15 Phantom WWE World Title Changes

2. Ray Stevens - July 15th, 1967

Legendary grappler, Ray €œThe Crippler€ Stevens, was one of the most revered pro wrestlers of his generation. During a career that would span four decades, Stevens held numerous singles titles €“ including several versions of the United States Championship €“ as well as countless tag championships with multiple iconic partners; including Nick Bockwinkel, Greg Valentine, Jimmy Snuka and, of course, Pat Patterson. He was also a perennial main-eventer and challenged a laundry list of iconic WWWF champions over the course of his career. What many may not know, however, is that Stevens also laid claim to a WWWF World Championship victory of his own. As the then-US Champ, Stevens was scheduled to face off with Bruno Sammartino in a €œ2 Out of 3 Falls€ match in San Francisco in 1967. Given Stevens€™ pedigree as a multiple-time national champion, the bout was a highly anticipated affair and €œThe Crippler€ posed a genuine threat to Sammartino€™s title. This threat was quickly realised, with Stevens taking the first fall of the match by pinning the champ after connecting with his famous €œBombs Away€ Knee Drop off the top, only for Sammartino to respond with a Bear Hug submission of his own; bringing the score level at one fall a piece. The final fall would not be so clear and the match would end in controversial circumstances worthy of the €œMonday Night Wars€ 30 years later. A ref bump and a low-blow would see Sammartino sent to the outside where he would find himself counted out 20 seconds later (the standard count at the time). As the 2-1 victor, the match was awarded to Stevens and a new champ was crowned€at least for the riotous 11,000 fans at the Cow Palace that night. WWWF rules state that the championship cannot change hands via count out, despite the €œ2 Out of 3 Falls€ circumstances of the match. As a result, the win was retrospectively nullified and the title switch was never officially recognised. Sammartino€™s reign continued unblemished and Stevens€™ claim to World Champion recognition was revoked.