Unlikely WWE Champions and Why Fans Got Behind Them

Shane McMahon and The Miz (SmackDown Tag Team Champion)

The tag team of Shane McMahon and The Miz was an unlikely pairing within itself. It was only a matter of time before the tag team imploded. However, they were able to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championships before then.

Even though it was an unlikely pairing, the audience loved it. They are both prime entertainers in the business, not just with their wrestling ability but also their personality.

They know how to get the crowd to love them or hate them. It was exciting to see something new during this time.

This tag team eventually led to their WrestleMania 35 match against one another in a falls count anywhere match, where they wrestled across MetLife Stadium. McMahon came out victorious at the end, but overall, the storytelling between the two was great. The unlikely tag team partnership they had, fans loved it, and got to see it turn into a WrestleMania match between the two.

Kofi Kingston (WWE Champion)

Kofi Kingston was truly an unlikely champion in the WWE. While he is now a grand slam champion in the WWE, it was the most unlikely for him to win the WWE Championship. It’s not that anyone thinks he doesn’t have the ability, but it took him years to even get an opportunity for that championship. 

Arguably, if it weren’t for the fans rallying for Kingston, WrestleMania 35 would not have turned into KofiMania. While it is unfortunate that it took this long for him to become champion, if it were done any other way, it wouldn’t have been as meaningful as it was. 

The journey to KofiMania started when Mustafa Ali got injured and couldn’t compete in the 2019 Elimination Chamber match. Kingston competed in a gauntlet match, where the winner would enter the chamber last.

He lost this match, but impressed nearly every fan who was watching. Kingston also lost the elimination chamber match, but he put on an incredible performance that the fans noticed. 

After that, Vince McMahon continued putting Kingston through unfair obstacles so that he could get a championship opportunity. From handicap matches to another gauntlet match, Kingston proved why he deserved a championship match. Still, he continued to fall short due to the unfair circumstances, leading to Big E and Xavier Woods having to go through a gauntlet match.

All of these obstacles led to Kingston earning and winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. It was a very emotional win as the fans rallied behind him at every moment because we saw the hard work he put in and the hard work he had put in his entire WWE career. Kingston is very talented and not one to be overlooked.

Jey Uso (World Heavyweight Champion)

Similarly to Kingston, if it wasn’t for the fans rallying behind Jey Uso, it’s hard to say if he would’ve become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He was always looked at as a tag team wrestler until 2023, when he began competing as a singles star. 

This solo run of his got fans behind him, and he developed himself more as a singles competitor. Even though Uso has had the fans behind him, his win in the 2025 Royal Rumble match was shocking. I don’t think the win would have been as surprising if it weren’t in the middle of John Cena’s retirement tour.

Many people thought that Cena would win the Rumble match to punch his ticket to WrestleMania, especially when Cena and Uso were the last two in the ring together. Uso shocked the WWE Universe by eliminating John Cena to win the 2025 Royal Rumble match.

Fans love to see their favorite wrestlers succeed, and that’s what happened when Jey Uso won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41. Like Kingston, he has been in WWE for a long time, and this win was long overdue. It will be exciting to see where his championship reign takes him.