10 Ridiculous Ways WWE Champions Lost Their Titles

8. The Rock Defeats Vince McMahon To Dethrone Triple H

Sable Debra
WWE

At WrestleMania 2000, The Rock lost to Triple H at the at of a fatal four way to ensure that Hunter retained his beloved WWE Championship. The following month, 'The Great One' defeated 'The Game' in a climactic Backlash singles clash to take the title back. A month after that, the two went one incredible and gutsy hour in a Judgment Day Iron Man match before a late disqualification fall sent the belt back to the future 'King Of Kings'.

In a manner of speaking, Triple H had "won" the programme. But there remained the small matter of Rocky regaining the gold. In stepped Vince McMahon. Or down he laid, anyway.

2000's King Of The Ring was the first pay-per-view of the year (outside of, oddly enough, WrestleMania) that wasn't one of the company's best ever, but this fairly flimsy main event concept was obscured in the post-script by an incredible bump Shane McMahon took through a ringside announce table courtesy of a flying Undertaker chokeslam from the ringpost.

Amidst that chaos, The Rock pinned McMahon, thus becoming Champion again without getting the last word on the his long-standing rival.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett