WWE Royal Rumble 2016: Worst Title Changes in PPV History

Owing to the fact that most of the roster takes part in the annual Royal Rumble match, there aren't too many title changes to speak of during the opening pay-per-view of each and every year. 

The bulk of the attention on the night is surrounding the Rumble match itself, which is why there aren't too many changes every year.

That will be slightly different this year, with the 2016 Royal Rumble potentially set to crown a new WWE world heavyweight champion, but in the run-up to that event, here's three title changes from the past that were either executed poorly or shouldn't have happened at all.

Goldust def. Razor Ramon (1996)

Goldust's victory over Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship at the 1996 Rumble was one of those matches you felt could have gone either way.

Goldust's was the fresh new career with a relatively new gimmick, while Ramon was the veteran who many never wanted to see lose.

But it's how Razor lost this bout, via way of interference, which makes it one of the worst title changes this writer can remember.

It should have been a clean bout through to the finish, especially as Goldust was relatively new and would have received a huge boost from going over Razor cleanly. But instead of that, WWE opted to have The 1-2-3 Kid stroll down and make the interference, which didn't really feel right.

Nobody could have imagined that the proposed rematch at WrestleMania would be cancelled due to Razor's real-life suspension, but you wonder what a clean win for Goldust would have done for him at the time.

Sgt. Slaughter def. The Ultimate Warrior (1991)

This had to be one of the most bizarre booking calls in history.

The Ultimate Warrior had won the WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI, and it seemed like WWE was on the edge of a new beginning with Warrior at the head of the company.

However, WWE's decision to turn Sgt. Slaughter heel and make him into an Iraqi sympathizer during the height of the Gulf War was a call that would provoke a shocking and ludicrous title change at the 1991 Royal Rumble.

It was a really intense Rumble with some strong promo work all round, but interference from none other than Randy Savage cost The Ultimate Warrior the title and handed him the WWE Championship in a shocking turn of events.

It set up an all-too-familiar rematch for WrestleMania, one that left everyone feeling flat.

The Rock def. CM Punk (2013)

There's no doubting this one. In fact, it's perhaps the worst title change in the entire history of the Royal Rumble.

In one corner you had CM Punk, the antihero everyone simply loved and the guy who, by the time of the Rumble, had gone 434 days as WWE champion.

The company had made the brave call to turn Punk heel and have him go against The Rock in a huge match, but it was one that sadly only ever had one outcome.

WWE had decided to back itself into a corner and have the WrestleMania main event between John Cena and The Rock be for the WWE Championship, which made little sense.

It was obvious that The Rock would never leave WrestleMania as champion, which produced an inevitable victory for Cena in a shocking match.

That could have all been avoided had WWE not gone for the wrong option at the Royal Rumble and taken the title off Punk. Cena could have gotten the title back eventually, but it could have been done at the expense of Punk after WrestleMania, when Cena had settled his grudge with The Rock.

And what makes things worse, WWE even had Punk technically win via the help of The Shield before having the match restarted and eventually losing.