10 Lamest WWE Title Changes

I hope you people are happy. If we were doing WCW, I’d have to mention this man a lot more. But thankfully, as we’re only doing WWE, this is the only time I will have to bring up Mr. Vincent James Russo. And that’s the God’s honest truth, bro.

It was June of 1998, and things were pretty darn swell for WWE. Thanks to Steve Austin winning the title at WrestleMania, the company was now running even with WCW in the ratings war, and business all-round had picked up. Common wisdom suggests that it was far too early in Austin’s reign to have him lose the title to someone, even if it was a strongly protected monster character like Kane.

But bro, listen, hear me out, bro.

At King of the Ring, in a First Blood Match, the stipulation was that if Kane did not win the title, he would set himself on fire. Now, I have no way of proving this, but considering what ideas Vince Russo (then head writer) has unleashed, something tells me there were heavy discussions about actually setting Kane on fire.

They didn’t do that, however. Instead, in an entertainingly overbooked main event, both Mankind and The Undertaker ran in to cause a ruckus. ‘Taker inadvertently hit Austin with a chair, causing the Rattlesnake to bleed. Thus Kane, who by this point was unconscious, was the new WWE Champion.

And then Austin won the title back the very next night. Who else but Russo?