10 Great Wrestling World Title Reigns Marred By Bad Endings

10. Brock Lesnar (WWE Championship)

In arguably the greatest rookie year in WWE history, a hulking (but oddly babyfaced) Brock Lesnar threw legends around the ring like they were haystacks at his family's South Dakota farm.

At SummerSlam '02, the University of Minnesota wrestling standout crushed The Rock to become WWE Champion. Despite being a brutish heel who'd savaged fan favourites like The Hardy Boyz and Hulk Hogan, Lesnar had the crowd behind him.

Fans had grown increasingly jaded with the departure of Steve Austin, and The Rock's movie commitments. Wanting a new, full-time star to carry the promotion forward, audiences embraced the young monster before them.

As WWE Champion, The Next Big Thing had a great (if rather soap opera-ish) feud with The Undertaker. Getting under The Deadman's skin and messing with his personal life (The Beast Incarnate bullying 'Taker's pregnant wife is not something that'd fly these days), Lesnar was portrayed as a diabolical legend killer.

After an epic Hell in a Cell victory, the future UFC Heavyweight Champion was challenged by The Big Show whose popularity had been in freefall since his demotion to the midcard (and OVW, at one point) in 2000.

Cashing in on a real-life rib injury, WWE booked Heyman to screw Lesnar and for Show to take advantage and steal the title. Just three months after his epic reign began, the super rookie was a former champion. What followed was an ill-fitting babyface role while WWE hurriedly moved the title over to Kurt Angle. It was all very disappointing in a year where hot potato was played with the top title far too much.