10 Last-Minute WWE Champions
Who did WWE turn to in times of emergency?
In the world of sports-entertainment, decisions often have to be made quickly and without warning. With a company the size of WWE and the nature of the professional wrestling business, all types of decisions come into play: big decisions, small decisions, important decisions, minor decisions, the works. Not the least of which is the company's choice for their World Champion.
Throughout pro-wrestling history, this type of decision was so vital to the health of the business that promoters across the world formed a committee to vote on the World Champion. This group became known as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and there was no greater decision than the one surrounding the NWA World Champion. In fact, it was so important that Vincent J. McMahon (owner of the WWWF) seceded from the NWA in 1963 over a dispute regarding the World Champion selection.
While the business has certainly changed from the 1960s, the selection of World Champion remains one of the more crucial decisions a promotion like WWE has to make. Factors like fan reaction, marketability, drawing power, and more are all considered when determining the next WWE Champion. Every now and then, WWE found itself in an emergency situation where they've crowned a new champion without conducting their typical level of due diligence.
Instead of deliberating extensively, there have been times when WWE reacted very quickly in their crowning of a world champion. Which superstars were the beneficiaries of such last-minute booking decisions? Let's take a look...
10. Big Show (1999)
In 1999, WWE went through a number of changes, including the talents they decided to make WWE Champion. The year started off with The Rock and Mankind trading the title back-and-forth in a series of matches that ranged from the brutally hardcore (Royal Rumble '99) to the ridiculously embarrassing (Halftime Heat) to a standard wrestling match (RAW on 1/4/99). By the time of fall of '99, Stone Cold Steve Austin was back wearing the gold but his neck had once again become a major concern.
Once it was known that Austin would be requiring major neck surgery that would likely keep him out of the ring for an entire year, WWE was scrambling to adjust their plans for the rest of 1999 and beyond.
The original main event of Survivor Series '99 was a Triple Threat Match between Austin, The Rock, and Triple H. Austin was eventually replaced with The Big Show and, to throw fans off the predictable finish of Triple H retaining the title, the former Giant captured his first WWE Championship.
To further illustrate how little was planned for Big Show as WWF Champion, he dropped the title back to Triple H on the 3 January, 2000 edition of Raw, just 7 weeks after winning it.