10 Weirdest Ways To Earn A Wrestling Title Shot

7. Lose A Lesser Championship

Braun Strowman Nicholas
WWE.com

If a pro wrestler loses a midcard championship, it badly damages their career and earning prospects.

The midcard by nature is ultra-competitive. Stocked with shrewd veterans, confident, technically advanced up-and-comers, and out-of-form main event talents intent on proving themselves all over again, the picture is very busy. With no automatic rematch clause in place, it's a long way back to the prize that was just claimed from their waist - much less the pinnacle.

Unless they are Samoa Joe, and they simply attack the World Champion the very next night on RAW.

That was easy! This was a method of contendership totally indistinguishable to that of the 24/7 Championship pursuit. No word yet on whether Joe consummated anything with Wendy Styles.

The Samoa Joe Vs. Kofi Kingston match was made official for Extreme Rules before that night's SmackDown. There was no effort made to even thrust Joe into a #1 contender's match after Kofi demanded a chance of vengeance. WWE was too lazy to be lazy.

If Joe's ass was a little too big to be playing hide and seek, WWE's ratings were a little too low to pump out b*llocks like this.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!