Who Benefited from never getting the strap?

[BenjaminRandalC]

The guy from Hawaii 5-O who was in ready to rumble and didn't get the belt. He benefited by in 2018 not having a death match to try and somehow prove that he does love wrestling.

 

[Falsedawn]

You know what, i'm gonna say Rick Steiner. I don't recall him ever blowing me away as a singles competitor, but he was always fearsome because he was connected to the Steiner brothers. If he had the strap, we would remember him as another failed experiment to turn the "forgotten" part of a tag team into a world champ instead of the legend he was. Scott adopted the gimmick and went up a tier, and Rick provided a great foil and stood as a midcard gatekeeper when he wasn't reforming teams.

Another candidate is Matt Hardy for the same reasons, though you could argue that he's carved his own niche out to the point that he doesn't need the title.

 

[moreorless87]

Nobody benefits from not being on top. Because then they retire or die and us retard fans are left asking “WHAT IF”.

You could argue perhaps that a heel run as a champ burns someone out faster with the fans? means he needs to suffer a more public and definitive loss to a face in the end?

The obvious example of someone who benefited from being outside of the title for a long period would be Taker.