10 Weirdest Ways To Earn A Wrestling Title Shot

3. Break Your Neck

Braun Strowman Nicholas
WWE.com

Hardcore Holly fancied himself a main event act. In a legendary tidbit revealed on Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard, Holly once pitched his own World Title run in front of the entire roster.

"How 'bout you give me the belt?"

"And then what?" some official asked, keen to understand if Holly had an interesting arc with which to get there.

"And then I'll beat everybody!"

Headliner Holly would have been the t*ts, matter of fact - just a surly, limited, but hilarious brawler beating the piss out of multiple geeks month in, month out. It's such a great concept. Holly beats everybody. So what happens then? "I'll beat 'em again!" is honestly the most accurate guess as to what he'd have said next.

This didn't happen, sadly, but perennial midcard act Holly did once receive a shot at Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship because Lesnar had shoot broken his neck. When he returned at Survivor Series in 2003, he got himself disqualified from the traditional elimination match after attacking Lesnar before the bell. He lost a match, which somehow granted him a crack at the Big Gold Belt.

It's more than Triple H did.

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!