3 WWE Superstars who asked to win a title and 3 who offered to lose a title

When WWE Superstars are asked in media interviews about their aspirations in the wrestling business, many of them reply by saying they would like to become World Champion one day.

Drew McIntyre, for example, guaranteed in a February 2018 interview with ICW that he would be the first UK-born Superstar to win one of WWE’s World Championships, and that dream became a reality two years later when he defeated Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 36.

Superstars wanting to win titles is nothing new, but did you know that some Superstars have asked WWE management if they can lose their title to a certain opponent?

In this article, let’s take a look at three WWE Superstars who pitched their own title win, as well as three who offered to lose their title to somebody else.

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#6 Offered to lose a WWE title: Becky Lynch

The inspiration for this article comes from none other than Becky Lynch, who revealed during an appearance on The Bellas Podcast that she pitched the idea of losing her RAW Women’s Championship to Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36.

In the pay-per-view prior to WrestleMania, Baszler eliminated all five of her opponents in the women’s Elimination Chamber match to set up a one-on-one encounter with Lynch at ‘Mania.

Baszler’s strong booking in the build-up to the match, which included her viciously biting Lynch’s neck on an episode of WWE RAW, looked as though it could lead to her finally dethroning “The Man” as RAW Women’s Champion.

However, as Lynch recalled to Brie and Nikki Bella, WWE’s decision-makers did not want “The Queen of Spades” to beat her for the title.

"I actually thought I was going to lose the title at WrestleMania, which I also pitched, but that was the end of it. Plans change."

Lynch later found out that she was pregnant, which forced WWE to alter the direction of her storyline with Baszler.

One month later, Asuka defeated five other female Superstars to win the Money in the Bank ladder match – an accomplishment that would usually guarantee somebody a future World Championship match at a time of their choosing.

On this occasion, Lynch revealed on the post-MITB episode of RAW that she was pregnant, and Asuka’s briefcase actually contained the RAW Women’s Championship, as opposed to a contract allowing her to challenge for the title.

#5 Asked to win a WWE NXT title: Tye Dillinger

Tye Dillinger revealed in a 2019 interview on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness that he asked to win the WWE NXT Championship during his 2016-17 rivalry with Bobby Roode.

At the time, Dillinger – now known as Shawn Spears in AEW – was among the most prominent Superstars in NXT, with his “Perfect Ten” character proving popular with the brand’s loyal fans.

“I think I did pitch an idea to win a title at a TakeOver, and then lose it immediately at a TV taping that Wednesday. Because it wasn’t about the title, it was about the climb. It was about the journey through, and then accomplishing it.” [H/T WrestleZone]

The on-screen rivalry between Dillinger and Roode ended at WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto in November 2016, with Roode picking up the victory, but the two men continued to face each other at live events after “The Glorious One” won the NXT Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE NXT TakeOver: San Antonio in January 2017.

Judging by Dillinger’s comments, this is around the time that he wanted to win the title and drop it back to Roode at the next NXT taping. But, as it turned out, he joined the WWE SmackDown roster in April 2017, meaning he never challenged for the NXT Championship on television.

#4 Offered to lose a WWE title: Bret Hart

Bret Hart’s WWE departure in November 1997 has gone down as one of the most controversial moments in the history of the wrestling business.

Vince McMahon allowed Hart to join WCW because he could not afford to pay his Superstar the salary that he had promised him. This meant that “The Hitman” had to lose the WWE Championship on his way out of the company to one of his fiercest rivals, Shawn Michaels, at Survivor Series 1997.

History remembers this as the match where Hart refused to drop the WWE Championship to Michaels, hence why McMahon ordered referee Earl Hebner to award the title to “The Heartbreak Kid” even though Hart did not tap out of a sharpshooter.

However, speaking on WWE Network show Broken Skull Sessions, Hart clarified that he originally offered to lose the title to Michaels, but he changed his mind after his rival responded with a derogatory comment.

“‘I have no problem putting you over, I have no problem dropping the title to you or doing anything you want.’ And the big problem between me and Shawn started right there. And he said, ‘I appreciate that, but I just want you to know that I’m not willing to do the same thing for you.’" [H/T Wrestling Headlines]

Michaels’ comment prompted Hart to tell McMahon that he was not prepared to drop the WWE Championship to somebody who would not do the same thing for him.

#3 Asked to win a WWE title: Bob Holly

Anybody who listens to Bruce Prichard’s Something to Wrestle With podcast will no doubt be familiar with the legendary story about Bob Holly asking to become WWE Champion.

Speaking on a No Mercy 1999 edition of the podcast, Prichard recalled the time that WWE’s higher-ups asked Superstars to give them ideas for their characters.

“I’ll never forget Bob Holly, the guys were asking talent for ideas. ‘If you have any ideas, write them down and tell us. Let us know what idea you may have.’ And Bob’s idea was, ‘Hey, I got an idea. How about you give me the belt!’ The follow-up question was, ‘Okay, then what?’ ... ‘Then I beat everybody!’”

Prichard quoted Bob Holly in a comical way, as you can hear from the 2:11:00 mark of the video above, and the three-time WWE Tag Team Champion’s request has become a running joke on the podcast for the last few years.

Holly’s only WWE Championship match came in 2004 when he was defeated by Brock Lesnar – the man who broke his neck 16 months earlier – at the Royal Rumble.

#2 Offered to lose a WWE title: Daniel Bryan

Kofi Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career.

The original plan was supposed to see the returning Kevin Owens challenge Bryan for the title at WWE’s biggest show of the year, but the “KofiMania” phenomenon proved extremely popular with fans in the build-up to WrestleMania.

Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Kingston revealed that Bryan pitched the idea of changing his ‘Mania opponent in order to give the New Day member his long-awaited WWE Championship moment.

“[Daniel Bryan] pushed for that to happen because the plans weren't for me to be at WrestleMania. I'm not sure who it was for Daniel to face but it wasn't me, and Daniel went in and went to bat for me, and for the situation for the title match between us to happen, so he had a big part in it, too.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Owens, meanwhile, did not even compete in a match on the WrestleMania 35 card. Instead, he flew home to watch the event with his family before flying back to New York one day later for the next SmackDown taping.

#1 Asked to win a WWE title: Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at the end of WrestleMania 31 to win the WWE Championship, but did you know that the man himself is the person who came up with the idea?

The former Shield member said on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness that he presented the idea to Triple H in late 2014 and suggested it to him again after WWE’s fans booed Roman Reigns’ 2015 Royal Rumble victory.

“I just wanted to remind him that I have this idea on the table. ‘I think it's a pretty good one and even if it's not the idea, it could easily be a contingency plan if the main event at WrestleMania doesn't come together the way you see it. Just keep it in the back of your head, you know?’” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Despite many fans’ disapproval of Reigns’ huge singles push, WWE stuck with the original plan for WrestleMania 31, and “The Big Dog” challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in the final match of the night.

Fortunately for Rollins, Triple H and the rest of WWE’s decision-makers must have liked his idea, as he was told during WrestleMania 31 that he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank contract to close the show.