5 Superstars who were released while holding a title

Ric Flair

#1 Ric Flair

Ric Flair, in the mid 80's, was synonymous with NWA. 'The Nature Boy' won the NWA World

Heavyweight Championship on nine different occasions, and won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship eight times in his career. In the late 80's, the wrestling fans wanted to see the 'super fight' between Ric Flair, and WWE's marquee name, Hulk Hogan. But with Ric being loyal to WCW, it was considered to be a distant dream.

However, in 1991, Ric Flair had a contractual dispute with WCW's president at the time, Jim Herd.

Flair was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, but was asked to take a substantial pay cut, and according to Flair, was forced to alter his gimmick – something Flair wasn't ready to do. Herd reportedly wanted to reduce Flair's role in the company, and when Ric refused to comply with his wishes, Herd fired Flair from the promotion.

Herd even refused to pay $25,000 to Flair, which was the champion's deposit – something the champions were forced to pay, to avoid predicaments exactly like the one Flair found himself in. Ric then took the championship with him to WWE, where he was introduced as the “Real World Champion”. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was then vacated, and Lex Luger was crowned the new champion at The Great American Bash PPV.