8 Times Major WWE Champions Were Forced To Vacate Titles

8. Andre the Giant Stripped Of WWE Championship - February 1988

After Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant had contested one of the biggest matches in wrestling history - their rematch from WrestleMania III - Andre won the championship in highly controversial circumstances. The match included a screwjob, as referee Earl Hebner had been bribed into helping Andre win the championship. It later emerged that Ted DiBiase had hired both Hebner and Andre to initiate the championship victory, as Andre sold the championship to DiBiase for a significant sum of money. It was a fantastic storyline that could only have been pulled off by the WWE in the 1980s. However, WWE President Jack Tunney found out about the scam and subsequently stripped Andre of the belt, and held it in a state of abeyance. The eventual champion would be determined by a tournament at WrestleMania IV, which Randy Savage won - beating DiBiase in the final. From early February to late March of 1988, there was no major champion in the WWE.
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Freelance sports journalist from Bradford, West Yorkshire. Specialize in primarily Rugby League and Football.