A day after he lost a title match, Reigns regained the belt This past week on RAW, Roman Reigns took on Sheamus in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight championship. After fighting overwhelming odds, the Samoan Superstar finally got the better of the Irishman, and won the coveted title.After his short reign at Survivor Series, Roman Reigns finally got his due. And after going through the League of Nations as well as the McMahons, Roman Reigns won the WWE World Heavyweight title for the second time.Roman Reigns’ victory, as well as the return of Mr.McMahon also resulted in a spike in the ratings, with RAW scoring about a 3.8 overall rating for this week’s show. In this article, we take a look at five other superstars who won the WWE title on RAW in the past.
#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is perhaps the greatest superstar in WWE history. The Texas Rattlesnake is famously remembered for his feud with Vince McMahon during the late 90s which revolutionized the industry. It was during their feud that Austin achieved a cult status among the professional wrestling fans, and the subsequent product helped WWE crush WCW in the Monday Night Wars.
During this time, WWE decided to put the title on Steve Austin, and after he defeated Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14, Austin became the new face of WWE. However, during the Mr. McMahon–Austin feud, Austin dropped the title to Kane at the King of the Ring PPV. Austin then faced Kane the next night on RAW, and defeated him to once again become the WWE champion.
#2 Mankind
Mick Foley has been one of the most beloved superstars in WWE history. The masked performer, who in 1998 was one of Mr. McMahon’s henchmen, turned into a fan favorite when Vince double crossed him at Survivor Series.
The Rock turned on Mankind, as the two superstars battled for the WWE championship. This resulted in the Brahma Bull joining Mr. McMahon’s Corporation faction, and Mankind then began chasing the championship.
This led to one of the most memorable moments in professional wrestling history. Mankind faced The Rock on RAW, which was a pre–taped show, and succeeded in defeating him for the WWE championship.
During WCW’s live episode of Nitro airing on the same day, Tony Schiavone acknowledged Mankind’s victory, and sarcastically said that it would put a lot of butts in the seats. However, the move backfired, and a lot of viewers then switched from Nitro to RAW to catch the title change.
#3 The Rock
After Mankind defeated The Rock for the WWE championship, the two superstars then feuded for the title, with Rock winning it back at the Royal Rumble. Mankind however, defeated him again couple of days later to become a two-time WWE champion, and the two faced each other again at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre PPV. With the match ending in a draw, The Rock received another title shot the very next night on RAW.
Mankind faced The Rock in a ladder match with the title up for grabs, and throughout the match, Rock worked on Mankind’s injured leg. In the end however, an interference by The Big Show helped The Rock in beating Mankind once again for the WWE championship. The Rock eventually defended the title against Steve Austin at WrestleMania 15 with Mankind as the special guest referee, and Austin defeated The Rock to win the title.
#4 Triple H
Triple H betrayed his D-Generation X stable mate, X – Pac at WrestleMania 15, and aligned himself with The Corporation. After unsuccessfully challenging for the WWE championship, Triple H faced Mankind and Steve Austin at SummerSlam for the title. Mankind defeated both the superstars, winning the WWE title for the third time in his career, but had to defend it thevery next night on RAW.
Mankind faced Triple H with the title on the line on RAW, with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee and Chyna in his corner. Triple H then managed to take out both The Rock who was on commentary and Mankind, with Shane McMahon’s help. Shane then took out the referee as Triple H dropped Mankind with the pedigree, and pinned him to become the new WWE champion.
#5 Edge
At the ECW One Night Stand PPV in 2006, Rob Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to face John Cena in front of a hostile crowd in New York. Van Dam would go on to defeat Cena and win the WWE championship, but the ECW original had to put the title on the line less than a month later on RAW, as he faced Cena and Edge in a triple threat match.
During the match, the ultimate opportunist found an opening and decked John Cena with the title after Cena dropped RVD with an AA. Edge then pinned Van Dam to become the WWE champion, for the second time in his career. It was later reported that RVD was forced to drop the title as a result of his drug possession arrest a couple of days prior to the show. WWE then suspended RVD for 30 days.
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