10 Wrestlers Whose Title Reigns Were Filled With Controversy

Wrestling history is filled with memorable champions, but some title reigns have been marked by controversy. While there are plenty of examples of title wins that were controversial in kayfabe and in storyline, it's unusual for an entire reign to be filled with headaches and drama.

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This article looks at ten title reigns in wrestling that were controversial for different reasons: the champions backstage behavior, the title recognition and lineage, or even the storyline that the title was involved in.

10 Sgt. Slaughter (WWE Champion)

Slaughter was already a veteran of the squared circle when he won the title from the Ultimate Warrior at the Royal Rumble 1991. The problem with Slaughter's title reign was then less with him but the storyline: Slaughter played an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War, leading to bad publicity and declining popularity for the WWE. As a result, the planned venue for WrestleMania 7 had to be changed from the LA Memorial Coliseum to the LA Sports Arena due to terrible ticket advances (not, as the company alleges, due to bomb threats).

9 June Byers (NWA/AWA Women's World Champion)

During pro wrestling's early days, double-crosses - meaning occurrences when a promoter and/or wrestler would legitimately screw over a champion, much like the Montreal Screwjob - were quite the norm and would continue throughout history. One such event happened in 1954, when June Byers defeated Mildred Burke for the NWA Women's World Title. Byers was Billy Wolfe's - Mildred's ex-husband and NWA women's promoter - newest project. The NWA would continue to recognize Byers as champion until 1960, when the AWA - and Byers - split from the organization. However, Byers no-showed a match in 1961 and would be stripped of the AWA women's title as well.

8 Tessa Blanchard (Impact World Champion)

The daughter of Tully Blanchard was once considered as one of the most promising women's wrestlers in the world. So much so that in 2020 Tessa became the first woman to win a (traditionally male) world championship, defeating Sami Callihan at Hard To Kill to become the Impact World Champion. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. Tessa was accused of bullying and undermining other female talent and of using a racial slur. Tessa's contract was due to expire during the Covid pandemic but Impact terminated her even beforehand, vacating the world title in the process.

7 Eduard Carpentier (NWA World Champion)

In 1956, Canadian wrestler Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz for the NWA World Heavyweight Title - or so it goes. Since Carpentier won the title in disputed fashion, some territories acknowledged the title change while others did not.

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To this day, Carpentier's title change does not show up in most title histories and instead be referred to as the first World Champion of the Omaha version of the world title, which would later become the AWA World Heavyweight Title.

6 Shawn Michaels (WWE Champion)

It is well-documented that Shawn Michaels had an attitude problem during the 1990s. His time as WWE champion was a prime example of that. From WrestleMania 12 until WrestleMania 14, Shawn would hold the title three times. During these reigns, Shawn would spit on and cuss out fans, refuse to lose matches, and generally clash with colleagues, as well as screw over Bret Hart. Things got so bad that the Undertaker allegedly taped up his fists ahead of Shawn's WrestleMania match with Steve Austin and sat in the Gorilla position to ensure Shawn was going to drop the title in a clean manner.

5 David Arquette (WCW Champion)

WCW was losing money in record fashion in 2000 and was scrambling to turn business around. One of the worst ideas was putting the WCW title on an actor. David Arquette was (and still is) a huge wrestling fan and starred in WCW's Ready to Rumble movie.

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To promote the movie - which did terrible box-office, too - WCW had him win their world title. The title change barely garnered headlines and was immediately despised by fans and wrestlers alike. It is still considered one of the worst booking decisions in wrestling history.

4 Brock Lesnar (IWGP Champion)

After leaving the WWE and a short stint in the NFL, Brock Lesnar returned to the ring in 2005 for New Japan, defeating Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono to win the IWGP title. However, Lesnar would eventually fail to show up for his fourth title defense, citing visa issues and outstanding compensation. New Japan didn't budge and stripped Lesnar of the title. Antonio Inoki, however, did not agree. He even formed his own promotion, Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) that would still acknowledge Lesnar as champion until he lost the title to Angle at IGF's first show.

3 Rob Van Dam (WWE & ECW Champion)

After years of hard work and fan support, Rob Van Dam had finally climbed the sports entertainment summit and won the WWE title at One Night Stand 2006. He was also awarded the ECW World Title as a result. Only weeks into his title reign though, RVD and Sabu were stopped in their car by police and arrested for drug possession. WWE had no choice but to take the titles off Van Dam as quickly as possible.

2 Pacman Jones (TNA Tag Team Champion)

In 2007, TNA signed the suspended (then) Tennessee Titan Adam 'Pacman' Jones to a short-term deal. Jones had been suspended from the NFL for multiple player conduct violations, among them a shooting in a nightclub. Before Pacman could actually step into the ring though, the Titans and the NFL ensured that Pacman's role was to be 'non-physical'. Despite this, Pacman managed to win the TNA World Tag Team Title alongside Ron Killings (R-Truth). While Jones was involved in matches, he never got really physical and never took a bump.

1 CM Punk (AEW World Champion)

CM Punk's AEW title reign was clouded with controversy before he even actually won the title. Beginning with Adam Page's promo on Punk, tension had been rising between Punk and the Elite group of Page, Omega, and the Young Bucks. It came to a crescendo in the aftermath of Punk's press scrum promo in the 'Brawl Out' locker room brawl and continued even after Punk returned from injury until his eventual release in September of this year.