10 Best World Titles Changes On Raw

7. Sycho Sid - February 17, 1997

Sycho Sid Bret Hart
WWE.com

Though WWE considers Bret Hart's profanity-laden tirade on the March 17, 1997 episode of Raw the official start of the Attitude Era, the seeds for the controversial (and popular) period of wrestling history had already been planted in the form of wilder programming.

At In Your House: Final Four, Bret Hart defeated Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Vader, claiming the vacant WWE World Championship that Shawn Michaels had forfeited after "losing his smile." In the process, Hart became a four-time champion and archrival Austin became very angry.

The following evening on Raw, Hart was scheduled to defend the title against Sycho Sid, but the match couldn't get underway - Austin kept running in to attack Hart. Finally, at the end of the show, the match began, but interference from Austin helped Sid claim victory and the WWE World Championship.

The bitterness between "Stone Cold" and "The Hitman" reached a new apex, and for the very first time, the WWE World Championship had changed hands on Raw.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013