WWE WrestleMania 31: Worst Title Changes in PPV History
WrestleMania 31 is just days away, and with that, it is always fun to take a look at the event's past.
WrestleMania has certainly been the site of some very special, memorable moments in the annals of WWE history. It has also seen some forgettable moments.
While Shawn Michaels becoming WWE champion at WrestleMania 12 and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's WWE title win at WrestleMania 14 are two of the most iconic moments in history, there have been some title changes that have made us shake our heads.
Whether it be poor match quality or a booking decision that made no sense, WrestleMania has given fans some bad title changes.
So what are the worst title changes that have taken place at WrestleMania? Here they are, in chronological order.
Hulk Hogan Defeats Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX)
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After winning the 30-man Royal Rumble in 1993, Yokozuna became the No. 1 contender for the WWE title. In fact, that was the first time that the stipulation existed where the winner of the Royal Rumble match earned a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.
At 568 pounds, Yokozuna instantly became the new monster heel of WWE. At WrestleMania IX, Bret Hart had the unenviable task of facing the behemoth challenger.
Yokozuna was able to win the title after some help from his manager, Mr. Fuji, who threw salt into the face of the champion.
But immediately after the match, Hulk Hogan came out to check on Hart's condition. Hogan, who had competed earlier in the night, had no real reason to be at ringside.
This led to Fuji issuing an immediate challenge to Hogan, even putting the WWE title on the line. Well, Hogan wasn't about to pass that up.
Fuji tried to use the same tactic on Hogan, but this time, the salt went into the eyes of the new champion, Yokozuna.
One clothesline and a leg drop later, a new champion was crowned. It lasted 22 seconds.
In those 22 seconds, WWE effectively destroyed what it took months to build with Yokozuna. Sure, it set up a rematch for later that summer, when Yokozuna would regain the championship, but it made no sense to end WrestleMania in this fashion.
Kane Defeats Chavo Guerrero (WrestleMania XXIV)
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When WWE created its own version of ECW, it was a good way to utilize Superstars who were floundering on either Raw or SmackDown.
Perhaps no one benefited from this more than Chavo Guerrero, who had one of his best runs as a singles competitor while competing for the ECW brand. That included becoming ECW champion.
At WrestleMania XXIV, a 24-man Battle Royal was held prior to the event going live on pay-per-view. Kane was the last man standing in that match, last eliminating Mark Henry to win it.
As a result, he earned a shot at Guerrero and the ECW title.
If you blinked, you probably missed it. Kane came out from behind Chavo, surprising him. He delivered a chokeslam, and just like that, it was over.
It would go down as one of the shortest matches in WrestleMania history, officially lasting just 11 seconds.
Chavo deserved better than this. However, it goes to show how important the ECW title and the ECW brand were to WWE at the time.
John Cena Wins Triple Threat Match (WrestleMania XXV)
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Many fans may complain about John Cena's spot at the top of WWE, and he has been in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania many times.
In most of those, Cena was successful in either capturing or defending one of the main titles at the big event.
But at WrestleMania XXV, his ability to overcome the odds became even more ridiculous.
Cena was in the middle of a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship with Edge and Big Show.
Originally, a match between Edge and Big Show was announced, but you knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead, Cena was added to the mix to make it even less interesting.
It would later be revealed that Cena blackmailed SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero with footage of having relations with Big Show.
Leading up to the match, a huge part of the storyline focused on Guerrero, especially since she was Edge's wife in the storyline.
Edge was hot at the time, and a big win at WrestleMania seemed fitting. Heck, even having Big Show become champion could have led somewhere with Guerrero's involvement.
Instead, WWE chose the much more boring route, having Cena win the title.
Fans didn't seem to care about the match, and watching it live, it felt very flat. This 2009 match has to be one of the more forgettable championship matches in the last 10 years, at least.
Sheamus Defeats Daniel Bryan (WrestleMania XXVIII)
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It's still hard to believe this happened.
WrestleMania XXVIII has two matches on this list, but it would be hard to top this one in terms of bad booking.
Daniel Bryan went into WrestleMania XXVIII as the world heavyweight champion. For many fans, it was great to see him in the spot they felt he was destined to end up.
His opponent would be Sheamus, a Superstar who had been hovering around the main event scene for some time.
As the match was about to get underway, the "Yes" chants from the crowd were very evident. Much of the crowd in Miami that night was eagerly anticipating Bryan's performance.
But the fans would never get to see it.
Instead, Sheamus took advantage, smashing Bryan with a brogue kick after Bryan received a kiss from his manager/girlfriend, A.J. Lee. A three-count was registered, and a new champion was crowned. Eighteen seconds was the official time of the match.
At WrestleMania XXVII, Bryan had his match pulled off the main card due to time constraints. This was his chance to shine on the grandest stage, and it was over in 18 seconds.
Though Sheamus won the match with a kick to the face, it certainly felt as though WWE kicked its fans in the face on that night.
Big Show Defeats Cody Rhodes (WrestleMania XXVIII)
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The intercontinental title seemed like something of an afterthought at WrestleMania XXVIII.
The match between Big Show and Cody Rhodes was built on the fact that Big Show hadn't had a "WrestleMania moment" in his career.
Those were the claims made by Rhodes, and to be fair, he had a point.
After all, Big Show was the guy who had lost just about every WrestleMania match he had been in at that point. That included being defeated by Akebono and Floyd Mayweather.
The giant outweighed Rhodes by over 200 pounds, so the latter had to try and gain a psychological advantage at WrestleMania XXVIII. But it didn't work.
Big Show won in just over five minutes with a big right hand.
But once the match was over and Big Show was handed the title, did you even remember that the intercontinental title was on the line?
Big Show lost the title back to Rhodes just four weeks later, making it clear WWE didn't see him as a long-term champion.
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