WWE World title changes in 2002......

Seems like Vince didn't have that 1 guy he wanted to latch on too

It sure was a crazy time! Hogan being cheered like a god at WrestleMania I think plays into around four of these title changes lol. I wonder if the initial plan was for Triple H to drop the title to Brock at SummerSlam, but if that happens we then do not get Shawn Michaels vs Triple H! Very interesting to think about.

Also, the Vengence 2002 triple threat match between Undertaker, Rock and Angle is freaking awesome, probably still my favorite triple threat matche the WWE has ever done. I also remember thinking it was weird how we got two PPVs called Vengence so close together, kind of like how we got two No Mercy PPVs in 1999 as there was one in the UK in May and then the "real" one in October.

I think Triple H was due a long run after Wrestlemania, but Hulk's renewed popularity at the time was hard to ignore and Vince went straight to him as champion, even though it was only gonna be temporary, just for what it was.

When Trips got injured I would imagine the plan had been for him to beat Undertaker. If Triple H took the title back from Hogan, he'd have been hated so it had to be a heel at the time. I think the Rock to Brock was when WWE decided that Brock was the direction it was going for the period until Wrestlemania, but had to get the title to Angle without Brock losing it to him. It did seem weird Big Show, but he was on that run where he took out Taker and it had to be believable fro Brock to lose it so Heyman turning made sense at the time.

It was all very strange the way it went. In a round about way, when you look at it, it does seem to make sense, if that is the sense you're looking for.

Like others said, early in 2002 it seemed like the long term plan was to run with HHH as the champ throughout the year. Jericho always seemed like a transitional champ until HHH could have his moment at WM.

Problem was ratings and attendance were going down for the better part of a year, and the nWo was a flop. Rock was transitioning to Hollywood, and Austin was already being transitioned down the card. But within a lot of turmoil, Hulk Hogan was one of the bright spots in the month leading up to WM. After the reaction he received at WM, it’s clear Vince changed plans and decided to run with Hulk one more time (Hulk was the catalyst for 2 wrestling booms, so it made sense to think he may be able to do it for a 3rd time). So we got a weird title change after HHH seemed primed for a long run.

But the problems continued as it became clear that Hulk wasn’t going to start a 3rd wrestling book and couldn’t be counted on as a long-term solution. With HHH dealing with injuries, Rocky in Hollywood, and Austin not being in the best mental and physical states, that left really Taker and Angle to take the belt (Jericho was already back in the midcard by this point). So Taker was a safe to put the belt on until a new solution could be found.

So Taker had a decent little run, but it was clear that Vince was looking to the future, and he saw it in Brock Lesnar. But how could Vince really put Brock over? By soundly defeating one of the top stars in the company. Taker wasn’t going anywhere so that feud could wait. HHH was going to be the man on Raw and wasn’t jobbing to a rookie. That left Austin and Rocky, the two biggest stars of the attitude era. Austin had left though due to Vince wanting to throw away there match on Raw, so that left Rocky. However, Rocky was leaving after SunmerSlam for who knows how long, so Vince had to pull the trigger. Hence we got Rocky winning the belt for a month.

Fast forward to SummerSlam, and Rocky does the honors for Brock and we have a new champ. Brock becomes exclusive to Smackdown, and has a great feud with Taker. But it’s clear that Vince wanted Brock to be the face of the company going forward, but you can’t do that with a heel (unless you’re HHH of course). Plans were also in motion for Brock/Kurt at WM19, but with Brock as a face. So Vince needed a transitional champ to get the belt to Kurt and help turn Brock face. That was Big Show, who got a transitional reign if there ever was one just to drop it to Kurt a month later.

Atleast this is how it’s always appeared to me. 2002 was a transitional year for the WWF/E. A lot of changes and Vince seemed to be trying to find his companies footing in a post-Monday Night Wars era, footing that I don’t think they fully found until about 2005.