Ranking Every WWE Title Change On Raw
16. Chris Jericho Def. Batista (3 November 2008)
Given that he won the belt back just eight days later, you can't help feel that the only reason Chris Jericho dropped it to Batista at Cyber Sunday 2008 was because Stone Cold was voted in as the guest referee, and there was no conceivable way the heel could emerge with victory.
As a consequence, there was nothing special about their Monday Night Raw rematch. Not even the presence of the famously unforgiving steel cage could help elevate it to anything more than a throwaway bout designed to get the belt back around the waist of Y2J in time for Survivor Series.
That said, you can't really complain about the result. Off the back of his summer feud with Shawn Michaels, Jericho was in the midst of one of the best heel runs this side of the millennium, and deserved the opportunity to carry Raw's biggest prize a while longer.
It's tempting to give this bout a pass for its outcome, but for a gimmick match featuring two of the biggest stars of the era, you would be fully justified in expecting a little more. It lacked chemistry, and the finish felt a little abrupt too.