Top 5 unsanctioned titles in pro wrestling
It is really interesting to see how many times wrestling promotions reuse old storylines and angles. The recent Jeff Hardy drug test segment on SmackDown was eerily similar to the one involving Shawn Michaels from 15 years ago - right down to the climax and the 'It's better to be pissed off than to be pissed on' line. This week at Fyter Fest, Taz reinstated his old FTW Championship in a scenario that closely resembled what happened in ECW nearly two decades back.
When the then ECW Champion Shane Douglas was out of action in 1998, Taz had introduced the title for himself and defended it multiple times as an alternative to the ECW World Championship. The FTW title remained unsanctioned by the company. Fast forward to 2020, AEW Champion Jon Moxley is out of action due to his wife's COVID diagnosis and Taz has reinstated the FTW title, presenting it to his protege and Moxley's opponent, Brian Cage.
The FTW title is not the only unsanctioned championship that has been featured in major wrestling promotions. This list takes a look at top 5 unsanctioned titles in wrestling over the years and the wrestlers who won them.
#5 FTW Heavyweight Championship
ECW hosted a special show 'It Ain't Seinfeld' on May 14, 1998 to commemorate the last episode of the popular sitcom Seinfeld. The ECW Championship was on the line at the event with Champion Shane Douglas set to take on Taz. However, Douglas couldn't compete due to an elbow injury, so Taz unveiled the FTW Championship at the show instead.
Taz declared himself the real world champion and even proceeded to defend the FTW title in future PPVs. He beat Douglas' stablemate Bam Bam Bigelow at ECW Heat Wave to retain the title enroute to a 219-day reign with the belt.
Taz also had the ignominy of losing the title he created when Sabu beat him for the belt on December 1998 in a triple threat match. The title would be reclaimed three months later, when the ECW World Champion Taz beat Sabu to unify the belts even though the FTW title was never sanctioned by ECW during its run.
The belt would not been seen for 21 years until last week when Taz presented it to Brian Cage.