8 WWE Title Reigns That Were Completely Wasted

1. Chris Jericho, Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion

Chris Jericho WWE Undisputed Champion
WWE.com

It still seems a little incredible that it actually happened. In 2001, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night to become the first ever Undisputed World Champion. It was an earth-shattering shock, to say the least. A four-man tournament to crown a champion took place at Vengeance and, suffice to say, Jericho was considered the 4th favourite for the victory.

That's a pretty big deal, right? Well, in theory yes, but for some reason Jericho wasn't immediately treated as the number one guy. The main event scene was loaded to say the least, with Austin, Rock, Kurt Angle, Triple H and Undertaker lurking around the new champion. Jericho managed to hold on to the title all the way to WrestleMania, when he lost it to Triple H.

I may be wrong, but I don't remember a single clean defence from Jericho during those four months. The first undisputed World Champion in company history was treated as a fluke champion from beginning to end. It is one of the most mind-bogglingly confusing treatments of a champion in wrestling history.

Jericho should have come out of that reign as the biggest new star in wrestling.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.