Reverse a Title Change

[IC25]

If you could undo a title change in professional wrestling history, which one would it be? Why would you change it? What do you think would be different as a result?

I would undo the Montreal Screwjob. While it did launch the attitude era and solidify the Mr. McMahon character, it also put a blemish on Shawn Michael's career for a decade and cost the WWE fans Bret Hart. Maybe he still would have left for WCW, but he would have left on far better terms than he did, may have been far more willing to return to a WWE ring after the demise of WCW, and may not have had such a big heartache over the death of Owen.

The screwjob also took a legit title change away from Shawn Michaels. Everybody focuses on the events of the screwjob, but nobody thinks of Shawn's title reign as a result quite so much.

[Nj Fan 04]

Based on your pic IC25, you might not agree with this, but I don't feel that Jericho should have been the first undisputed champion after the invasion angle. I feel that the Rock, Stone Cold, and Angle were all better choices. Jericho is good, but I personally feel that he is not, and never will be because of how Hunter feels, on the same level as the other 3. SCSA and the Rock two of the best to ever come through WWE, and Kurt Angle, although now with TNA, fits the mold as one of the best also. IMO, Jericho is not in that same company. HHH will continue to hold him down, but Angle, Rock, and Austin will all live on forever as all time greats. Jericho is good, but should not have been the first ever undisputed champ.

[klunderbunker]

There are several I can think of, but number one would be the Fingerpoke of Doom. Never has there been a single match that changed the course of a company more than this one. Had this pathetic thing never happened, WCW could still have a prayer of being around today. There was no way that this was what the creative team really wanted and it was pure politics. It was awful in every sense of the word. If nothing else, have a real match on a pay per view. Hogan vs. Nash was the one big PPV match WCW never did when they were at the tops of their games, but this whole match and title change was a complete joke. I'd change it to, if nothing else, Nash keeps the belt for awhile, or the match never takes place at all. Let Nash keep the belt, hold it for a good 6-7 months, then have Goldberg or someone else be built up as an unstoppable force to face off with Nash in a mega match. Could've worked, anything would've been better than what happened.

[TheOneBigWill]

I'd overturn and replace Triple H. being stripped/losing the Championship during his Triple Threat match with Edge & Chris Benoit.

The original outcome was just an excuse to have an Elimination Chamber match, and to give Triple H. his 10th Championship reign. Outside of that, its just as pointless as the W.W.E.'s present day mistake with stripping the Undertaker of the Championship, only for him to (assumably) win it back shortly.

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

1. Chavo Guerrero - ECW Championship
You could argue that it was done to try to get over Edge's stable, but did it really? Chavo has been an outsider to the group the whole time. On top of it, though, it devalued the ECW title by a lot. I mean, he's freaking Chavo Guerrero...this guy is totally undeserving of a belt other than Tag or Cruiserweight. They should've had Shelton be the one to knock the belt off Punk.

2. Hulk Hogan - WWE Championship (Wrestlemania IX)
I've always felt that that was just a slap in the face. Bret loses the belt to Yokozuna, who is beaten right afterwards by Hogan, who eventually drops it back to Yoko, who drops it to Bret at the next WrestleMania. If they really wanted Hogan to be a transitional champ in that year long span between WrestleManias, they could've had him win it at Summerslam or King of the Ring (when he dropped it) and then lose to Yokozuna afterwards at some point...Survivor Series, maybe, if he had won it at Summerslam.

3. Santino Marella - Intercontinental Championship
Despite how I'm a fan of him now due to his mic skills, he still doesn't have the necessary in-ring talent to warrant the IC title...especially under the kayfabe storyline of being a nobody from the crowd. When this happened, I was so annoyed, and kept being annoyed until he lost it because he was being shoehorned into horrible feuds.

[Mr. TM]

well besides the 97 Screw Job, and the WM9 main event, the one title change i never wished had happened is Hornswoggle winning the cruiserweight championship. If horny never won it, it would still be a legit championship. If they wanted to take a belt off of smackdown, the could have moved the belt to ECW, and make it like the X Division in TNA is. Kofi Kingston could be fighting over the cruiserweight title right now with shelton Benjamin. cruiser weights on ECW would make the show a lot more interesting, and let smackdown have the big boys instead. Unfortunately Hornswoggle was given the title, and now the CWT has fallen into retirement.

[triple m]

I'm gonna have to go with David Arquette winning the world heavyweight title.
I can't really think of one good reason why he should have been nominated to carry the belt in the first place. I don't think i really have to argue why this was a bad idea except even David Arquette himself said he didn't want it because it was going to tarnish the rep of the title. Next to that.....finger poke of doom. hands down IMO

[Y 2 Jake]

Top of my head, without really thinking about it. I'd change Triple H's title reign from No Mercy. It did nothing but make Triple H look dominant and Orton look weak. Nobody can deny it. They started the show by giving Orton the belt, he then loses. The new champ then fights this big monster heel and get's injured in the process, he then loses in a heavily gimmicked match at the end of the show, losing to the man he beat 2 hours earlier. It was noting other than a public massage of Triple H's ego. The end result was that the person who ended the show as champ looked inferior.

It should have been one match for the interim WWE Championship. Cena held the title for over a year, he then doesn't put anybody over with it. It was pointless. Have an interim champ while he's out. When he's back they face off to decide the undisputed champ. It's a bit UFC, but what is currently more popular?

I could probably think up a better title reign to change, it's just the first one that sprung to mind.

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Damn, Jake, that was the one I was trying to think of lol. In the back of my mind when I was making my post, I kept thinking "I'm forgetting something huge...what was it?" but I was convinced that my mind was just playing tricks on me.

I totally agree with what you said, though, so there's no use in me editing my post. They made Orton look like a fool and HHH, once again, to look like a god amongst men. All that ended up happening because of that was to boost the number up to 11. They could have just made it a triple threat match (HHH/Umaga/Orton) or a mini-tournament kind of thing. Have "HHH versus Umaga" as planned, with the winner going on to face the winner of "Orton versus (Someone)", and whoever wins that match gets the championship. That way, Orton at least goes through one person before defeating HHH and doesn't look weak in the process.

[HBK-aholic]

I'd have to agree with you Irish. As much as what happened at Montreal needed to happen, in my opinion, it's negative effects were a lot worse.

First of all, Bret Hart. I lost a lot of respect for him when he refused to drop the belt, but at the same time, I can appreciate he was a good athlete. He made the WWE a lot of money, and pretty much only went to WCW after McMahon suggested he look to them as Vince could no longer afford him.
This is sad really, as after WCW crumbled, and WWE got stronger, I think Harts return would have been great for the WWE. He was liked by many fans, and wuld have got a big pop entering a WWE ring again. Not to mention the amount of people he could have good feuds with. It's sad we lost a good athlete to something like this, but at the same time it's as much his fault as anyone elses.

As for Shawn Michaels, this did nothing except make him and his reign lose credibility. Unavoidably, he was the one blamed the most due to being the one to actually carry it out. People didn't see this reign as 'real' due to the fact he 'cheated' to get the belt in the first place. It tarnished a scarce reign for Shawn, who really should have had many more.

[BrooklynBuc]

As much as I agree with the above events, I wanted to add a new one:

I would have never put the World Heavyweight Title on Rey Mysterio on Wrestlemania 22.

Let's face it: Rey is not a main event superstar. At least Eddie had the intelligence to face bigger guys and have a good chance against them. Rey always looked overmatched against any superstar who was 300 lbs. and above. It was very unbelievable having him defeat guys like JBL and Kurt Angle, and he was brutually squashed by Khali and Mark Henry in non-title matches. He had absolutely no chance against any other major superstars, hence why never feuded with them, or even crossed their paths. The only good thing out of it was seeing him defeated by Booker T become World Heavyweight champion.

[Ryukuma]

Id say a title change to have never happened was kane losing to austin the next night

I mean I think that Kane could have been one of the biggest what if champions ever. He was still legitimately a monster, and had his mask. Having him with the title would have led to some more interesting storyline, and could have possibly given the big man a bit more credit then he gets today.

[theneil450]

How about the great khali as world champion? That's a title change that I would LOVE to reverse. For obvious reasons go to the great khali sucks thread(there has to be one somewhere) and just think about how a guy with 4 moves, that can't speak english and is sloppier than drunk hobos can always claim himself a former world champ. Sad.

[DeadmanInc.]

The Montreal Screwjob is a sensitive topic, but I think it was one of the most important title changes in history. I wouldn't undo it. It basically set the stage for the Austin/Attitude Era by establishing McMahon and Michaels as the greatest heels of the time. Thus when Austin, the biggest babyface feuded with them, it only made him shine.


I agree with the above 3 posters. As soon as I saw this thread, Rey Mysterio, Kane, and Khali came to my mind.

Rey Mysterio should never have been champion. He always looked like a small child against just about anyone. It's ridiculous that he beat guys like Randy Orton, JBL and Kurt Angle. I hate to say it, but just because his best friend died doesn't mean he suddenly deserved a push.

Kane's one day reign made him look incredibly weak. Kane was in his prime during this era. He was THE monster heel of the time and he would have played a great threat to Austin. Even the way Kane won the title was lame. It took assistance from Mankind and Undertaker for Kane to win. Way to make a monster heel look utterly weak.

Khali's reign as champion was simply stupid. The guy can barely move and speak english. It's disgusting that someone who can't cut a promo nor wrestle could call themselves a former WHC.

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

I can't think of a big one right now but right off of the top of my head I would say that I would reverse the Decision to give Vince Russo the WCW WHC.

People talk about how it was an utter disgrace to give the belt to David Arquette, What about giving it to Russo simply because he was on the creative team?

That one title reign put a huge blemish on the belt (well maybe for a week because most fans have VERY short memories and completely forgot this had happened) and should have never taken place.

[thompson_hhh]

Ok i am canadian threw and threw but people get over the montreal screwjob.. I mean god hbk did what he was asked to by a businessman its business bret has to get over it and so does evryone else. it could have been handled better yes but it had to happen bret was being selfish.

one title i would change would have to be hardcore and rodes .. i mean they barely defend and are not a sell.. they need to loose them quickly they are dragging down the tag titles

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

one title i would change would have to be hardcore and rodes .. i mean they barely defend and are not a sell.. they need to loose them quickly they are dragging down the tag titles

The tag titles are already worth nothing and had been dragged down years ago, so you don't have anything to worry about.

I saw them win the title in person at the 15th anniversary special and when it happened I thought this would be a great way to build up Cody Rhodes. I still think that.

Since they won Cody Has been getting significantly more coverage and mic time. While it is not defended often and they don't get time on tv every week I think it is still being done well enough to build Rhodes up to be a future star.

[Y 2 Jake]

Another one I can think of is Yokozunas first reign. The point of it is lost on me. Probably because it lasted but a few minutes, and made him and Bret Hart look like shit. If Hogan wanted the title then they should have booked him in the main event. I don't know the ins and outs of it. But what I do know is that Bret Hart couldn't defeat Yokozun, but Hogan did in 20 seconds. I also know that Yokozuna was a new uber-heel, and Hogan defeated him easily. Just cut out the middle man. Hart/Hogan would have worked just fine.

[Rated K for Kennedy... Kennedy!]

I'm honestly not sure on the issue of the Screwjob, it was SOOOOO important to the business and so many great things come from it, but at the same time it tarnished WWE and so many people's views of Vince McMahon (the person not the character).

As for Shawn Michaels, this did nothing except make him and his reign lose credibility. Unavoidably, he was the one blamed the most due to being the one to actually carry it out. People didn't see this reign as 'real' due to the fact he 'cheated' to get the belt in the first place. It tarnished a scarce reign for Shawn, who really should have had many more.

Now while I agree with most of the above, Shawn himself stated that he felt closer to Vince after doing the Screwjob, and it was a bond that undoubtabley helped keep Shawn in Vince's favour, so overall I think it balances things out, at least for HBK!

As for Title change I'd undo I have to go with Edge. When he lost the WWE Title to Cena and the belt went back and forth after his M.I.T.B cashing in I was furious, he should have held that belt for a good 8 months to solidify him as a top heel, but he had to work really hard in that fued to come out looking legit!

[WWEFan2000]

As much as I agree with the above events, I wanted to add a new one:

I would have never put the World Heavyweight Title on Rey Mysterio on Wrestlemania 22.

Let's face it: Rey is not a main event superstar. At least Eddie had the intelligence to face bigger guys and have a good chance against them. Rey always looked overmatched against any superstar who was 300 lbs. and above. It was very unbelievable having him defeat guys like JBL and Kurt Angle, and he was brutually squashed by Khali and Mark Henry in non-title matches. He had absolutely no chance against any other major superstars, hence why never feuded with them, or even crossed their paths. The only good thing out of it was seeing him defeated by Booker T become World Heavyweight champion.

I agree, but for different reasons.

No doubt, Rey deserved to be World Champ, as he was prob the best wrestler on SD at the time other than Kurt. However, I feel like his title reign was more about Eddie Guerrero rather than Rey Mysterio. It seemed his reign was more a tribute to the memory of Eddie rather than a tribute to Rey's skills. After Rey won the title, Vickie and Chavo came up to celebrate with him and the camera cut to a picture of Eddie. I don't blame them or anything, but they prob. would not have done that if he had won the title when Eddie was still alive. WWE took advantage of Eddie's death just to make money during this time.

[MisterRob]

The Montreal Screwjob was an unfortunate event for many, many reasons and a rather bad moment for the image of wrestling, but I don't think I'd ever take it out of history. It turned the tables and brought forth the Mr. McMahon character which was the catalyst to the Attitude era and the success of WWF in the Monday Night wars. If things had gone differently the WWF may not even be around right now.

If I could get rid of any title reigns it would be Vince Russo's lovely work (proof of his great writing, by-the-way) of having David Arquette win the World Heavyweight championship, Vince Russo himself win the championship, and Ohklahoma win the Cruiserweight championship. All were horrible and tarnished any credibility the titles had. Russo single-handedly destroyed the Cruiserweight division in WCW, in my eyes.

[Trumike]

The title change I would reverse is the one when Andre the Giant won the belt and gave it to his manager. That is something I would never do. It really doesn't diminsh his legacy but he was never a real world champion. He should have kept the belt and dominated. Let Hogan keep chasing him for the belt until he was ready to retire. That imo was a mistake.

[Mitch3721]

Edge losing the WWE Title to Cena at Unforgiven 06, in his hometown of Toronto, in his specialty match TLC. This was unforgivable, the loss in the TLC in his hometown made Edge look incredibly weak, which is now being followed by the 1 1/2 years of stealing cheap victories after the loss in the TLC. Edge is undoubtedly (with orton) one of the best heels in WWE, but the loss at Unforgiven started a downward spiral for Edge. To lose the title in his hometown, in his specialty match, where there was huge heat from the crowd on Cena was the title change i would most like to reverse. Edge could have gone on to have great feuds with HHH HBK Orton and the list goes on, but instead we got a year long reign from Cena facing people like Umaga and Khali. Stupid title change

[image1986]

I don't know if everyone remembers that raw where jericho pinned triple h for the wwf title. The fan went nuts cuz no one expected jericho to win the title that night. I know it was an angle but instead of reversing the decision cuz triple h threated the referee they should have let jericho have his title run and eventunally lose it to triple h because if they had jericho would have main event two years ever and been better off

[MisterRob]

The title change I would reverse is the one when Andre the Giant won the belt and gave it to his manager. That is something I would never do. It really doesn't diminsh his legacy but he was never a real world champion. He should have kept the belt and dominated. Let Hogan keep chasing him for the belt until he was ready to retire. That imo was a mistake.

I disagree with this one entirely. Andre the Giant didn't need the championship, it didn't do anything for him and he was far beyond the championship. They were making Ted Dibiase the biggest heel in the WWF at the time, and I think it was absolutely classic and genius to have him buy the championship from Andre the Giant and try to be champion that way, instead of actually winning it. A genius storyline for his character.

[The Blue Meanie]

I stopped watching wwe for about a year a while ago, but if im not mistaken, didn't the spirit squad get the tag team titles??? What a load of Bullshit!
Yet another Reason the Tag titles aren't worth a dime anymore.

[moneymoneyyeahyeah07]

I got one John cena vs edge royal rumble 2006 what edge had the title for what three weeks before he lost the title to the same guy that made edge look weak that he could only hold a major title for a short reign. Edge is a great heel he can wrestle not like cena he made edge tap out to the worst move ever the stfcrap. He could have held it a longer time like around one night stand.

[Joaquim Akaem]

One title change that I never agreed with was at Backlash 2002, where Triple H lost the Undisputed title to Hogan. That was ridiculous.

I mean, here is Triple H, the best in the company at that point. He had his big comeback from injury, won the Royal Rumble, spanked Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania, he was on a huge role, was by far the most popular face at that point.
Then his reign lasted for less than a month, he was beat clean, by Hogan, who was well past his prime, I don't even know why he got a title shot to start with. It was a classic WCW decison that benefited no-one but Hogan. I'm just glad that he got his ass handed to him by Taker not too long after that.

[FoleyIsGod]

One title change that I never agreed with was at Backlash 2002, where Triple H lost the Undisputed title to Hogan. That was ridiculous.

I mean, here is Triple H, the best in the company at that point. He had his big comeback from injury, won the Royal Rumble, spanked Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania, he was on a huge role, was by far the most popular face at that point.
Then his reign lasted for less than a month, he was beat clean, by Hogan, who was well past his prime, I don't even know why he got a title shot to start with. It was a classic WCW decison that benefited no-one but Hogan. I'm just glad that he got his ass handed to him by Taker not too long after that.

You were forgetting, Hogan was gettinga HUGE reaction when came back, look at matches vs guys like the Rock(where he was supposed to be the heel) and the crowd went bonkers over Hogan.

It wa sput on him to strike whilst the iron was hot, sorta speak.

[Joaquim Akaem]

Yeah, I suppose he was popular, but I wouldn't have credited him as the single best that the company had to offer at that time.

The Hulksters time was over long before, and no matter how nostalgic some of the fans felt, I believed putting the title on him was a bad decision.

The man looked like he was going to die during some of his matches, and based on ability, and in-ring performances, he was in no way worthy enough to hold a title of any kind.

The fact that everytime he stepped into the ring he won was ridiculous, wether it be against Triple H, Randy Orton or Shawn Michaels. What else did Hogan have to prove?

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

You were forgetting, Hogan was gettinga HUGE reaction when came back, look at matches vs guys like the Rock(where he was supposed to be the heel) and the crowd went bonkers over Hogan.

It wa sput on him to strike whilst the iron was hot, sorta speak.

I agree. I was one of those people that was excited and marking out when he came back. I enjoyed his run and I really couldn't care less what happened to HHH because Imo he is just the "Hogan" of the WWE always holding people down and trying to surpass the 16 time "record" even though the most titles record is held by, ironically, Hulk Hogan, with over 20 world title notches in his proverbial belt.

[chance]

well that sort of depends on what compamys you include you could argue that jerry lawler has the most reigns with over a hundred mostly in memphis wrestling

i agree that rey's reign shouldnt have just been aboout eddiee guererro

spirit squad winning the tag titles over big show and kane is definately one of the worst but did it really effect that much in the long run

david arqette winning the world title was just plain bad as well

but my vote would be the montreeal screwjob it ruined shawn michael's and vince mccmahon's reputation ( the peoplle not charactors) and caused bret too hate wwe for life it could of happened the next night on raw bret agreed too lose it but not at survivor series

[Rizza]

Edge losing the WWE Title to Cena at Unforgiven 06, in his hometown of Toronto, in his specialty match TLC. This was unforgivable, the loss in the TLC in his hometown made Edge look incredibly weak, which is now being followed by the 1 1/2 years of stealing cheap victories after the loss in the TLC. Edge is undoubtedly (with orton) one of the best heels in WWE, but the loss at Unforgiven started a downward spiral for Edge. To lose the title in his hometown, in his specialty match, where there was huge heat from the crowd on Cena was the title change i would most like to reverse. Edge could have gone on to have great feuds with HHH HBK Orton and the list goes on, but instead we got a year long reign from Cena facing people like Umaga and Khali. Stupid title change

Well said, and a great point. With all the momentum he had going in to his hometown where he was going to perform in his speacilty match and he loses the title to cena. Why did they book that kind of match while they were in Canada? At the very least why did they book a TLC, Edge's match. The only time i think they should of used TLC in this fued if Edge would have won it to put him over as a big time heel. I mean why the hell did Cena Have to win he was already over,that match could have been huge for edge and not having Cena looking weak at all becasue it is the match that edge hepled create,but instead it came out Cena staying the same in popularity and Edge being put out of the title scene. Thats the change i would reverse.

[Trumike]

Andre the Giant was above everybody. But think about what could have happened. He could have dominated everyone and been challanged by all comers until that match with HulK slamming him and pinning him. That was an angle that was missed. Ted Dibiase was the top heel and he could have gotten someone to take it from Hogan. A newcomer to challange Hogan. Thats my opinion.

[Trumike]

Another mistake in title switches was when Ric Flair lost the NWA title to Ronnie Garvin. The guy was a mid carder at best. He was not as popular as some other conterders but do to his friendships with the bookers he got the belt for a little while. If I remember it was about a 4 week run before he lost it back to Flair. They should have given the belt to someone else like Barry Windham.

[JOeMije642]

a lot of people say rey shouldn't have won at mania 22, but while it wasn't necesarily a great business decision, there wasn't much he could go with it. however, even though a lot of people hated the abuse of eddie's legacy, i still say it made sense from a storyline point of view. he was the sentimental favorite, and it created that feel good moment that you don't always get in "real" sports. if wwe was a seasonal sport, and the "story" ended right there, it would have been the perfect ending to the emotional ride that rey mysterio was on. unfortunately, the wwe train always keeps a rollin', and wwe had to live with the reprocussions of their decision, and there was only so many places they could go with the "ultimate underdog" card. that's what killed rey's title reign

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

well that sort of depends on what compamys you include you could argue that jerry lawler has the most reigns with over a hundred mostly in memphis wrestling

Well not quite 100 but I'm pretty sure Jerry Lawler does hold the record, I just wanted to make my argument sound better ;P lol.

But seriously thing like that do bother me. I always wonder why WWE will say Ric Flair is the greatest ever and give him such a great send off when it is obvious he is not the greatest. I can think of several names which can come before him, men that were both better in the ring and on the mic. The name that obviously comes to mind is Hulk Hogan, and I don't think he has burned enough bridges with Vince or WWE where they woudn'tt bring him back, the 15th anniversary special is proof of that, but then why do they not recognize him as above Flair? And of course Jerry Lawler the man we hear from every monday, why not place him above Flair, the man at least IMO was miles above Flair in every way, so why not say that?

[FoleyIsGod]

Because Hogan doesnt have the legitimacy of Flair.

And come on, Lawler won the title that many times because he owned Memphis wrestling. Its like saying Carly Colon is the greatest because he booked himself to win his promotions belt 22 times(then let Carlito win it 10 times himself)

The only titles that really matter are the ones that are recognised by PWI as world titles.

[image1986]

Peope throw around the word greatest a little too much. I argee that flair probably isn't the greatest wrestler alive but when people talk about the greats in the sport of wrestling u have to mention flair. Hogan is more of the wrestler know you know whether you watch it or not. His name is his legacy and its much more bigger then wrestling. Wrestling ability is equal cuz I don't think flair is any better than hogan but hgan will always be the first name mention when the world wredtling comes up

[Agrex]

If I could reverse a title change, I would reverse Edge losing his first WWE title. I mean, he just became champion three weeks earlier, and was starting to get massive amount of heat as a heel, and at his first PPV defence, he loses the title. What the fuck? He was the top heel in the WWE, everybody hated him. But he loses the title so quckly. Remember the reaction he got when he won the title, everyone was shocked, their hero Cena lost the title. Then the "Live Sex Celebration", that gave him even more heel heat. And finally the TLC match with Ric Flair, after that match that solidified him as the top heel in the WWE.

But then at the Royal Rumble, WWE decided to put that belt back on Cena making Edge a transitional champion. That really pissed me off as Edge was on fire, he had so much potential with that title, but the WWE took it away so quckly. I thought WWE were going to milk that reign until WrestleMania, atleast. Imagine if that title reign continued until 'Mania. Edge would keep on building heel heat, and then when Cena would beat him, Cena would get more over, and less damage would have been done to Edge.

So, if I could reverse a title change it would have been that one.

[Davi323]

If I could reverse one title change? This is a no-brainer for me. I would have Hogan beat the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VI. Knowing what we know now, about Warrior's attitude, about how he would crash and burn, giving him the belt as a symbol of the "new" WWF of the 1990s was a mistake. Even if you had to strip Hogan of the belt, there were other well deserving potential champions.

Perhaps if Savage had gotten the belt instead of Warrior, him and Vince wouldn't have had their falling out, Savage stays in the WWF/E for the rest of his career, and takes his rightful spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Perhaps give it to the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, and let Hogan try to win it back. Perhaps let Roddy Piper take a turn. Or Ravishing Rick Rude. Perhaps Mr. Perfect gets elevated. At the time, Rude and Hennig could have been seen as the future of the WWF...

[BrooklynBuc]

I already put one up about Rey Mysterio, but there's another one I greatly disliked, and only one person mentioned it.

The Fingerpoke of Doom was just freakin' stupid! This counts as a "reverse a title change" because Nash should never have lost the belt to Hogan that night. Now, people argue that the angle did what it was supposed to do, which is tick off the fans with a massive heel turn and swerve that made Goldberg the #1 face again, but it backfired. A LOT. I love it when heel turns are done right, but this one just made everyone and everything look absolutely weak:

1. The NWO Wolfpac and NWO Black & White turned to dust. All of the feuds, the wars, the beatings, all just to screw Goldberg out of the belt? Every storyline up to that point was rendered useless, and nothing made sense. Even Vince being the "higher power" made more sense because everyone in the Corporation and the Ministry hated Austin more than they hated each other. The NWO Wolfpac openly helped Goldberg in storylines.

2. Sting looked like a goof because he went months of contemplating just to join the Wolfpac, only to have them go heel a few months later and leave him stuck with nothing to do since Luger and Konnan turned as well. It would have been better if he just stayed mysterious Crow Sting and hid in the shadows for WCW or as a "free agent."

3. The World Heavyweight Title meant turned into steamy horseshit since Kevin Nash literally GAVE Hogan the belt. He goes through months of beating opponents just to earn the shot, needs Scott Hall to taze Goldberg during the match, and then gives it up like it's an apple pie to his neighbor the very next night? Why work that hard just to give the belt to an older guy who hasn't wrestled in months and who's afraid of the guy you beat? Plus, you want him as your leader? It made Nash go from a main-event player to just another high-card stooge for Hogan, and it made the World Heavyweight Title seem less important than screwing over Goldberg.

4. Speaking of Hogan, yeah, he looked like the mastermind behind this elaborate plot to reclaim the World Heavyweight Title from the guy that beat him, but this wasn't even a match where a bunch of guys ran in and helped him win the title in a match. This isn't even equivalent of Dibiase buying the belt from Andre the Giant. Hell, I WISH Hogan would have presented a case full of money to Nash to buy the belt from him. That would have made some sense! This was more "Hey, Nash, give me the belt now, thanks for doing all the dirty work because I'm a punk and I can't even step in the ring against Goldberg...no, wait, it has to be done in a match, so let's do this in front of the entire world, let's show how much I control you and them." At least Edge, the Ultimate Opportunist, takes his opportunities in the ring. Remember, he had to win Money in the Bank to use it. Hogan never looked weaker and more pathetic than that moment.

5. They put all of their eggs in one basket with Goldberg basically being the only guy to compete against the NWO. At least the Wolfpac was a bunch of faces who could hang with NWO Hollywood. WCW already looked like a bunch of low level jobbers and mid-carders who didn't matter in the main event scene. With the turn, the NWO literally had ALL of the top heels, and the only one main-event face to challenge them was Goldberg. The WWE ALWAYS had minimum two main-event faces and two main-event heels (guys qualified to win the top title) since the first Wrestlemania at any point (with a few short-term exceptions, but I doubt it lasted more than 6 months).

6. Finally, one of the few matches that has NEVER happened in the history of wrestling, and this is the result? The fans were baited into a Goldberg\Hogan rematch on free TV, then a Nash\Hogan match, and between the two not one punch was thrown. This kind of bait and switch pissed a lot of people off in the wrong way. They're lucky they didn't try this on a PPV, because a lot of people would want their money back. WCW could have marketed and benefitted so well if either match had taken place. Even if Nash turned on Goldberg at the end of the Hogan\Goldberg rematch, THAT would have been a much more accepted ending than a fingerpoke. He may well have poked with the middle finger and flipped off the fans. Too bad the fans flipped back by flipping channels.

[jtbsoon2b]

The one title change I would have is:
Kurt Angle beating The Rock at No Mercy, I would have built Angle up ALL the way till WrestleMaina and have him take the title from someone else. Rock v. Austin still could have taken place at WM 17
IMO it would have been alot better for the WWF/E if they did that with Angle
Because looking back now he was just "holding" the title for The Rock until No Way Out, where Rocky won it back and lost to Austin
while his title reign was about 4 months I feel he was only holding it, and in the end I feel it made him look weaker than before.

[DC24]

Starrcade 95 Ric Flair beating Savage; he went thru 60 men at World War 3(I wanted Hogan to win I'm a Hulkamaniac) and survived the Dungeon of Doom just to lose the belt the next month Flair pissed me off I respect Flair but never was a fan. Bret Hart losing to Bob Backlund at Survivor Series just for Diesel to beat him in 15 seconds I found that to be very pointless.

[The Instant Classic91]

Well not quite 100 but I'm pretty sure Jerry Lawler does hold the record, I just wanted to make my argument sound better ;P lol.

Well actually Lawler has held 129 championships in ilustrious career.

But this does include winning the AWA Southeren Heavyweight Championship 52 times.

Anyway the title change Id love to go back and stop?

The Bash at the beach incident, where Jarret lay down for Hogan to win the WCW WHC for 8 millionth time.
Yes we know Hogans politicking and creative control forced Jarret and Russo to give Hogan the belt, and for the first time in my memory Im not blaming Russo, imo they had no choice but to embarress Hogan like that, or risk making Jarret look weak, but sadly that same necesary bullshit was imo the final nail in WCW's coffin.
I realise this title reign lasted all of 5 mins before Russo stripped him of it again.
I lay the blame entirely at Hogans feet, for this bullshit, and the death of WCW.

Rant over :let_it_all_out::let_it_all_out:

[Big Fella]

Interesting that the Hogan/Andre double Hebner affair was mentioned as a title change that should have never happened.

It pains me to say this because the WWF/E has made several poor decisions with the World Title as documented in this thread. That ERA of the WWF is my favorite of all time, but simply put, that decision was bad.

The background behind how the belt was switched is interesting to me.

For those that don't know, Savage was supposed to win the IC belt from Honky Tonk Man on February 5, 1988. Ted Dibiase was scheduled to win the World Title at Wrestlemania 4.

On February 5th, Honky Tonk told Vince that he was negotiating with Jim Crockett and would throw down the IC belt on NWA TV. Vince changed the finish, upsetting Savage. To appease Savage, Vince promised him the World Title at Wrestlemania.

The angle with Dibiase, Andre, and the dueling Hebners was revolutionary, but I think it could have worked better if they planned on giving Savage the strap originally.

Hogan should have dropped the belt to Dibiase on February 5th with the help of Andre and with the inclusion of the Hebner angle. Instead of Jack Tunney stripping Dibiase, he should have declared Dave Hebner a certified WWF official and while not condoning the heelish behavior, upholding the decision.

The outside interference with from Andre could continue the Hogan/Andre feud allowing their match at WM4 to be a supreme grudge match instead of a 2nd round tournament match with a double DQ. That match could have been built and meant much more.

Dibiase would have had a 2 month run as a heel World Champion, proving that his money really could buy the title and getting him over as a bigger heel than ever. Savage could have been named the #1 contender after being impressive against the IC champion (when it meant something) and the Savage/Dibiase feud could have been born.

Essentially everything from WM4-WM5 (a great year) could have remained exactly the same with only a few minor tweaks prior. So while from Feb 5, 88-WM4 was a great time, it could have been just a bit better IMO.

[FlairFan2003]

Another mistake in title switches was when Ric Flair lost the NWA title to Ronnie Garvin. The guy was a mid carder at best. He was not as popular as some other conterders but do to his friendships with the bookers he got the belt for a little while. If I remember it was about a 4 week run before he lost it back to Flair. They should have given the belt to someone else like Barry Windham.

Garvin wasn't friends with the bookers - No one else would lose cleanly at starrcade so Garvin got the belt by default - Rhodes wouldn't do it plus he just won/lost the title one year earlier, Luger wasn't ready yet and Sting was hardly on the map at that time. Kolloff wouldn't lose clean, especially after losing cleanly to Flair in 85. Whyndham wouldn't have been a bad choice as he was a good wrestler who had terrific matches with Flair. Garvin won the title in a televised cage match in September and held it till the end of November.

[twisterwrw929]

I would change every time Randy Orton lost the WWE and World Championship. The first time he won it, he only held if for a month before Triple H beat him at Unforgiven for the championship. The second time at No Mercy 2007 Triple H only beat Orton so he could get an extra title reign and 1 step closer to 17+ championship reigns. And then the third time Triple H beat Orton for the title at Backlash, I thought Orton's reign was going well and that he could have continued being champion throughout the summer till maybe Summerslam, the whole Age of Orton thing was working out so well, but it didn't matter cause Triple H beat him and took the title anyways.

[BigDaddyT]

I would change every time Randy Orton lost the WWE and World Championship. The first time he won it, he only held if for a month before Triple H beat him at Unforgiven for the championship. The second time at No Mercy 2007 Triple H only beat Orton so he could get an extra title reign and 1 step closer to 17+ championship reigns. And then the third time Triple H beat Orton for the title at Backlash, I thought Orton's reign was going well and that he could have continued being champion throughout the summer till maybe Summerslam, the whole Age of Orton thing was working out so well, but it didn't matter cause Triple H beat him and took the title anyways.

During his title match with Triple H when he dropped the belt he broke his collarbone anyway so that would have meant nothing in the long run.

[Fruits Punch Samurai]

Triple H's 4th and 5th Title Reigns. The 4th one, Randy Orton, a month after winning the world title drops in to Trips Because Trips wanted gold around his waist again. Then, After all the shit that went on his title was vacted. I thought, Finally a new champion. What happens he regains it again making the title vactation completely pointless besides moving Trips 1 Step closer to 17 Title Reigns.

[midgensa]

There are a lot of questionable changes ... especially when you have hindsight ... I am not a huge fan of Triple H's two-hour reign at No Mercy (though I do like Trips more than most) ... I actually was a big fan of Rey's run ... so I am not going to mash on that one. I even don't hate Khali's run as it was clear that McMahon was making a major move to a major market in India with this world title run ... and I cannot argue business, no matter how bad the wrestler is.
So ... here is my top 10 title changes that should have never happened:

10. Godfather - Intercontinental Title - 4/12/99 to 5/31/99 This guy simply should have never held a belt. This was at the time where EVERY superstar in the WWF was some sort of former champion with the IC, Euro, Hardcore, Tag Team and World titles out there. I just don't understand why he needed a belt. It didn't make him any more over nor did it aid his or his opponents legacy.
9. Kane - WWF Champion - 6/28/99 to 6/29/98 I dislike this one for different reasons than everyone else. I don't think Kane should have won this title at all, much less had it longer. I am not really saying he should have NEVER been champion, but this was not the right time. Besides, taking it off of Austin only to put it right back on him one day later? Just seems kind of pointless to me.
8. Hollywood Hulk Hogan - WCW Champion - 7/12/99 to 9/12/99 I really dislike this one because they should have let Savage hold on to the belt a little longer and feud with Hogan instead of just putting the strap back on Hulk. Another one-day reign by a superstar like Savage. One of many short title reigns that helped kill WCW.
7. Albert - Intercontinental Champion - 6/26/01 to 7/23/01 Really? Albert beat Kane for a major title? Really? I mean seriously? No way.
6. Ric Flair - 2 WCW Championships - 5/15/00 to 5/22/00 & 5/29/00 to 5/29/00 These are TWO world titles so I am kind of cheating ... but these were ridiculous. It started with him defeating Jarrett and ended two weeks later with the strap back on Jarrett's waist. Absolute lunacy right in the middle of WCW's downfall. I love Flair, he is one of the greatest ever, but he did not deserve TWO world title reigns in two weeks at 51-years-old.
5. Kevin Nash - WCW Champion - 12/27/98 to 1/4/99 This is of course the Finger Poke of Doom and is often talked about because of the ENDING and lay down to Hogan, but the fact is ... the belt should have NEVER left Goldberg's waist in the first place. He was the top draw (with Hogan) and a feud with Hogan could have saved WCW's ratings/revenue at least a little bit. Instead, they take it off of their top draw ... put it back on Hogan and everything seems stale. Goldberg was taken out of the picture for a while and never really returned ... and while the Finger Poke takes the blame ... the match a few days earlier where Goldberg lost HIS TITLE (has the WHC looked better on anyone else really?) was where WCW officially lost the war and sealed its fate.
FOUR-WAY TIE
Vince McMahon - WWF Champion - 9/14/99 to 9/20/99, David Arquette - WCW Champion - 4/25/00 to 5/7/00, Vince Russo - WCW Champion - 9/25/00 to 10/2/00 and Vince McMahon - ECW Champion - 4/29/07 to 6/3/07All four of these are obvious ... NON-WRESTLER's winning MAJOR titles (and all of them taking the titles off of major stars). The first one (McMahon over Trips, Vacated, back to Trips) is SLIGHTLY excusable because it was the first, was kind of funny and he really went overboard to win (was not even slightly clean).
Arquette winning the title has been discussed at length and clearly should NEVER have happened.
Russo topping Booker T. only to vacate back to Booker T. was clearly just a slap to McMahon saying "I can do it too." The only difference Russo, you idiot, is that McMahon was getting ratings.
And the one that makes me the most irate is McMahon with the ECW title. He clearly did this because he LOVES burying everything about ECW, from the wrestlers, to Heyman to the World Title of the former great company itself. This was just another way for McMahon to say, "ECW is a fucking joke." And to those of us that remember ECW in its prime ... a joke it definitely was not.

[twisterwrw929]

During his title match with Triple H when he dropped the belt he broke his collarbone anyway so that would have meant nothing in the long run.

That's incorrect, Orton dropped the belt to Triple H at Backlash, Orton didn't get hurt until one of his rematches at One Night Stand in their second Last Man Standing Match. If Orton would have retained at Backlash there is a chance that he would have moved on from defending against Triple H for a while, and even if he did keep facing him, I believe that it's unlikely they would have faced in a Last Man Standing Match again.

[simpsons_fanatic742]

If I was able to reverse a title change, I would reverse the Rey Mysterio title reign. It's not that I hate the guy, but he doesn't do it for me. I believe he got the belt because of Eddie's death and Vince doing this was like a sign of respect to Eddie, which is nice and everything, but Rey is not a credible champion in my eyes. His size lacks and makes his matches and victories hard to believe. He couldn't hang with the main eventers and shouldn't have been put there to begin with. He a solid mid-carder, but not a main eventer. There's just some things that people can't pull off and Rey couldn't pull off being the world heavyweight champion. This could also be blamed on bad booking, but I don't think he would have looked good as a champion to me either way.

[bassmann87]

I would not have had Bret Hart drop the title to Psycho Sid the night after the February 1997 In Your House. He and Austin have their WrestleMania 13 match (arguably the match of the decade) as the main event of WM 13. Austin gets even more over than he was after the match already, and Bret drops the title to him at KOR or SummerSlam. WWF turns the corner quicker in the battle w/ WCW. Who knows, maybe Bret never leaves for WCW, which means no Montreal, but the Attitude Era is still initiated.

[Beeyond_Good_and_Evil]

Santino beating Umaga for the IC title on Raw. Youre supposed to be making this guy look dominant and u have him lose to a jobber from the crowd. totally worthless and now were stuck with santino and all his obnoxious fans.

[WillYouStopIt!]

Would not have had Bret Hart lose to Bob Backlund back at Survivor Series 1994, only to have Backlund lose the World title at a house show to Diesel. First of all if Vince wanted to push Diesel as his new champ he could have done much better to build him up. Diesel should have gone on to win Royal Rumble '95 as opposed to Shawn who's win did absolutely nothing. Also, instead of losing the belt to Backlund, Bret should have kept the belt and lost it to Diesel at Wrestlemania 11. I think a great feud could have developed between Hart and Diesel from after Nash's Rumble win all the way to Survivor Series where Bret regained the world title. I don't know if this would have worked, but I think this would have been much better than what went on in the WWF in 1995.