WWE History Vol. 26: Vacated Titles

#3 This Tuesday in Texas--Hogan wins, but then is stripped of the title belt

Hulk Hogan faces off against The Undertaker at This Tuesday in Texas in 1991

In order to realize just how crazy this next title vacancy really was, we need to add some context. In 1991, WWE was facing a new threat in the form of Ted Turner's newly minted World Championship Wrestling promotion. Turner had purchased much of the NWA's top talents, but due to a dispute with long time NWA star Ric Flair, the Nature boy took his services to Turner's rival WWE.

Ric Flair owned the old NWA 'big gold' title belt, and since Turner refused to pay him for it, Flair took the title onto WWE television. He claimed to be the 'real' world's champion, though NWA was never mentioned on air.

In the interim, Hogan had lost his title to The Undertaker, and was eager to get it back. A special PPV was introduced, Tuesday in Texas, where Hogan faced off against Taker for the gold. Hogan would win the belt back, but only after extensive interference by Jack Tunney, Ric Flair, and a lucky steel chair shot. Tunney would declare the title vacant due to the abundance of interference, and said that the winner of the Royal Rumble would be crowned the new champion.

This led to Ric Flair's first WWE World Championship reign when he won the rumble, and marked the beginning of Hogan's WWE decline.