10 of wrestling's most shocking new champions

#7 Fit Finlay wins the WCW Television Title

In 1998, Booker T and Chris Benoit were engaged in one of the hottest mid-card feuds in history. Fans were so excited about their five-star matches that there was even a best of seven series set up between the pair.

Everyone in wrestling fandom and even wrestling journalists all assumed that Benoit would wear the TV title in sort order. So when Fit Finlay challenged champion Booker T, it was likewise assumed that either Booker would pin Finlay cleanly or Benoit would interfere in the match.

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Surprisingly, Finlay pinned Booker T cleanly after the champion became distracted by Benoit, who never actually made it to ringside. Suddenly Finlay was the champion, and everyone was taken aback by the suddenness of the move.

Finlay proved to be a capable champion, both in the ring and on the mike. Eric Bischoff gave him the title because WCW was testing the waters for 'three way' feuds, but when given the ball Finlay ran with it. It was one of the delightfully shocking moments of the Monday night wars, and one for the history books.

About the author

Christopher Scott Wagoner is a writer from Austin, Texas in the United States. He is also a proud descendent of the Choctaw and Lakota people.
Chris has an English and Creative Writing degree, and is a published author with Simon and Schuster. He's ghost-written over eight million words in more than 500 books.
A long time wrestling fan, Chris is also a professional journalist who covers sports-entertainment. He's been writing for Sportskeeda since 2018.

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Edited by Nishant Jayaram