The Contentious Ten 09.13.10: Most Important WWE Title Changes

I obviously don’t have the time or space to respond to every comment or suggestion for last week’s list, which showed a lot of deserving superstars. However, there were a few people brought up that I felt I should address here, why they were not included.

Curt Hennig: As a former World Champion in the AWA (which in it’s prime was bigger than TNA today), I daresay that Mr. Perfect would be rolling in his grave if I included him on a career midcarders list.

Christian: Has held the NWA World Championship on three occasions and was at the top of the promotion for much of 2006, you know, when TNA was actually worth watching.

Ted DiBiase: Main-evented Wrestlemania IV and was a top challenger for years; he wasn’t a world champion, but he was a main-event talent.

Owen Hart: I could see including Owen, but chose to focus on wrestlers who mostly peaked at upper midcard.

Davey Boy Smith: Main-evented Summer Slam 1992 and challenged Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for their World Titles on several occasions; was also the WWE’s top draw in Europe.

Rick Rude: Some consider his WCW International Title to be a World Championship, but even if you don’t, he was a top contender for years in Memphis, the WWF and WCW.

Scott Hall: I’ll concede this one, he probably belonged.

Now, onto this week’s list. This isn’t a list of “best matches where the title changed hands”, it’s about title changes that had a significant impact in the history of the WWWF/WWF/WWE. Each of these title changes serve as major turning points for the company, marking either the beginning of an era or the end of an era.

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Brock Lesnar defeats The Rocksize=6>
Summer Slam, August 25, 2002size=4>

This may seem like an odd choice, but it is a perfect example of a title change that ended an era. 2002 saw the sudden departure of Stone Cold Steve Austin, and also saw The Rock stop competing on a full-time basis so that he could focus on his movie career. Both of these were major blows to the WWE, and they had to make new stars fast. The Rock has never had a problem putting anybody over, and gave Brock Lesnar a huge rub in the process. Brock was supposed to be the man who headlined WWE for the next ten to twenty years, and while that didn’t work out, it was proof that the WWF was phasing out the previous headliners and looking for their next star. Rock and Austin would appear sporadically after this, but they became special attractions, not workhorse champions. In a year that saw the championship go through Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and The Rock, Brock Lesnar was a fresh face and the heir apparent, the next gamble.

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The Rock defeats Triple Hsize=6>
Backlash, April 30, 2000size=4>

This wasn’t the first championship win for The Rock, but it was one the most significant in terms of his status as a top draw and a legend. The WWF had come off of two banner years in terms of business, with the one of a kind Stone Cold Steve Austin serving as the flagship, the #1 Guy, the biggest star since Hulk Hogan. But Austin would have to sit most of 2000 out due to a neck injury, and there was a huge question as to whether the WWF could continue to have success. Fortunately, they had found a workhorse top heel in Triple H, and had an insanely popular franchise player in The Rock. The Rock had served as a foil to Austin, the wrestler representing Mr. McMahon at Wrestlemania XV, but had only been a belt-warmer then. Here, defeating Triple H, with some help from Austin, he absolutely deserved to be the top man in the company. This match also set the stage for Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania X-SEVEN, perhaps the biggest match in terms of star power since Hogan vs. Andre.

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John Cena defeats John Bradshaw Layfieldsize=6>
Wrestlemania 21, April 3, 2005size=4>

When Brock Lesnar left the WWE in 2004, it was another case of the torch being passed to a wrestler who wouldn’t carry the company. Once again, WWE found themselves in a tough spot, needing to make new stars to generate fan interest. They tried to turn Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Randy Orton into top stars with mixed results, but in 2005 they were able to make two men who were able to carry the ball. Wrestlemania 21 was headlined by RAW’s Batista defeating Triple H for the World Championship. Lower on the card was this match, which saw the popular John Cena burst into the Main Event scene. Since winning the WWE Championship he has been the most consistent main event talent in the company. In terms of longevity, he has surpassed both Steve Austin and The Rock. It hasn’t been the easiest of rides, and Cena will always have vocal detractors, but he is the man who has defined wrestling for the last five years. Cena still has plenty of time to build on his legacy, so this one might actually become more important five years down the road.

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Bret “The Hitman” Hart defeats Yokozunasize=6>
Wrestlemania X, March 20, 1994size=4>


Like The Rock’s first title wins, Bret’s first run was meant as more of a transitional reign, to get the belt off of Flair and Savage and onto Yokozuna, the monster heel who would be defeated by the next breakout star. In Vince’s mind, that was Lex Luger, the All-American muscle-head who was obviously meant to fill Hulk Hogan’s role. Bret Hart was the champion of the people though, and when Wrestlemania X came around and a top babyface champion had to be crowned, it was Bret Hart. Bret’s run at the top was a down period for the WWF, but he was one of the main reasons that the company did not go under during this period. More importantly, Bret set a new standard for what WWF Main Events could be expected to be. Even wrestlers who fit the Hogan mold more than the Bret mold have been expected to deliver compelling, competitive matches. Randy Savage and Ric Flair had done that before, but with Bret, and later Shawn Michaels, it became the norm, not the exception.

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“Superstar” Billy Graham
defeats Bruno Sammartinosize=6>
Baltimore, Maryland, April 30, 1977size=4>

I’ll get more into Bruno Sammartino here in a little bit, but this was the end of the Sammartino era. For almost fifteen years, Bruno was the face of the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Sure, Pedro Morales had a good run, but Sammartino was “the” guy. The end of his last title run would be a historic occasion under any circumstances, but the fact that it was “Superstar” Billy Graham who ended makes it even more relevant. Sammartino was a folk hero in his era, but Graham was a new kind of wrestler. With the body of Adonis (no, not Adrian) and the charisma and promo ability of Dusty Rhodes, he was a revolutionary. Bob Backlund may have held the WWWF title for four years after beating Graham, but if there was ever a better example of old school professional wrestling transitioning into sports entertainment spectacle, it was this. Graham set the WWF standard both for long-term heel champions like Triple H and JBL and action figure babyface champions like Hogan and Cena.

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The Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogansize=6>
Wrestlemania VI, April 1, 1990size=4>



Here we are thirteen years later, and it’s the end of another era. Love him or hate him, Hulk Hogan is wrestling’s biggest mega-star. Hulkamania led the WWF to unprecedented heights in the ’80’s, changing the company from a regional promotion to a national phenomenon. Nothing can last forever though, and at some point, the torch must be passed to the next generation of stars. At Wrestlemania VI, Hogan was booked to pass his torch to The Ultimate Warrior, who at the time was an extremely popular superstar. If things had turned out differently, this would have been possibly the #1 change, signaling the end of the Hogan era and the start of the Warrior era. There would be no Warrior era, however, and it would take almost eight years for the WWF to reach the heights of Hulkamania. Hogan would never be as popular after this match, as age, steroid scandals, and a part-time wrestling schedule all served to tarnish the aura he had. He was still the top star in wrestling, but wrestling’s audience was getting smaller and smaller.

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Shawn Michaels
defeats Bret “The Hitman” Hartsize=6>
Survivor Series, November 9, 1997size=4>

This is a case where the actual title change isn’t that important; Shawn Michaels was already a star and Bret Hart was no longer the hero he once was (at least in the U.S.) What is important is the controversy involved in the title change. Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels and Earl Hebnar screwed Bret Hart out of the championship, changing the planned finish to insure that Bret did not go to WCW with the WWF Championship. We could argue about all the whys and who was right all day long, but the bigger picture is that this controversy was step one of getting the WWF back on track. It turned Vince and Shawn into the most hated men in the business, which made the storyline with Steve Austin and Mike Tyson that much more effective. As Mr. McMahon, Vince would be involved in a money-making angle with Austin that saved his company.

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Bruno Sammartino
defeats “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogerssize=6>
Madison Square Garden, May 17, 63size=4>

Aside from being the very first title change in the company’s history, just a month into it’s existence, this was the start of an eight year championship reign by Bruno Sammartino. Bruno was young, powerful, and extremely popular in the Northeast, making him a natural choice to serve as the face of the company. Bruno was the most dominant World Champion in history, overcoming every challenge that was put in front of him for eight solid years. For comparison, imagine if Cena had won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at Backlash 2003 and didn’t lose it until Sheamus beat him at Fatal 4-Way. Since that wasn’t good enough, Bruno would have another several year run in the 70’s before finally losing to Billy Graham. The Italian Strongman established the WWWF as one of the premier wrestling promotions in the country, legitimized himself as a World Champion who, while not on par with the NWA Champion in prestige, was believable and worthy, and headlined the WWWF for the better part of twenty years. No single wrestler before or since has been so vital to the success of a wrestling company, and it all started here.

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Stone Cold Steve Austin
defeats Shawn Michaelssize=6>
Wrestlemania XIV, March 29, 1998size=4>




The WWE is the house that Bruno built, to be sure, but two wrestlers were able to take the foundations and add more stories to it. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the second. Austin was already the most popular act in the WWF, with his “Don’t Trust Anybody” approach and two middle fingers directed at all of the established tradition connecting with the late ’90’s fans. It was only a matter of time before he became champion, but the fashion in which the WWF booked his eventual title win was the key to him taking off. Riding off of the wave of momentum the Montreal Screwjob provided, Shawn Michaels was a despised world champion, and he would be the one who Austin would face and defeat at Wrestlemania XIV, in a sense righting that wrong. Boxing legend Mike Tyson would be heavily promoted going into the event, which helped garner much needed media attention for the show and its main event. With more people watching the show than they had in years, Austin took the ball in grand fashion, and the next night started his program with Mr. McMahon. McMahon was already hated, but he also served as the perfect corporate foil to Austin’s blue-collar rebellious attitude. This feud not only saved the WWF from going under, it also allowed them to put WCW and ECW out of business and finally claim total dominance of wrestling in the United States. To this day, they are still the largest wrestling company in the world.

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Hulk Hogan defeats The Iron Sheiksize=6>
Madison Square Garden, January 23, 1984size=4>

While the overnight success and growth is a bit exaggerated (it would take celebrity involvement to push the WWF past simply being a very profitable wrestling company to being an accepted part of ’80’s culture), this was the first World Championship run of the biggest star in the history of the business, the start of a run that saw the WWF reach a larger audience than any wrestling company ever had. Hogan revolutionized how the business made money. It wasn’t about a 20 year old guy coming in and buying a ticket and a beer. It was about parents buying tickets for themselves and their children, and then buying programs, T-Shirts, hats, replica belts, plush dolls, lunch boxes, wrist bands, action figures, VHS tapes. Obviously, the change in marketing philosophy greatly increased the profit margin, which allowed for more advertising and more celebrity involvement, which increased brand awareness, and turned Hogan into a pop culture icon and the most well-known professional wrestler of all time. Wrestling has never really looked back.