10 Times WWE Totally BOTCHED A New Title

The idea of restarting ECW as a third brand under the WWE umbrella was always fraught with risk, but the first step seemed like a smart one.

At ECW One Night Stand in 2006, Rob Van Dam successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, defeating John Cena for the WWE Championship. He was immediately awarded the resurrected ECW title and became a dual World titleholder - quite the distinction for a guy who never had reached the mountaintop in either company.

But it all fell apart a few weeks later.

Van Dam was arrested for drug possession, which led to him losing both World titles on back-to-back days, with Big Show capturing the ECW Championship in Philadelphia, of all places. Bobby Lashley would finally dethrone Show to end that period, but Mr. McMahon would take the title off Lashley about five months later, effectively making the title a joke and solidifying the notion that ECW and its title was a tier below Raw and SmackDown.

The ECW title would suffer another hit when it was defended for the first time at WrestleMania 24, only for Kane to defeat Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 11 seconds, turning what was hyped as a momentous occasion into another cruel joke. The title would be deactivated less than two years later when ECW ended as a brand, making way for NXT.