Thanks for your loyalty, here's the title

[Azane]

Some people are champions
others are entertainers, blurring these lines can be dangerous.

Having a champion who doesn't embody the company's image is cancer to ratings in some cases. You can see where WCW went with it's crazy title reigns, not to argue that whole can of worms (someone already touched on it), but I know quite a few people said they stopped caring about WCW when they saw Arquette and Russo walking around with titles.

That point leads to Santino. Santino as a "Champion" (I said that in his fake Italian accent), would be a funny moment I'm sure, but there's still a sect of wrestling that needs some seriousness. With the title scenes now, you have 5 legitimate wrestlers (Ya, even Skip Sheffield looks legit with how they've built him since he re-debut), and you may see jokes flying around, all 5 can represent the company today. Santino winning would tear down the last few years as WWE had tried to legitimize itself away from some of the antics they pulled before (Vince WWECW Champion... but nobody cared about WWECW).

R-Truth... He's a former world champion in another life, but I just don't see him drawing today, his gimmick is old and washed up, nobody pays to see him compete, his antics and such draw enough for his contract and roster spot, but I can't see him being a legitimate champion, he's very much like Santino, just not quite as much of a joke (He's still allowed to wrestle like normal person, unlike poor Santino).

Regal... Love some oldschool Regal matches, but today's product just passed him by, and he doesn't have the mainstream charisma or appeal to draw a crowd.

You brought up Mark Henry, Let's pretend you've never seen Wrasslin' before, and were looking at a poster of world champions, you see someone like Mark Henry looking pissed off, staring at whomever good guy smiling. You would instantly feel interesting in seeing this gigantic man wiping the smile off the face, or seeing Mark Henry get his commupance, he just has the natural heel appeal in that sense, and Mark Henry had more than just loyalty going for him. He could of been huge without the stigma of being a Nation of Domination Lacky, D'lo's bitch and sexual chocolate, which all held him back from the main event scene in the late 90's (Heck, the fact that Attitude Era was crammed with legends probably held him down too). My major point here, being Mark Henry had a lot more going for him than just loyalty, he just around at a bad time for the prime of his career.

Christian's moniker of Captain Charisma isn't just a name either, he definitely has a huge cult following, and he would be right up there with Edge as far as being a main eventer if he hadn't been given the Whiny gimmick before he crossed the line (I really felt that killed pre-TNA Christian, even though he turned it into gold with the one more match gimmick).

I guess what I'm trying to say with my last 2 points, is that those 2 deserved world title runs for more than just loyalty, both being legitimate superstars that could have held their titles under different circumstances, where as Regal's ship sailed, and Santino/Killings are just too comedic right now, and they would both need character shifts to be more serious, which changes what their fans love about them now.

The thing that those men you listed having "loyalty" runs have in common, they were completely over, amazing draws and great champions.

Don't believe everything you read on dirt sheets, they're as fake as the wrestling, because they're just trying to get hits.

[One to Remember]

first off we cant go around sayin so n so shouldnt ever get a run because Piper or Snuka didn't.. or Chief Jay Strongbow.. Thats opening a pandora's box right there..

You all need to agree on what a loyalty or courtesy run even is.. i thought it was exactly like Henry's where someone has been with a company for awhile, has no other runs with the top title, and will not regain the world title again.. Kendall Windham's reign as WCW's NWA World champion and i guess Dreamer's or Funk's ECW (extreme) reign is too.

Kane cant have one because he was the WWF champion.. he will always be in the lineage. I'd rather be WWF champ fo 24 hours then WWE champion for 24 months.. Mysterio was like a memorial run, so was Christian's. or a dedication(al) reign. Sheik and Backlund in '94 had transitional reigns. Slaughter might be a loyalty run because they choose him as the guy for that token reign which was up for grabs.

Henry, perhaps Khali, and Sgt. Sloaghter are the only ones we can call loyalty champions..

The issue with R Truth is not his TNA prominence but the fact that WWE undermined his chaacter once it got too serious. The concept of a little jimmy in wrestling is not wrong, he had some real life points about the effect dumb kids have on what wrestlers can do.. they started havin him act to off in the head, then being silly mean instead of critical of the audience. thats not Truth's fought.. Talks of conspiracies are fine when kept in check but the brass forced him to be a crack pot.. not his fought but that hurts him getting the WWE title badly.

Regal still has athletic ability because he trains the new kids you see so duhdaduh.. Hes just not in shape, his relevence is hurt when the audience is full of brats born after the death of WCW and people who can't remember the early post Attitude era.. Him appointing himself WHC in Russo or McMahon fashion would work because he has or had ability. He would probably need to drop his title after a 3rd or 4th defense though. Dean Malenko deserved a loyalty run but hes too old now, maybe 5 or 6 years ago though. The King but he didnt show his loyalty to the WWF as a wrestler but as a commentator.

Rey Mysterio should have had reigns with the WWE title and should had traded them with intermediary sized wrestlers or won them in a battle royal. The belt was too big for his frame, and the name of the belt made him seem smaller..