For the purposes of this statistic, we'll ignore the time that the WWE Title was held "in abeyance", though the WWE pushed that term so hard (as opposed to the less complex "vacated") you'd think "Abeyance" was a WWE Main Eventer. Nonetheless, the WWE Championship (now the WWE World Heavyweight Championship) changed hands six times in 2013. The first change came early in the year, as CM Punk's 434 day reign was ended by The Rock. The People's Champ dropped the title to John Cena at Wrestlemania, and Cena held the title until Summerslam, when he was dethroned by Daniel Bryan. From there Bryan and "The Viper" Randy Orton swapped the title back and fourth until Orton ultimately came out on top in their rivalry at October's Hell in the Cell pay per view. Six WWE Title changes in 2013 is...six more changes than there were in 2012. CM Punk held onto the WWE Title throughout the entire year, really giving the championship a boost of credibility. Longer reigns mean that when someone finally takes down the champion, it is a big deal, whereas quick reigns do not help anyone involved--the former champion or the one who takes the gold. The title changing hands far more often in 2013 means that no one superstar was able to be "the man" in the industry for a significant period of time. We will see in 2014 whether Randy Orton can have a prolonged reign as champion.
Student at Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Former Arts student at Memorial Universiy of Newfoundland.
Passionate wrestling fan since 1996.
Currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia but originally from Newfoundland and Labrador.
