5 best world title celebrations in WWE history
Every wrestler dreams of making it to the top of the mountain and holding a world title in WWE. It defines them as a wrestler and is a massive milestone in their career. To have the top title means the company has put faith in you to carry the product as the top guy.
Although backstage politics may not be as ruthless as it used to be, you can guarantee everyone in the locker room is chomping at the bit to get their opportunity to carry the company on their shoulders. No one ever would have expected Jinder Mahal to have had this opportunity, but to be fair to him, he has handled it well and has now been champion for well over 100 days as of this article.
But what stands out when we think of World Champions of the past? Their defences? Maybe, with many great WWE/World Heavyweight Championship matches over the years it would be hard not to. The length of the reign? Not as important, but it can make a wrestler seem more dangerous when defending his title, such as CM Punk’s unprecedented second reign as WWE Champion.
It’s the celebration that we, as wrestling fans, remember more often than not as they are played in video packages and tributes to star of the past. I have collated what I think are five of the best world title celebrations in WWE history. This will include both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship.
Let’s get into it.
#5 Mankind - Raw (January 4, 1999)
Mankind had had a long storied career where he had played three different characters before his monumental WWF Championship victory over The Rock in a No Disqualification match.
He was helped somewhat by Stone Cold and that played into the celebration that followed. He was hoisted in the air by DX as they celebrated with him for winning his first championship and for overcoming the biggest heel in the company at the time, The Rock.
He ran around the arena with a massive smile on his face. The Mankind mask was off, revealing a more personal joy in Mick Foley than we had seen before. The pure elation is one thing I will never forget and that alone meant it deserved a place on this list but it had a bigger meaning.
The reason it has been played so much and why it’s still so fresh in the mind is because on WCW that night -- who were live, Tony Schiavone revealed Mankind’s win, sarcastically stating “That’ll put a lot of butts in seats”. At that point, a vast majority of the wrestling fans tuned in to the WWF to see Mankind finally put the title over his shoulder.
It’s also the one time that I can remember Michael Cole providing some epic commentary: “Mankind has achieved his dream and the dream of everyone else who’s been told, you can’t do it”. The crowd were mental. Road Dogg announced him as champion in that famous DX drawl and history was made.
It was such a brilliant celebration, as it was not only a celebration for Mankind and his WWF Championship, but for the WWF and them getting one over on WCW (not that they knew it at the time!)