7 Times WWE Buried Their Champions
They're...they're meant to be good at wrestling, aren't they? Isn't that why they wear gold belts?
Roman Reigns is currently engaged in a pre-WrestleMania filler feud with Braun Strowman, but he's not quite lodged firmly enough in our throats, so WWE has elected to have him get the better of RAW Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on the past few editions of Monday Night RAW.
They are the Tag Team Champions. They are meant to be the best two men in their division. There are two of them. Reigns should be no match. Reigns apparently needs to look strong, if he is to credibly oppose The Undertaker at WrestleMania, but the message was received clearly years ago. That's why fans jeer him at every opportunity. Booking him to handily batter the finest storyline tandem on the roster, two men who have just about retained their NJPW fanboy credibility, is hardly the way to stem the tide of the hardcore boo boys.
There's an argument to be made that such a development needn't be taken too seriously. At Royal Rumble 1994, Diesel was just one soldier in an army dispatched to take down the Undertaker. He looked as weak as Brock Lesnar on a round-the-world trip, and things ended well enough for him.
But the trend hardly began a fortnight ago - and it's one that has had dire impacts on the credibility of many a performer.
7. Randy Orton
Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit, much as it pains WWE now, to capture his first World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2004. The company had spent aeons building Orton up as a the next big thing - literally, through the stated aim of the faction he was part of, he was to evolve and eventually reach the stratospheric level occupied by Ric Flair and Triple H.
WWE, demonstrably, had major plans for Orton - all of which were shelved in about or month or so.
On RAW twenty four hours later, Triple H turned on Orton after he successfully defended his title in a rematch with Benoit. This made sense, even if it occurred much too quickly. Triple H had essentially revealed that Evolution was designed to protect his title, rather than succeed his legacy. It was all expected, at some point - factions are created to create matches further down the line - but WWE burned through weeks of an intriguing storyline in one night. That was just the start of it. The booking was as moronic as it was rapid.
Orton responded to Triple H's betrayal by spitting in his face and running away. How on earth that was meant to get him over as a babyface is incomprehensible, but this was 2004. WWE in that same year allowed non-contracted women to utter the words "Having a c*ck in your mouth has nothing to do with wrestling" on the flagship.
Orton fared little better when he lost the title to Triple H less than a month later, at Unforgiven. He blindsided Trips by emerging from a cake during the celebrations for his title win. Because acting like a stripper really helped Shawn Michaels get over as a face in 1996.