10 DUMB WWE Title Changes (We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS!)
5. Big Show (2002)
If you hated Brock beating Kofi in 2019, then you'll get a right good chuckle out of Lesnar suffering some misfortune of his own back in 2002. Initially, it seemed daft to think that Big Show would be the one handpicked to beat Brock and end his first WWE Title reign at Survivor Series that year. Show hadn't exactly been reliable, had he?
WWE looked past his shortcomings and towards the bigger picture.
Show beating Brock in Madison Square Garden achieved two things. One, it got the scheming Paul Heyman (who came across less like he cared about Show and more than he wanted the belt himself) out of there and enabled Brock to push towards a babyface run. Two, it meant Kurt Angle could win the belt from Paul Wight at Armageddon then drop it to newfound baby success story Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX.
In short, Show was a buffer zone between those guys that meant WWE wouldn't need to burn Angle vs. Lesnar on a 'B'-tier pay-per-view. Smartly, they also booked Angle vs. Chris Benoit at the Rumble, then focused on Brock's march back towards the crown.
Those groans in MSG had been all for naught.