Brad Woodling
5. ROB VAN DAM (June 11 – July 3, 2006)
Poor Rob was mostly to blame here but it is hard to not think “what if” when looking back at Van Dam’s brief run with the title in the summer of 2006. Rob had been paying his dues since the Invasion angle, including somehow being passed over for the belt in a feud with HHH four years earlier in 2002. With ECW re-launching, Van Dam took the title at One Night Stand 2006, defended it on PPV once and then was caught in a DWI and promptly lost the title the following RAW. While the ECW brand would last for a number of years, one also has to ask if more success was on the horizon for the revival had Van Dam held the WWE title longer.
4. TRIPLE H (August 23 – September 14, 1999)
For as hot as 1999 was, and for how great a push Triple H received in anticipation of winning his first title, the actual payoff of The Game’s first reign was spotty and disappointing. First he was relegated to winning the belt on the RAW after SummerSlam instead of a PPV main event. Then he was shuttled into a McMahon storyline, feuding with a now-returning babyface Vince, which included Triple H losing the belt to Vince just weeks after first winning it. Triple H would have to earn his spot in the Unforgiven six-pack match (a weird spot for a heel) where he regained the title and found a little stability before the story again centered around the McMahons, who helped him to lose the belt at Survivor Series. One and a half months later he went on one of the best runs in wrestling history, but he’ll never forget his first.
3. CHRIS JERICHO (December 9, 2001 – March 17, 2002)
Chris Jericho will always get to boast he was the first Undisputed Champion, but the undercutting of his reign began the night of the Vengeance PPV with Booker T’s interference (of all people!) costing Austin the title. The only saving grace of his run was the Rock’s willingness to work with him as their Rumble match in 2002 continued a great standard first set with their WCW title matches from the fall of 2001. With the nWo arriving and Triple H returning, things were crowded at the top and Jericho was as much a lame duck as you can be going into a WrestleMania main event against Triple H.
2. EDGE (January 8 – 29, 2006)
Edge’s ascension to WWE Champion in January 2006 was a long time coming. Back in the mid-2000s the WWE still emphasized the long trek to becoming a champion. Just look at WrestleMania 21, with both Cena and Batista getting to pay off their stories with main event wins. Edge’s first quest for a WWE title began with his return from injury in 2004, taking the IC belt from a red-hot Orton and then interjecting himself with HHH and HBK around Taboo Tuesday. He even submitted Triple H (with Benoit in a triple threat match) to have the title held up in December 2004. It was a full YEAR later, with Money in the Bank briefcase in tow, when Edge’s story finally culminated by cashing in on John Cena after an underwhelming Elimination Chamber match. This fresh face on the main event scene made the fact he dropped the belt back just weeks later even more pronounced and disappointing.
1. CM PUNK (July 17 – August 14, 2011)
After CM Punk unleashed his famous pipe bomb and subsequently went on to win the WWE title at the Money in the Bank PPV, the times they were a changing. Fans that had passively lost interest in wrestling were starting to come back. Punk’s attitude and authority issues were fresh and seemed real. ESPN even picked up on a story about him. Change was here. While some lamented Punk’s return just a few weeks after leaving, business-wise it made sense to cash in on a big SummerSlam PPV and new-found mainstream press. We dreamed of the phenomenal Punk/Cena feud continuing through the fall, but the air crashed out of our sails after Kevin Nash powerbombed Punk after his SummerSlam win, with Alberto Del Rio then cashing in his Money in the Bank shot and winning the title. We cursed our TVs and shook our heads. While Punk would regain the belt a couple months later, the feeling of momentum and excitement was gone. The belt felt important when Punk won it in Chicago, but soon after its title matches weren’t even headlining PPVs.
Justin Rozzero
Honorable Mentions:
EDGE (January 8 – 29, 2006)
A title reign that immediately drove the ratings upwards, but because the WrestleMania main event of John Cena vs. Triple H was set in stone, Edge’s reign only lasted a glorious four weeks. It was a sign of things to come, but after the epic cash in, live sex celebration and crazy brawl with Ric Flair, this reign showed glimpses that it could have been so much more.
JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD (June 27, 2004 – April 3, 2005)
At first glance, this may not make sense, because JBL held the strap for nearly a year and was the dominant force on SmackDown for the entire time. However, I believe they rushed the title on him before he got the character over, and by the time he figured things out and became a dependable, believable and well-presented champion, he was nearly through his reign. Also, I feel the end of his run at WrestleMania XXI was not booked well and felt very anticlimactic. For a reign that was protected by constant interference and chickenshit wins, JBL goes down with a whimper in under 10 minutes in a bland match. His reign deserved a much better, wilder and more chaotic ending. There was money to be made in JBL’s title reign, but it was mismanaged from the start.
REY MYSTERIO (July 25, 2011)
I have this here because I don’t think there was a ton of money to be made, but I do think this was a swing and a miss. Mysterio won the vacated title early in the show and then jobbed it right to John Cena later in the night. I think Mysterio should have kept the strap and dropped it to Cena at SummerSlam, which would have provided a high quality, fresh matchup for the PPV and also helped extend and kept the Punk/Cena program sizzling as well.
5. BRET HART (October 12, 1992 – April 4, 1993)
As is, this was a very good reign that established Hart’s championship credibility and saw him turn back a wide swath of challengers on TV and PPV. However, with the heel monster Yokozuna looming and Hulk Hogan coming back into the fold, Bret’s days as champ seemed numbered as 1993 dawned. If Vince McMahon would have realized Hogan wasn’t needed and that he had a great champion in Hart, 1993 could have gone much differently. The often-rumored Hart vs. Randy Savage WrestleMania main event would have been fantastic and a great way for Savage to pass the torch. Hart could have lost the strap to Yokozuna at King of the Ring or SummerSlam and then chased it until WrestleMania X, doing the same finish that happened. A lengthy reign with a career making win over Savage could have established Bret as a serious player right off the bat and provided the fans with a highly entertaining title run instead of the farce that Hogan delivered that spring.
4. BOB BACKLUND (November 23 – 26, 1994)
This one is very close to my heart. After a bland and forgettable face run in 1993, Backlund put the WWF on notice when he snapped and wiped World Champion Bret Hart out after a friendly match on Superstars in July 1994. Backlund went on the warpath after that, wiping out anyone in his path and storming into Survivor Series, where he knocked off Hart to win the gold in a great submission match. Sadly, just days later, he was fed to Diesel, jumpstarting his run as the next major face champ. I think they left money and a great story on the table by having Backlund job so quickly. He had a ton of momentum and was red-hot, a great worker and a strong, believable champion. Having Diesel slowly turn face and chase Backlund down, winning the title at the Royal Rumble could have carried the promotion through the usually slow winter months. The live crowds were clamoring for a Diesel face turn and push, but by pushing it back just a bit, they could have really milked that heat and momentum and also given Backlund a more deserved-run than he received.
3. THE BIG SHOW (November 14, 1999 – January 3, 2000)
This is a tricky one, because Show was not meant to be anywhere near the title picture just yet and Triple H was in the middle what was a career building World Title reign. After a herky jerky start and stop in September, Hunter really needed a lengthy run to establish himself, but with Steve Austin going down to major injury and being pulled out of Survivor Series at the last minute, the company felt like they owed the fans a happy ending. Enter Big Show, who was inserted into the match at the last minute and given the win. His reign ended up being tepid and heatless, only feuding with Big Boss Man on the undercard while keeping the strap warm for Hunter. While I don’t think this particular reign could have been anything more significant, I think wasting Show’s first WWF Title run on a pointless swerve reign was the mistake and a microcosm of the botched handling of Show since his debut in February 1999. Show was alternated between face and heel over and over and then given the title with no build up and in the midst of a hackneyed angle about his cancer-ridden father passing away. Show’s first reign should have come at a late date after a longer chase and prolonged run on one side of the fence.
2. CHRIS JERICHO (December 9, 2001 – March 17, 2002)
This one probably doesn’t need much explanation. Jericho was receiving the biggest push of his career, having wrestled the Rock in a series of fantastic matches throughout the fall and then finally cashing in on the push to become the first ever Undisputed Champion, knocking off Rock and Steve Austin in one night to win the gold. After that, he turned into the Honky Tonk Man, barely eeking out title defenses before being pushed to the background of the Helmsley family feud. He would drop the strap to Triple H in an anticlimactic WrestleMania main event and was quickly shunted back to the mid card. I know Triple H had to win at Mania, but the way Jericho was pushed in between Vengeance and Mania was a joke. He was never given the chance to be the man and never felt like the top heel of the company. Once he was forced to play second fiddle to Stephanie McMahon, the reign was dead on arrival. As we would see half a decade later, Jericho was a guy that could be a great, dominant heel champion, but back in 2001 the promotion just didn’t want to give him that chance to break through and become the man.
1. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR (April 1, 1990 – January 19, 1991)
To me, this is the biggest World Title flub in company history. The Ultimate Warrior was a juggernaut in 1989 and as 1990 dawned, he was being primed as the man that would carry the strap and company into the new decade. After an enormous showdown at the Royal Rumble, Warrior clashed with Hulk Hogan in the biggest PPV main event in three years. After defeating Hogan cleanly for the title n the Skydome, Warrior should have been a made man. Hogan exited stage right, taking time off to film Suburban Commando, allowing Warrior the full spotlight and main event slot. Instead, he was left to pick over Hogan’s heel leftovers and was given no legit heel to feud with. The hottest heel on the card, Earthquake, was busy taunting and calling out the missing Hogan. Warrior ran through a bunch of tepid challengers before entering back into a feud with Rick Rude, a man nobody gave a chance to beat him. Following that feud, Warrior began teaming with the Legion of Doom in a feud with Demolition. Things picked up in December, as he kicked off an angle with Randy Savage, another guy that wasted away on the roster for most of 1990. In a weird twist, his angle with Savage was not showcased as a title feud, as instead Warrior was matched up with Sgt. Slaughter for the Rumble. Despite very little interaction, the match arguably ended up being the best defense of Warrior’s reign, but it was also his last. After that, Warrior’s days as the top dog were dead and buried. If the Savage feud had kicked off in May and built to SummerSlam, things may have been different for Warrior. For a guy that looked like the next mega star of the WWF, his run on top was fleeting and forgettable.
And now, our overall Five Count…
5. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR (April 1, 1990 – January 19, 1991)
Seemingly the heir apparent to Hulk Hogan, Warrior had no credible challengers to keep him on the roll he had established.
4. CM PUNK (July 17 – August 14, 2011)
When Punk was at his hottest as a character, he lost the title prematurely, kicking off several months of both he and the championship losing focus.
3. BOB BACKLUND (November 23 – 26, 1994)
An unexpectedly over heel champ who wasn’t given any time to build off his heat, giving way to a disappointing successor and the worst year in WWF/WWE history.
2. CHRIS JERICHO (December 9, 2001 – March 17, 2002)
What should have been a history-making period for the first Undisputed Champion in decades ended up being a lame duck reign as Jericho’s credibility got undermined and overshadowed time and again.
1. EDGE (January 8 – 29, 2006)
A great buildup of nearly a year to Edge’s victory and subsequent hot, successful weeks of TV were jettisoned to get back to the status quo. A quintessential example of WWE adhering to a game plan nobody wanted to see when they should have improvised after striking gold.
Who completes your list of Most Wasted WWE Title Reigns? Share your thoughts with the Nation on our Facebook page.
Got a Five Count you’d like to see in the future? E-mail Ben with your requests!
