5 WWE Superstars who were 'awarded' Championships without winning a match

The basic premise of pro-wrestling has always been a contest between two Superstars with both gunning for the top prize. Every promotion has a string of title belts that the wrestlers affiliated with the company compete for. Over the course of WWE's decades-long run, several Championships have come and gone, with the WWE title being a mainstay throughout the company's run.

A long list of Superstars have won and lost Championship gold over the years, but the story has always remained the same: in order to win the gold, one needs to defeat their opponent.

There have been exceptions to this rule though. In some rare instances, WWE Superstars were handed Championship belts even though they didn't earn it by winning a match. Let's take a look at five such instances in the list below:

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#5 Mr. McMahon hands the WWE title to Randy Orton

Randy Orton

At SummerSlam 2007, John Cena defeated Randy Orton to retain his WWE Championship. Orton defeated Cena via DQ at Unforgiven, thus failing to win the title. On the road to No Mercy 2007, John Cena suffered a legitimate injury during an episode of WWE RAW, soon after which he was attacked by Orton and hit with an RKO. Orton didn't stop here, and went on to deliver a thunderous RKO to Cena on the announce table.

No Mercy 2007 kicked off with Mr. McMahon awarding the WWE title to Orton, as Cena had vacated the belt due to his injury. His reign didn't last long though, and he lost the title to Triple H in the opening match of the PPV. It was a long night for Triple H though, as he later faced Umaga in a WWE title match.

The Game managed to defeat Umaga to retain his belt, but the night hadn't ended yet. Orton later defeated Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in the main event of the show to regain the title.

#4 Vickie Guerrero hands the World title to Dolph Ziggler

Dolph with Vickie

In early 2011, Dolph Ziggler became the #1 contender to Edge's World title by defeating Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, and The Big Show in a Fatal Four-Way match. Ziggler challenged Edge at the WWE Royal Rumble PPV, but failed to defeat him for the title. Ziggler was involved in a romantic angle with Vickie Guerrero at the time, who also held the position of SmackDown General Manager.

She banned Edge's finishing move, the Spear, and made it clear that Ziggler would become the World Champion if Edge used the move during their rematch. Edge again defeated Ziggler on the February 11 edition of WWE SmackDown, but used the Spear while doing so.

Three nights later, Vickie awarded the World Heavyweight title to Dolph Ziggler, and fired Edge. During the celebration, Theodore Long made his return to WWE TV, and set another World title match between Ziggler and Edge. The latter won this match as well, and bagged the World title in the process.

#3 Mankind is awarded the Hardcore title

Vince hands the Hardcore title to Mankind

Back in 1998, when the Attitude Era was at its peak, Mankind debuted Mr. Socko while visiting Mr. McMahon in the hospital. The WWE Chairman had suffered injuries due to an attack by The Undertaker and Kane. In an attempt to cheer the WWE Chairman up, Mankind brought along Mr. Socko, but the effort was in vain. The sock became an overnight sensation, and Mankind began using it to win his matches by stuffing the sock in the mouth of his oppents and choking them.

McMahon began manipulating Mankind into doing what he told him on the road to Survivor Series 1998. The boss even went on to create the Hardcore title, and awarded it to Mankind, thus making him the first-ever Hardcore Champion.

Vince McMahon also pushed Mankind as a favorite to win the WWE title at Survivor Series, where a tournament was held to determine the Champion. Mankind defeated Gillberg, Al Snow, and Stone Cold to advance to the finals, but lost the match when McMahon turned on him and helped The Rock become WWE Champion. As for the Hardcore title, Mankind's first reign lasted almost a month, before he lost the belt to Big Boss Man.

#2 Stone Cold hands the Intercontinental title to The Rock

The Rock and Austin

Way before The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin engaged in one of the greatest World title rivalries of all time, the duo were feuding over the Intercontinental title in WWE. Initially known as Rocky Maivia, The Rock returned after a short hiatus as an obnoxious, self-centered villain, joining The Nation of Domination in the process. He met Stone Cold Steve Austin for the Intercontinental title at WWE D-Generation X: In Your House. It took Austin less than 6 minutes to defeat The Rock.

Mr. McMahon then ordered Austin to defend the title in a rematch against The Rock. The Rattlesnake had other things in mind though. He vacated the title and forfeited it to The Rock, hitting him with a Stunner moments later.

The Rock later defeated Shamrock by DQ to retain his Intercontinental title, while Austin had set his sights on the top prize, the WWE title. Austin went on to defeat Shawn Michaels at WWE WrestleMania 14 to win the belt, with Mike Tyson making the three count.

#1 Eric Bischoff brings back the World title and hands it to Triple H

Triple H

On the road to SummerSlam 2002, Shawn Michaels had made his long-awaited return to WWE. A DX reunion was teased by Michaels and Triple H, but The Game turned on his former best friend and kicked off a feud with him. Michaels defeated Triple H at SummerSlam, but Triple H had the last laugh as he attacked the Heartbreak Kid following the match.

Soon after, WWE SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon secured WWE Champion Brock Lesnar as an exclusive Superstar for the blue brand. This prompted WWE RAW GM Eric Bischoff to bring back the World Heavyweight Championship. He awarded the belt to Triple H, who went on to defeat Rob Van Dam and Kane to successfully defend the title.

Triple H defended the belt in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002. The contest featured six Superstars: Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Chris Jericho. Shawn Michaels emerged victorious in the end to become World Champion.