Since the mid-1980s, it has been regular practice for major pro wrestling title changes to happen at pay per view events. Prior to that point, title changes and blow off matches for top rivalries tended to occur on the house show circuit, with TV as a marketing tool to get fans into the local arenas.
Once pay per view became the standard, promotions like WWE and WCW understandably wanted to compel their viewers to shell out for super cards and buy the right to watch historic moments. Just the same, cable television has seen its share of title changes, up to and including world championships changing hands.
25 years ago this week, one of the biggest free TV title changes of all time occurred when Lex Luger made Hollywood Hogan submit to the Human Torture Rack on Nitro to bring the World Championship back to WCW from the nWo. As such, it’s a fitting time to look back at the best cable TV title changes of all time.
Roman Reigns Defeats Sheamus For The WWE Championship (WWE Raw, December 14, 2015)
Nowadays, it’s hard to remember a time when Roman Reigns wasn’t a world champion or in the clear-cut top tier of stars in the business. The now-Head of the Table won his first WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2015, but the reign ended mere moments later when Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
Reigns was unsuccessful at recapturing the title at the TLC PPV on December 13, but one night later challenged The Celtic Warrior again and picked up the duke in a solid match. While any world title change on cable TV is a big deal, but this one was more significant for affirming Reigns’ spot as the new face of WWE.
This time, he’d reign for over a month, and when he lost the title to Triple H in the Royal Rumble, it was clearly set up for him to take the title back in the main event of WrestleMania 32 as his foundation of being WWE’s top star only grew more and more stable.
Lex Luger Defeats Hollywood Hogan For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, August 4, 1997)
Bash at the Beach 1996 saw the nWo begin to dominate WCW. Hulk Hogan turned heel to lead the faction and won the WCW Championship a month later at Hog Wild. From there, his stable ran roughshod over the company’s babyfaces and Hogan enjoyed almost a full year as a heel world champion before Lex Luger stopped him in his tracks on the August 4, 1997 episode of Nitro.
It was a dramatic scene when The Total Package trapped the nWo leader in a Human Torture Rack to secure the submission. Despite Luger not reigning for long, the title change represented one of the biggest feel-good moments in company history.
Booker T Defeats Scott Steiner For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, March 26, 2001)
Booker T defeated Scott Steiner for the WCW Championship on the last ever episode of WCW Nitro. The title was far from its peak, after some inauspicious names like David Arquette and Vince Russo had gotten their hands on it. Nonetheless, it still meant something to be the final world champion the company had on its own terms (in other words, not when the WCW Championship was defended under WWE booking, on WWE television).
In winning, Booker established himself as a torch bearer for the once-proud company as its roster and intellectual property merged with WWE. It was a huge step toward Booker becoming one of the most successful WCW stars to cross over to their former competitor.
Goldberg Defeats Hollywood Hogan For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, July 6, 1998)
One of the biggest flaws with WCW booking was a tendency to overcomplicate matters—often failing to give fans what they really wanted in favor of swerves as characters turned heel or messy scenarios led to indecisive finishes. The company got things right, however, on the July 6, 1998 edition of Nitro.
WCW paid off over a year of Goldberg going undefeated with a clean win over Hollywood Hogan to win his first world championship. The title win itself was a remarkable moment, but all the more so shored up Goldberg’ status as a top guy who could remain a draw into his WWE career over two decades later.
Mankind Defeats The Rock For The WWE Championship (WWE Raw, January 4, 1999)
Wrestling fans by and large enjoy a good underdog story. January 4, 1999 marked the culmination of two great underdog stories. Yes, Mick Foley beat the odds when he defeated The Rock—both in kayfabe and reality, becoming an unlikely world champion for the first time, and beating a bona fide megastar in the process. In addition WWE got the better of WCW.
The chaotically brilliant and great moment of Mick Foley capturing world title gold, and WCW spoiling the result, facilitated a huge victory for WWE against WCW. Fans changed the station to give Raw a Monday Night War ratings victory, at the expense of WCW’s infamous Fingerpoke of Doom Nitro.
Wrestling promoters will, understandably, continue to prioritize pay per view or “Premium Live Events” for a lot of their biggest title changes. Nonetheless, free TV title changes have their place for shock value, and at times reaching a larger audience. There’s a rich history of major title changes on TV, and twenty-five years after the biggest win of Lex Luger’s career, it will be interesting to see what modern stars might follow in his footsteps.
