10 Wrestlers Who Refused To Drop Titles
7. Mike Awesome Took The ECW Championship With Him To WCW
After making his mark in Japan as The Gladiator, Mike Awesome appeared in ECW for the first time in December 1993. He continued to make sporadic appearances for ECW while competing in Japan until 1997 before returning for an extended run in 1998.
After getting sidelined due to an injury for a year, Mike Awesome returned to ECW in September 1999 and went on to have two reigns with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
He looked to be at the top of his game in ECW until monetary disputes led him to secretly sign with WCW while still being the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Mike Awesome refused to sign a new contract with ECW or lose the title until Heyman paid him his overdue wages.
Eric Bischoff reportedly wanted Awesome to pull off a Madusa with the ECW title, but Paul Heyman's legal team intervened at the right moment to prevent that from happening.
Paul Heyman compromised with Mike Awesome and even had Taz, who was signed with WWE at the time, make a surprise appearance in an ECW show on April 8, 2000, to defeat Awesome for the ECW title.
Since the ECW show aired on tape delay on April 14, 2000, Mike Awesome was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion when he made his first WCW appearance on April 10, 2000.