As usual, I was watching wrestling this week. Not as usual, I started to notice something I really liked. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things I love about the business (or I wouldn’t keep watching). RAW, Smackdown, and to a lesser extent, Impact Wrestling, are among the most entertaining shows on TV. I have been, and will always be, intrigued by the what’s and why’s of the business; however there are times when things get stale. So you can imagine my delight when I saw some new things on my shows.
As soon as I did my blog, I watched a taped version of Impact Wrestling. It was the show right after the “Bound for Glory” Pay Per View. As you read in that blog, Kurt Angle defeated Bobby Roode for the TNA World title. So they have the in ring confrontation about (you guessed it) the rematch. Roode came out 1st and got the crowd into a frenzy, telling them how he was “screwed” and deserves another shot at the title. Angle then comes out and says he won’t get a rematch because there was a clause in the contract. Then Roode’s tag team partner James Storm comes out and asks for a title shot instead, and was granted one. Later that night (in a match that was entirely too short for a title match, if you ask me) Storm wins the title. This was very refreshing to me for 2 reasons. #1 it was a title change on TV. I am getting sick of having to watch a ppv just to see a world title change. #2 It showcased a new champion. Even though it wasn’t the guy we thought, it was a new member of their roster, to win the world title. That got me to thinking about championships and the trend that we are seeing. As much as we all get tired of seeing the same old guys wearing gold (Angle, John Cena, Randy Orton), we have had some new blood in the main event spot in the last 3 years.
Let’s look at the most prominent (and longest recognized) major title in the business, the WWE Championship. Since this year is all but over, I am going to start at the beginning of 2009. Starting that year, we had a brand new champion, Jeff Hardy. Through that year the belt was held by some of the greatest champions of the past decade. But the year would turn out to have not just a wrestler who has never been champion, but someone we have never seen wrestle and barely knew become a main eventer. Sheamus was the next person to hold the belt. That was in December of 2009. He held the belt for a few months leading into 2010. In 2010 we had the usual suspects as title holders, Cena Batista, and Orton. But in November of 2010, we had maybe the most unlikely wrestler ever to win the WWE title (unless over of course you read this blog, then you remember that I said he would be champion), the Miz. Miz held the title for 6 months, and even defended it in the main event at this year’s WrestleMania. Yes he lost the belt to Cena, who passed it around to CM Punk and Rey Mysterio, till we got to the current WWE champion Alberto Del Rio. I know there have been a lot of old champions, but I don’t mind that. I want some of the best wrestlers to hold the belt to make it look more prestigious, and having the best wrestlers in the business hold the belt, will do that.
Next we will talk about the World Heavyweight Championship. Now for this one it takes a little longer to find new wrestlers who have become champion. But if you look at it from the angle of new guys getting a good run with the title, then yes this makes perfect sense. Let’s start with the beginning of 2009. You had the same guys of course, Edge, and Cena. But in June of that year, you had Jeff Hardy win the title in an exciting TLC match. Right after that, CM Punk cashed in his “Money in the Bank” contract, and won the title that night. These two would have an outstanding feud for that title, with Hardy winning it back. Punk won it right back from him developed his character, which most of you love today. Undertaker then took the title from Punk, and then lost it to Jericho in February of 2010. After defending it at Mania that year, Jericho lost it to that year’s M.I.B. winner Jack Swagger. Swagger held the world title for 3 month, before losing the title to Mysterio. Mysterio would only hold the belt for a month until he lost it to Kane in July. Now I know some of you are thinking, “Great, this would be the 1st time Kane held the belt”. That is not exactly true; he held the title for 1 day. Back in 1998, he defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin at a PPV, then lost the belt the next night on Raw. So Kane winning the title, and actually holding this time was long overdue. Kane would hold the title for almost the rest of that year, before losing it to Edge. Edge would hold the belt till after Mania, when he had to forfeit the title and retire due to injury. Then Christian won the belt and held it for 2 days before losing it to Orton in May. Christian and Orton would battle back and forth, trading the belt for the next 4 months, until Mark Henry beat Orton to win his 1st world title in the WWE. Taker and Triple H are the only wrestlers who been on the company roster longer than Henry. So him winning the title was a pleasant surprise.
Now for TNA I will not go as far back as 2009, because they had all of the guys you have seen in other companies. Sting was the champion and he lost it to Mick Foley. Foley lost the belt to AJ Styles, who yes you have never seen in another company, but if you watched TNA, you have seen him as a multi time champ. Styles lost the belt to Rob Van Dam. Van Dam was attacked and had to forfeit the belt due to “injury”. Then Hardy (yep Jeff Hardy) won their world title. That was all from the beginning of 2009 through the end 2010. Finally in 2011 we get a world champ in TNA who has never held a world title in a major company. Mr. Anderson (formerly Mr. Kennedy of WWE fame) won the title in January of this year. But that reign did not last long, because he lost to Hardy in February. Hardy held the belt for a month till he lost it back to Sting. Sting held it till June, and gave it back to Anderson. Who gave it back to Sting. Sting lost to Kurt Angle, who just lost the belt to James Storm. And we all know that eventually Storm will lose it to Roode.
So I know we have had a lot of the same old champions, and that could be turning you off to wrestling. But if you pay close attention, we are getting exactly what we want. New blood. New champions. Now, we as the consumer must support these new champions. If we do not, we will have another 5 years of Angle, Sting, Hardy, Punk, Orton, Batista(whenever he comes back), and Cena.
AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLLLLIIIIIIINNNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look at that flab under Mark Henry's arm!
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