8 Title Reigns WWE Booked In The WORST Way Possible
Those WWE title reigns that were booked horrendously.
A title reign in WWE, or any wrestling company, is supposed to be a symbol of excellence. Usually earned by talent who've shown greatness and a connection with the audience, it is recognition that a superstar is a cornerstone of the promotion on which things should be built around presently or in the future. Only, this isn't always the case.
Occasionally, poor booking from WWE creative can turn a blessing into a curse when it comes to putting a championship on a talent. Something that should take a performer to the next level actually halts their momentum due to terrible match-making or stale storylines. What should be the coronation of their years of hard work quickly turns into a nightmare, as a talent is given terrible creative that does nothing to enhance them or the belt they wear around their waist.
Whether it's that the office doesn't believe in the performer they've made champion or, in some cases, that champion doesn't even get the opportunity to properly defend their title, the following are just a handful of WWE title reigns that sank without a trace due to awful booking.
8. Kofi Kingston - WWE Champion (2019)
No matter how much revisionist history some people try to bring to WWE, the last decade of watching WWE under Vince McMahon's creative decision-making was miserable. Being swerved and goaded by his insane booking is precisely why Kofi Kingston's march towards winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 was so enjoyable. Because genuine, fan-led, feel-good stories and bona fide WrestleMania Moments like the ones fans got to enjoy during the megalomaniacal billionaire's pomp had become so thin on the ground.
As Xavier Woods and Big E celebrated Kofi's victory over Daniel Bryan in the ring, with tears in their eyes, Kingston winning the biggest prize in WWE, it actually felt like the dawn of something special. It was a zeitgeist-defining moment for both fans and performers that felt like a changing of the guard. We should have all known better, as Kingston was given an infuriating title run that ended in the most galling way possible.
A litany of terrible booking decisions plagued Kofi Kingston during his title reign, including an inconclusive double count-out at SummerSlam with Randy Orton and having to defend his title against Dolph Ziggler four times in five weeks. This paled in comparison to Brock Lesnar squashing Kofi in 7 seconds to win the WWE Title on the season premiere episode of SmackDown on October 4th, 2019, in what remains one of the most enraging title changes in WWE history.