He’s one of the most underrated performers of the last century. A timeless, faceless wrestler who has quietly composed one of the most iconic resumes of any wrestler, past or present. In fact, the origins and patterns of this wrestler are shrouded in so much mystery that the assumed gender of the performer is as much a mystery as their real name – “Parts Unknown” could be as much about their gender as their home location. But such is the life they chose, the ringside warrior known simply as VACANT.
Straight Outta Parts Unknown…and don't you forget. #Vacantmania pic.twitter.com/SM0p6LMJHW
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) August 9, 2015
The Legend of VACANT: A Kayfable
From historical records, VACANT has been around since pro wrestling first became solidified as a sport, defeating the legendary Frank Gotch for the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on April 1, 1913. He held the title for nearly two years until newcomer Joe Stecher stepped into the squared circle. On January 28, 1946, he reclaimed his title, when he defeated one of the world’s top draws, Jim Londos, for the same title, nearly 35 years after he defeated Gotch.
He went somewhat into hiding for a few years, before reappearing in Texas, in Fritz Von Erich‘s Big Time Wrestling, sometime in the late 1960’s. He won his first title there from The Spoiler (when WCCW‘s top title was the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, Texas edition). A year later he would start a feud with the Von Erichs, taking the title from Fritz on several occasions, as well as once from his son Kerry. Texas was good to VACANT, as he captured 6 Heavyweight Championships during a near 20 year career there. But after 20 years in the Texas territory, it was time for him to move on.
RT if you want @Mattel to make a Vacant action figure! @WWE @RingsideC pic.twitter.com/uUFKpzxVLx
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) August 24, 2016
He joined the WWF shortly after WrestleMania III but won his first World title when he defeated Andre The Giant. Never one to sign exclusive contracts, he also spent the rest of the 80s working in Japan with NJPW (defeating the legendary Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami) as well as Verne Gagne‘s AWA, where he began a feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler, that also saw him follow Lawler back to WCCW for one last title.
In 1990, he returned to Japan, this time claiming All-Japan‘s Triple Crown, as well as beginning to work for Ted Turner in WCW, where he made a statement by defeating “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. That same year, 1991, he killed the 80s completely by also defeating Hulk Hogan for the WWF World title. He briefly headed to the NWA, winning NWA gold from Flair and Shane Douglas, before floating between the WWF and WCW, defeating the likes of newcomers Sting and Shawn Michaels for World titles. It was VACANT’s defeat of Shane Douglas that caused ECW to secede from the NWA and go extreme, and his defeat of Shawn Michaels caused the Heartbreak Kid to lose his smile.
With the beginning of the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars, VACANT became a hot property in the wars, taking out “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Sting and Vince McMahon himself. At the turn of the century, VACANT became a popular champion for new WCW booker Vince Russo – VACANT won the WCW World title a stunning five times from January to May 2000, over the likes of Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, Chris Benoit, Ric Flair and Sid Vicious. He’d win his 6th WCW title of 2000 when he finally turned on Vince Russo, who’d recently won the title himself.
With the fall of WCW in 2001, VACANT returned to Japan, as well as occasional bouts with NWA. He returned to North America when TNA (now Impact Wrestling) began, picking up World titles in TNA over Christian, AJ Styles and Kurt Angle to name a few. When the WWE split its brands in two – one with Raw and the other Smackdown – VACANT re-joined the WWE where he became the hottest free agent in the company, winning both WWE Championships and World Heavyweight Championships, defeating such legendary names as The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena and Edge, whom he had quite a feud with.
#RAW pic.twitter.com/Na9ELT2soC
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) May 24, 2016
In 2008, VACANT made the jump to the indies, where he defeated Low Ki for the PWG World Championship. It was in PWG that he would begin a long standing feud with Daniel Bryan (then Bryan Danielson) when he first defeated Danielson for the PWG title in 2009, then beat Bryan several more times upon arriving in the WWE. Although he tried his hand in Ring of Honor, apart from a lone victory over ROH Champion Jay Briscoe in 2013, he never found the same success in ROH that he had elsewhere.
I'm proud to announce my partnership with @LEGO_Group to unveil the Vacant mini-figure 16-pack at the #NYToyFair! pic.twitter.com/yrhcTHEwOx
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) February 13, 2016
He continued in Japan through the 2000s, adding Pro Wrestling NOAH to his Japanese tours, with championship wins in all three over the likes of Kenta Kobashi, Kensuke Sasaki, Hiroshi Tanahashi and a young Shinsuke Nakamura.
He still works various promotions around the world, vying for multiple titles, both men and women – he even competes in tag matches solely by himself. His last World title was this past summer, when he was brought back to Impact by Jeff Jarrett (they’d been friends from the Russo years in WCW) and defeated Alberto El Patron this past August.
While he may be slowing down in the ring, there’s no denying his legacy as a Champion in the history of pro wrestling. As a 72x World Champion, there’s no one that even comes close.
@Dathtective In fact, @robschamberger has already painted me. pic.twitter.com/dWElwtBmt7
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) February 16, 2016
COMPLETE WORLD TITLE (MAJOR) COUNT OF VACANT
(Does not include Women’s or secondary/tag team titles)
- April 1, 1913: World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, defeated Frank Gotch
- January 28, 1946: World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, defeated Jim Londos
- April 1968: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated The Spoiler
- August 5, 1969: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Fritz Von Erich
- November 30, 1974: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Fritz Von Erich
- December 20, 1980: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Gino Hernandez
- June 14, 1982: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Fritz Von Erich
- July 11, 1983: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Kerry Von Erich
- February 5, 1988: WWF World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Andre The Giant
- May 2, 1988: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Antonio Inoki
- May 27, 1988: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Tatsumu Fujinami
- February 7, 1989: AWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Jerry Lawler
- April 5, 1989: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Tatsumu Fujinami
- August 5, 1989: WCCW Heavyweight Championship, defeated Jerry Lawler
- July 27, 1990: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Terry Gordy
- December 12, 1990: AWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Larry Zybysko
- July 1, 1991: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Ric Flair
- December 4, 1991:WWF World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Hulk Hogan
- September 13, 1993: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Ric Flair
- August 27, 1994: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Shane Douglas
- November 6, 1995: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated The Giant
- February 13, 1997: WWF World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Shawn Michaels
- January 8, 1998: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Sting
- September 21, 1998: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Masa Chono
- September 27, 1998: WWF World Heavyweight Championship, defeated “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
- January 29, 1999: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Toshiaki Kawada
- September 20, 1999: WWF World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Vince McMahon
- October 25, 1999: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Sting
- December 20, 1999: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
- January 16, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
- January 17, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Chris Benoit
- January 15, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Sid Vicious
- April 10, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Sid Vicious
- May 22, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Ric Flair
- June 16, 2000: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Kenta Kobashi
- July 2, 2000: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Naoya Ogawa
- October 2, 2000: WCW World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Vince Russo
- October 9, 2000: IWGP Heavyweight Championship, defeated Kensuke Sasaki
- October 13, 2001: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Steve Corino
- January 4, 2002: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Kazuyuki Fujita
- March 28, 2002: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Toshiaki Kawada
- May 28, 2002: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Dan Severn
- August 13, 2003: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Shinya Hashimoto
- February 5, 2004: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
- June 2, 2004: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Bob Sapp
- December 6, 2004: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Triple H
- January 10, 2006: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Batista
- July 15, 2006: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Brock Lesnar
- May 13, 2007: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Christian
- May 14, 2007: TNA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Kurt Angle
- June 11, 2007: ECW Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Bobby Lashley
- July 17, 2007: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Edge
- October 2, 2007: WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeated John Cena
- February 6, 2008: PWG World Championship, defeated Low Ki
- October 29, 2008: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated The Undertaker
- June 9, 2009: WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Batista
- June 14, 2009: GHC Heavyweight Championship (Pro Wrestling NOAH), defeated Jun Akiyama
- August 17, 2009: IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW), defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi
- September 4, 2009: PWG World Championship, defeated Bryan Danielson
- August 10, 2010: TNA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Rob Van Dam
- September 13, 2010: PWG World Championship, defeated Davey Richards
- February 15, 2011: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Edge
- April 12, 2011: World Heavyweight Championship (WWE), defeated Edge
- July 11, 2011: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated The Sheik Ali Azzad
- October 27, 2012: NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Adam Pearce
- July 3, 2013: ROH World Championship, defeated Jay Briscoe
- September 16, 2013: WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Daniel Bryan
- October 20, 2013: TNA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated AJ Styles
- May 30, 2014: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Akebono
- June 9, 2014: WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Daniel Bryan
- October 6, 2015: TNA World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Matt Hardy
- November 4, 2015: WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeated Seth Rollins
- January 2, 2016: All-Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeated Suwama
- August 14, 2017: Impact Global Championship, defeated Alberto El Patron
I'm waking up this Monday morning without a championship to my name in @WWE. It's time to get back to the grind and find my next time to strike.
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) November 20, 2017
Once again, I prove that @BrockLesnar is not the only crossover athlete that can win championships in both the @WWE & @UFC. https://t.co/rtXczpq2qo
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) December 12, 2017
I'll tell you what that means… https://t.co/8Cn1QURJfz
— Vacant 👤 (@WWEVacant) December 20, 2017
