5 WWE Superstars who stole someone else's Championship

WWE Championships are contested almost every week as part of the company's regular programming. It's become a known rule that titles can only change hands after a pinfall or submission, unless stated as part of a stipulated match.

Sometimes a heel will play their own games in order to retain a Championship, which often leads to the other star taking the title anyway. Over the years, there have been a number of WWE stars who have become tired of waiting to win a Championship and have just taken someone else's because they feel they deserve it.

Of course, history doesn't recognize these stars as official Champions because the title didn't actually change hands within the rules, but for a certain amount of time, they were the ones holding the title on WWE TV. Here are five Superstars who have done just that.

---

#5. Sasha Banks

The WWE Universe watched in shock on Sunday night when Sasha Banks and Bayley stole Asuka's WWE Championship as part of an elaborate plan from the duo at Extreme Rules.

Banks was challenging Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship before Asuka accidentally spat green mist in the referee's face, Bayley then hit Asuka with the Championship belt and the referee was unable to make the count.

Bayley then took the referee's shirt and made the count herself before declaring Banks as the new Champion even though Bayley doesn't have the powers of a WWE official.

Banks took the RAW Women's Championship and the next night on RAW, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon stated that The Boss wasn't the rightful Champion. McMahon went on to explain that because neither woman won the title match at Extreme Rules, there would be a Women's Championship match the following week on Monday Night RAW to crown the rightful Champion.

#4. CM Punk

CM Punk's 434-day WWE Championship reign is memorable for a number of reasons, one of those being the fact that it came to an end at the hands of The Rock. That Championship win put into motion the match between The Rock and John Cena at WrestleMania 29, which would see Cena finally come out on top.

CM Punk obviously wasn't happy about his loss at the Royal Rumble, which led to the former Champion coming out on an episode of RAW, hitting The Rock with a GTS and then taking his WWE Championship.

Of course, Punk didn't legally win the title, he just stole it. He even had the audacity to walk into their rematch at Elimination Chamber with the WWE Championship, even though it was carried by his manager, Paul Heyman.

Punk wasn't able to win back his title and as noted The Rock went on to main event WrestleMania with Cena since he was the rightful WWE Champion at the time. Punk faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania instead and then left the company the following year.

#3. MVP

MVP returned to Monday Night RAW following his shock appearance at the Royal Rumble back in January. Over the past few months, Montel Vontavious Porter has been out to recruit any WWE star who will listen in the hopes that he can create a new stable that will control Monday Night RAW.

MVP managed to take Bobby Lashley under his wing by promising him the WWE Championship, but he came up short against Drew McIntyre. The likes of Cedric Alexander and Apollo Crews have turned his services down in recent weeks, which led to Lashley attacking Crews and locking in the Full Nelson.

Since the attack, Crews hasn't been seen on WWE TV, so MVP unveiled a new United States Championship and claimed it as his own. It was only as part of The Horror Show at Extreme Rules that the United States Championship match was set to take place. But since Crews wasn't in attendance for the show due to issues with his COVID-19 test, MVP was named the new Champion via forfeit.

#2. The Great Khali

The Great Khali was an unstoppable force when he first came to WWE, a force that was only halted by The Undertaker in a Last Man Standing match a few years later.

Khali stepped into a feud with John Cena back in 2007 and the two men were set to do battle at Judgement Day. Interestingly, given the fact that Khali was big enough to do whatever he wants, he walked down to the ring a few weeks before the show and took his WWE title. Cena tried to stop Khali but was knocked out.

There was no one who could stop Khali from claiming the title and the following week on RAW when Cena looked to reclaim his property, he was once again beaten by Khali backstage.

This then led to Khali walking into their match at Judgement Day with the title over his shoulder. But in the end it was Cena who did the talking when the fight was official and managed to defeat The Punjabi Nightmare by submission to retain his WWE Championship.

#1. Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose was one of the most entertaining stars of the current generation and much of this entertainment came whilst Ambrose was embroiled in a feud with his former WWE tag team partner Seth Rollins.

The two men collided at Elimination Chamber back in 2015 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Ambrose thought he had won the match and the WWE Championship before the official announced that because of an earlier infraction from Rollins, the match had actually ended via disqualification which meant that The Architect retained his title.

Ambrose had seen enough and decided that he had deserved to win the Championship, so he took the title that wasn't his and left the arena. This then led to a match between Ambrose and Rollins at Money in the Bank the following month, where Rollins was able to come out on top and regain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Ambrose refused to give Rollins his Championship back, and instead opted to play pranks on his former Shield tag team partner whenever he was able to.