10 Times Wrestlers Held Championship Belts Hostage

2. Brock Lesnar - WWE Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar Universal Champion Crown Jewel
WWE

More WWE's fault than Brock Lesnar's for the sweetheart deal he was afforded following his return to the company, 'The Beast's reigns with the Universal Championship between 2017 and 2019 took an already-cursed prize and almost most made it completely redundant due to inactivity.

Used as both the bridge and the troll by the company, nobody dared cross Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, and he'd invariably easily batter them if they tried. It got downright depressing by WrestleMania 34 when Brock - celebrating a year as Champion - defeated Roman Reigns in a match the audience booed from the off because they thought it was going the other way.

The entire show ended on such a downer that even Lesnar - a man traditionally thought of as somebody who doesn't care about the output - did the opposite of holding the title hostage. He launched it at Vince McMahon upon walking through the curtain in a moment captured on WWE Network cameras.

Fences were mended as they always are, but the lingering damage on the belt's legacy remains.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.