10 Totally Soul-Crushing WWE Title Changes

2. Six-Man Cruiserweight Open (Great American Bash 2007)

Akira Tozawa Titus O'Neil Apollo Crews
WWE.com

Though hardly the top priority of WWE at any point during the near-two decades a variation of the lightweight division has existed, the company's Cruiserweight Title hit rock bottom in 2007 when a record-breaking Gregory Helms tenure and choice Chavo Guerrero spell were followed up by a victory for Hornswoggle that literally murdered the league.

The Great American Bash had hosted the type of multi-person spotfest the division had become a dumping ground for by 2007, but when Guerrero put the gold up for grabs against Shannon Moore, Funaki, Jamie Noble and Jimmy Wang Yang it at least assured audiences that the gold's prestige would be in good hands.

As usual, Hornswoggle was the punchline to a joke nobody was telling.

Emerging from underneath the ring as he was wont to do, the former 'Little B*stard' hit his Tadpole Splash on an unsuspecting Jamie Noble, rolling the former Ring Of Honor World Champion up to land his first and only singles title with the organisation.

After repeatedly getting the better of Noble on television in the aftermath, the diminutive star was then settled upon as the panicked outcome of the 'Mr McMahon's Illegitimate Son' storyline, forcing his surrender of the title for no adequately explained reason. It was mothballed completely, returning only last year in the 205-and-under format following the summer's Cruiserweight Classic.

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