Ranking Every WWE Title Change On Raw From Worst To Best

8. Shawn Michaels Vacates (February 13, 1997)

Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

Shawn Michaels lost his smile rather than losing his title as had been planned in early 1997, but his tear-soaked surrender had a knock-on effect that transformed the entire pro wrestling industry.

A panicked set of circumstances following his infamous Thursday Raw Thursday exit resulted in WWE playing hot potato with the belt until it settled on Sycho Sid for a behemoths battle with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13. This cleared the path for Michaels' original 'Show Of Shows' opponent Bret Hart, who instead just went and transformed the future of the entire company over 22 iconic minutes with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett