3 recent WWE title reigns that flopped

WWE already has a different set of champions compared to last year. While some of the newer or recent champions have been doing just fine in their reign, others not so much.

2025 started with a couple of new WWE champions courtesy of Rhea Ripley defeating Liv Morgan for the Women's World Championship on RAW, followed by Tiffany Stratton cashing in her Money in the Bank contract against Nia Jax for the Women's title on SmackDown. More champions and challengers have emerged since then, but not all are flourishing in the Stamford-based promotion.

For this list, we will look at three recent WWE title reigns that flopped.

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#3. Gunther is on a disappointing WWE World Heavyweight Championship run

Gunther arguably has the best Intercontinental Championship run of all time under his belt as he broke the record and became the longest-reigning titleholder in WWE history. The Ring General dropping the title to Sami Zayn was a bittersweet moment, but Gunther winning the World Heavyweight Title got the fans excited. Unfortunately, the star has failed to live up to the hype.

Although his first feud with Randy Orton was exciting, no prominent stars have stepped up since then. His momentum was further halted when he lost to Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel, making it seem like Gunther was the secondary champion. His WrestleMania feud isn't much better as it will be against Jey Uso, a superstar he already faced not long ago.

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#2. Lyra Valkyria hasn't been doing much as the Women's Intercontinental Champion

Lyra Valkyria became the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Championship last month after defeating Dakota Kai on RAW during the tournament finals for the title. Although it has only been a month, WWE could have introduced somebody to feud with their champion or even featured her prominently on the brand, but that wasn't the case.

The Women's Intercontinental Champion's latest match saw her get defeated by Bayley in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. It was only recently that she was introduced to a challenger. It's safe to say that her title reign didn't start on a high note, but the company can still have a chance to change its direction.

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#1. Shinsuke Nakamura wasn't the United States Champion fans wanted

At SummerSlam 2024, fans were delighted when Logan Paul dropped the United States Championship to LA Knight. The Megastar has defended the title several times and even got Carmelo Hayes and Andrade involved in the title picture. However, a returning Shinsuke Nakamura took the spotlight and eventually won the gold at Survivor Series.

The King of Strong Style is still a notable star but most of the fans did not like how the title changed suddenly changed hands without a proper buildup. Now that Nakamura is the champion, he barely defends it and is just mostly feuding with Knight instead of a different star.