10 Most Shocking First-Time WWE Champions
2. Bret Hart
One of the most shocking first-time WWE Champions of all-time came in late 1992 when Bret Hart, the former Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion, defeated Ric Flair via The Sharpshooter on a non-televised house show in Saskatoon.
As great as Bret was in the ring, the WWE Championship had only been held by superstars presented as "larger than life". The Hulk Hogans, Andre The Giants, Ultimate Warriors, and Macho Mans were all perceived as bigger stars than the perennial mid-carder Bret Hart.
While Savage and Warrior were both former Intercontinental Champions that eventually won the world title, they weren't in the mid-card for very long, a couple of years tops.
Bret had been wrestling in the opening contest or in the mid-card for nearly 8 years and fans never expected the WWE to give The Hitman a run with the big belt. Even winning the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam '91 was seen as a surprise, given his career as a tag team wrestler, but was believed to be the Hitman's ceiling, even by the performer himself.
Giving Bret the WWE title proved to be the right move and it paved the way for other smaller wrestlers and mid-carders like Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and The Rock to one day make it to the very top of the WWE mountain.