10 Great WWE Championship Reigns (That Ended In The Worst Way Possible)

There is a lot to love about Bob Backlund. The man is a freak in the best possible way, a cerebral athlete who defies the laws of physics on a daily basis and will absolutely shout physics down if it tries to get in the way. Backlund is a professional wrestling icon.

A wrestling icon he may be, but who’s idea was it to have a 44-year-old Backlund return to WWE and dethrone Bret Hart as champion? The Hitman was finally getting a chance to run with the title following Hulk Hogan’s defection to WCW. WWE desperately needed to make some new stars, and it was that desperation that ultimately saw Hart lose the title, as contradictory as it sounds. Vince McMahon had a shiny new toy, a plaything called Diesel.

Rather than have Diesel beat Bret for the title, a transition was required, a transition that came in the form of a man who had last held the coveted title in 1983. A man who basically retired in 1985. A national treasure, but a national treasure from a very different era.

Yes, the crossface chickenwing was awesome and yes, Backlund delivered some delightful promos at the time, but booking Bob to beat Bret was an anticlimactic way to end Hart’s reign as champion. The Hitman had spent the year getting good to great matches out of lumps like King Kong Bundy, Jim Neidhart and Yokozuna; losing the title to Backlund was a kick in the teeth.