10 WWE Superstars who were forced to relinquish titles due to injury
Many superstars have won championships in WWE. Sadly, a handful of them have had to give up their prize through injury.
It goes without saying that professional wrestling is an art form that can, at times, cause serious injury to the human body. Injuries can be short-term, long-term or even career-ending.
Many of the elite superstars on the WWE roster have been injured during their time as performers. While some manage to recover completely, others, sadly, are unable to return to the ring.
That being said, let's take a look at ten superstars who had to relinquish their titles due to injury.
#10. Roman Reigns had to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship
In 2018, on an episode of Monday Night RAW, then-Universal Champion Roman Reigns shocked the WWE Universe. He announced that he had a return diagnosis of leukemia. The illness forced him out of action to receive treatment, meaning he had to relinquish his championship.
Reigns had just ended Brock Lesnar's long reign as Universal Champion, and looked set for a huge rest of the year.
Roman Reigns was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, whilst he was a football player for the Minnesota Vikings. He went into remission around two years later. Sadly, it re-emerged again 11 years later.
Thankfully, Roman returned in January 2019 to announce that he is once again in remission, to the absolute delight of the WWE Universe. Roman has been a mainstay on the roster ever since, and is currently the top star on SmackDown.
#9. Naomi had to relinquish the SmackDown Women's Title
At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event in 2017, Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to become the SmackDown Women's Champion. This was the first women's championship Naomi had won in her career. She also made history by becoming the first African-American superstar to win this specific title.
Sadly, during the match with Alexa Bliss, Naomi suffered an injury that would ultimately rule her out for a number of weeks. WWE had no other choice but to take the title from Naomi.
Naomi would triumphantly make a return just a few months later to WrestleMania 33, once again winning the SmackDown Women's Championship in a six-pack challenge match.