The WWE Championship officially turns 60 years old this week and WWE is celebrating the occasion with “WWE Championship Week” across its various social media platforms. On Monday, the company posted a video looking back at all the WWE Championships that lasted just one day (or less). And even though the title is considered the most prestigious prize in all of pro wrestling, a reign lasting a mere 24 hours has happened quite a few times and often involved some of WWE’s biggest names.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Check out the full list of one-day WWE Championship reigns in the list below. The title currently belongs to Roman Reigns, who will reportedly make his next defense at Night of Champions on May 27 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Couldn’t Survive The Night
Nine WWE Championship reigns have ended on the same show where they began. Whether this was due to a Money in the Bank cash-in, an abuse of power from an evil authority figure or an impromptu challenge, here are the nine men who dropped their titles shortly after winning the gold:
- Andrew The Giant (Feb. 5, 1988 at The Main Event) — Andre defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Championship thanks to some referee bribery on behalf of Ted DiBiase. He then tried to give the title to DiBiase, only for “The Million Dollar Man’s” plan to be thwarted by WWF officials. A new champion wasn’t crowned until Randy Savage won a tournament at WrestleMania IV, but Andre’s reign is recognized as ending as soon as he tried to give the championship away.
- Yokozuna (April 4, 1993 at WrestleMania IX) — After cheating to beat Bret Hart for the title thanks to interference from Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna decided to accept a challenge from Hulk Hogan. Fuji attempted to cheat again, only for it to backfire and allow Hogan to win.
- Randy Orton & Triple H (October 7, 2007 at No Mercy) — After John Cena went down with an injury prior to the event, WWE decided to have the title change hands three times throughout the pay-per-view. Orton was officially named the new champion at the start of the show, then immediately lost it to Triple H. “The Game” was then forced to defend it against Umaga and have yet another match with Orton. He lost the latter, meaning both men had incredibly short reigns in a single night.
- John Cena (Feb. 21, 2010 at Elimination Chamber) — After winning back the WWE Championship from Sheamus inside the Chamber, Cena was forced into another match by Vince McMahon with Batista. “The Animal” quickly won, setting the stage for their title match at WrestleMania XXVI.
- Rey Mysterio (July 25, 2011 on Monday Night Raw) — With CM Punk “walking out” of WWE as WWE Champion, the company decided to crown a new champion via a tournament. Mysterio won, only to be challenged to a title defense by Cena later in the evening. Cena won, Punk returned and a unification match was quickly booked for that year’s SummerSlam.
- Money in the Bank Cash-ins — The Money in the Bank briefcase has resulted in three newly-crowned champions being forced to suddenly defend their titles. Daniel Bryan beat Cena at SummerSlam 2013, only for Orton to cash-in following a heel turn from Triple H. Roman Reigns’ first WWE Championship reign was cut abruptly short by a cash-in from Sheamus at Survivor Series 2015. And, most recently, Dean Ambrose cashed in on Rollins at Money in the Bank 2016 mere moments after Rollins beat Reigns for the gold.
Hulk Hogan (Dec. 3-4, 1991)
After dropping the WWF Championship to The Undertaker at Survivor Series 1991 thanks to interference from Ric Flair, Hogan turned around and won the title days later at This Tuesday in Texas. But the ending of that match, full of interference and cheating from Hogan, Flair, Undertaker and Paul Bearer, prompted Jack Tunney to strip Hogan of the title one day later. Flair would win the gold a month later by winning the 1992 Royal Rumble.
Bret Hart (Feb. 16-17, 1997)
After Shawn Michaels chose to vacate the title, a four corners elimination match was booked for In Your House 13: Final Four on Feb. 16, 1997. Bret Hart managed to beat Steve Austin, The Undertaker and Vader, but then had to defend the title against Sycho Sid the following night on Raw in Nashville. Sid won and turned his attention to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13 while Hart shifted focus to his rivalry with Austin.
Kane (June 28-29, 1998)
Kane’s first world championship reign was a controversial one. The 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view ended with both Mankind and Undertaker interfering in the First Blood match between then-champion Steve Austin and Kane. An errant chair shot wound up busting Austin open during the brawl, prompting the referee to declare Kane the winner. Austin would win the title back the following night on Raw.
Mankind (Aug. 22-23, 1999)
The last of Mick Foley’s three WWE Championship reigns came at SummerSlam 1999 when he managed to beat both Steve Austin and Triple H in a triple threat bout. “The Game” would win the title the following night in a match with Shawn Michaels serving as special referee.
Daniel Bryan (Again) (Sept. 15-16, 2013)
Despite beating Randy Orton for the title at Night of Champions 2013, Triple H stripped Bryan of the title the following night on Raw. It was heavily implied that “The Game” forced referee Scott Armstrong to give a fast count and award Bryan the title, then make it look like Armstrong conspired with Bryan. Bryan would not hold the title again until winning the WrestleMania XXX main event the following year.
