A History of Wrestling's "Phantom Champions" | Wrestling With Wregret 

VACANT vs Phantom Champ. With Stone Cold Soap as referee.

When a 10 year olds 1 day title reign is recognized, but yours isn't.

My Dad told me a story about how my grandpa (may he R.I.P) picked up the TV and slammed it to the ground when Valentine won the World Title. My grandpa is the definition of "it's still real to me dammit"

"wrestling back in the day was some straight up carnie shit" *Regal uncomfortably shifts out of his restful sleep*

There’s one phantom Royal Rumble winner that doesn’t get recognized, despite proving he won, Big Show in 2000. Remember the whole “Rocky’s feet touched the floor” story that lead to the 4-way at Mania?

Brian I love the fact you gave credit to Cultaholic and reached out to them about this. You do things the right way and it’s one of the reasons I love your channel. Edit: And well played using Real American for the US Express, the original users of the theme!

I don't think you had to be that apologetic, Zane. Cultaholic didn't invent the concept of phantom title changes (as far as I know)

My favorite example of this (because it was the most blatant, egregious, and flat-out insulting) was - you guessed it - in WCW. From 'The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition', the chapter on 1998: "WCW had a problem at the Augusta, Georgia, house show on April 30. The main event was scheduled to be Flair versus Hennig, but with Flair out indefinitely and Hennig, well, just not there, fans were very upset. So upset, in fact, that hundreds of them demanded refunds. After thinking over several scenarios, the decision was made to do a last-minute change and have Chris Benoit beat Booker T to win the TV title. It worked; the fans were overjoyed. So the decision was made to do it again the next night. And then again, and again, and again. The belt changed hands four times in four days at the house shows, going from Booker to Benoit to Booker to Benoit to Booker again. Every night, the fans went crazy as they watched something special happen right there in their hometown. But then on Monday, when Booker T showed up to lose the belt to Fit Finley on TV, the announcers never mentioned anything about the house show title changes. They just ignored them, and to all the casual fans watching around the nation, it was as though nothing had ever happened. It also sent a very strong message to all those previously overjoyed fans in Norfolk, Greenville, North Charleston, and Savannah: you don’t count, and if anything happens in your little hick town, it won’t be acknowledged on TV because it’s not important. If they hadn’t already done enough to kill business in those areas, this was another nail in the coffin."

what about the greatest champion. VACANT

Chris Jericho winning the WWE championship on RAW was the greatest example of the Dusty Finish in modern times. It was a legitimate 3-count by Earl Hebner and Triple H lost. Sure, it got reversed on account of Earl doing a purposeful fast count cause he hates Triple but it was still a great finish that made ppl both hate The Man of Three H’s even more and sympathize with Y2J.

As a Hip Hop fan I preciate the NWA joke.

NWA Championship: This is why other Wrestling companies don’t want to be with us anymore

My favorite one was when Pedro Morales was Intercontinental Champion and Bob Backlund was Heavyweight Champion and they beat The Wild Samoans in Shea Stadium for the tag team titles but were stripped because back then nobody could hold more then one title. Why did they have the match then? lol During those Championship Scramble matches I always wanted so badly for someone that won the belt to run out of the ring,go to the parking lot,get into their car and drive away. lol

that NWA reference tho

I liked the basic idea of the Championship Scramble. It's quite sad that they never used it again.

This Vacant guy seems to have wrestled in every promotion and must be 70 by now

Do you remember when Dean Ambrose pinned HHH at Roadblock in Canada to become champ then the match was restarted and Hunter won?

Random fact, during WW2 the jet engine was invented in the UK and Germany at the same time (nobody knows which was first) with no espionage involved, sometimes these things just happen when two groups are working on stuff along the same lines.

Brian, we get it, we'd never think you'd rip off Cultaholic..... You're not Name Redacted after all.... ;)

God it depresses me thinking how Jinder Mahal and the Great Khali have been World Champion, but Owen Hart wasn’t

I feel like WWE needs to eventually have an event and a title debut at Rio De Janero, as an ode to it.

The Brian Kendrick is the best WWE Champion ever

Back in 1999, Lenny Lane was stripped of his WCW Cruiserweight title after Standards and Practices took them off the air. Psychosis was basically handed the title and told, “Hey, go lose this to Disco Inferno.” I’m not sure the backstory behind Psychosis getting the belt was ever determined beyond “Because reasons.”

You could make a whole video talking about Ric Flair's 20 World Title wins compared to his 16 recognized wins. You've only scratched the surface with the brief section on Flair. Like, in 1984 Flair loses the NWA title to Kerry Von Erich. While Flair's loss is unrecognised, Von Erich’s reign IS recognized. WTF?! Also, when Flair signed with the WWF in 1991, and is stripped of the belt, his reign as NWA champion was recognised by WCW but not by the WWF.

I keep hearing and seeing this on numerous channels, but Buddy Rogers was named WWWF champion back in 1963 after his one-fall loss to Lou Thesz was not recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance Northeast promoters (Vince McMahon Sr, and Toots Mondt) and they decided to break away from the NWA, with Rogers as their champion and Thesz as the NWA champ. It was Pat Patterson that "won" the newly created Intercontinental title in a fictitious tournament in Brazil. The theory being that Patterson was already the WWWF North American champ and "won" a South American tournament to unify the titles and be the first I/C champ. Before last year, I never heard of Rogers winning in Brazil.

You forgot probably the most famous one of all time. Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 2000.

This is the only time I heard a match with both Shawn Micheals and Bret Hart in it was boring...........feels strange

You missed the AWA title, Hogan won that off Bockwinkel several times only for it to be reversed, many others got screwed in similar fashion, they would also just give it back to mainly Verne or Bockwinkel after being held up for weeks

That NWA transition was great!

Since Scotty 2 Hotty never got to enter the 2005 Rumble, and Cena and Batista eliminated each other, Scotty is the rightful winner of the 2005 Rumble and deserves his Wrestlemania match

I grew up in the Dominican Republic, and that Jack Veneno vs Ric Flair match was legendary. Jack was our Hulk Hogan. I never imagined I would ever see him mentioned on an American Wrestling show. Amazing!

"Straight up carny shit!" Best closing line for sure!

That NWA skit.. My gosh lol 😂 the I didn't get it at first lmao

The fact that Brian even acknowledged their video just goes to show his character. Love your channel🤘

Brian Zane has to be the most likeable youtube personality out there. Very happy for him and all his success.

Thank you. Someone finally mentioned the Brian Kendrick title reign. I was hyped when he won the belt for about 5 minutes😂😂

That picture of Bray and Bo from Extreme Rules truly shows that they're brothers. Look at them grinning mugs!

I'm subbed both to Cultaholic and your channel and i actually enjoy getting takes on one subject on both channels. Hell, i even watch the reviews for RAW and Smackdown on both channels every week.

I hope Cultaholic returned the favour with the link Brian. Also, having Million Dollar Man’s title reign stricken from the record is the biggest injustice in wrestling history, it was a genius move I don’t know why they got cold feet about it afterwards.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Fabulous Moolah and her nearly three-decade-long title reign. According to a few sources, Moolah lost the title a few times to various women over the years but always demanded a rematch the next day, where she would always get it back. Since the reigns of her challengers were so short, the WWE didn't count any of them as real losses to her record and the official end to her decades-long reign was when she lost to Wendi Richter in 1984.

Nice startup spot with the WCW World Tour Theme Music..

Hardcore Holly? In a title match? Really? You sure? P.S. "Fay-tul FIVE WAY-EEE?!"

Much respect for your explanation/disclaimer about the coincidence between the Cultaholics video and yours, and for linking their video in the description.

That full disclosure on similar posts and the plugs for Cultaholic are serious class acts. How generous and nicely done!

Didn’t expect The Wiggles to be the outro, but I love it

I'm a simple man. I see Wrestling With Wregret, I click.

That first minute and a half is why I love this channel. Most RU-vidrs aren't as transparent and just claim another guy stole their ideas. Keep up the work, always look forward to your uploads

Brock Lesnar = phantom Universal Champion

It happens BZ. WhatCulture and Cultaholic seems to put similar content around in the same general time frame.

Interesting how you brought up the Royal Rumble but never mentioned Big Show's phantom win at the 2000 event with footage showing The Rock hit the floor first, that would eventually lead to the clusterfuck that was the main event of WrestleMania

One phantom title change I always bring up is the one where Curt Hennig and Scott Hall "defeated" Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the AWA tag team belts. The match was described as a 58 minute classic where they even went outside the building and wrestled in the snow. However, it was later revealed that the match never took place. The switch happened because Jimmy Garvin left the AWA for Jim Crockett and they needed to explain how Hennig and Hall got the belts.

The opening of this video is why I love Brian and WWW as nowhere else would you get such honest followed by such great content

I had no idea about Inoki beating Backlund! He's still the greatest champ in that company's history despite the interruption in his reign imo. He could legit stretch the shit out of anyone he faced.

I just realized this is my favourite wrestling channel on RU-vid... Also, did Brian get a haircut? Looks good.

I always enjoy seeing 2 different perspectives and comparisons. I would love to see more.

You are a lovely lad for doing that intro. Cheers mate!😃

There was one phantom champion where AJ Lee defeated EVE at a live event to win the match but EVE's feet were under the ropes which caused Vickie Guerrero to come out and restart the match (So that technically makes AJ a 4 time Divas Champion)

How nice of Brian to include Cultaholic's video too because it coincided.

Also, when Rick Martel was AWA champion, he was supposed to defend it against Jerry Lawler in Memphis but because Martel was unproven as a heal, Jarrett and Gagne put the belt on Bockwinkle for a couple of defenses and then gave it back to Martel with Bickwinkle beating Martel was only announced in Memphis

I always got the feeling the "Dusty Finish" was heavily used in the territory days, as the NWA title was controlled by governing body (every Booker), so it had to be agreed on that the title would switch. So when that guy was touring around, they'd have him do a match, and to have the local guy look good and make the crowd feel good about their guy, they have him win, but the finish voids the title switch, thus keeping all sides happy. Just my thought.

Loving the music from WCW vs NWO: Revenge in the background! Best Wrestling game ever!

I still recognize Brian Kendrick as a former World Heavyweight Champion even if WWE doesn't.

Your Preface was Pure Class Sir. I love All the Wrestling Channels. Your Channel, WrestleTalk, Wrestlelamia, Cultaholic and WhatCulture. You All ARE great!!

Any think this the intro was to set up a three way fued between www,cultaholic and wrestle talk? All joking aside very noble and honest of you Brian to reach out to Adam and very kind hearted to put their vid in the description.Good on ya man fair play

Ah, a video about the Undertaker, sweet...

Tbh both videos on phantom champions are great, taught me things I didn't know!

I like that you're still in contact with the Cultaholic lot post-WC and after Adam B went. Would love to see collabs again.

I actually like when two channels cover a topic. I learn more that way

I stopped watching WWE about a year ago and I still watch you cause I just love your vids keep it up man

"The 90's were relatively free of title controvery. Other than the most controversial finish in wrestling history, and what is often regarded as the worst moment in Wrestlemania history".

I enjoyed this episode! Some of these I genuinely didn't know about, or forgot. Especially the Brian Kendick.

Very respectful intro Brain I didn't even know about the other one

I'm happy to hear that the NWA is starting to recognize some of these reigns, it will be pretty awesome for bobo to be the first black world champ, hogan to have a nwa title reign before getting the wwf title ( too bad for that AWA world title reign though) and all those guys from the Caribbean getting their just title wins

*Phantom championships video* *WCW World Tour Music, which had a ton of fake championships* Nice.

Love the gag leading into you talking about the Phantom Champions with the NWA World Title.

You have the best intro song of any wrestling channel, i genuinely enjoy it being a metalhead lol

My Thursday morning right here!

Ha.... I get it. NWA songs making a NWA reference. Very off guard joke. I love your channel bro.

Both video's were very good! Worth the watch!

Very cool of you to show respect to Cultaholic. I'm glad they were understanding and both great vids are out.

OMG THE WIGGLES AT THE END THATS MY CHILDHOOD

You and Cultaholic should do a collab

Fun fact: Carlos Colón and Victor Jovica still run together WWC (Formerly known as Capitol Sports Promotions in the 80's) the longest running wrestling company in Puerto Rico. WWC's TV show Super Estrellas de la lucha libre have a record over Monday Night Raw because since the 80's it's been airing non stop, making it the longest running weekly episodic television show in history.

I'm glad you put in that quick shot of "The Bash 2009" after you said that there was never a Championship Scramble after Unforgiven. How could you forget that "amazing" match.

I didn't get it at first either but the NWA was at the door. Clever.

What a great way to start off my morning

Rob Van Dam won the WWE Undisputed Championship from The Undertaker but this title change isn’t recognized by WWE because Takers foot was on the ropes. I think it was 2002 or 2003. It was on an episode of Monday Night Raw.

if it means anything - never heard of cultaholic until the preface in this vid and now they have another sub! thanks for recommending

Zane replacing Blampied in Cultaholic confirmed. 😜

That Wiggles song at the end brought back childhood memories. Cringeworthy ones too

Its been a minute but i'm a huge fan Brian! Thanks for continuing to make great wrastlin' content!

I love how you put the menu music from World Tour in the opening 🤘

Ok Man. We believe you.lol It's cool.

I love Brian Kendrick so the fact he was interim wwe champ makes me happy

As always great and funny review Brian about the phantom champions

Nice job Brian. Way to explain the coincidence. And linking to Cultaholic's video. I mean that. That why I'm a loyal follower of this channel. Class act.

Awesome video. I love the Wiggles song at the end. 😂

Brian Zane is a great RU-vid. Love your videos you are great.

The AWA title has had some phantom title changes too, especially in the 80s. Bockwinkel had several phantom changes with Hulk Hogan, and was later awarded the title when Stan Hansen refused to show up for a scheduled defense in Denver in ‘86. The NWA World Tag Titles had a phantom change when the Rock n Roll Express “won” the titles for the 4th time over Manny Fernandez and Ravishing Rick Rude in May of ‘87 in Spokane, WA (allegedly). Except for the fact that the match never took place and footage was shown of a house show match the two teams had in South Carolina a few weeks prior

I understand that in WWE times (mostly the Attitude era) had frequent title changes but at least they conclusive finishes but The NWA title thing was ridiculous in comparison