10 WWE Title Moments You DEFINITELY Can’t Remember
Ghost champions, forgotten challengers and customised WWE Title belts you've never seen before!
It'd be impossible to remember everything that's happened with the WWE Title.
The belt has been around in some form or fashion under different names since 1963, and the company has crowned countless official champions since. Workers like Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Steve Austin, The Rock and current incumbent Cody Rhodes have become either established stars or legends thanks to their association with wrestling's biggest prize.
Very good, but there's a whole host of other stuff tied to the title that most have forgotten about too. For example, do you remember any of the "ghost" champs who technically held the belt in various match types over the years? How about one of the most random WWE Title challenges ever from an episode of SmackDown back in 2002?
Customised designs for Austin, Cena and even Daniel Bryan live long in the memory, but there's another that only made TV once before being scrapped. It wasn't for a wrestler holding the title at the time either, which only makes the thing even quirkier.
Enjoy this tour around some of the WWE Title's lesser-known moments.
10. Edge Steps In For The Undertaker
There are contrasting reports about exactly what happened at the UK-only Rebellion 2002 pay-per-view. Some suggest The Undertaker was supposed to wrestle Matt Hardy in the opener before being replaced by Booker T last-minute. The other claim? 'Taker would've taken the fight to Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in a handicap match in the main event.
That'd make more sense, because 'The Deadman' was feuding with Brock when the show took place. In fact, Brock had just beaten him in an underrated Hell In A Cell bout at No Mercy six nights before. Therefore, it's logical to assume that Edge was stepping in for his elder and getting a rare crack at the big belt in late '02.
Keep in mind that Edge wasn't a main event star quite yet, so this could've been considered a disappointment to some fans hoping to see a rivalry from WWE's mainline PPVs hit Sky Box Office. Instead, they were treated to Edge targeting Heyman before Lesnar put a stop to that and retained the belt he'd soon drop to Big Show at Survivor Series.
Those UK exclusive shows really were just house shows with cameras, eh?