To this day, Randy Orton is still the youngest WWE World Champion in history but through the years, there have been names that have come through the doors of WWE that had been considered to break that record.
One such name, relatively shortly after Randy's capturing of the record, was Chris Masters.
Chris Masters debuted on the Monday Night Raw brand in 2005 and was given a massive push. Within a year on television, Chris Masters had worked pay-per-view programs against Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, and others. Masters was even a part of a WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match with names such as John Cena and Kurt Angle.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Masters, who now works in the NWA as Chris Adonis, reflected on his early days in WWE and how he was pitched to win all three titles on the Monday Night Raw brand very early on, including a WrestleMania Tag Team Championship win alongside Carlito.
Chris Van Vliet sent along the following quotes.
“I think early on. I was considered for a lot of stuff. I was supposed to win the Intercontinental Title but then the intervention happened, so it didn’t happen. I was supposed to win the Tag Titles with Carlito on the WrestleMania where we worked Big Show and Kane. But that got switched the day of, because of a change of plans, which happens. That’s one thing you learn about wrestling, you don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Before something actually happens, you don’t count on it. There was a pre-taped shot with Vince and me where Vince alluded to me being the youngest WWE Champion of all time. This was even after Randy had won it. I know they were considering Cena and me for an angle.
"I think probably, looking back, if anything, I think Cena might have shot that down. I don’t think Cena was too happy working with me around that time. [Chris asks why] I could have good matches with HBK, but I felt Cena thought he had to lead me. It’s probably because I was new and stuff like that. It was just a little bit more difficult ring chemistry-wise. I don’t even know that for sure. But I was working a lot with Shawn Michaels and I was working a lot with John Cena in the house shows. Shawn was an easier match, but how many years experience did he have? As over as John was, we both started at the same time. I think the lack of experience was the big thing.”
Having been out of the company for 10 years, Chris Masters says he doesn't rule out a possible one-off return because in wrestling, you never say never.
“I’ve been out of the company since 2011. I’d love to come back for a Royal Rumble or something like that. I mean you never say never. I feel like they could potentially reach out again at some point. But I’m kind of at the point where at this point I feel like I have been exiled to a certain point. We’ve seen it happen in the past. Like I said, never say never, they could reach out to me for something. I’ve just kind of taken it off my list of goals at this point. I’m focusing on the NWA and my education. It would be an exciting thing, but when you haven’t been reached out to in that period of time, it feels like that’s it.”
You can check out the full interview in the video embedded above.
