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In WWE, winning a championship - be it the world title, tag team title, or a prestigious mid-card title, is an important achievement for any Superstar. The hard work put in the ring - honing and crafting mic skills, improving the character, and putting on brilliant matches, could be rewarded with a title, in WWE.
While winning a title could be as a result of WWE wanting to tell a different story, opportunities that they want to give different Superstars, and future opponents/storylines for a Superstar that would make fans tune in, losing a title could be as a result of an innocuous reason.
Here, we take a look at 5 Superstars who lost their title in WWE due to unusual reasons
#5 Dolph Ziggler lost WWE Intercontinental title
Two-time WWE Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, has been lauded for his exceptional in-ring ability, as well as being a safe worker, someone who could work with wrestlers who need some help in the ring. The Showoff is also good on the mic, and can play the heel exceptionally well.
Away from the ring, Ziggler has also found some success as a comedian since he took it up in 2013. The six-time Intercontinental Champion has been appeared on Roast Battle, as well as toured across the US.
Back in 2015, Ziggler was in his fourth reign as Intercontinental Champion in WWE, but surprisingly lost the title to Bad News Barrett in January 2015, on an episode of WWE RAW.
Reports at that time suggested that WWE punished Ziggler for booking an improv comedy show without the knowledge of WWE. As Ziggler was contracted with the company, he had to inform the WWE about it, which he reportedly did not do.
Ziggler is still a comedian, and had a stand-up comedy tour last year, and even worked in WWE.
#4 Sami Zayn was stripped of the Intercontinental title by WWE
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected WWE, much like every other entertainment or sports event. WWE have had to move shows to a smaller venue, have fewer members involved, and perform in front of no fans.
WWE have also taken precautions to ensure that the spread of the virus is contained, taking safety measures at the Performance Center, while also offering Superstars the opportunity to stay at home.
One Superstar who has stayed at home for the majority of the pandemic era is Sami Zayn. Zayn's last match in WWE was at WrestleMania 36, and since then he has stayed at home.
Zayn had defeated Daniel Bryan at The Show of Shows to retain his title, but he was stripped of the title by WWE in May after not showing up on SmackDown.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently said that WWE will most likely add days to Zayn's contract for the time he has spent on the sidelines.
#3 Kofi Kingston lost the title on WWE SmackDown's 20th-anniversary show to Brock Lesnar
Kofi Kingston had a dream run on the road to WrestleMania 35, as he had the WWE Universe entirely on his side. The New Day member faced Daniel Bryan and defeated him to win the WWE Championship for the very first time.
But, Kingston title reign lasted just six months, as he lost to Brock Lesnar on October 4th edition of SmackDown in 2019. Lesnar squashed Kofi, defeating him in just under 10 seconds to win the title.
The Beast was moved to SmackDown from RAW as FOX wanted the Blue brand to feel like a legitimate sport. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer revealed that Lesnar moving to RAW from SmackDown and winning the WWE Championship made "all the sense in the world”.
It is pretty unusual that a WWE Championship changed hands due to the network wanting WWE to feel "legitimate" when most know what pro wrestling is really about. The decision to squash Kofi was also quite unusual, considering how popular he was with the WWE fans.
#2 RVD lost the WWE Championship in 2006
Rob Van Dam was popular figure in WWE in the 2000s, winning several titles and wowing audiences with his high-flying ability. The ECW icon won the WWE Championship once, cashing in his Money in the Bank contract against John Cena and winning the title. He held the ECW, which was brought back by Paul Heyman, and RVD became the first person to hold both belts at the same time.
But, his reign as the WWE Champion didn't last long, as he lost the belt to Edge on an episode of RAW in 2006. RVD was suspended by WWE for 30 days as he had been arrested for possessing drugs. RVD spoke about this when he appeared on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast earlier this year:
"For everybody who says how much I was held back, and how wrong that was for my career, first off, I gave them plenty of chances to not put me on the forward foot and plenty of warnings that I would f--k it up. And then, when I did finally get the championship, I f--ked it up. I f--ked it up. I was suspended for 30 days. I had to drop both of the championships." (H/T WrestlingInc)
RVD left WWE in 2007, returned for a year between 2013 and 2014, and made one appearance in WWE in 2019.
#1 CM Punk lost the WWE World Heavyweight title to The Undertaker in 2009
CM Punk is one to live by his own rules, which got him into trouble when he was a part of WWE. The former WWE Superstar won several world titles in his stint with WWE, which ended in 2014.
Punk, who held the World Heavyweight Championship thrice, was reportedly punished by WWE in 2009 for some unusual reason, losing his title to The Undertaker at 2009's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
As per reports from then, Punk had backstage heat due to something that happened in WWE's European Tour. The Undertaker reportedly told Punk to dress in a more formal way as he was the World Heavyweight Champion and was representing the WWE. Punk was reportedly "confrontational" with The Undertaker, and argued with The Deadman that John Cena - who was a champion then - hadn't dressed "the part" as well.
These attitude problems and the clash with The Undertaker reportedly resulted in Punk being punished and stripped of the title. The report also said that Punk had argued with those backstage about them ending his title reign.
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