8 Quickest Elevations From Midcard Titles To WWE Champion

Bobby Lashley, The Rock, John Cena and those others who were quick to grab their first World Title.

Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

A WWE superstar having a run with a secondary title before going on to challenge for a World Championship is a path well trodden in the pro wrestling business.

Across the decades, so many icons of the industry have held the Intercontinental Championship or United States Championship before later going on to hold one of the biggest prizes in the industry. From Randy Savage, to Bret Hart, to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, to Triple H, to CM Punk and so, so many more along the way, this is a path that many a grappler has embarked upon.

Most recently, Bobby Lashley put a smile on the wrestling world's face by ripping The Miz to pieces in a matter of minutes to become the new WWE Champion. And in doing so, Lashley made it a remarkably quick turnaround from him losing the US Title barely a week prior.

For the Almighty, his current reign marks his first run as WWE Champion, and he's not the only star to quickly go from secondary title holder to first-time World Champion.

Here, then, are the eight (well, technically nine) wrestlers in WWE history with the shortest amount of time between losing a secondary belt and then quickly climbing to the top of the WWE mountain.

8. The Rock - 77 Days

Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

While the Attitude Era is one infamous for how much of a hot potato the Intercontinental Championship became, The Rock managed to have one of the all-time great IC Title runs during that most frantic of times.

At 264 days, The Rock's 1998 run with the IC strap stands as the longest reign of the past 30 years. The last person to surpass that number was Mr. Perfect, who clocked up 280 days as Intercontinental Champion after besting Kerry Von Erich on a November 1990 episode of Superstars of Wrestling.

What's also notable about the Great One's second Intercontinental Title run, is that it also fully sowed the seeds for the main event rivalry with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin that was still to come.

To commence this reign, The Rock was handed the Intercontinental Championship when Austin was forced to vacate it. This lengthy reign concluded at SummerSlam '98, with Triple H taking the gold in an epic Ladder Match.

By then, everybody could see that The Rock was a true superstar waiting to explode, and the next step in that journey came 77 days later at the Survivor Series. There, the Deadly Game tournament ended with The Rock joining forces with the McMahons to screw Mick Foley - giving Rocky his first WWF Championship in the process.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.