9 WWE Championship Wins That Were Completely Overshadowed
Kevin Owens wasn't the only one to play second fiddle on his biggest night.
Winning a world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment is a hugely emotional moment. Whilst we might see enough title changes for their importance to be somewhat dulled from a fans point of view, for the individuals who win the belts it is still an acknowledgement of ability and work and value to the company. Winning a belt will always be a big deal.
Sometimes, however, big emotional championship wins are overshadowed by the circumstances that allow that belt to come into their hands. We saw it last night, as Kevin Owens won the WWE Universal Championship thanks to the interference of Triple H, with questions of the motives of Hunter louder than the celebrations of the Prizefighter.
There are countless examples of this in professional wrestling and - as with most things in this world - a certain amount of it is subjective. You could argue that Ric Flair's 1992 Royal Rumble success was overshadowed by the bickering between Hogan and Sid, or even that The Undertaker winning the WWF Championship to set that story off was overshadowed by Flair getting involved in that match.
For me, nine examples stick out of an individual winning a championship in WWE but the winning of the belt being a minor story coming out of the show. These are those nine examples.
9. Brock Lesnar - WrestleMania XIX
In the main event of WrestleMania XIX, Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship. It was the first WrestleMania main event to feature two men performing under their real names, and was one of the best pure wrestling matches to headline the Show of Shows. Lesnar prevailed after 21 gruelling minutes.
The quality of the match isn't what anyone was talking about after the bout, though.
No, instead it was Lesnar's botched Shooting Star Press that was the talk of the town. After hitting Angle with an F-5, Lesnar decided to put the cherry square on the top of the cake, but somewhere in between leaving the top rope and connecting with the mat, Lesnar didn't quite complete his mid-air rotation.
The Next Big Thing landed square on his forehead, suffering a concussion and minor neck injuries. He was lucky he didn't kill himself. He still won the match and the title, but the failed SSP has gone down in history as one of the most infamous botches in history. It is remembered more than the title change the closed out the 19th WrestleMania.