10 Times Wrestling Championships Were Vacated For Bizarre Reasons
When you can't take your opponent to school - because you attend it already...
Winning championships in the high-octane world of professional wrestling is no ordinary feat. While getting their hands on a title is an uphill task, keeping them around their waists is another monumental task for the wrestlers. Championships can change hands in the blink of an eye, and while pinfalls, submissions, and knockouts are the more common ways to crown a new champion, they are not the only way a champion could lose his title.
Unforeseen situations have led the champions to vacate the championships themselves or have the titles forcibly stripped from them on various occasions over the years, and the reasons vary from injuries, retirements, creative decisions, disputes, and abrupt exits.
These ten instances would prove how a wrestling promotion strives to keep things interesting by incorporating unforeseen and strange strategies to keep their title pictures entertaining and how wrestlers can manipulate their way out of unfavorable situations.
These moments blurred the lines between fiction and reality, leaving spectators to debate whether the reasons were justified or merely stunts pulled by the promotions and wrestlers to get more eyes on their product.
10. Because Vince Russo Was Not A Wrestler
After dominating the Monday Night Wars for 83 consecutive weeks, WCW's product experienced a significant decline in the late 1990s. With ratings tumbling and having a fallout with Eric Bischoff, WCW's top management had no choice but to relieve the latter from his position.
Harvey Schiller, the head of Turner Sports, looked to turn things around by bringing in Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera, the two individuals who key to WWE gaining the edge over WCW with the Attitude Era. Russo and Ferrera joined WCW in late 1999 and looked to replicate the success of their Crash TV formula on WCW television, and while it yielded good initial results, it wasn't enough to save the sinking ship.
One of many questionable decisions Vince Russo made during his two stints at the helm was booking himself to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He defeated Booker T in a steel cage match for the title on the 25 September 2000 episode of Nitro after Goldberg speared Russo through the side of the cage, the same time Booker T got out.
The title picture remained uncertain over the confusing finish, but Russo declared himself the new World Champion on the following episode of Thunder. However, he announced that he was vacating the title since he wasn't a pro wrestler. Then why win it in the first place? Maybe it's because he saw the other Vince do the same thing on the other show just a year ago.