We’re sure none of us would come to work if we had the choice, but when you’re a professional wrestling champion, you’re expected to show up in the next town to proudly defend your title.
Of course, expectations and reality are not always the same. Whether it was due to injury, a convenient contract, or clueless creativity, the following wrestlers – all with long reigns – put their championship belts on the line about once per eclipse.
These are 10 wrestling champions who barely managed to defend their titles.
10. Kenny Omega – AEW World Championship
Kenny Omega became only the third AEW World Champion by defeating Jon Moxley on the special episode of Dynamite “Winter is Coming” in December 2020.
These were the times of COVID, and AEW was taping in front of small, socially distanced crowds at their home venue, Daily’s Place, in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Best Bout Machine helped the young promotion through those uncertain days and built a reign that gave him great matches with the likes of Moxley, Rey Fenix, Orange Cassidy, PAC, Christian Cage and Jungle Boy.
And he still had time to go to IMPACT and take the world title from Rich Swann too!
These games were all different and told individual stories that made them unique and special. They were also all fairly lengthy affairs, with the shortest lasting 17 minutes and several lasting nearly half an hour.
In his 346 days as champion, The Cleaner defended the title seven times on television and pay-per-view before passing the torch to “Hangman” Adam Page in a blinder at Full Gear 2021.
Kenny Omega’s reign for the AEW World Title was the perfect proof that it really is quality, not quantity, that matters.
