This list will be based off stars who have yet to capture the WWE Championship, and is based off my opinion not facts
10: Theory
Theory was hand-picked from Vince McMahon as the "future" of the WWE and instantly strapped the rocket to him. Theory was signed by the WWE in 2019 as a part of the NXT roster. Theory made his in-ring debut, accepting an open challenge against Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship, but failed to win the title. Theory would then immediately come up to the main roster for a short sting being a disciple of Seth Rollins but shortly after was sent back down to NXT. Theory would join Johnny Gargano and Candice Leraes's group The Way and be presented as more of a comedic heel who could go with just about anyone in the ring (if he wanted to).
As part of the 2021 Draft, Theory was drafted to the Raw brand. Theory instantly began a storyline with Jeff Hardy and ended up beating him two weeks in a row, Theory would then go on to be added to the Survivor Series team for Raw due to an injury to Rey Mysterio. In the Survivor Series match Theory eliminated Sheamus before being eliminated by Jeff Hardy. Theory attempted to bribe McMahon into having himself accompany him to his interview with Pat McAfee, however, this idea was shot down by McMahon. That same week on an episode of Smackdown, Theory confronted McAfee and announced he would be his opponent at WrestleMania 38. On the second night of WrestleMania Theory lost to McAfee, but helped McMahon defeat McAfee in the match that happened right after. This was the true beginning of his big push on the main roster.
Theory would eventually earn an opportunity for his first singles title as his sights were set on Finn Balor and the US Championship. Theory would go on to defeat Balor for the championship making him the 2nd youngest US Champ in history behind David Flair at 20 years old. At Money in the Bank, Theory lost the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley, ending his reign at 75 days. Later that night, he was added to and won the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match, this win made him the youngest superstar to win the Money in the Bank contract in WWE history, as well as being the first Money in the Bank winner to lose a championship and win the contract on the same night. As of now, Theory is still Money In The Bank and it's safe to say he could easily become WWE Champion sooner rather than later which would make him the youngest champion of all time. Love him or hate him, Theory knows how to get a reaction with his promos and knows how to shut you up with just how damn good he is in the ring, I think the WWE Championship is indeed in Theorys future.
9:Ciampa
Ciampa is regarded by many as one of if not the best NXT champion to date, and it's hard to argue with that. Ciampa had a twisted, sickening demeanor to him that made him desperate and would do anything it would take to hold on to "Goldie" as he would call the NXT Championship. Ciampa put on superb matches and gave amazing segments to add prestige to the NXT title and that is a huge reason why I feel he can be a future WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Ciampa was officially called up to Raw while also participating in a backstage segment with Kevin Owens and Ezekiel. The next week on Raw, now under the shortened ring name "Ciampa", he attacked Mustafa Ali after his match against The Miz, turning heel for the first time since 2019. Ciampa aligned himself with The Miz after helping him attack AJ Styles after their match. A few weeks later, Ciampa defeated Dolph Ziggler and Chad Gable in a triple threat match while also defeating Styles later that night to earn an opportunity to face Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship. Ciampa faced Lashley for the title the following week in a match dedicated to Harley Race, but lost.
While Ciampas main roster run has been short, it's been executed good so far. Pairing him with Miz at first confused me but I see it was the right call, this will be a perfect set up for a feud between the two. Ciampa cuts fantastic promos that pull you in and make you care about what he has to say, nowadays in wrestling that's a skill that is hard to come by. Before you know it Ciampa will be challenging the best of the best for the biggest prize in all of sports entertainment. Well Professional Wrestling now that HHH is in charge.
8: Happy Corbin
Love him or hate him, Baron Corbin has been a phenomenal heel and a very reliable talent since the day he was called up. Corbin made his main roster debut at WrestleMania 32, winning the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by last eliminating Kane. Winning a big match like that in his debut meant he was primed for big things, Corbin would go on to feud with Dolph Ziggler but ultimately lose on the Payback kickoff show. At the 2016 WWE draft, Corbin was drafted to Smackdown where he would start off going after the Intercontinental Championship but was unsuccessful on a few occasions. Corbins main roster run was looking rough and it was obvious he needed something to prove he could hang with the big boys.
At Money In The Bank in 2017 Corbin won the match to become Mr. Money In The Bank, this was huge for Corbin finally giving him something to prove himself on the main roster. On an episode of Smackdown that same year, Corbin interrupted a match between John Cena and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. He was pinned by Mahal after being sidetracked by Cena, becoming the third wrestler to fail to win the title in a cash-in. At Summer Slam, Corbin lost to Cena. Despite losing, it was obvious that backstage officials saw something in Corbin as not anyone gets put in a program with Cena, especially at one of their biggest PPVs.
Corbin would go on to win his first title at Hell In A Cell (2017) after defeating AJ Styles, and Tye Dillinger. Corbin lost his title to Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match also involving Bobby Roode, ending his reign at 70 days. In 2018, Corbin became commissioner Stephanie McMahon's representative as the Constable of Raw, this was my least favorite version of Corbin but thankfully it didn't last long before he was ultimately fired from the position. Corbin would go on to win King Of The Ring and start going by the name King Corbin, Corbin lost the crown a few months later after putting it on the line against Shinsuke Nakamura. Corbin would go into a depressive state which saw comedic segments of Corbin begging people for money and consistently losing matches. This gimmick was short-lived before Baron would hit it big in Las Vegas and change his name into his current alias, Happy Corbin. Corbin has consistently been a top heel for years now and I would love to see him gunning for the WWE Championship someday and even win it.
7:Pat McAfee
No, I'm not trolling. I genuinely believe Pat could be World Champion and would do a hell of a job with the title. McAfee was signed to NXT as an analyst for Takeovers in 2018. McAfee stood out to fans right away with his charming charisma and ability to control a crowd just with the microphone. McAfee made a guest appearance on an episode of Smackdown, as part of an on-air staff filling in for Cole and Graves (who were not able to make it back from Crown Jewel on time), where McAfee fully supported NXT's invasion of the show, and ultimately stormed the ring alongside the rest of the NXT roster at the end of the broadcast as they declared war on both Raw and SmackDown. Pat received a lot of praise from WWE fans everywhere as he added something to the commentary that we haven't seen in some time and that was authenticity, was only a matter of time before we got to see the punter of the decade enter the squared circle.
On July 23, 2020, Adam Cole was a special guest on McAfee's radio show. He appeared after the show ended on the radio, with the interview being a YouTube exclusive. The interview took a turn when McAfee laughed at Cole when he declared himself the "king of NXT". Cole also got frustrated with McAfee constantly interrupting him, and insinuating that his 403-day title reign would not have happened without the Undisputed Era, who McAfee considered more talented than him. When McAfee mocked his height, Cole cursed him out, broke his recording equipment, pushed his producer and friend, Ty Schmit, and stormed out. This was a great segment that crossed the lines between reality and scripted, fans all around were confused if it was real or not. McAfee would go on to fight against Adam Cole at NXT Takeover and looked impressive in a losing effort. This was not Pats last match in NXT as he competed in WarGames later that year against The Undisputed Era.
In 2021, WWE announced that McAfee had been moved to Smackdown, serving as color commentator alongside Michael Cole. McAfee was a great addition to the brand and revived Michael Cole to make them easily the best commentary duo in all of wrestling. McAfee even got to interview Vince McMahon on his show which was a rare occurrence considering Vince doesn't do interviews. McMahon offered Pat a match at WrestleMania which would be Pats official first main roster match. Pat McAfee went on to face Theory at WrestleMania and picked up the win over the young star. After the match, Pat was attacked by Theory and defeated by Vince McMahon in a surprise match. Pat also fought and beat Happy Corbin at this years SummerSlam. Pat McAfee has been a great signing for WWE, he has better mic skills than 90% of any roster and moves great in the ring. Pat knows how to connect with an audience which is why I could definitely see him becoming World Champ someday.
6:Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn is the gift that keeps on giving. Signed by WWE to NXT in 2013, Zayn quickly became the heart and soul of NXT. He was the underdog who scratched and clawed his way to the top to become NXT Champion. Unfortunately, his reign was ended by former best friend Kevin Owens. Zayn would continue to shine throughout NXT, especially against Shinsuke Nakamura in Nakamuras debut match. Zayn would be called up to the main roster in 2015 in a huge way.
Zayn made his main roster debut in his home country of Canada accepting John Cenas US Open challenge after Bret Hart introduced him as the opponent. Zayn would, unfortunately, suffer a shoulder injury during his entrance, but continued the match in a losing effort, but I mean making your debut against Cena? You're destined for huge things. Zayn would return from injury and go on to have an incredible string of matches against Kevin Owens, their best bout in 2015 at the Battleground PPV. Zayn would fall into a hole where fans weren't as behind him as before which would lead to Zayn turning heel for the first time and joining forces with Kevin Owens. In 2018 Zayn reinjured his shoulder and was out of action for 10 months.
Zayn would eventually come back, this time as a conspiracy theorist. Zayn would go week in and week out thinking that WWE officials were trying to screw him out of opportunities, the storyline went nowhere unfortunately just making Sami look crazy. Zayn would go on to win his first title on the main roster the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Braun Stroman. Zayns biggest match in WWE would come at the 2022 WrestleMania as he faced off against Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, although he lost the match Zayns performance gained praise and since then Zayn is a part of The Bloodline storyline with Roman Reigns which means Zayn could be put in the World Championship spot sooner rather than later.
5: Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura was signed by WWE in 2016, Shinsuke was one of the biggest signings in WWE. Coming straight from the top of NJPW Shinsuke made his NXT debut against Sami Zayn at NXT Takeover Dallas. This match was superb between both individuals establishing Nakamura as a top threat by defeating the former NXT champ. Nakamura would go on to win the NXT championship by defeating Samoa Joe and would lose it to Joe in his next defense. Nakamura was called up to Smackdown on the episode after WrestleMania 33 interrupting The Miz.
Nakamura was instantly a huge deal as he began feuding with Dolph Ziggler and picked up several wins over the veteran. Nakamura was primed for big things as he set his sights on the WWE title right away. Nakamura would go on to win the 2018 Royal Rumble match after eliminating Roman Reigns to choose which world champion he wants to face at WrestleMania. Nakamura would go on to choose AJ Styles, an opponent who he had one of his best matches within NJPW, the crowd was behind Nakamura to dethrone AJ at WrestleMania. Shinsuke was unsuccessful in his attempt against Styles, After the match, Nakamura turned heel by attacking Styles with a low blow followed by a Kinshasa.
Shinsuke would go on to fight in multiple WWE Championship matches afterward but remained unsuccessful. Nakamura would finally taste main roster gold as he went on to defeat Jeff Hardy for the United States Championship at Extreme Rules (2018). Nakamura would also go on to become Intercontinental Champion after defeating Balor at Extreme Rules the following year. Nakamura has since turned face and revived his career on Smackdown, putting on good matches every week and getting loud reactions from the fans. Nakamura should have been WWE Champion years ago at this point but with HHH now in charge, it's safe to say Nakamuras chance is better now than ever.
4:GUNTHER
The Ring General formerly known as WALTER was signed to the NXT UK brand in 2019. WALTER immediately captured the UK Championship and would go on to hold the belt for an astonishing 870 days before losing to Ilja Dragunov. WALTER alongside his stable IMPERIUM dominated all of NXT and NXT UK for the entirety of his reign. WALTER wasn't around for much longer in NXT UK before finally being called up this year. WALTER was called up to Smackdown under the new name GUNTHER alongside former Imperium member Ludwig Kaiser.
GUNTHER immediately made an impact on the main roster as he would defeat Ricochet to become the new Intercontinental Champion less than a month after making his debut. With his vicious chops and violent powerbomb GUNTHER has destroyed everyone in his path. Although GUNTHER hasn't been on the main roster long it's hard not to see him as a potential World Champion, I mean he held the UK Title for 870 days and was a dominant champion who could easily chop right through your chest if he wanted to. I would love to see GUNTHER become World Champ sooner rather than later, and many fans agree with me.
3:Damian Priest
Damian Priest was signed to WWE in 2018 for the NXT brand, Priest was formerly known in ROH as Punishment Martinez. Priest would have a good run in NXT as he would capture the NXT North American Championship in his first title opportunity, Priest would lose the title to Johnny Gargano ending his reign at 67 days. Priest impressed fans and HHH with his in-ring ability and would wrestle his final match in NXT in a losing effort against Karrion Kross.
Priest would go on to debut in the 2021 Royal Rumble match and had a great performance eliminating John Morrison, The Miz, and Elias before being eliminated by Bobby Lashley. The following night, Priest made his debut on Raw after being introduced by Bad Bunny during a Miz TV segment. He would proceed to defeat The Miz in a singles match, marking his first win on the main roster. Priest would make his WrestleMania debut that year teaming with Bad Bunny against The Miz and John Morrison, Priest and Bad Bunny got the victory. Priest looked great right away in his run being booked as a dominant face, it wouldn't be long before Priest captured his first title either, Priest defeated Sheamus at SummerSlam to become United States Champion marking his first main roster title. Priest would eventually lose the title to Finn Balor ending his reign at 191 days.
After losing the championship Priest attacked Balor and turned heel for the first time since 2020. Priest would go on to join Edge to form his current faction Judgement Day. Eventually, Priest turned on Edge to take over the stable which now consists of Finn Balor, Rhea Rhipley, and Damian Priest. Priest has his biggest match to date against Edge on Raw this Monday, if Priest can get the win it will catapult him straight into the conversation to become WWE Champion. I would love to see Priest get a world title run, he has been consistently good in the ring and on the mic and would be a great champion.
2: Riddle
Riddle was signed to the WWE in 2018 as a part of the NXT brand, Riddle made quite an impact in his first month by defeating Kassius Ohno in just 6 seconds making it the fastest win in NXT history. It took about a year for Riddle to win his first championship which was the NXT Tag Team Championship with Pete Dunne after winning the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Riddle would eventually leave NXT, after dropping the titles and losing a match to Timothy Thatcher, Riddle was called up to Smackdown in 2020.
Riddle started off his Smackdown run strong by inserting himself immediately in the Intercontinental Championship scene. After a few unsuccessful attempts at capturing the IC Title against AJ Styles, Riddle wasn't on Smackdown for much longer as part of the 2020 draft Riddle was drafted to Raw. Riddle participated on Team Raw at Survivor Series and eliminated King Corbin in the match as Raw would get the clean sweep over Smackdown. Riddle set his sights on the United States Championship which was held by Bobby Lashley. At the 2021 Elimination Chamber, Riddle defeated Lashley and John Morrison in a triple threat match to win the United States Championship, his first title on the main roster and his first singles title in WWE. He lost the title to Sheamus on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, ending his reign at 49 days.
Riddle immediately started a program with Randy Orton as Riddle would try and form a tag team with the untrustful Orton. At first, Orton was not for it and didn't respect or want to work with Riddle but that quickly changed as RK-Bro was born. RK-Bro would go on to be one of the most popular teams in quite some time and went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championships At SummerSlam, RK-Bro defeated Styles and Omos to win their first WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, both individually and as a team. Riddle has been very consistent with his in-ring work and continues to get the crowd behind him with every promo, Riddle is one of the most popular stars on the roster, and his current feud against Seth Rollins it could easily boost him into world title status.
1:Cody Rhodes
With rumors flying rampant all the way up to WrestleMania about WWE possibly signing Cody Rhodes back there was excitement in the air but also doubt. All that doubt was erased as Cody Rhodes made his triumphant return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 Night 1 after being gone for 7 years. Cody Rhodes came back as The American Nightmare, the same gimmick, and logos used during his AEW run. Cody was the true heart and soul for AEW for their first two years before fans started turning on him. Cody returned and defeated one of WWE's biggest stars in Seth Rollins and continued to have a multi-match feud with Rollins which Cody was successful in all of them. Rhodes suffered an injury as he tore his pectoral muscle which derailed all the big plans for him including being the favorite to win Money In The Bank and possibly dethroning Roman Reigns.
Despite being injured, Rhodes fought inside Hell In A Cell against Seth Rollins and got the victory. This match was amazing and is a match-of-the-year contender despite Rhodes being severely injured going into it. Cody has a decent amount of WWE accolades as he is a 2-time Intercontinental Champion, a 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a 3-time World Tag Team Champion, so Cody has definitely been close to getting his big break but just not quite. Codys current run has been short-lived due to the injury but Cody winning the WWE Championship is a must that I can almost guarantee happens when he returns. The fans are all behind Cody and it would be a very emotional moment seeing Cody win the big one for his dad Dusty Rhodes. It just writes itself.
With all that being said, WWE has a deep enough roster where they could build a true mega star overnight if they wanted. All the people listed here are potential strong World Champions and would shake up the WWE landscape if done right.
Who would YOU like to see win there first WWE Championship?
Let me know down below in the comments!