When I first read this, the Triple H situation in 2002 came to mind. He won the title at Wrestlemania, and he was supposed to have a nice run as champion after a storyline of attempting to get the title. What happened? In short time, he lost it to the big deal at the moment, Hulk Hogan.
Here, Homicide had a long storyline of getting the title, and he finally gets it. And in short time, he loses it to the big deal at the time, Takeshi Morishima. Now I'm NO WAY comparing HHH to Homicide and Takeshi to Hogan, but that was what came into my mind when I first read it.