Winning the Tenkaichi Budokai – otherwise known as the World Martial Arts Tournament in the Funimation dub – was Goku’s dream early on in Dragon Ball. After losing the 21st and 22nd renditions of the tournament, Goku would be crowned Strongest Under the Heavens after finally defeating Piccolo in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.
While Goku’s eventual Tenkaichi Budokai win was triumphant, it only carried weight because of the reverence Dragon Ball gives to being a tournament champion. Goku’s not the only tournament winner in the franchise – Dragon Ball has seen many champions throughout its lengthy run.
10 Akkuman
Referred to as Spike the Devil Man in the Funimation dub, Akkuman was the second to last martial artist Goku fought during Uranai Baba’s Tournament. Akkuman’s signature ability is the Devilmite Beam, an attack which expands all the evil inside someone's heart until it kills them from inside out – a move which naturally fails on Goku. It’s also pointed out that Akkuman has won the Tenkaichi Budokai twice, making him the first character in Dragon Ball to have canonically been crowned tournament champion more than once.
9 King Chappa
Entering the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai after hearing about all the buzz at the 21st, King Chappa is a former tournament winner who has the unfortunate pleasure of fighting Goku in the preliminaries. Defeated before he can even compete, King Chappa is left humbled by Son Goku. This doesn’t discourage him from his passion, however. Come the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, King Chappa returns to suffer yet another defeat at the hands of Goku. Chappa presumably would have won either the 19th or 20th Tenkaichi Budokai.
8 Jackie Chun
After training Goku and Krillin for the Tenkaichi Budokai, Master Roshi realizes that his pupils might actually be too strong, worrying that they’ll grow arrogant if they win and stunt their martial arts journeys before they can even begin in earnest. To prevent such a fate, Roshi enters the tournament under the guise of Jackie Chun.
Chun makes it all the way to the final round, defeating Goku after a grueling fight. Roshi seeks to repeat the process for the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, but bows out after his fight with Tenshinhan. Realizing that the next generation of martial arts is here, Master Roshi retires.
7 Tenshinhan
Part of what makes the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai so exciting is the fact that it feels like just about anyone can win the tournament. Yamcha and Tenshinhan have a great early rivalry, Krillin outsmarts Goku at multiple turns, and the final fight between Goku & Tenshinhan is a genuine nailbiter that uses bad luck as a means of keeping Dragon Ball’s themes intact without giving either character a satisfying victory over the other. That said, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a winner. With the laws of physics betraying Goku at the last minute, Tenshinhan wins the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai.
6 Son Goku
One of Goku’s goals during the first third of Dragon Ball is to win the Tenkaichi Budokai. After losing in both the 21st and 22nd, Goku enters the 23rd utterly determined to win at all costs. Even the fact Piccolo is trying to kill him and God doesn’t stop Goku from treating what should be a deathmatch as a proper tournament fight.
It’s a very Goku approach to saving the world, but that’s what makes the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai so endearing. Goku’s also arguably at his prime, busting out incredibly creative uses of his techniques all in the name of defeating Piccolo fair & square. Goku also won Uranai Baba’s Tournament at the end of the Red Ribbon Army arc, but that doesn’t carry the same weight as the Tenkaichi Budokai.
5 Mr. Satan
Following the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, the tournament is put on hold long enough for mankind as a whole to forget that super powered martial artists exist. By the time of the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai, the average fighter is no stronger than Mr. Satan. While certainly powerful in his own right, Mr. Satan is nowhere compared to the likes of Goku. That said, he by all accounts won the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai legitimately as has been World Champion ever since (whether or not he deserves to be is another matter entirely.)
4 Videl
Mr. Satan’s daughter, Videl is actually stronger than her father (keeping in line with Dragon Ball’s eye towards the next generation,) but she doesn't know it until she trains with Gohan for the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. Like her father, Videl is also a tournament winner. Starting with the 24th rendition, the Tenkaichi Budokai began featuring junior divisions. Not old enough to compete in the tournament proper, Videl won the 24th Junior Division at a relatively young age.
3 Trunks
Goten and Trunks were all ready to compete in the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai only to be met with the unfortunate revelation of the Junior Division. Their version of the tournament proves to be a fairly uneventful affair.
Both boys obliterate the competition until it’s just the two of them in the final battle. For what it’s worth, Goten and Trunks’ fight captures the spirit of the Tenkaichi Budokai better than any other match in the 25th. Trunks ultimately wins their match, ringing out Goten for the win.
2 Monaka
Monaka might be the weakest member of Universe 7, but Goku doesn’t know that. A member of the team as a means to push Goku and Vegeta to train even harder, Monaka’s presence backfires on Beerus spectacularly when Goku – unsatisfied with the fact Hit can’t fight with killing intent – forfeits so he can see Monaka in action. On the verge of tears and ready to be beaten into the dust, Monaka throws a light punch at Hit that the assassin surprisingly plays along with. Impressed with Goku’s forfeit, Hit returns the favor by handing Monaka the win.
1 Android 17
Surprising just about everyone, Android 17 won the Tournament of Power and wished for the revival of everyone’s universe – in turn saving the multiverse from complete erasure. To be fair, Android 17 wins due to Universe 7’s commitment to fighting as a team. Goku takes down Jiren not through Ultra Instinct, but by working alongside Frieza & 17. Together, the trio are able to exhaust Jiren long enough for Goku and Frieza to push him out of the arena, leaving Android 17 at the last man standing.