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Winning a championship in WWE is one of the toughest things to accomplish. A wrestler can have everything in their hands, but without holding a title, fans don't always see them as a success. We have seen countless incidents when a wrestler won a title after years of strong disciplined work. But not everyone has to put their blood, sweat, and tears for becoming a champion. Sometimes, it's a little bit easier.
In this article, we will recall 5 moments when WWE handed a title to its wrestlers — who took the gold without winning a match.
#5 Drew McIntyre took the Intercontinental Championship from Kofi Kingston
Drew McIntyre — the Royal Rumble 2020 winner — will face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship. Fans believe that he’ll beat The Beast for the title. We know he’s The Chosen One and when Vince McMahon gave him this title a long time ago, fans knew McIntyre would have a bright future in WWE.
In 2010, McIntyre beat John Morrison for the Intercontinental Championship at the TLC pay-per-view. During his feud with Matt Hardy, SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long stripped McIntyre of his title and fired him because he attacked Hardy after a victory, but he didn’t cease his attack despite multiple warnings.
Long announced that a tournament would be hel for the vacant title which Kofi Kingston won. When he was about to celebrate his victory, though, McIntyre returned. He came with a letter written by Vince McMahon which stated that his suspension was over and he would continue his reign as Intercontinental Champion. Kofi would eventually win the championship from McIntyre at the Over the Limit pay-per-view.
#4 Ted DiBiase bought the 24/7 Championship
They say money can buy you just about anything, and it was true in Ted DiBiase’s case in 2019. He made a surprising return to WWE during the RAW Reunion episode and soon became a short-term champion.
After winning the 24/7 Championship from Candice Michelle, Alundra Blayze would repeat what she did in WCW back in 1995: throwing a WWE title into the trash can. At least, that was her plan.
Right when she was about to drop the title, The Million Dollar Man came out and made an offer to Blayze that she could not refuse. Give him the title for a stack of hundreds of dollars. She agreed and DiBiase became the first-ever 24/7 Champion who won the title using the strength of money.
His title reign, like that of most 24/7 Champions, was a short one. When DiBiase tried to get out of the arena in his limo, Drake Maverick pinned him inside the car.
#3 Vince McMahon awarded Randy Orton the WWE Championship
In 2007, John Cena was forced to vacate his WWE Championship due to injury. Just six days later at No Mercy, Vince McMahon promised the WWE Universe that he would crown a new champion. Instead of having the vacated title reclaimed in a match, he literally handed the belt to Randy Orton. Sadly for Orton, he did indeed have to defend that title immediately, a match he lost to Triple H, losing the title just minutes after "winning" it.
Because of the hatred towards his son-in-law, McMahon issued Triple H a challenge to face Umaga at the show. The Game was able to win his match, but just barely. As soon as it was over, Orton and McMahon realized that The Game couldn't even lift his hand up without requiring support. Orton struck when the iron was hot and was allowed a rematch, where he faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match and by the end of the night; he was champion again.
#2 Eric Bischoff awarded the old WCW belt to Triple H
When Brock Lesnar made the Undisputed Championship a SmackDown exclusive title after winning it at SummerSlam in 2002, Eric Bischoff — RAW General Manager of that time — unveiled a “new” championship. He brought back the "Big Gold Belt", known as WCW's World Heavyweight Championship and renamed it to simply be the World Heavyweight Championship, which would become the exclusive top title for the RAW brand.
Since he had a good friendship with Triple H (and they were both dastardly heels), Bischoff handed the title to The Game, making him the inaugural champion without having to life a finger. Ric Flair interrupted them and challenged Triple H to a match, and The Game accepted, quickly retaining his title and beginning what many refer to as the "reign of terror".
Recalling this historic moment, Eric Bischoff said this:
“I liked the idea when they laid it out to me, I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I have to say I was a little disappointed because I think they only went halfway with it, meaning I think that could’ve been a bigger moment. While I was there, I just wanted to show up, I wanted to do my job, I wanted to get along and honestly, I just wanted to have fun. I didn’t want to stress out over anything.”
#1 Vince McMahon created the Hardcore Championship for Mankind
In 1998, WWE unveiled a new title: the Hardcore Championship. The inaugural champion was Mankind, who received the belt as a "kind gesture" from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. It turned out that it was just part of an elaborate setup from Vince, who had been using Mankind, who was, shall we say, weak of mind, to unwittingly do his bidding as an unwitting member of The Corporation.
It all came to a head when Vince's cronies helped Mankind defeat McMahon's bitter rival Stone Cold Steve Austin in the semifinal of a one-night tournament to crown a new WWF Champion at Survivor Series 1998. Mankind didn't realize he had received help to win, and moved on to race The Rock in the final match. It would turn out that Mankind was not Vince McMahon's friend after all, and in a recreation of the previous year's Survivor Series scandal (the infamous Montreal Screwjob), The Rock was able to defeat Mankind when McMahon forced the timekeeper to ring the bell the moment Rocky was able to lock in the Sharpshooter.
The awarding of the title was a means to an end for a brilliant scheme, and the title itself went on to become a very entertaining entity to itself, and even became a title defended under 24/7 rules!
In 2019, Mick Foley revealed the 24/7 Championship to the world, a belt that was essentially the Hardcore Title without any of the "hardcore" stuff. Titus O’Neil was the first-ever 24/7 Champion, and he won this title...
By just picking it up while it sat in the middle of the ring.
