10 Real Life Events That Forced WWE Title Changes

1. Kurt Angle Wins WWE Title At Unforgiven 2001 Because Of 9/11

Everything changed when two planes flew into two towers at World Trade Center on September 11th 2001. It feels trivial to talk about its impact on wrestling but nevertheless, WWE acted swiftly to change their plans following the attacks.

WWE Smackdown was due to tape the night of Tuesday September 11th but instead they aired a live special edition of Smackdown for Thursday's timeslot, and it was a show where we saw superstars in tears as they stood strong for America and did their best to entertain.

That show wasn't about storylines. It was about putting smiles on faces. At Unforgiven two weeks later, heel WWE Champion Steve Austin defended against the babyface challenger (and hometown boy) Kurt Angle. They had a very good match (like they always did) with Angle winning by making Austin tap out to the ankle lock. It was a clean win although when Austin tapped out, his other hand was under the bottom rope as a way to create a rematch.

Seeing Austin tap out was very rare in those days but it was booked as an American Olympic hero triumphing over the bad-guy at a time when America needed a hero.