Jeuron Dove looks at the importance of championships in wrestling
By
Jeuron Dove
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With the WWE World Heavyweight Championship changing hands for the eighth time this year at Survivor Series a little over a week ago, I figured that now would be the perfect time to discuss the importance of wrestling titles. Or rather a lack thereof.
When John Cena defeated Chris Jericho I must admit that I was shocked. Jericho had just regained the belt a few weeks earlier from Batista, who in turn had only held the belt for a mere eight days. It seemed as if they were playing hot potatoes with something that should be treated with as much prestige as possible. I started thinking to myself about when did title matches go from being the most important thing on the show to being average and predictable just like anything else. For the answer, we first have to look at what a champion really is.
A champion of any wrestling company should be the top star. In other words, they should either be the guy that’s having the best matches, drawing the most fans or getting the most heat. In a historical sense, the majority of great wrestling champions over the last 25 to 30 years are considered legends of the game. The old NWA championship was the most prestigious title in the business up until the mid 80’s because their champions were presented as such. They would be the guys to travel from territory to territory defending the belt and making the local talent look good. They would cut the best promos and have the best matches by far. Legends like Flair, Rhodes, Kiniski, Brisco, Race and the Funks are some of the best remembered champions. With the exception of Rhodes, each had what would be considered by today’s standards as extremely lengthy runs with the belt. It was also the same with the WWWF/WWF up north as Sammartino and Backlund were among the longest reigning champs in company history and Hogan’s first run lasted from 1984-88.
Fans today would pull their hair out if HHH kept the belt for that long. But it really goes to show you the difference in what being a champion meant then as opposed to now. It seemed as if champions of a generation or two ago were chosen by the promoters because they would always stay on top and remain over with the fans in their given roles as a heel or face. The overall importance of the titles played a big part too as fans of those eras were conditioned to think that the man with the top belt was the real deal and could legitimately beat anyone up from any other company. Or off the streets for that matter. Winning and losing a title was a huge deal and generated immediate coverage in wrestling magazines. If you were living in the 60’s -80’s, it would be impossible to even fathom that the old NWA and WWE belts could change hands a couple of times in one year, nonetheless eight!
Even as recent as the early 90’s, the world titles were still protected, but towards the end of the decade you could tell that things were changing as the switches became more frequent. The first time I really noticed it was in 1997 during the Monday Night War period. From January through March of that year, the WWE title switched five times. From Sid to Michaels, vacated after Michaels “lost his smile”, won by Bret in a four way who was then defeated by Sid the following night on Raw. Undertaker then won the belt from Sid at that year’s Wrestlemania. After that year, it did appear that the changes became a lot more common. Sid winning the belt from Bret on Raw was a very pivotal moment now that I look back on it because up until that point in WCW or WWE, I don’t think that the world titles ever changed hands on a television taping. Sure you would see the tag titles and lower ranked singles belts change hands on television, but never the big one. That would be saved for PPV. History has shown us that it became a trademark of the remainder of the Monday Night War period for the world titles of both companies to switch on an edition of Raw or Nitro.
Secondary belts have perhaps taken a more serious blow to their credibility than the two world titles in the WWE today. There was a time when the IC title actually meant something. Usually that title was used as a stepping stone for further greatness. Many former IC champs such as Bret, Austin, Michaels, Angle, Rock and HHH moved onto the next level of being multiple time world champions and eventually all became some of the biggest stars of the modern industry. I doubt that the current past few IC champs like Santino or Kingston will end up having that legacy. In the 90’s, the IC title matches would normally be second or third from the top on most PPV shows. Heck, some of the greatest matches in company history were fought over that belt. Bret-Hennig from Summerslam ‘91, Bret-Bulldog from Summerslam ‘92 and Jericho-Benoit from the 2001 Royal Rumble are all considered classic matches. I can’t think of one IC title match of the last seven years that was even on that level.
The tag titles are no better off. You have two sets of them which automatically cheapens one. And it’s normally the Smackdown brand. Most of the current fans don’t even care about the tag belts unless you have two established main event guys holding them like Team Rated RKO, Cena/Michaels and the brief example this past summer of Cena/Batista. This scenario only occurs when the two members of the team are in a feud, as being tag champs with your future rival makes for a more compelling storyline. That is the case with the latter two examples. Team Rated RKO held the belts because they were the two top heels on the Raw brand in a feud with DX back in 2006. The last time that the tag belts were really over to the fans as something important was during the heyday of the Dudleys-Hardys- Edge/Christian feud from 2000-2001. In 1999, neither team (with the exception of the Dudleys from their ECW days) were major names in the business, but their superb performances would often steal the show and elevated the belts which in turn elevated the entire division. By the time their feud ended in 2001, many were already calling it one of the best tag feuds in the history of wrestling. I doubt that the tag titles will ever get back to having any major status aside from being a midcard title given to two guys that the company has no faith in to fully get behind anyway. And Vince now hates tag teams for some reason which is quite the irony considering that many great teams like the Rockers (originally from AWA but made their legacy in WWE), Hart Foundation and Hardys came from the WWE.
This brings us full circle to the two biggest titles in the game today. The WWE World Heavyweight and WWE Championship titles. I’ve never been a personal fan of having two world champions in one company. It kind of dilutes the idea of having one dominant champion and instead of both champions being good, it usually ends up with one champion being completely superior to the other. Raw has always been portrayed as the major brand and it’s no coincidence that the Raw title match headlined Wrestlemanias 20-23. I was happy this year to see that the Smackdown main event went on last. It was something different and was the second time of the last five Manias that HHH wasn’t in the main event. I respect HHH and like him more than a lot of other talent, but it sends a bad message to the rest of the boys in the back when you have to be in every Wrestlemania main event. They should alternate it every year just to keep things fresh.
HHH has been the most dominant champion of the year which is a good thing for the WWE title. He held that belt since winning it at Backlash up until losing it at Survivor Series and had many good matches. Orton had a six-month reign before him that was very impressive and John Cena had the sixth longest reign in company history when he held that title from September of 2006 until his injury in October of 2007 forced him to vacate it. Love him or hate him, that shows there are a lot of people who have faith in Cena to carry things and be the top guy in the company. I feel every title needs stability. Having quickie reigns no matter what the excuse or business purpose ultimately weakens the belts at the end of the day. In the sports world, dominant franchises aren’t only established with the more titles they win, but also with how long they can go while retaining them. The Chicago Bulls of the 90’s and Lakers of the early 2000’s are perfect examples. Pro wrestling is a more controlled environment, but could learn a thing or two from professional sports as far as making titles important again. I doubt that we'll ever see any Sammartino length world title reigns in the WWE for the rest of our lifetimes (nor would I want to!), but as long as they can protect the top champs and keep their aura special, then I’ll be satisfied.
Thanks for reading and send any feedback to the address above. I would like to give a special thanks to Todd Martin for allowing me to fill in for him on last week’s Raw Report. Take care everyone.
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