15 WWE Title Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
6. Kane Beats The Poster Boy (WWF Title)
Title Change: Steve Austin and Kane had the arduous task of following a historic, bump-fuelled Hell In A Cell war between Mick Foley and The Undertaker on the WWF's King Of The Ring 1998 card. Making things harder, the company added a warped 'First Blood' stipulation to their title bout...then had Kane roll out covered almost completely head to toe.
The newcomer won anyway, and he became the new WWF Champion.
Why It Backfired: For 24 hours, at least.
Kane's win was greeted with shock by the WWF audience, and rightfully so. 'Stone Cold' was the new poster boy in town after beating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV mere months before. No-one watching thought for a second that he'd be dropping the top prize at KOTR. Surely, at worst, some sort of screwy finish would ensure that Austin held onto his title.
Nope, Steve bled and Kane took the belt home. On the follow up Raw, Austin managed to seize control back and the Kane title experiment was over in the blink of an eye. The WWF's power brokers blatantly realised that they had to get the title back on Austin ASAP, because he was the biggest star in the land and the company's top draw.
Cutting his first title reign fairly short was a mistake. Kane didn’t need the belt at all either. Holding it for a day did nothing for him in the grand scheme of things. His win came across as a fluke, and it chomped a hole right in the ironclad armour of 'Austin 3:16' goodness. What a misstep.