15 WWE Title Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
4. Goldberg KO’s…KO! (WWE Universal Title)
Title Change: Goldberg romped back into view unexpectedly to promote WWE's 2K video game series by working a dream rematch vs. Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016. After that, the company caught Bill fever and pushed Goldberg back into the World Title scene by putting him over Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017. In total, the championship bout lasted just 22 seconds.
Why It Backfired: Everyone agreed that it was thoroughly crap of Vince McMahon to shunt the excellent build for Owens vs. Chris Jericho down the pecking order so soon before WrestleMania 33. Those former best friends would end up contesting the lower priority United States belt on that card, which wasn't a title befitting their banging storytelling or fan reaction to the feud overall.
Realistically, KO vs. Y2J should've peaked in a Universal Title showdown on the grandest stage. Instead, Goldberg treated Owens like some jobber on WCW Nitro back in his prime, then went on to drop the belt to Brock Lesnar in Orlando at WrestleMania. This writer personally loves that Brock vs. Bill rematch from 'Mania 33, but it didn't really need the title to make it workable.
Besides, Owens vs. Jericho deserved far better than being relegated. KO's title reign started hot when Triple H screwed over Seth Rollins on the 29 August 2016 edition of Raw, but the ending at Fastlane was miserable. On top of that, McMahon publicly grilled Kev and Chris for their work on the 'Mania undercard, and that put wheels in motion for Jericho leaving WWE.
Solid management all round then...