WrestleMania celebration, WWE RAW victory: 5 times wrestling fans wanted a title change (and it happened)
WWE's most recent WrestleMania extravaganza was full of delight and few disappointments. Brand new champions were crowned while a historic reign remained intact and ongoing.
The company gets a lot of criticism for not giving fans what they want. One example in recent years is regarding Roman Reigns' long title reign. Many fans wanted to see the end of Reigns's run as champion, but The Tribal Chief is on his way to reaching 1,000 days as Universal Champion, smashing almost everyone in his division during this run.
While Reigns didn't drop the gold to babyface Cody Rhodes during Night Two of WrestleMania 39, WWE fans were still treated to a history-making title change at The Showcase of The Immortals.
Under the umbrella of Vince McMahon's sports entertainment empire, wrestling fans have been treated to numerous crowd-pleasing title changes. So without further ado, let's take a look at five times the WWE Universe desired a title to change hands, and they got exactly what they wanted.
#5. WrestleMania 39, Night One: The Usos (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
Fans inside the SoFi Stadium stood on their feet celebrating Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens dethroning The Usos in the main event of Night One of WrestleMania 39.
The crowd was firmly behind the challengers from start to finish. While fans in Montreal witnessed the defeat of Sami at the 2023 Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event, the former Honorary Uce would finally win big against The Bloodline on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
At this year's Show of Shows, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn captured tag team gold for the first time in their WWE careers. The match was also the second-ever tag team main event at WrestleMania, the first being Mr. T and Hulk Hogan vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff at the first 'Mania in 1985.
The crowd became unglued to see Sami get the win for his team after hitting Jey Uso with three Helluva Kicks in a row. Zayn and Owens are currently the reigning Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, ending The Usos' historic record-breaking reign as champions. This victory also means that KO is now a Grand Slam Champion.
#4. Dolph Ziggler cashes in MITB against Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW after WrestleMania 29 (April 8, 2013)
Dolph Ziggler’s THUNDEROUS Money In The Bank cash in! https://t.co/IMjnUVHDvD
On Monday Night RAW following WrestleMania 29, the vast majority of wrestling fans in the Izod Center were ready for a title change when Dolph Ziggler's music hit. The Showoff swooped in on an injured Del Rio, capitalizing on the wounded champion by cashing in the blue Money In The Bank briefcase.
Alberto Del Rio had just won a hard-fought two-on-one handicap match against Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. Swagger had seemingly injured Del Rio with an ankle lock during the bout, and Ziggler targeted the ankle during his MITB cash-in. Despite Dolph displaying classic heel tactics against the Mexican star, much of the crowd sided with The Showoff against the babyface champion.
Dolph went for the pinfall after hitting a Zig Zag on Del Rio, winning the World Heavyweight Championship and receiving one of the biggest pops in the history of WWE RAW.
This moment was arguably the peak of Dolph Ziggler's professional career. Ziggler celebrated his title win in the ring with AJ Lee and Big E Langston.
#3. Survivor Series 1996: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Sycho Sid for the WWE Championship
Surprisingly, much of the Madison Square Garden crowd turned on Shawn Michaels and overwhelmingly sided with Sycho Sid. The New York City audience appeared to be sick of HBK's white-meat babyface routine and were excited about his challenger, with many hoping that the psychotic giant would walk away with the WWE Championship.
The MSG crowd sided with Sid from the moment he entered, and they celebrated with the 6'9" villainous lunatic following the match. Much of the crowd was seemingly unbothered by Sid attacking the elderly Jose Lothario with a television camera and doing the same to HBK.
Sid sealed the deal with a powerbomb on Michaels to pick up the victory, seemingly much to the delight of the majority of the vocal audience inside Madison Square Garden.
Before the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin emerged as the company's top anti-hero, Sid arguably became the company's first anti-hero world champion during the 1996 Survivor Series.
Sycho Sid's victory over HBK in MSG was arguably the most impactful win of the big man's professional wrestling career.
#2. The Rock (c) vs. Mankind in a No DQ match for the WWE Championship (RAW Is War, taped: 12/29/1998; aired: 1/4/1999)
December 29th, 1998: @RealMickFoley defeats @TheRock to become WWE Champion for the first time 🙌
January 4th, 1999: The episode airs but the result is spoilt on WCW before the match begins 🤭
"That'll put a lot of butts in seats."
It sure did 😏
https://t.co/K6unlRindL
The Corporation went above and beyond to ensure that Mankind would not become WWE Champion during Survivor Series 1998 and Rock Bottom: In Your House. But on the first episode of RAW Is War to air in 1999, they couldn't stop Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy from achieving his boyhood dream.
Over on a live episode of WCW Nitro, Tony Schiavone mockingly spoiled the results of the WWE Championship match between Mankind and The Rock, causing more than half a million wrestling fans to switch channels to see the title change take place. Not only did WWE fans want to see Mick Foley win the big one, but there were plenty of World Championship Wrestling fans who wanted to see the same thing.
Leading up to the match, Mankind was the underdog challenger who didn't fit the corporate mold of a world champion. With the power of The Corporation opposing him, the odds seemed to be stacked against the masked masochist.
However, with the support of D-Generation X and Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind overcame the corporate machine and was crowned WWE Champion. Foley celebrated in the ring with DX after winning the championship.
13. Mankind wins his first WWF Championship (January 4, 1999) - The World Wrestling Federation kicked 1999 off with a bang as Mankind defeated The Rock to win the WWF title after Stone Cold Steve Austin hit Rock with a steel chair! The pop for Austin’s return was insane!!! https://t.co/qagUu1cvCP
Fans inside the arena went wild when Stone Cold made his entrance and hit The Rock with a chair, leading to Mankind's victory. Foley's win received a monster pop from the WWE Universe in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The victory didn't appear to put "b*tts in seats" that night inside Worcester Centrum, considering that fans all across the arena were standing on their feet in celebration.
#1. Royal Rumble 1997: Sycho Sid (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship
#WWF #WWE #Wrestling #ShawnMichaels
World Champion of the day: Shawn Michaels - Recaptured the title at the Royal Rumble on January 19, 1997. This reign lasted 25 days until Michaels forfeited the title. 🏆 #WWF #WWE #Wrestling #ShawnMichaels https://t.co/29NHnWPTuo
Over 60 thousand wrestling fans filled out the Alamodome for the 1997 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, which to this day is the most fans ever to attend a Rumble event. When the main event came around, the overwhelming majority of vocal fans cheered for San Antonio's favorite son, Shawn Michaels, and booed the then-reigning WWE Champion Sycho Sid.
HBK had the hometown crowd advantage deep in the heart of San Antonio, Texas. Michaels had tens of thousands of screaming fans cheering on his every move while also jeering Michaels' psychotic opponent. The crowd would even cheer for Shawn when he hit Sid with a television camera, as the Showstopper sought vengeance and performed a move typically reserved for heels.
HBK hit Sweet Chin Music, and the crowd went into a frenzy. The audience erupted when Michaels got the winning pinfall on Sid, resulting in The Heartbreak Kid becoming a two-time WWE Champion.
Michaels sent the crowd home happy. However, his title reign wasn't long, only lasting 25 days before HBK lost his smile and forfeited the gold.