10 Most Shocking First-Time WWE Champions
1. Ivan Koloff
Despite being the oldest title change on the list, it still ranks as the most shocking of all-time.
On January 18, 1971, The Russian Bear Ivan Koloff defeated the iconic and legendary Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship following a top rope kneedrop. This was stunning in that Bruno had held the WWWF title for over 7 and a half years, and fans were not expecting Bruno's run to end when it did. The Garden was stunned.
Koloff could only call himself champion for 21 days as he lost the WWWF title to Pedro Morales, a newcomer to the territory.
The title swap served as a way to move the title over to Pedro Morales without doing a babyface vs. babyface match, basically forbidden in the early days. Book-ended by the near 8 year reign of Bruno Sammartino and the near 3 year reign of Pedro Morales, Ivan Koloff can consider himself the very first "transitional champion" in WWE history.
Long-time WWE fans that witnessed The Undertaker's Streak being broken at WrestleMania XXX have often compared that moment to the night Bruno lost the title at Madison Square Garden. That is an elite status of shock to say the very least.