10 Most Wildly Unpopular WWE Title Changes

1. Ivan Koloff Defeats Bruno Sammartino - Madison Square Garden 1971

Ivan Koloff is the third WWF/E Champion in its illustrious history. A full-blooded Canadian hailing from the famous place of Montreal, Quebec, his gimmick- during a time where wrestlers didn't particularly speak or cut promos in any way- was that of 'The Russian Bear' whom was initially introduced as being from the Ukraine, in a fine example of hapless ignorance. Koloff was a hated heel and, thus, when he became the man to end Bruno Sammartino's mammoth 2, 803 day WWF Title reign (over 7 ½ years!) in 1971, the live crowd in MSG- used to nothing other than comfortable Sammartino victories- felt their collective mouths drop to the floor. There was no celebration from Koloff. No real pomp or ceremony. He very swiftly grabbed the belt and left ringside- a wise move, before the fans might choose to act on their outrage, an outrage that left them speechless. The story goes that it was Sammartino himself who pushed Vince McMahon into taking the belt off of him, refusing to defend it any further otherwise. McMahon, backed into a corner by Sammartino's demands, selected Pedro Morales as his next babyface champion but, during a time when the fans readily assumed pro-wrestling was real, rather than have a babyface defeat a babyface, he used Koloff as a bridge-gap between the two. Koloff reigned as champion for a mere 21 days. 3 weeks in between two title reigns that totalled over 10 years. Thus became the prototype for the early years of the WWE title. A long-term, dominant, babyface champion and a short-term heel to transition to the next one. In many ways, such a routine has never changed. Whilst weekly television means the reigns are shorter and changes far more frequent, WWE is always looking forward towards the next big babyface that can run with their top strap for a good while. They did it with Austin. With Michaels. With Hart and Cena. All along the way there will still always be those heel runs that come in-between; some booed in principle and others genuinely hated. With the exception of Cena- an anomaly- on this list, every win was by a heel. Perhaps, even in this new €œreality age€ kayfabe is more alive than people give it credit for... just in an entirely different, less obvious incarnation.