10 Real Life Events That Forced Wrestling World Title Changes

10. Rob Van Dam Drops TWO Titles After Drug Charge

As of this writing, Rob Van Dam is the most recent name announced for the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame class.

There's no disputing that RVD is absolutely deserving of a spot in any wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Whole F'n Show is one of the most popular stars of his generation. Once he landed in ECW in 1996, Van Dam quickly began to show audiences something utterly unique - and Mr Monday Night was a genuine trailblazer.

That said, the Battle, Michigan native is also famous for dropping not one, but two World Championships after a drug charge.

This came in July 2006, fresh off WWE relaunching the ECW brand, with Van Dam spearheading the new Land of Extreme as the ECW World Champion - in addition to having bested John Cena to become WWE Champion at that year's One Night Stand a one month prior.

As detailed by RVD in an interview with Wrestling INC, he and Sabu were pulled over in Ohio for speeding. There, the police found 18 grams of marijuana, five Vicodin, nine Testolactone, and drug paraphernalia.

The night after his arrest saw Van Dam lose the WWE Title to Edge in a triple threat bout featuring John Cena, while the following night had him drop the ECW World Championship to Big Show.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 31st Mar 2021

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