8 Quickest Elevations From Midcard Titles To WWE Champion

While Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior had previously made the jump from Intercontinental Champion to WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bret Hart was the first to truly be fast-tracked to the biggest prize in the company after losing the IC Title.

It took Savage 299 days to become WWF Champion after dropping the company's secondary title, while Warrior won the WWF Title at a time when he still was the Intercontinental Champion.

For Hart, it was only 44 days from him losing the Intercontinental Championship to Davey Boy Smith at SummerSlam 1992, to him defeating Ric Flair at a 12 October '92 live event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

As the steroid scandal of the time started to come to the fore, with Hulk Hogan on a leave of absence, and with the call made to take the title off Ric Flair, Vince McMahon reportedly had three people in mind to become the new WWF Champion: Bret Hart, Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana.

Part of the reason for getting the belt off Flair was due to him being dropped on his head by Warrior, so that went against the Parts Unknown native. Given Hart's huge popularity overseas, it was he who was chosen to carry the company's top prize.