12 Times WWE Broke Its Own Golden Rules

11. Ric Flair Brings The NWA World Heavyweight Championship On WWE TV

In 1991, WCW booker Jim Herd was so intent on getting rid of top star Ric Flair that he fired him outright - despite the fact that Flair was the reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion. That belt was vacated, but Flair, who was also the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, continued to be recognized as that organization's titleholder. Furthermore, he had possession of the physical NWA Title... so when WWE came calling, Flair was able to use it as a prop in a very unique storyline. Though the reigning NWA and AWA World Heavyweight Champions had made appearances with WWE in the 1970s and 1980s, having someone brandish a title belt on TV and call himself the "real World's Champion" was unheard of - and yet Flair did just that. It was a surreal blending of fact and fiction, of the National Wrestling Alliance and World Wrestling Entertainment. Though Flair was already a legend, it made him unique in his new home. After WCW took legal action, WWE stopped using the NWA Title on TV, but they didn't stop the storyline. Instead, they cleverly had Flair carry around an old WWE World Tag Team Title, and the company's tech crew would blur the belt out on television.