10 Wrestlers Who Defended Another Wrestler's Championship

Within pro wrestling, it is a professional wrestler’s obligation to defend their title and prove that they deserve to be a champion until somebody can defeat them inside the squared circle, whether that be by pinfall, submission, or in one of the many stipulation matches that abound throughout the industry.  

Most wrestlers are more than happy to defend their titles with pride, but sometimes they’re not actually able to for one reason or another. Rather than cancel a match or simply vacate the belt, wrestling bookers have, on occasion, decided to go an altogether different route to solve this conundrum.

These are 10 Wrestlers Who Defended Another Wrestler's Championship.

10. Psicosis - Juventud Guerrera's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Only a couple of months into Vince Russo’s run as head booker of World Championship Wrestling, the former WWF Magazine editor booked Juventud Guerrera to defeat New Japan’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin ‘Thunder' Liger for the gold by hitting him on the head with a tequila bottle on the November 29, 1999 episode of Monday Nitro. 

Not only did New Japan refuse to recognise the title change, but no sports media outlet in Japan even bothered to report on it. Liger - who initially believed he would be defending the title against Rey Mysterio - also didn’t even bring the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title belt to the ring with him, claiming that he misplaced it. 

To only make the bizarre situation worse, ‘Juvy’ dislocated his elbow during the match when he attempted a springboard plancha. This meant Guerrera, who was set to miss his rematch with Jushin Liger anyway because of a court date on DUI and resisting arrest charges, was replaced by Psicosis for the match. He promptly dropped the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship back to Liger on the December 6, 1999 edition of Nitro.  

The bizarre situation went unrecognised by New Japan Pro-Wrestling for several years until 2007 when the promotion finally decided to recognise Juventud’s brief run with the title. 

9. Big Van Vader - Rick Rude's WCW United States Championship

At WCW Halloween Havoc 1992, Rick Rude was fully focused on his rematch with NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Masahiro Chono. Rude had already come close to winning the then-vacant NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title in the final of NJPW’s G1 Climax but ‘Ravishing’ ultimately lost to Chono in a 29-minute match awarded four-and-a-half stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

Despite Rude being hellbent on beating Chono, WCW Executive Vice President ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts demanded Rude defend his WCW United States Championship against Nikita Koloff at Halloween Havoc, potentially forcing Rude into pulling double duty. 

Rude was so upset by Watt’s ruling that he, in storyline, filed an injunction in court to get himself out of the United States Title defence. With their hands tied by the courts, WCW management allowed Big Van Vader to defend the title on Rude’s behalf. 

Vader ended up successfully defending Rude’s title in one of Koloff’s final-ever matches and Leon White celebrated with the title as if it was his. Rude, meanwhile, had a stinker with Chono that ended in a DQ after 22 minutes. First, each competitor chose their own guest referee, with Rude selecting Harley Race, while Chono chose Kensuke Sasaki. Following a coin flip, it was decided Race would be in the ring and Sasaki would be on the outside.

Race would have a great influence on the match, disqualifying Chono after he threw Rude over the top rope in a ruling that was by 1992 a relic of the territory days.

8. Randy Orton - Booker T's WWE United States Championship

During their time in World Championship Wrestling, Booker T and Chris Benoit thrilled fans in 1998 with their Best-of-Seven series, which actually stretched to eight matches, to determine the number one contender for the WCW World Television Title. 

WWE decided to redo the series in late 2005 after a United States Title match between Booker T (who was champion) and Benoit ended in a double pitfall, with SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long stripping Booker of the title in the process. The series over the vacant championship began well for Booker T as he fought to an early 3-0 lead. Benoit then managed to bring the series back to 3-1 but, regrettably, Booker T suffered a groin injury during a December 26 house show match against Matt Hardy and was unable to complete the series with Benoit. 

Booker T was scheduled for match five on the December 30 episode of SmackDown and it was decided at the beginning of the show by Teddy Long that Booker would have to forfeit, only for both Booker T and Chris Benoit to protest. It was agreed there would be a stand-in for Booker T for the remainder of the series and after Orlando Jordan was rebuffed, Booker T selected Randy Orton. What followed was two wins by DQ for Benoit to bring the score to 3-3. 

In the final, deciding match on the January 13, 2006 episode of SmackDown, Orton and Benoit went back-and-forth in a draining 28-minute match and Benoit had the match won, locking in the Crossface on Orton. Unfortunately, referee Nick Patrick was down and out following an earlier referee bump which allowed Booker T to sneak into the ring and deck Benoit from behind with the United States Title belt. Orton couldn’t quite believe his luck that the referee hadn’t seen the interference and he covered Benoit to win the United States Championship for the future King Booker. 

One week later, Orton successfully defended the title on Booker’s behalf against Orlando Jordan. Orton’s hard work was then all for nought as Booker T dropped the title to Benoit in his very first defence at No Way Out 2006. 

7. Stevie Ray - Booker T's WCW World Television Championship

In his aforementioned WCW Best-of-Seven series with Chris Benoit, Booker T originally won 4-3 on the June 11, 1996 episode of Thunder by DQ after Bret Hart attacked T with a steel chair. Booker, not wanting to win this way, refused the win and a rerun of match seven was booked for the Great American Bash. 

At the pay-per-view a few days later, Booker T won the series 4-3 and his reward was a shot at Fit Finlay’s WCW World Television Championship later in the night. Even though he had battled Benoit in the series decider earlier on the card, Booker came through and beat Finlay to begin his fifth reign as WCW World Television Champion. 

Only one month into his reign, Booker T sustained a knee injury, which Bret Hart took credit for after he attacked Booker following his disqualification at Bash at the Beach on July 12. With Booker T out of action, his brother and Harlem Heat tag team partner Stevie Ray - claiming power of attorney - stepped in to defend the WCW World Television Title on Booker T’s behalf. 

Stevie Ray wasn’t exactly successful, losing to Lizmark Jr. by count-out on the August 3, 1998 episode Nitro. One week later, Ray lost the WCW World Television Title to Chris Jericho after ‘Lionheart’ replaced the planned challenger in Chavo Guerrero by threatening to hurt Pepe the stick horse.

Stevie Ray was on course for victory until a ref bump led to The Giant taking Ray out with a Chokeslam, which Jericho, of course, capitalised upon, winning the match with the Liontamer. 

6. Stevie Richards - Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship

Stevie Richards was often described by ECW commentator Joey Styles as being a ‘clueless putz’, ready and willing to do any and everything Raven asked of him in order to win his respect and admiration as part of Raven’s Nest. This extended to running interference in Raven’s matches to even defending Raven’s ECW World Heavyweight Championship. 

That is exactly what happened at 1996’s The Doctor Is In. Raven was scheduled to defend the ECW World Heavyweight Title against The Sandman but he couldn’t compete due to a foot injury. Richards told ECW Commissioner Tod Gordon that he would fill in for Raven, which only infuriated Raven and resulted in Stevie eating a DDT before the match got underway. 

Richards began the match on the defensive courtesy of the DDT but he avoided being pinned during the seven-minute contest that featured plenty of shenanigans, including interference from Sandman’s estranged wife Lori and son Tyler who had joined Raven’s Nest. Richards then decked The Sandman with a loaded boot before Raven pushed Stevie out of the way and pinned Sandman himself. 

Richards was able to defeat Sandman one more time before the challenger finally pinned Richards in the Ultimate Jeopardy Tag Team Steel Cage Match on the October 8 episode of ECW Hardcore TV to become ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

The loss only furthered dissension between Raven and Stevie Richards and led to the formation of the bWo at November to Remember. 

5. Orlando Jordan - JBL's WWE Title

After he lucked his way into winning the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero at Great American Bash when his back happened to hit the turnbuckle before Eddie’s hand, John Bradshaw Layfield did everything in his power to ensure he kept the belt around his waist, eking out defences against the likes of The Undertaker, Booker T and Big Show. 

After being put through the top of his limousine by The Deadman after beating The Undertaker by DQ at SummerSlam 2004, JBL was deemed to be in no fit condition to perform at the following weekend’s pair of house shows. 

That didn’t prevent the WWE Title from being on the line, though, as SmackDown GM Teddy Long ensured there was a title match as advertised by having JBL’s lackey Orlando Jordan fill in for the Texas millionaire against John Cena under a No DQ stipulation. 

While he couldn’t wrestle, JBL still became involved and interfered in the matches by attacking Cena with the WWE Title belt to ensure Jordan could retain, and it was all perfectly legal. 

A similar scenario played out on SmackDown two weeks after SummerSlam as Orlando Jordan defended the WWE Title on JBL’s behalf in a ‘rematch’ against The Undertaker. The Phenom had the match after only six minutes, only for JBL to pull the referee out of the ring to draw the DQ. 

4. Goldust - Triple H's WWE European Championship

Though he wanted to leave the company and follow his brother Bret to WCW after the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, WWE wouldn’t grant Owen Hart a release from his contract. Forced to stick around, he crafted the ‘Blackhart’ persona and sought vengeance against D-Generation X. 

His attention quickly turned to Triple H and the European Championship, which Helmsley had won from Shawn Michaels in a mock match on the December 22, 1997 episode of Raw.

Hunter granted Owen a match for the title on Raw a month later, but was actually injured and sent ‘Hunterdust’ – Goldust during his impressionist phase – out in his place. Hart beat Hunterdust (who was accompanied by ‘Chyna Vachon’, AKA Luna Vachon in her own impressionist phase) by countering a Pedigree into the Sharpshooter, with DX duly showing up on the Titantron and mocking Owen for not getting his title shot proper. 

However, WWE Commissioner Sergeant Slaughter announced that he was sanctioning the substitution, and that the match that had just taken place was in fact a title bout and Owen was officially the new European Champion. 

3. Lord Steven Regal - Brian Pillman's WCW World Tag Team Championship

The 24th Clash of the Champions special will live in infamy as the scene of the unforgettable debut of The Shockmaster, but there were some other notable happenings on the show too. 

In the show’s opener, Four Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Paul Roma captured the WCW World Tag Team Titles by beating The Hollywood Blonds team of Steve Austin and Lord Steven Regal. The Blue Blood replaced Austin’s regular partner Brian Pillman, who injured his ankle when the Blonds took on Frankie Lancaster and Mark Starr at a WCW Saturday Night taping 10 days prior. 

Since WCW had taped other matches with Anderson and Roma as champs, the titles had to be switched and Regal - who was good friends and travel partners with Austin - was drafted in. Regal was initially scheduled to clash with 2 Cold Scorpio on the show and ended up being replaced by his tag partner Bobby Eaton.

The Blonds lost the titles at Clash of the Champions, with Austin taking the pin due to a miscommunication with Regal’s manager Sir William which saw the manager deck Stunning Steve with Pillman's crutch. This led to a future storyline where Pillman went after Regal’s Television Title as retribution for Regal ‘costing’ him the tag belts. 

2. Rasheed Lucius Creed - Adam 'Pacman' Jones' TNA World Tag Team Championship

TNA’s decision to bring in suspended Tennessee Titans player Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones was justifiably met with widespread condemnation. TNA evidently didn’t care, though, and booked Pacman to win the TNA World Tag Team Titles with Ron Killings in his first-ever match by beating the Hall of Fame duo of Kurt Angle and Sting after the Olympian turned on The Stinger.

Team Pacman would defend the titles two times on IMPACT, beating Team 3D and Triple X. However, despite being presented as the star, the terms of his NFL deal meant that Jones could only have very limited physical involvement which prevented him from doing much of note during any of the matches he took part in. 

This even prevented Jones from wrestling at Bound for Glory 2007 which prompted Team Pacman to bring in Rasheed Lucius Creed as Jones’ proxy. Jones didn’t take any bumps but was involved in the match, unsuccessfully trying to interfere from ringside as AJ Styles and Tomko bagged the gold. 

1. The British Bulldog - Owen Hart's WWE World Tag Team Championship

The third In Your House pay-per-view was headlined by the triple-header tag team match that was to pit WWE Champion Diesel and WWE Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels against World Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna. 

Whoever was pinned would lose their belt, but during the show’s opening contest it was revealed that Owen Hart had not shown up to defend his title. On-screen President Gorilla Monsoon allowed Camp Cornette to find a replacement and Jim settled on The British Bulldog, who had beaten Bam Bam Bigelow earlier in the night.

The real reason that Owen was not there was because his wife Martha had been in labour. After she had given birth (a day before the pay-per-view), Hart flew from Calgary, Canada to Saginaw, Michigan just in time to eat a Jackknife Powerbomb and lose a match he was never actually in. This led to the Two Dudes with Attitudes being stripped of the tag titles the next night on Raw, with Cornette bringing in attorney Clarence Mason to argue against the decision and get the belts back onto Hart and Yokozuna. 

That is exactly what happened, only for Hart and Yokozuna to lose the belts the same night to The Smoking Gunns.