5 Times when Champions in WWE wrestled non-title PPV matches
In a little over two weeks, WWE will present Extreme Rules: The Horror Show. One of the headline matches on the show will be the Swamp Match pitting Universal Champion, Braun Strowman against the 'Eater of Worlds', Bray Wyatt. However, the title will not be on the line.
This will not be the first time that a Champion in WWE has a one-on-one pay-per-view match with his title not being on the line. This is done as an avenue to give the "challenger" a big victory over a Champion without the title reign being compromised.
Having such matches are a weird but effective way of extending a Superstar's title reign while his opponent gains momentum. It is done to build intrigue in some cases as well, although the majority of them end up being predictable due to the non-title label.
This list will look at five such instances, where a Champion was featured in a one-on-one pay-per-view match without his title being on the line. Champion vs Champion matches like John Cena vs Kevin Owens and the past few years of Survivor Series are excluded.
#5 Matt Hardy vs Vladimir Kozlov (WWE Armageddon 2008)
This was an obvious case of WWE pushing a Superstar and giving him big wins against solid names. Vladimir Kozlov was on his way up the card, hovering around the WWE Championship picture on SmackDown in the latter months of 2008.
As part of a talent exchange between the brands, ECW Champion Matt Hardy appeared on SmackDown to face Kozlov in a Beat the Clock challenge match. Neither man was able to win and the feud continued into the following pay-per-view, Armageddon.
However, with the undefeated big man remaining on the Blue brand, his match against Hardy was non-title. Kozlov picked up the victory, his first on pay-per-view. It was a solid win, although his momentum wouldn't stick.
Matt Hardy would remain the ECW Champion going into 2009, losing the title to Jack Swagger on a January episode of ECW.