5 weirdest WWE Championship wins in the 2010s

The weird and yet wonderful world of WWE often ensures that some interesting characters are featured towards the top of the card - and yes, when we say interesting, we don't necessarily always mean that in a positive manner.

The WWE Championship is a prestigious title in more ways than one, but there's no point in acting as if it hasn't been through some serious changes and alterations over the years. From the 60s all the way up to the present day, we've been witness to some fascinating title changes - and that's especially true for the 2010s.

Now that the decade has been and gone, we thought it'd be a great idea to look back to some of the most bizarre WWE title wins in the last ten years. Buckle up, because we guarantee a few of these have slipped your mind.

#1 Sheamus - Fatal 4-Way (2010)

It was pretty clear to see that Sheamus was going to be a rising star in one way or another after his debut, but few could've anticipated that he'd make such a quick impact.

While his first run with a world title may not have gone to plan, his second was surely set to be even bigger and better - only it didn't really feel that way as a direct result of him winning the belt in such a weird way.

He captured the championship in the midst of a hectic Fatal 4-Way main event that also saw The Nexus invading and beating everyone in sight. Nobody really knew what had happened, to be honest, and it was all a little bit of a blur.

For the shock factor it was definitely intriguing, but we felt as if the win needed to be a bit more emphatic.

#2 John Cena - Night of Champions (2011)

2011 was a pretty complicated year for John Cena, and by the time Night of Champions rolled around, he had already lost to The Miz and CM Punk in big title matches - in pretty convincing fashion.

So then, when Cena wound up facing Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions, it seemed like a given that Del Rio would retain.

Alas, for some utterly bizarre reason, Cena won the strap and only held it for a month before dropping it back to Alberto inside Hell in a Cell. It felt like a way to boost the number of world title reigns that Cena had and while there's nothing wrong with that, it certainly came across as a little bit cheap - and it goes without saying that it did not help the cause of Alberto Del Rio whatsoever in the long run.

Cena is still a 16-time world champion, but this is probably one of his worst reigns in that time.

#3 Randy Orton - WrestleMania 33 (2017)

The build-up to Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33 was a lot of fun. Despite seemingly being a babyface, it was clear to see that Randy Orton's dark side had risen once more as a direct result of Bray Wyatt's influence.

While Bray was the one defending the belt, he still felt like the guy that had more to prove, especially given how much success Randy already had at the world title level.

Unfortunately it didn't quite pan out as many would've hoped, with a really weird match (featuring a PowerPoint presentation or two) being capped off by a quick and decisive win for Randy Orton.

The crowd fell flat because not only did the match not live up to the hype, but we had a result that very few people actually asked for.

Still, it wasn't the strangest thing to happen to the belt in 2017, which was a year that many will look back on with great curiosity.

#2 Jinder Mahal - Backlash (2017)

From being a jobber at the start of the year to featuring in the final two of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania to legitimately winning the WWE Championship.

The first half of 2017 was absolutely wild for Jinder Mahal, and the same can be said for the WWE Universe. A lot of fans felt as if he was destined to win the belt once the match between himself and Randy Orton was actually booked, but few allowed themselves to really believe it until there was no way in which it could be denied.

WWE did a decent enough job of breaking their way into the Indian market and Jinder had a big role to play in that, but when he initially won the belt back at Backlash, nobody knew how to react.

The hope was that he'd go on to do even bigger and better things which, really, didn't pay off, but at least he got a chance to shine for a while.

#5 Brock Lesnar - SmackDown (2019)

There's something to be said for drawing in a big crowd, and that's quite clearly what WWE was attempting to do when the company booked Kofi Kingston vs Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX.

It was a big deal as Lesnar hadn't wrestled on free TV for what felt like a lifetime, and yet, there was still something a little bit off about it. As the minutes ticked by fans saw that there wasn't too much time left in the show, meaning that any lingering hope we had for a classic between the two was slowly but surely extinguished.

When the match actually happened and Kofi's title reign was squashed within seconds, an empty feeling was felt throughout the WWE Universe. It was one of those moments you'll soon remember, but it felt so unnecessary for a man who had already held a world title a few times since returning in 2012.

Hopefully we get to see the rematch somewhere down the road.

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