10 Amazing WWE World Title Wins (That Led To Lame Championship Runs)
A crowning moment of glory - but what came next killed it for these WWE stars...
Few things in wrestling can top a truly great world title win.
The belts may not mean what they once did, but when a performer is in the right place at the right time, the strap seems a prize worth winning, and the build is done right, that moment of jubilation as they raise their newly nabbed title above their head is about as good as it gets.
The question is - what next? The chase is almost always way more exciting than the subsequent run as champion, as the high point of the story has been and gone, but even the champions whose coronations were moments of genius can be victims of a substandard follow up programme.
More often than not, this is down to issues beyond the performer’s control - injuries can curtail a run, or the bookers can decide to hotshot the title straight onto someone else for yet another ratings pop. Sometimes, though, the wrestler in question turns out to be a poor fit for the belt, or can find the pressure too much to take.
These angles all produced unforgettable moments - but the fleeting glory made way for disappointment.
10. Chris Benoit
There are many reasons it’s tough to talk about Chris Benoit’s sole run as Heavyweight Champion, and while the disappointing nature of his time with the belt is meaningless by comparison, it remains a let down.
Benoit’s win over TripleH and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX was a moment for the ages, an unfancied technical worker going over two megastars in one of the best main events ever. If you’ve ever watched Benoit wrestle, you couldn’t argue that he didn’t deserve it.
As champ, he had some great matches, most notably the similarly brilliant rematch at Backlash, but it was clear enough that the bookers weren’t behind the intense but not overly charismatic Benoit as the face of the company. With Eddie Guerrero floundering somewhat with the other title, the powers that be decided to mix things up sooner rather than later.
Benoit lost the belt to Randy Orton after a relatively short run, and as far as his world title credentials went, that was about it. Benoit could and probably should have been a far more decorated wrestler in WWE, but this run fell flat after an all time great, if heavily tainted, win.