11 Awesome WWE Title Moments That Became FORGOTTEN

WWE programming seems to move at a faster rate than it used to. For proof, consider this: Kevin Owens poaching the 'Winged Eagle' title from traditionalist Cody Rhodes on the 14 December 2024 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event feels like ancient history at time of writing less than 2 years later.

The setup was awesome. Triple H had let Cody wear the ‘Winged Eagle’ WWE Title heading into the show. Then, Owens stole it post-match and began calling himself the “true champion”. Things got so heated that the warring pair needed a super-physical ladder match at Royal Rumble 2025 to end their feud.

KO got injured shortly after this, so the majesty of his nostalgia-fuelled rivalry with Cody is never brought up. It's like their rivalry exists in some bubble that made up an alternative reality. Again, at time of writing, Owens is back to being a beloved babyface, and he's more likely to save Rhodes from a kicking than hit him with a spike piledriver.

Michael Cole has opined that Sami Zayn often treats the WWE Title like he's Gollum from Lord Of The Rings and it's his "precious". Kev beat him to the punch on that Sméagol-tastic approach. The way he'd stare longingly at the 'Winged Eagle' and smooch it like it was his beloved was tremendous stuff.

WWE pushed the retro title out of the conversation after Rhodes toppled Owens at the Rumble. Maybe they'll never bring it back again. That's a guess, but Triple H seems to have had his fill of nostalgic overtones.