5 Most Unusual Title Vacancies In Pro Wrestling History

Just days apart, we all witnessed a popular women's wrestler forfeit her long-held championship to a rival on account of pregnancy, followed by a men's secondary champion dropping his belt due to apparent refusal to travel during a pandemic. Living in strange times, you're bound to see a few unorthodox occurrences here and there, and WWE has been far from immune. But this hasn't exactly been news, has it?

Even before these "unprecedented times" we keep hearing about, champions in wrestling have lost titles without there being a pinfall or submission rendered, and when that happens, the reasons can vary. Usually, it's a long-term injury that necessitates the sudden vacancy, which is pretty common in a highly-physical form of entertainment. Other times, the reasons for removing gold from its holder can be pretty creative, and can provoke a double-take. Recent history demonstrates this.

As noted, it's not just recent history, either. There have been some truly inspired instances of wrestlers losing their titles without there being a tangible, "traditional" reason. Here are just a few of those examples.

Just days apart, we all witnessed a popular women's wrestler forfeit her long-held championship to a rival on account of pregnancy, followed by a men's secondary champion dropping his belt due to apparent refusal to travel during a pandemic. Living in strange times, you're bound to see a few unorthodox occurrences here and there, and WWE has been far from immune. But this hasn't exactly been news, has it?

Even before these "unprecedented times" we keep hearing about, champions in wrestling have lost titles without there being a pinfall or submission rendered, and when that happens, the reasons can vary. Usually, it's a long-term injury that necessitates the sudden vacancy, which is pretty common in a highly-physical form of entertainment. Other times, the reasons for removing gold from its holder can be pretty creative, and can provoke a double-take. Recent history demonstrates this.

As noted, it's not just recent history, either. There have been some truly inspired instances of wrestlers losing their titles without there being a tangible, "traditional" reason. Here are just a few of those examples.

5. Doug Vs. The Volcano

Well, this is *kind of* similar to what's happening now, when you consider there are travel restrictions here, but only if you replace "novel virus" with "volcanic ash". The result: then-TNA X Division champion Douglas Williams was unable to make it to the 2010 Lockdown pay-per-view.

As the title suggests, Williams was hamstrung by the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, which played havoc with air travel throughout Europe. Williams was forced to vacate the belt, which Frankie Kazarian won in a three-way top contender's match at the PPV.

4. Shawn Michaels' Parade-O-Vacancies

Some of these involve "injuries" in perhaps the academic sense, but it's worth examining just how many times Shawn Michaels has lost a title without losing a match. Between 1993 and 1997, six of Michaels' title reigns ended outside of a standard wrestling bout.

There's the "lost smile" WWF title vacancy, one IC title gone via a drug test failure, another forfeited after the "Syracuse" incident, a Tag Title dropped because he and Diesel split, another Tag run ended when he "quit" WWF legitimately, and a European title loss where he just laid down for Triple H. That's some resume.

3. Improper Disposal

One of the more underrated moments at WrestleMania 14 saw Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie defeat The New Age Outlaws in a "Dumpster match" to win the World Tag Team titles. As the name suggests, you won when you trapped both opponents inside an actual dumpster.

Then for a little kayfabe fun, the belts were vacated the following day. Why? Because the challengers sealed both Outlaws in a *backstage* dumpster, instead of the *official* one that sat at ringside. The "wrong dumpster" clause has long been debated by legal scholars.

2. Just Because

The booking of Dolph Ziggler from the time he began aping everyone's entrances, through his short run as United States champion, is rather confounding, to say the least. The crux of this overall run was his animosity toward fans, believing they didn't deserve or appreciate him.

After winning the US title at the 2017 Clash of Champions, Ziggler just left the belt in the ring on SmackDown two nights later, and walked out. This constituted vacancy, and a tournament was then organized. Ziggler returned six weeks later at the Royal Rumble without mention of the angle or the belt, and he simply moved on.

1. Lane Change

In 1999, WCW presented a duo called The West Hollywood Blondes, comprised of Lenny Lane and Lodi. Their gimmick saw the heels play up many overt stereotypes of homosexuals, so much so that GLAAD actually stepped in and complained to WCW about their ongoing act.

Because of the negative publicity, Turner Broadcasting removed the two from television. At the time, Lane was the Cruiserweight champion, and suddenly dropped the belt, which was quietly given to Psicosis, only for him to immediately lose it to Disco Inferno on Nitro.