10 DUMB WWE Title Changes (We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS!)
8. The Miz (2021)
Some might've forgotten that The Miz snatched Money In The Bank glory from ladder match winner Otis towards the end of 2020/into early 2021 then cashed in on Drew McIntyre. It seemed almost surreal that Miz was WWE Champion again - he'd been more of a midcard attraction for a decade plus, yet here he was trolling everyone with the top belt.
The circumstances are crucial here.
Drew had just won a gruelling Elimination Chamber match, so think of this as a heel chipping away at McIntyre’s heroic exterior and pushing him closer to an eventual heel turn. WWE didn’t know it at the time, obviously, but they were adding fuel to the fire for Drew's character. This was one of his first big disappointments.
Accidentally or not, booking moments like this shaped McIntyre into a hardened Steve Austin-style 'don't trust anybody' kind of wrestler. Miz didn't hold the title for long before dropping it to Bobby Lashley, but he did successfully irritate a lot of people by even being involved at the top table again.