10 WWE Champions Who Actually Elevated Their Titles

Sometimes a championship makes a wrestler, and sometimes the wrestler makes the championship and elevates it to new heights. Certain championships are associated with wrestlers because of the impact they had on the titles during their run. Most champions are expected to elevate the prestige of the title they hold, but precious few are actually able to do it.

With WWE having a long history with most of their championships, it is a badge of honor to be considered someone who has elevated a championship. Although there have been a ton of wrestlers that didn't make this list that have done the same, these are ten who undoubtedly did.

10 John Cena - US Championship

John Cena changed the way the United States Championship was perceived in 2015. The biggest star in the company took the Monday Night Raw secondary championship and elevated it to heights that had not been seen in years with his Open Challenge. Cena would lay an open challenge to the Raw locker room and each week, a new wrestler would challenge him for the title.

The best part of this run was Cena was typically facing the best in-ring wrestlers in the company on a week-to-week basis such as Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Neville, etc. It not only made the title feel so special, but it elevated Cena's in-ring skills to tremendous heights and opened many fans' eyes to what a great in ring wrestler he is.

9 Randy Savage - Intercontinental Championship

Randy Savage is one of the most important wrestlers in the industry. A lot of that is due to what he did with the Intercontinental Championship and established the title as the work rate championship. Savage was able to achieve the highest achievement one can with the title, and that is putting it on the level of the WWE Championship.

Macho Man held the title for well over a year and had classic matches during his reign, most notably, against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at WrestleMania 3. Savage made the title feel incredibly special, and it felt like he could just as easily be WWE Champion instead, which would end up happening at the next year's WrestleMania.

8 RKBro - Raw Tag Team Championships

When Randy Orton and Riddle became a tag team, many thought that it would be a fun team for a few months before Orton would turn on Riddle, and go back to being the great heel that he always has been. However, what actually happened is that the duo had incredible chemistry together and brought a spark to each other on the mic and in the ring that connected with the fans.

Prior to RKBro, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships lacked a ton of interest, but once Orton and Riddle won the titles at SummerSlam, they began to mean more. For much of 2021, the team of Orton and Riddle became the most must-see part of Raw and the titles became as important as they had been for years.

7 Tommaso Ciampa - NXT Championship

The NXT Championship was held in extremely high regard when Tommaso Ciampa won it from Aleister Black back in 2018, but Ciampa made it feel so much more important during his reign. Once NXT Champion, Ciampa began to be obsessed with the title, giving it the name "Goldie." The NXT Championship became remembered by many fans as Ciampa's title and his combined 348 days as the titleholder are extremely important for the history of the belt.

Unfortunately, a neck injury forced Ciampa's first reign to be cut short, but no matter what, when any fan sees that version of the NXT Championship, they know that the title's name is Goldie, and it truly belongs to The Blackheart.

6 Neville - Cruiserweight Championship

Neville was one of the greatest NXT Champions of all time, but his run as Cruiserweight Champion is even better. Already beloved for his work in NXT and as the underdog on the main roster, Neville immediately gave the WWE Cruiserweight Championship prestige when he became champion.

Once he had the title, Neville had an incredibly dominant heel run as the champion, keeping the belt for nearly 200 days and being the self-proclaimed "King of the Cruiserweights." Neville would go on to have great defenses against the likes of Jack Gallagher, Austin Aries, and Akira Tozawa amongst others, elevating the championship in the process.

5 The Miz - Intercontinental Championship

The Miz Intercontinental Champion Battleground 2014 Cropped

The Miz is one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time, winning the title 8 different times and becoming arguably the most remembered wrestler associated with the title. However, it was his run as IC Champion in 2016 really brought the title back to prominence. Miz won the Intercontinental Championship from Zack Ryder on the Raw after WrestleMania 32 with help from Maryse and went on to have terrific feuds with the likes of Cesaro, Apollo Crews, and Dolph Ziggler.

The Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz feud was one of the best feuds of the year, propelling both wrestlers to places they had not been in years and giving them both a story that fans could get hooked to.

4 Asuka - NXT Women's Championship

Asuka holding the NXT Women's Championship on her shoulder

Asuka's reign as NXT Women's Champion is one of the most dominant runs of any champion in WWE history. Her 522-day reign as NXT Women's Champion spanned from NXT TakeOver: Dallas when she defeated Bayley all the way to September 2017 when she had to give up the title due to an injury.

Asuka was arguably the most protected wrestler in all of NXT, and it made her feel unstoppable, making the NXT Women's Championship feel like the hardest prize to win in the company. She would go on to have many championship reigns on the main roster and even became a Grand Slam Champion in WWE, but it is still her NXT run that most fans remember the most fondly.

3 Crash Holly - Hardcore Championship

Crash Holly with the Hardcore Championship

The whole point of Crash Holly's Hardcore Championship reigns was for fun and to get more people on television. Crash Holly played his role to perfection as he was able to combine comedy and make people care each time he lost the belt and chased it again.

All of a sudden, fans became invested in the Hardcore Title picture and were waiting to see how he would get the title back. From hotel rooms to the circus to bathrooms, Crash Holly was anywhere the title could be as he introduced the 24/7 rule for the title and is in a way a pioneer of the current 24/7 championship.

2 Becky Lynch - Raw Women's Championship

The Man, Becky Lynch has done a ton for the women's division in wrestling since moving to the main roster. Lynch has proven to possess the rare ability to be a beloved underdog babyface and a hated cocky heel, and both work perfectly.

In 2019, Lynch had her crowning achievement moment in the WWE, main eventing WrestleMania 35, and defeating Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair to become both Raw and SmackDown Women's Champion. Although she wouldn't have a long reign as SmackDown Women's Champion, she would set the record for the longest reigning Raw Women's Champion in WWE history at 398 days.

1 Stone Cold Steve Austin - WWE Championship

Stone Cold Steve Austin is arguably the greatest wrestler of all time. He was the WWE's most profitable star, and much of that was with the Texas Rattlesnake having the WWE Championship over his shoulder. Many wrestlers win the big one and attempt to uphold the prestige that the title brings, but Austin took the championship to a more important level because of how important he was.

Austin never held the championship for any record amount of days, and wrestlers like Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre both had longer reigns than Austin's longest reign, but Austin was the biggest wrestler on the planet and when he held the title, it was more meaningful.