10 Totally Soul-Crushing WWE Title Changes
5. Eddie Guerrero Vs The Big Show (No Mercy 2003)
Ahead of his unthinkable WWE Title victory over Brock Lesnar at February's No Way Out 2004, Eddie Guerrero was on the babyface run of his life in 2003 after establishing a deep connection with the audience despite attempts to keep him a heel.
This was never more apparent that the company's last-ditch effort to make him a heel following a breakdown in relations between him and makeshift partner Tajiri. After losing the tag titles to the Worlds Greatest Tag Team, Eddie delivered a gutwrench powerbomb to the 'Japanese Buzzsaw' on his low-rider, but 'Latino Heat' only galvanised more support in the turn.
His 'lie, cheat, steal' mantra had just become too popular, and was a natural fit to lift the United States Title immediately upon it's reintroduction in July. So often guilty of neglecting the obvious option in their storytelling, it was encouraging for WWE to make a call so instantly rewarding to fans, but this perhaps triggered the factory reset mentality just three months later at the height of Eddie's popularity.
Lumbering and aggressively overweight at the time, Big Show was the ultimate WWE safety bet as a heel as a face, but his dominant displays over one of SmackDown's fastest rising megastar set Guerrero back months, and sapped all quality from the division ahead of John Cena's own 2004 ascension.