John Cena made the bold claimrecently that he plans to “ruin” theWWEChampionship lineage by winning the title atWrestleMania 41and retire with it. However,the history of the WWE’s most prestigious title is far from unblemished. Ever since Buddy Rogers was recognized as the first WWWF Champion in April 1963, the title has been vacated (officially) on 11 occasions. Sometimes it was due to the reigning champion suffering a legitimate injury, while in other cases an authority figure stripped the reigning champion after a title bout ended in controversy.
Ironically,Cena was involved in three of those vacancies, including in 2007 when his third reign prematurely ended when he suffered a torn pectoral muscle. SobeforeWrestleMania 41arrivesand the WWE Championship history book gets put in jeopardy, let’s take a look back at its complicated history.
12Bob Backlund (Sort Of) — November 1979
This One Is Tricky
Bob Backlund’s first reign as WWF Champion is recognized as lasting 2,135 days, from February 1978 to December 1983. Butthere’s an asterisk there. In November 1979, Backlund faced Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a title match in Tokushima, Japan. Inoki won the bout when Tiger Jeet Singh distracted Backlund long enough for Inoki to roll him up for the pin.
The two competed in a rematch a week later, this time ending in a no contest when Singh interfered again. Inoki chose to vacate the title due to the controversy, and Backlund would win back the title later that month in New York City. However, the entire ordeal is not recognized in WWE’s history books.
11Ted DiBiase — February 1988
He Couldn’t Buy His Way To The Title
Now we have our first official vacancy. When Andre The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship atThe Main Event, the iconic big man immediatelyattempted to hand the championship overto “The Million-Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. However, WWF President Jack Tunney refused to acknowledge DiBiase as the new champion (even though he’d defend the title on a house show days later), declaring the title vacated.
Tunney would then announce a tournament to crown a new champion atWrestleMania IV. Randy Savage would win the tournament and go on to hold the title for just over a year before losing it to Hogan atWrestleMania V.
10Hulk Hogan — December 1991
That Didn’t Work For Us, Brother
Hogan found himself at the center of a controversial title change once again just a few years later. After losing the WWF Championship to The Undertaker atSurvivor Series,Hogan beat “The Phenom” mere days later at theThis Tuesday in Texasevent.
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However, the match’s final moments were loaded with interference from Ric Flair and Paul Bearer,prompting Tunney to strip Hogan of the title a day later. Flair won the vacated championship by winning the 1992Royal Rumble.
9Shawn Michaels — February 1997
Michaels Lost His Smile
Michaels won the WWF Championship for the second time at the 1997Royal Rumble. However, he willingly chose to relinquish the title less than a month later, citing a knee injury. The severity of the injury, combined withMichaels' reported unwillingness to drop the titleto Bret Hart atWrestleMania 13, has shrouded Michaels' decision in controversy ever since.
The WWE wasted no time crowning a new champion. Days later, Bret Hart won a four-way elimination match at theIn Your House 13: Final Fourevent by beating Steve Austin, The Undertaker and Vader.
8Steve Austin — September 1998
How We Got Deadly Games
Austin’s second world championship reign ended at theBreakdown: In Your Houseevent when The Undertaker and Kane simultaneously pinned him in a triple threat match. This set the stage for the Deadly Game tournament, which culminated in The Rock becoming “The Corporate Champion” by defeating Mankind with the help of Vince McMahon and his various cronies.
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“The Texas Rattlesnake” would eventually get the title backatWrestleMania XV, but not before The Rock and Mankind traded the title back and forth multiple times.
7Vince McMahon — September 1999
The Chairman Champ
One year after his controversial title loss,Austin wound up helping the WWF Championship become vacated again. He assisted McMahon, who was briefly in the good guy role, in winning the title from Triple H on the Sept. 16 episode ofWWE SmackDown. But McMahon had to vacate the title days later due to a stipulation from a match at theFully Loadedpay-per-view months prior.
With the title up for grabs, Triple H won the gold at theUnforgivenpay-per-view by winning a six-man elimination match with Austin as the outside enforcer. While the two would feud throughout the Attitude Era, “The Game” and Austin never beat each other for WWE’s top prize.
6John Cena — October 2007
His Time Was Up
After the McMahon debacle, the WWE Championship lineage would remain unbroken for nearly a decade. That changed in 2007 whenCena saw his year-long reign come to an abrupt endwhen he suffered a torn pectoral in a match against Mr. Kennedy on an episode ofWWE Raw.
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WWE held theNo Mercypay-per-view the same week as Cena’s injury. That event saw the title change hands in three separate matches, ending with Randy Orton leaving as champion.
5Batista — June 2009
No Luck For The Animal
While he was synonymous with the World Heavyweight Championship in the late 2000s,Batista finally got his hands on the WWE ChampionshipatExtreme Rules2009 when he beat Randy Orton in a Steel Cage Match. Unfortunately, “The Animal” saw yet another world title reign cut short by injury as he suffered a torn bicep during the match.
Orton won the title back the following week and Batista wouldn’t see a world championship reign again until 2010.
4CM Punk —July 2011
The Summer of Punk
Punk vowed to win the WWE Championship atMoney in the Bank2011 and leave the company with its top prize as his contract was set to expire. Punk defeated Cena for the title and famously left the arena after blowing a kiss to Vince McMahon. WWE officials responded by announcing a tournament to crown a new champion, which Rey Mysterio won on an episode ofWWE Raw. However, he was forced to defend the title against Cena that same evening and dropped the belt.
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Cena’s celebration was quickly cut off by a returning Punk, whichset the stage for a title unification match at that year’sSummerSlam. Punk defeated Cena yet again to unify the titles, only for Alberto Del Rio to cash in Money in the Bank.
3Daniel Bryan — September 2013
The Authority Strikes
Bryan holds the unfortunate distinction of vacating the WWE Championship twice. But to his credit,the first time wasn’t his fault.After having his first WWE Championship reign cut unceremoniously short by the arrival of The Authority, Bryan challenged Randy Orton for the gold at the 2013Night of Championspay-per-view.
Bryan won, only forTriple H to strip him of the title the next night onWWE Raw.It turned out “The Game” paid referee Scott Armstrong to deliberately give a fast count on the pinfall, then claim Bryan was the one who bribed him. Bryan would not get his hands on the WWE Championship again untilWrestleMania XXXthe following year. Speaking of which…
