5 most shocking WWE Title changes

Even Seth Rollins seemed shocked after he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 31.

If there’s one thing pro wrestling fans have learned over the years, it’s that really anything can happen in the WWE. Underdogs win, streaks end and the biggest juggernauts in the business end up losing, and that’s all accepted as part of the story.

But sometimes, that story is written in such a way that the match result is still truly unexpected, which is particularly shocking when it involves the WWE’s top title. Here are five times when the WWE Championship, now the World Heavyweight Championship, changed hands in shocking fashion.

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#5 Chris Jericho becomes the Undisputed Champion

Chris Jericho became the WWE’s undisputed champion at Vengeance in 2001.

When the Vengeance pay-per-view began on December 9, 2001, the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin held the company’s top two belts – the WWF Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship inherited from WCW.

Chris Jericho first defeated the Rock for the world title, and then he faced Austin to unify the two major belts. Instead of WWF stalwart Stone Cold unifying the belts for the first time, though, Jericho got the win to become the company’s first undisputed champion.