10 Real Life Events That Forced Wrestling World Title Changes
CM Punk, Seth Rollins, RVD and those others involved in title changes due to real-life events.
Title changes are part and parcel of the pro wrestling business. The thing is, some of these switch-ups are done very much by design and as part of a (hopefully!) nuanced story that's been laid out way ahead of time, while other title changes are very much a last-minute call.
Given that the industry - at least in a broad, mainstream sense - had been monopolised by Vince McMahon's WWE for the best part of two decades until these past couple of years, so many of those aforementioned last-minute calls have often come down to, well, Vince being Vince - "plans change, pal" and all of that.
For McMahon and other promoters, though, there have been times where their hands have been absolutely forced by factors out of their control. And it's in those changes enforced by non-wrestling matters that the focus is on here.
Specifically, the spotlight in this instance is on World Championship title changes that were forced on a promotion due to events that happened away from the squared circle.
Sometimes, the real world dictates what goes on in WWE's writer's room, even at the highest level...
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.