WWE History Vol. 26: Vacated Titles

In the world of professional wrestling, achieving championship gold is one of the major milestones. Yes, the victors maybe predetermined, but to be given a championship run by promoters is a huge vote of confidence. It's a statement that not only does the promotion believe the wrestler is getting themselves over, but that they can also get their opponents over as well. So when a champion in WWE must abdicate their title belt, it's a pretty big deal.

Take the most recent example which is fresh on everyone's mind, Becky Lynch. She vacated the RAW Women's Championship due to her pregnancy.

This is one of the more surprising, if not necessarily unhappy, title vacancies in recent history. The Man's status as the hottest property in all of WWE, no matter the division, makes it that much juicier of a headline.

But there are many reasons why a champion in WWE might have to vacate their championship. Often this is due to injuries suffered while performing, and the champion is too hurt to work a match to drop the title. Other times it might be due to a storyline convenience. Often title changes in this manner happen to babyfaces who are very popular with the fans.

Then there are the happiest reasons for vacating a title, namely because the champion has won a higher tier belt and must now vacate the midcard title.

Whatever the reason, title vacancies always create a lot of heat and drama both in terms of the storylines presented and the fan buzz surrounding the wrestling product.

Here are some of the most memorable title vacations in WWE History.

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#1 The Main Event 1988: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and evil twin referees

Andre The Giant is not impressed with Hulk Hogan's Vitriol prior to their contest at Saturday Night's Main Event in 1988.

Hulk Hogan is very likely the reason why you watch pro wrestling today, and are reading this article, even if you were never a fan of him personally.

That's because Hulk Hogan is the man who took pro wrestling from tiny venues to gigantic arenas. He changed the public perception of pro wrestling as fringe, gory entertainment and made it into a family friendly product with massive mainstream marketing appeal.

Hulk Hogan wasn't just a pro wrestler, or even a wrestling champion. He was, and is, a 1980s icon and probably the first name most people associate with pro wrestling and the industry in general. Especially, for the non pro wrestling fans.

It's important to add this context to our first title vacancy, because of the significance. At Wrestlemania III, Hogan defeated Andre the Giant cleanly in one of the most celebrated contests of all time.

But in the world of pro wrestling, there's no such thing as definitive victory until history says it's a definitive victory. Because of a botch where the referee at Wrestlemania III accidentally counted three while Hogan kicked out of a pin attempt, Andre the Giant and his manager Bobby Heenan had plenty of ammunition to demand a rematch.

Add into the mix the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, who wanted to 'buy' the WWE Championship, and you have the set up for one of the wildest and most memorable title vacancies of all time.

For months, Ted Dibiase hounded the champion Hulkster, offering to buy the title for millions of dollars. When Hogan refused, Dibiase enlisted the help of the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant.

Thanks to an evil twin referee and plenty of shenanigans, the title changed hands with Andre the Giant pinning Hogan in the ring. However, Andre 'surrendered' the title to Ted Dibiase after only a few seconds.

Then-WWE president Jack Tunney made the decision not to recognize Dibiase's reign, since it's not legal to 'surrender' your title to anyone. Hogan had lost the belt, and the referee's decision--even that of an imposter--was final, so Hulk was not given the belt back. Likewise, Tunney felt that Andre had besmirched the prestige of the title, and decided not to recognize him as champion either.

This set the stage for an unprecedented one night tournament at Wrestlemania IV, which would eventually be won by the Macho Man. But when it comes to title vacancies, they don't get any crazier than this.

#2 Wrestlemania IV--The Ultimate Warrior, double champion

It's the Uuuuuuuulimate Warrior with both the Intercontinental Championship and the WWE World title at Wrestlemania VI.

Sometimes in WWE, a title vacancy doesn't happen due to illness, injury, or contractual disputes. In other cases, it's just that one championship is getting in the way of a greater destiny.

Such was the case of Jim Hellwig, better known--and loved--by wrestling fans as The Ultimate Warrior. A former bodybuilder turned wrestler, his early ally Sting also went on to great success in the NWA/WCW. Meanwhile, Warrior went to WWE.

The Warrior ran roughshod over the roster, defeating Hercules Hernandez in his first major feud before capturing the WWE Intercontinental title in under a minute at the very first SummerSlam.

But that was only the beginning. The Warrior would be groomed for the world title picture, being built up and seen as an eventual replacement for Hulk Hogan, who was interested in leaving the wrestling world for Hollywood.

The Ultimate Warrior was named the number one contender, and he and Hogan had a tremendous build-up to their title match. Champion vs. Champion, the main event of Wrestlemania VI was billed as 'The Ultimate Challenge.'

Warrior went down in history as one of the few people to cleanly pin Hogan for a championship, and a new era began.

#3 This Tuesday in Texas--Hogan wins, but then is stripped of the title belt

Hulk Hogan faces off against The Undertaker at This Tuesday in Texas in 1991

In order to realize just how crazy this next title vacancy really was, we need to add some context. In 1991, WWE was facing a new threat in the form of Ted Turner's newly minted World Championship Wrestling promotion. Turner had purchased much of the NWA's top talents, but due to a dispute with long time NWA star Ric Flair, the Nature boy took his services to Turner's rival WWE.

Ric Flair owned the old NWA 'big gold' title belt, and since Turner refused to pay him for it, Flair took the title onto WWE television. He claimed to be the 'real' world's champion, though NWA was never mentioned on air.

In the interim, Hogan had lost his title to The Undertaker, and was eager to get it back. A special PPV was introduced, Tuesday in Texas, where Hogan faced off against Taker for the gold. Hogan would win the belt back, but only after extensive interference by Jack Tunney, Ric Flair, and a lucky steel chair shot. Tunney would declare the title vacant due to the abundance of interference, and said that the winner of the Royal Rumble would be crowned the new champion.

This led to Ric Flair's first WWE World Championship reign when he won the rumble, and marked the beginning of Hogan's WWE decline.

#4 Special Thursday Night Raw--Shawn Michaels 'loses his smile'

Shawn Michaels, AKA the Heart Break Kid, vacates his title in 1997.

Shawn Michaels is a no questions asked pro wrestling Icon, a main event talent who is one of the esteemed Grand Slam champions in WWE history.

However, something that not many people think of when you say Shawn Michaels is the word 'quitter.' Yet, that's exactly what happened in February of 1997 during a special edition of WWE RAW on a Thursday night.

Michaels entered the ring wearing a suit and seemed quite dejected. He declared that he was stepping away from wrestling for a while, in part to rehab a knee injury but also because he'd 'lost his smile.'

While depression is a serious matter and can make for a compelling wrestling angle, in this case many insiders believe that HBK was just trying to avoid dropping the title to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XIII. Regardless of how it went down, one thing is for certain; it was an out of the blue surprise moment which led to the eventual rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin as the top marquee player in WWE.

#5 WWE Monday Night Raw--Daniel Bryan shocks the world

Daniel Bryan as a double champion.

Daniel Bryan will go down in history as one of the most popular, skilled, and dedicated WWE Superstars of all time.

Despite being undersized, Daniel Bryan captured the hearts of the WWE Universe, despite repeated attempts by the promotion to bury him in the mid-card. The failure of WWE to capitalize on Bryan's popularity led to the famous Royal Rumble incident where Roman Reigns, ostensibly a babyface, was booed out of the building along with his cousin The Rock.

Daniel Bryan was finally treated like a marquee player and captured the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XXX much to the delight of the fans.

However, their happiness was to be short-lived. Decades of battering his body in the ring took a heavy toll on Daniel Bryan, and he was forced to vacate his title due to a nagging neck injury. That same injury would eventually cause his temporary retirement, leading to him becoming a non-wrestling performer for years.

This is perhaps the saddest title vacancy of all time because Bryan had worked so hard to climb the ladder of success and the WWE Universe were fully invested in his title reign.

There you have it; Five of the most memorable title vacancies in WWE History. Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with us, and as always thanks for reading!