10 Totally Soul-Crushing WWE Title Changes

4. Neville Vs Akira Tozawa (WWE Raw, August 2017)

Akira Tozawa Titus O'Neil Apollo Crews
WWE.com

Perhaps the biggest victim of WWE's counter-productive efforts to nurture their struggling television ratings and raise stagnating Network subscriber numbers, Neville has been forced to jump through countless hoops off-screen and yet still maintained his phenomenal role in front of the camera.

Either dragged out for meaningless spots on Monday Night Raw or hidden away in the purple badlands of 205 Live, the 'King Of The Cruiserweights' has epitomised the company's internal philosophy of 'maximising the minutes', gobbling up every second of screen time with his sensational portrayal as demonic heel.

His matches have routinely stolen shows, even in only receiving scant promotion. Forced onto kickoff shows, (and in the case of his WrestleMania curtain raiser with Austin Aries, off the DVD release), some of his best work has been criminally overlooked by the company despite maintaining the attention and support of the fanbase at large.

WWE may hotshot the title back on to the former champion at SummerSlam, but in defeat, he loses more than just a Championship. Such is the subverted nature of the present day product, his loss may be a reward for his hard work in the form of a promotion back to the main roster. If not, the company should prepare for a rebuilt Cruiserweight kingdom to burn yet again.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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