In professional wrestling, the creative process can be as intense as the in-ring action. The wrestlers have to sit with the writers and the other higher-ups to come up with the best outcome that benefits both the wrestlers and the company, and one of the most important parts of those discussions is when and how a champion should drop their title. If the decision fulfils the two-way beneficial criteria, the wrestler accepts to do the job and drops the title to his opponent.
However, such unanimous decisions are not always easy to come around - as there have been many cases in which the wrestlers straight out refused to drop their titles. One can argue that such decisions are always in the hands of the higher-ups, however, the wrestlers have used some factors like their star power, contract negotiations, backstage influence, and many others as leverage to find themselves out of the situation of having to lose their titles. From Hall of famers to current wrestlers, many have found their way into these stories - and, while some only had their interests in mind, some had good reasons for refusing to lose their titles, and ten such instances are listed in-depth below.
10. Shawn Michaels Refused To Lose To Vader Shawn Michaels might be one of the most respected backstage executives in WWE at the moment, but he didn't have the same reputation when he was in his prime as an in-ring competitor in the 90s. He often found himself as the face of backstage politics and controversies back i.