That could be one explanation. What do you mean exactly "touching"? The transponder is only using positive and negative off the receiver. You mean the two wires touching each other?

If those wires short, that short goes all the way back to the BEC inside the ESC. If that happens the ESC would power on, but won't power the receiver and therefore won't work. You could try powering the receiver with a 6v battery, but you'd need to disconnect the positive wire from the ESC. You do this by removing it from the plastic connector and to be safe, wrap it in tape.