10 Ridiculous Ways WWE Champions Lost Their Titles
5. Owen Hart Beats "Triple H"
Clearly learning a few lessons from his best mate (more on that elsewhere in this very list), Triple H may well have been more than happy to lose the European Championship to Owen Hart in the first half of 1998 had he not been injured for much of January and February.
But results - the tangible evidence, the proof that 'The Game' always cynically leans on when people dare to remember how torturous his mid-2000s title runs were - don't bear it out. This particular contrivance was creative, but one Hunter was likely only too happy to go along with.
Sandwiched between battering Owen with a crutch at the Royal Rumble and beating him at WrestleMania, a crocked Hunter sent The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust out there to lose a match against 'The Black Hart' without realising that the result would stand if the title was lost. Which, conveniently, it was.
Owen getting something over DX post-Montreal was refreshing, but that rarified air wouldn't last. Even after the 'Show Of Shows' loss, Owen was beaten like a drum until he was left with no choice but to join the Nation Of Domination to try and even stacked odds.