10 Wrestlers That Lost Titles Due To Serious Contract Disputes

10. Chris Jericho (WCW World Television Championship)

Chris Jericho had an uphill battle with management throughout his WCW tenure.

He repeatedly got over in promos and matches but WCW refused to see him as anything other than a mid-carder or cruiserweight. It came to a head in 1998 when Jericho, having grown hugely frustrated with the way WCW higher-ups saw him on the card, refused to sign a contract extension. He would dodge and avoid Senior Vice President Eric Bischoff whenever they were backstage, wanting to quietly leave the promotion without any issues.

As Jericho recounts in his autobiography A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex, Bischoff finally cornered him before a live Nitro, telling him “Well if you won’t sign, it’s like losing your ticket at a Chinese dry cleaner. No ticket, no laundry.” Jericho was unsure what exactly he meant until Jimmy Hart came up to him later that day and told him he had been booked into losing his WCW World Television Championship to Konnan that night.

Jericho made a point of having a thrilling match with Konnan when dropping the belt to him, with them both looking like stars coming out of it, to spite Bischoff.