11 Notable WWE Title Changes That Happened At House Shows
Styles beating KO was just the latest in a long history of memorable title swaps.
WWE would love to have you believe that “anything can happen”
at any time in a WWE ring. But by and large, most fans know that anything of
note will happen when cameras are rolling, and more likely when viewers have to
plunk down a few bucks to see it happen.
That means that the vast majority of title changes occur either during a PPV or possibly on Raw or SmackDown. The odds that you’ll see a title change hands at a simple house show are slim. But that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened – or that it still doesn’t happen.
On Friday night, we saw AJ Styles capture the WWE United States Championship, defeating Kevin Owens at the fabled Madison Square Garden. It was the first main roster title change at a house show in more than five years, and the first main roster singles title trade in a decade.
Titles have changed hands at house shows for various reasons: injury, give the live crowd a thrill, suspension, or just because it was deemed time to change horses.
This list will look at some of the more notable house show changes during the PPV era – no pre-1990 title changes – mostly after the advent of Monday Night Raw, and will attempt to avoid the obligatory title trading where one person or team wins a title at one house show and immediately loses it back to the former champ(s) at the next house show.
Let’s get to it…
11. Shawn Michaels & Diesel - WWF World Tag Team Championships (1994)
During the first four months of 1994, the WWF Tag Team
Championships bounced around quite a bit, with the Quebecers holding the titles
three times and Men on a Mission and Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid getting a
run each. (Ironically enough, most of these title changes also were at house
shows.)
But when the Headshrinkers won the tag titles on Raw in late April, they proceeded to hold the titles for four months, defeating the Executioners, Quebecers and Crush & Yokozuna. But Fatu & Samu could not overcome Shawn Michaels & Diesel at an August 1994 house show in Indianapolis, IN.
The Headshrinkers would never get a televised rematch,
losing a handful of house show title rematches during the next month before
Samu would leave WWF.