10 Great WWE Wrestlers Who Had Terrible First World Title Reigns

It was way back in 1999 when Triple H became world champion for the first time, defeating Mankind the night after SummerSlam to be crowned WWF Champion. It must’ve felt like all the hard work and effort had finally paid off. Now imagine how Hunter felt when Vince McMahon told the new champion he’d be dropping the gold to Vince himself.

In his first defence, Triple H was pinned by Vince (with a little help from ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin), and the Chairman became the new WWF Champion. The feud between the two went on to bigger and better things, but it couldn’t have been a good feeling to be an exceptional athlete losing the world title to a business man with very little in-ring experience. ‘The Game’ won the WWF Championship back after McMahon vacated the strap, but the record books will always show Vince McMahon beat Triple H for the WWF Championship just 23 days into his inaugural title reign.

The 'Cerebral Assassin' went on to become one of the most influential and successful stars in the 'E, collecting a string of accolades and having significantly better runs as world champion. It’s safe to say Triple H won in the end. Hell, he even married Vince’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon. If that doesn’t make up for a terrible first world championship reign then nothing does.