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It is not often in WWE that we see two champions go one-on-one with each other. Usually, such matches are competed at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, which is the annual RAW vs. SmackDown extravaganza.
However, on occasion, there have been instances where these matches have occurred out of the blue. Normally, they would be non-title matches, but sometimes the championships would be on the line.
On that note, let's take a look at five Champion vs. Champion matches in WWE you may not remember.
Complete List of all the Champions in WWE
#5. Seth Rollins vs. Kofi Kingston Winner Takes All Match on WWE Monday Night RAW
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After taking a breather from the previous night's WrestleMania in 2019 at Metlife Stadium, WWE presented Monday Night RAW. The previous night, Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston won their respective world title matches to be crowned champions. They were in the mood for more, that was for sure.
Rollins came out with his newly won Universal Championship and declared that he was going to be a fighting champion. This brought out the new WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston, who immediately challenged him to a match.
This wasn't going to be any ordinary match. Kofi and Seth agreed to put both world titles on the line in a Winner Takes All match. It was the first time in history that the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship would be on the line in the same match.
There was an air of excitement at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York leading into the match. Sadly, we didn't get a double-champion as the match ended in disqualification when The Bar - Sheamus and Cesaro - interfered. It brought great disappointment to the WWE Universe who were eagerly wanting a conclusive winner.
This led to a tag-team match between Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston vs. The Bar. The fans were extremely disappointed at this point and chanted their displeasure. It sucked the air out of the arena that night. The two-champions managed to pick up the victory and then celebrated together as the show concluded.
Since this night, the Universal Championship and WWE Championship haven't been on the line in the same match. It is likely we will not see both championships on the line again any time soon.
#4. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 23
You may remember this classic WWE match being an absolute hit with main-eventing WrestleMania in 2007. What you may not remember is that this was in fact a Champion vs. Champion match. Both John Cena and Shawn Michaels were World Tag Team Champions on Monday Night RAW.
The World Tag Team Championships were introduced into the storyline by WrestleMania to see if the two could co-exist. Of course they could, until the night after WrestleMania when Michaels turned on John Cena. Michaels was still reeling from tapping out to Cena the night before at Ford Field in Detroit.
In an interview with Michael Morales Torres of Lucha Libre Online, Mike Chioda discussed the match. Chioda was the WWE referee for the match between Cena and HBK at WrestleMania.
"That was a phenomenal match. To me, John Cena, and Shawn Michaels is phenomenal, don’t get me wrong, but that time John Cena was on top for quite some time and busted his a** for the company and stuff like that. So, was I surprised they didn’t give it back to Shawn? Shawn’s not going to run around for another year or six months with the title, I don’t think he wanted to travel that much anymore at that time, you know?" Mike Chioda said.
#3. Kevin Owens vs. John Cena at WWE Elimination Chamber in 2015
John Cena was the reigning WWE United States Champion in the summer of 2015. Each week, Cena would come out and issue an open challenge for anyone to challenge him for his United States Championship. Eventually, then-NXT Champion Kevin Owens made his main roster debut, attacking John Cena and stamping on the US Championship.
KO made an immediate impact, sending a message to the WWE Universe attacking their poster boy. This resulted in Owens and Cena colliding at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
As Owens was the NXT Champion and Cena the WWE United States Championship, it was a Champion vs. Champion match. No championship was on the line, it was simply a singles match in which Kevin Owens defeated the former Doctor of Thuganomics. The match was considered one of the best of the year.
Their feud continued into the summer, and KO told Slam Sports about his joy at working with the 16-time world champion.
"It definitely helped me working with Cena and anybody who thinks the opposite is delusional. When you worked with him on Raw and on PPV, how this can be bad? Whatever people said about me losing two matches out of three, at the end of the year, fans will remember the quality of the matches and how great these matches were way more than who won and who lost." Kevin Owens said. (h/t What Culture)
#2. John Cena vs. The Big Show vs. Booker T at WWE Cyber Sunday in 2006
Remember the WWE Cyber Sunday pay-per-view where fans could vote on the matches they wanted to see? It was a great concept, right? WWE should definitely consider bringing it back some time.
In 2006, the main event saw a Triple Threat between WWE Champion, John Cena, World Heavyweight Champion, King Booker, and ECW Champion, The Big Show. Fans were able to vote as to which world championship was on the line during the match. It was determined that it would be King Booker's World Heavyweight Championship that would be on the line.
During the match, rapper Kevin Federline made a shocking appearance attacking John Cena. The two were already feuding, and this was the next step in their storyline. Thanks to the attack, Booker managed to retain his championship. All hail King Booker! It was notably the first time the WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and ECW Champion had faced each other in a match.
#1. CM Punk vs. John Cena - WWE Champion vs. WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2011
Everyone remembers CM Punk's "Summer of Punk" in WWE in the summer of 2011. The pipebomb, the insanely hot crowd during his match vs. John Cena at Money in the Bank. It was must-see, and brought back a lot of WWE fans who hadn't watched in years.
The Money in the Bank match is by far the most talked about, but what about the SummerSlam match that followed? It was fascinating in the fact that it was a WWE Champion vs. WWE Champion match. Punk walked away from WWE with the WWE Championship after his Money in the Bank win. WWE had no other choice but to re-crown a new champion, which ended up being.
Eventually, Punk returned but was still recognizing himself as the WWE Champion. Cena, on the other hand, also recognized himself as the WWE Champion. There was only way to settle it, and that was in the main-event of the biggest pay-per-view of the summer.
Following some epic promo's and Triple H being named as the Special Guest Referee, the match took place. It was the Second City Saint that came out on top, becoming the undisputed WWE champion. His reign lasted a mere few minutes before Alberto Del Rio cashed-in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become the new champion. Del Rio was able to cash-in thanks to a surprise attack from Kevin Nash on CM Punk after the match was over.
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