10 Random WWE World Title Matches You Completely Forgot Happened On PPV

The WWE Championship is one of, if not the most prestigious prize in professional wrestling. Many of those who are considered the all-time greats, such as John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Bret Hart, and many more, have all held the gold at some point during their careers.

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PPVs often host the biggest title matches, but at times the championship bouts on PPV have been completely random. This is due to a challenger feeling not at the caliber of challenging for WWE’s top prize on a marquee event. The lack of star power for a challenger leads to fans forgetting all about these matches over the years.

10 The Rock Vs. X-Pac (Capital Carnage 1998)

At one of WWE’s UK PPVs, which often had little of note happening in the 1990s, fans were greeted with a hugely predictable WWE Title match. Although X-Pac was going through a decent stint, he was still not a threat to The Rock.

To make matters worse, this match ended in a PPV due to an attack by Triple H and Chyna. There was little reason to not have The Rock soundly defeat X-Pac here.

9 Dean Ambrose Vs. Dolph Ziggler (SummerSlam 2016)

SummerSlam in 2016 hosted the first PPV after the second brand split had gone into effect. On the SmackDown side of things, their first WWE Title match on PPV should have showcased the best their brand had to offer.

Instead, Dean Ambrose defended his gold against Dolph Ziggler. By the time 2016 rolled around, Ziggler had lost much of his star power and believability as a title contender and felt like a thrown-together opponent. For one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year, this was not up to scratch for the company’s biggest belt.

8 Triple H Vs. Vladimir Kozlov (Survivor Series 2008)

Vladimir Kozlov was one of WWE’s many failed attempts at creating a monster heel. In 2008, he was handed a huge push towards the WWE Championship scene, and found himself going up against Triple H at Survivor Series.

Kozlov was never at the caliber of a WWE main eventer, and this match went down as one of the most boring and bland World Title matches in WWE history, so fans would be more than forgiven if they forgot all about it.

7 Bret Hart Vs. The Patriot (In Your House 17: Ground Zero 1997)

Many newer WWE fans and perhaps even the older fans may have either never heard of or forgotten all about The Patriot. During Bret Hart’s anti-America stance, The Patriot made his debut and pulled off a shocking upset against the WWE Champion, setting up a title match for this PPV.

Of course, the result was never in doubt, but the match was pretty decent all things considered. The Patriot’s time in WWE was short-lived, leaving the company and retiring less than a year into his run, making his one brush with the WWE Title feel very random.

6 AJ Styles Vs. Rusev (Extreme Rules 2018)

In 2018, Rusev was one of the most over superstars on the entire roster, but he never really got a chance in the main event scene. Fans will likely have forgotten that he did challenge once for the WWE Title in a singles match on PPV.

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He came up against AJ Styles at the Extreme Rules PPV in one of the best matches of his whole WWE run. There was some minor hope of an upset, but Styles retained his prize. Rusev didn’t stick around in the title scene after that, and dropped back down the ladder.

5 Undertaker Vs. Faarooq (King Of The Ring 1997)

Perhaps in years past, Faarooq wrestling for the WWE Championship on a PPV would have been more accepted, but by the time 1997 rolled around, his character was not one of main event quality.

The match was very dull and by the book, and was a very poor way of closing out the King of the Ring PPV. WWE should have instead opted for the King of the Ring finals between Triple H and Mankind in this spot, or the singles bout between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin.

4 Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Vs. Edge (Rebellion 2002)

Edge would go on to become one of the most celebrated World Champions of all time, but in 2002 he was nowhere near to that. He was instead someone who had just come out of a tag team and was a midcard performer at best.

That made it very random when he found himself challenging for the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar in 2002. This was another example of a poor WWE Title bout taking place on a UK-based PPV, as Lesnar won quite easily.

3 The Miz Vs. Jerry Lawler (Elimination Chamber 2011)

The Miz’s WWE Championship reign was often criticized, though it did see a unique feud with Jerry Lawler. Lawler, despite a long and prosperous in-ring career that is still ongoing to this day, had never challenged for the belt on a WWE PPV.

In 2011, he got that chance, even though nobody expected him to win. The match was probably as good as it could be when considering Lawler’s age.

2 Big Show Vs. Big Boss Man (Armageddon 1999)

On paper, Big Show vs. Big Boss Man sounds like the most underwhelming and lackluster WWE Championship match possible for a PPV, especially during the Attitude Era.

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This match was essentially just a squash match as Big Show bulldozed his way through Boss Man in just three minutes. In truth, this should have been kept for Raw rather than being on a WWE PPV.

1 Brock Lesnar Vs. Ricochet (Super ShowDown 2020)

When Ricochet found himself challenging for the WWE Championship at Super ShowDown, fans were hoping for a star-making performance. He was instead squashed by Brock Lesnar in 90 seconds in a forgettable match.

Ricochet did feel like a random competitor, and even more-so when the complete destruction of him occurred. He was just a tool to make Lesnar look dominant. It is certainly among the worst of WWE's Saudi Arabia matches.