good, especially once he turned heel again with that win at Payback 2013 over Dolph Ziegler to begin his second reign. He had interesting feuds with the likes of Christian and RVD, before ultimately losing to John Cena at Hell in a Cell 2013.

16. Mark Henry

Before we begin, we feel it’s important to stress that Mark Henry is brilliant, and the fact he finally won a world title after dedicating 15 years of his life to WWE is also brilliant, ignoring the ECW Title of course.

Henry’s path to the World Heavyweight Championship was simple, effective, and very enjoyable. The Attitude Era veteran built up a big head of steam with his ruthless ‘Hall of Pain’ gimmick, and trampled Randy Orton at Night of Champions 2011. He successfully defended it in a Hell in a Cell rematch, before moving on to feud with Big Show and collapsing the ring at Vengeance.

Unfortunately, things fizzled out towards the end of his reign. Henry began to feud with Big Show and Daniel Bryan at the same time, a storyline which sort of made him feel like a third wheel in his own title reign. It all came to an end against Big Show at TLC in a Chairs Match.

15. Christian

Some people may disagree with Christian’s placement on this list, because as much as everybody loves him, his world title reigns were something of a disappointment.

After YEARS of waiting for him to finally win the big one, and after years of watching Edge become one of the biggest stars of the 2000s, we at last saw Christian hold the World Heavyweight Championship. For a combined total of 33 days.

Still, we’ve decided to place Christian relatively high because the things he did as champion were superb. And also because from the fans to his opponents to Christian himself, everyone seemed genuinely delighted that he’d finally become world champion.

When Edge was sadly forced to retire due to injury, Christian won his vacant championship against Alberto Del Rio at Extreme Rules 2011. With maybe just a little help from Edge. He then immediately lost it to Randy Orton on SmackDown.

He won the title again as a heel, beating Randall at the now-legendary Money in the Bank event. He provoked the Viper to get himself DQ’d with special rules in place. An entertaining feud ensued, but Orton eventually got his revenge at SummerSlam after RKOing Christian out of mid-air onto a set of ring steps.

Still, he may have only held the title for a short time, but what an entertaining time it was.

14. John Cena

Despite being a babyface version of Marvel’s Juggernaut between 2005 and 2017, John Cena only held the World Heavyweight Championship three times. That’s genuinely quite surprising.

He first captured the title at Survivor Series 2008, a controversial booking decision, given that he beat Chris Jericho in the midst of a very hot run for Y2J. To compound everyone’s misery, he beat Jericho again at Armageddon, but eventually lost the title in the Elimination Chamber following a three-finisher combination. Edge, who lost the WWE Title earlier in the night, walked away with the gold after it was all said and done.

He won the championship back at WrestleMania 25. There he strolled into the middle of Edge and Big Show’s love-rivalry and walked out with the belt, only to drop it a month later at Backlash.

Finally, four years later, Cena snatched the title from Del Rio at Hell in a Cell - before committing the worst crime in the history of the World Heavyweight Championship. He lost to Randy Orton, causing the belt to be unified with the WWE Championship, and subsequently retired.

13. Kurt Angle

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this list, it’s that SmackDown loves a battle royal. Has your champion been forced to vacate the title due to injury? Chuck everyone in the ring and have them throw each other over the top rope!

Kurt Angle’s sole World Heavyweight Title reign came courtesy of this scenario, but at least his entrance in the battle royal was a surprise. In a legitimately exciting moment, he last eliminated Mark Henry to scoop the gold. While champion, he even defeated Undertaker, cleverly pinning him while trapped in a triangle lock at No Way Out 2006.

Ultimately, Angle’s reign only lasted a couple of months. He dropped the title to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania, a match which was really more about Rey defeating Randy Orton. Still, Angle stepped up to the plate when SmackDown needed a top champion, and was an effective (if brief) champion.

12. Jeff Hardy

Speaking of brief but effective champions, Jeff Hardy spent four weeks with the World Heavyweight Championship. Regardless, Jeff’s time with the World Heavyweight title birthed one of the best feuds in SmackDown history, as he clashed with his polar opposite: CM Punk.

Hardy beat Edge in an exciting ladder match at Extreme Rules 2009, only for Punk to cash in on him immediately. It was one of the more exciting - if brief - cash-ins, as Jeff almost scored a roll-up on Punk despite his state of exhaustion.

We’ll write a little more about the feud later on, but it all culminated in a wonderful main event at SummerSlam, where Jeff lost the title, and left for TNA a few months later.

11. Shawn Michaels

Speaking of brief but effective champions once again, Shawn Michaels’ 28-day reign may have been short, but it helped add a dose of much-needed prestige to the new championship.

HBK miraculously returned to wrestling in the summer of 2002 and defeated former best friend Triple H at SummerSlam in the Heartbreak Kid’s first match for four years. Triple H ended up the only wrestler walking out under his own power, though, as he demolished Michaels’ back with a sledgehammer shot, such was his fury over the loss.

Michaels gained revenge at Survivor Series in the first ever Elimination Chamber match. It all came down to the former best friends, and to the delight of everybody inside Madison Square Garden, Shawn was able to escape the Pedigree, nail a Sweet Chin Music, and become the second ever World Heavyweight Champion.

One month later, though, and Triple H was champion once again following his win in the Three Stages of Hell Match at Armageddon.

10. King Booker

Remember when Booker T won the King of the Ring tournament and took it a little bit too seriously? Booker’s stint as ‘KING BOOKAH’ led to a World Heavyweight Championship reign, and although it might not have produced his best work from an in-ring standpoint, it was certainly an entertaining time.

His majesty was fortunate to win the belt in the first place, beating Rey Mysterio thanks to a shocking swerve from Chavo Guerrero. He then retained in heelish fashion against Batista at SummerSlam 2006 by DQ.

As SmackDown’s major title-holder, Booker won a triple threat against the champions of Raw and ECW at Cyber Sunday. That sounds impressive, given that he beat John Cena and Big Show - but he only won thanks to a run in from Kevin Federline.

Booker then won a Fatal 4-Way against Batista, Bobby Lashley, and his own faction mate Finlay at No Mercy but without K-Fed around to watch his back full-time, King Booker eventually lost the title to Batista at Survivor Series.

It’s probably fair to say that he had an entertaining reign, and made the most of it despite some questionable booking.

9. Daniel Bryan

When Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight Championship, it felt like a truly transcendent moment. One of the biggest internet darlings in the history of independent wrestling; signing with WWE, overcoming various obstacles, and winning a major championship. It’s the sort of fantasy booking that would get ridiculed on Reddit for being too farfetched.

But that’s exactly what happened at TLC 2011, and yes Bryan may have cashed-in on an unconscious Big Show, but it was still a seismic booking decision. It’s not just that Bryan was a massively popular indie star. He was also a massively indie indie star. The short stature; the technical style; the burgundy ring gear. Everything about him screamed ‘wrestling’ - not ‘sports entertainment’.

And yet, in the midst of his World Heavyweight title reign, Bryan delivered an excellent gradual heel turn. He celebrated excessively, even when winning via DQ. He was rude to girlfriend AJ Lee. He obnoxiously chanted ‘yes!’ over and over again. (That last one would become important later on.)

Ultimately, the end of Bryan’s reign is more memorable than the rest of it. Sheamus beat him in 18 seconds at WrestleMania, the catalyst to his incredible rise in popularity over the next few years

8. Chris Benoit

There are many bittersweet moments in wrestling, but the ending of WrestleMania XX might be the most difficult of all. Having won the World Heayvweight Title in the main event, Chris Benoit celebrated with WWE Champion and close friend Eddie Guerrero. Two of the most talented wrestlers of their generation, and two stars outside the classic WWE mould reaching the top of the industry together.

Of course, the tragic events of the next few years would change this moment forever, especially the circumstances surrounding Benoit’s death in 2007. It’s harder to watch these days, but Benoit vs. Michaels vs. Triple H is one of the best WrestleMania main events to date.

It’s often forgotten, but the trio put on an excellent rematch at Backlash, with HBK submitting this time instead of The Game. It really seemed as though WWE were set to push Benoit hard, only for things to take a strange turn. He engaged in simultaneous feuds with La Resistance and Kane, before beating Triple H again with the help of Eugene.

Finally, Benoit lost to a very young Randy Orton, passing the torch before he’d really carried it for very long at SummerSlam 2004.

7. CM Punk

Daniel Bryan held the title for a few months, and his reign was full of good character work.

Chris Benoit held the title for a few months, and his reign was full of good wrestling.

CM Punk held the title for a few months, and his reign was full of good character work AND good wrestling. That’s why we’ve put him above them on this list.

His first two reigns came via-cash in, but the third is where things really got interesting. Having finally snapped and dropped his friendly babyface act, Punk won the gold back from Jeff Hardy in an excellent SummerSlam main event.

What followed was Punk’s real heel turn, driving Jeff out of the company, coming out dressed as him to taunt the fans, and insulting the fans for their sinful ways. Sadly, just as it was picking up steam, Punk’s final reign came to an end at the hands of the Undertaker. The match itself was weirdly average, especially as it was inside Hell in a Cell - but luckily the backstage rumours are more interesting.

Reports emerged years later suggesting that Punk only lost the title due to a disagreement with the Deadman. Rumour has it that Taker told the champ to start dressing better, only for Punk to say ‘what about John Cena?’ If that story is to be believed, it brought a sadly straightforward end to a very promising title run.

6. Chris Jericho

Of all the wrestlers on this list who deserved to see more of the World Heavyweight Championship, Chris Jericho could well be the most deserving of them all.

Y2J occupied an interesting position during his time in the title picture. He was a still a hugely popular star of the Attitude Era, but deliberately did everything he could to generate heat. He stripped away his flashy outfits and came to the ring in suits. He even changed his speech pattern, making his promos more monotonous and droning.

It was so fascinating, we just wish Jericho could have held the belt for longer than 109 days. His 3 reigns saw some brilliant bouts and storylines, most notable the excellent ladder match against HBK at No Mercy 2008. He also played a key role in Michaels’ legendary feud with the Undertaker, benefitting from Shawn’s interference to take the gold from the Deadman at Elimination Chamber. [2010]

We’d argue that this period was the high point of Jericho’s WWE career, but it’s a difficult argument to make because he’s had multiple career highs.

5. Randy Orton

Once upon a time, back in 2004, Randy Orton was a fresh-faced youngster. So young, in fact, that after beating Chris Benoit at SummerSlam, he became the youngest world champion in WWE history at 24.

Orton’s victory was impressive, but his reign wasn’t the best. He was kicked out of Evolution by a jealous Triple H, and his babyface run didn’t take off as WWE may have hoped.

Randal didn’t win the title again until May 2011. By this stage he was a very different viper, having gone through his Legend Killer phase, and his shaven-headed Voldemort phase. Now he was a babyface again having ditched Legacy, but angered fans by taking the title from Christian on SmackDown.

Orton accumulated 4 wins before the belt was retired while in his possession, having beaten John Cena to unify WWE’s top championships. He must be regarded as a significant figure in the title’s history. The youngest, the last, and maybe the most selfless champion - getting the most out of underappreciated figures like Christian and Mark Henry during his time with the belt.

4. The Undertaker

Within The Undertaker’s unbeaten run at WrestleMania, there’s a smaller streak of unbelievably good matches. It stretches from Batista at WrestleMania 23 to Punk at 29, and that run of form was kickstarted by the Deadman’s first World Heavyweight title win.

After taming the Animal, it would take something special to dislodge Undertaker from his perch as champion. Or something cheap and sneaky, as Edge cashed in a month later. Taker would get revenge the following year, defeating Edge in another excellent WrestleMania clash, but was stripped of the title by Vickie Guerrero shortly afterwards.

It seems as though Taker would always win the belt in thrilling fashion, only to lose it in a disappointing manner. That was reversed for his final reign, as he beat CM Punk in that boring Hell in a Cell match, only to lose it inside Elimination Chamber in 2010 after Shawn Michaels demanded one more match with The Phenom at WrestleMania 26.

3. Batista

In a very straightforward fashion, Batista may be the Superstar people most associate with the World Heavyweight Championship.

Batista would simply kick ass and take names, usually with minimal fuss. It was usually exciting to watch - never more so than his first title win at WrestleMania 21. There, Batista defeated Triple H in an intense main event, kickstarting a 282 day reign.

He also became double-champion for a while, holding tag gold alongside ‘Best Friend’ Rey Mysterio. Sadly, his reign would be cut short by a legitimate tricep injury, forcing him to vacate the gold.

Batista never enjoyed a reign as good again, partly because strange things kept getting in the way. Strange things like Punjabi Prison matches. Or Mr. Kennedy. He still provided some great matches, though, especially a classic showdown with the Undertaker at WrestleMania 23.

Still, Batista did save us from Great Khali’s title reign.

2. Triple H

It’ll come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Triple H spent the longest time with the World Heavyweight Championship. For 616 days, The Game plodded across the Raw landscape, striking down babyface after babyface with his big sledgehammer.

In the memories of many fans, Triple H seemed to hold the belt forever. And just when it looked as though somebody was about to beat him, one of Evolution would pop up and rob them of victory.

Still, there’s a point to all of this. Without heels like Triple H, babyface victories would mean far less. Yes it’s nice to see your favourite win a world title, but that feeling is made all the more sweeter when they beat a real villain in the process. It’s the very fabric of wrestling.

Triple H’s losses to Michaels, Benoit, and Batista made for some of the most exciting moments in the belt’s history. Yes, sometimes he won it back a little too quickly - as in the case of Goldberg. And yes, sometimes he beat people he shouldn’t have - such as Booker T, but on the whole, The Game’s title reigns served a very important purpose.

Without them, the World Heavyweight Championship would never have reached the level it did, and never become an accepted alternative to the WWE title.

1. Edge

The numbers tell us that Edge has the most World Heavyweight title reigns out of anyone. He held the title seven times between 2007 and his initial retirement in 2011. It’s certainly impressive, but it’s not the reason he’s at the top of our list.

Edge was such an exciting champion because he seemed to exist outside of the rules of wrestling. His ‘Ultimate Opportunist’ persona made him the focal point of various innovative storylines. In his time as champion or part of the title picture, Edge did all of the following:

He switched brands unannounced to cash in a Money in the Bank contract in May 2007 on The Undertaker.

He lost the WWE title in one Elimination Chamber match, forced his way into another, and won the World Heavyweight Title. In the same night.

He beat Jeff Hardy after help from his mortal enemy, who also happened to be his opponent’s brother in Matt Hardy.

He won and lost the title on the same episode of SmackDown, at the expense of Dolph Ziggler.

And last but not least, he once won the title from John Cena after Big Show interfered and chokeslammed Big Match John through a spotlight.

As you can probably tell by this point, when Edge was World Heavyweight Champion, it was best to expect the unexpected.

It also helped that the Rated R Superstar was a great wrestler, and an even better heel, bringing a legitimate sense of prestige to the gold through his infuriating charisma. In terms of pure character similarity, he may be the closest thing we’ve had to Attitude Era Shawn Michaels.

It was therefore nice to see Edge given a babyface run with the gold towards the end of his career. He’d given us so much in being SmackDown’s ultimate bad guy, it was nice to send him on his way with cheers rather than boos.