CM Punk: Triple Crown Champion/ Where Does the ECW Title Fit

[Thriller Ant]

PWInsider.com is reporting that following his Intercontinental Title win last night on Raw, CM Punk is now the fastest Triple Crown winner in WWE history, having won the World Heavyweight Title, the IC Title and the Tag Team Titles in 203 days. His first title win came on June 30, 2008 when he won the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw, then went on to win tag gold and finally the IC Title last night. Trailing behind him in second place is Kevin Nash, who won the Triple Crown in 227 days.

I was actually surprised when I saw that he had this "record". This tells me a couple things. First, Punk has not yet been given a long title reign. His world title reign lasted for two and a half months, and he had only a couple weak title defenses. He finally lost the title in a match he didn't even participate in due to being punted by Randy Orton.

His tag title run is somehow even less eventful than that. Punk and Kofi beat Priceless to win the titles in October. As far as I can remember, I don't think they ever had a legit title defense, and if they did it was only one. The reign finally ended at a house show the night before Armageddon. I still don't get why these two even got the titles to not defend them and unceremoniously lose them two months later.

On a side note, where does the ECW title fit into all of this? The ECW belt was his first championship, and Punk won it a little less than a year before he won the World Heavyweight Championship (Sept. 1, aired Sept 4, 2007). WWE claims this belt is a world championship, so why does it not count in the triple crown?

So two things to discuss:

1. What do you think about CM Punk as a Triple Crown champion?
2. Where does the ECW title fit in the Triple Crown picture?

 

[Showtime]

The ECW title from this point on in its existence is just that, the ECW title. Let's look at it's list of champions... RVD, Big Show, Bobby Lashley, Johnny Nitro/John Morrison, CM Punk, Chavo Guerrero, Kane, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, Jack Swagger. The ECW title has taken a major fall since its inception when it was preceived as some what of a legit world title, to the Benoit incident where the title had to put on Morrison, to Chavo... and no explanation needs to go past Chavo, though Henry hasn't exactly been the WWE's biggest name for the past decade either and I still haven't even seen a full Swagger match yet. ECW title to me now is nothing more than a starter belt for the young up and comers. It doesn't even speak middle card title to me anymore, especially now that Punk has gone from ECW to WHC to IC, Morrison is stuck in the tag division after his ECW reign, Chavo's back to being a jobber, same with Henry, same pretty much with Kane. With Swagger's win, the ECW title now will probably just be used as the world title for the young and up and comers in ECW. It won't have any real meaning outside of ECW, kinda like right now, and will just be used to give the people in ECW something to fight for. From there, they'll go to one of the big two, like Punk, but unlike Punk they'll probably start with a middle card title run first before moving to main event.

I love Punk as Triple Crown and I love him being IC champion. Everyone has been really hard on Punk this year and with all the circumstances and pressures that have been put on him this year, I think he's done a magnificent job and it looks like management agrees. He's been a workhorse, wrestling the most matches, and never produces a bad matches, few spectacular ones but he's improving. We all forget for a sec that his WHC was never supposed to be and comparing him with other champions who were chosen at the last minute and I think he did an admirable job, especially with the hand WWE dealt him. He wasn't supposed to be main event yet, so WWE kept him that way and know they're rebuilding him the way they want, and hopefully that will be as a long reigning IC champion. I want to see Punk have a reign like Orton's and Shelton's first one and after he's done he'll be good and ready this time to take the stage and stay in the main event. The WWE obviously has strong hopes for Punk, making him the quickest Triple Crown winner ever and I bet he'll have that record for many years, maybe forever. Punk to me is an inspiration and proof that hard work and clean living can make dreams come true, and I'm proud of all he's accomplished and hope that there is many more that he will accomplish throughout the rest of his career.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

What an astute observation, Thriller! If WWE actually considered the ECW Title a legitimate World Title, then John Morrison accomplished the Triple Threat feat before him. But we don't hear that discussion, do we?

First off, I am ambivalent to Punk as a Thripple Champ. (Thripple = Triple Threat. See what I did there?) The reason being, this title win makes the Thripple accomplishment terribly anti-climactic. When Michaels and Hart did it, they culminated with the WWF Belt. Punk's Thripple win is the equivalent of a baseball player hitting a game running walk-off home run, approaching home plate, and being told that he missed 2nd base and had to go back.

This also makes the ECW Title COMPLETELY worthless. Between Jack Swagger having the belt right now and the Thripple Controversy, the ECW Title to me is now on par with the old OCW World Title. It is just a belt for the kids to play with.

This also, inadvertently, knocks Matt Hardy down a peg. I cannot look at him and say "former World champion" anymore. And despite what people thought about Hardy winning "The Big One" before Jeff, forget that now. Jeff is the first - and will be the only - World / WWE Champ in that family.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I've really been putting in thought about the ECW title. They have it as a main belt on a show, but they don't claim it as a world title for the Thripple (thanks IC )? I have no clue where this puts the belt. It should be above the US and IC titles, but it is clearly below the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. The thing is that the website is calling Punk the quickest Thripple Champ, but I didn't see that anywhere on wwe.com. This is definitely something that WWE needs to address as soon as possible, before all of the former and current ECW champions not only get buried in their matches, but also in perception of the fans. But, with all the said, and with or without the record, congrats to CM Punk. I am a fan, and it is always a big deal to become a Triple Crown Champ, no matter how insignificant the reigns may be.

 

[klunderbunker]

The ECW title is just an add on, like Shawn winning the European Title after winning the Triple Crown. Punk has his own version of the Grand Slam going on, which is just another thing on his resume. As a side note, how many people have won all three titles for the first time on free tv? IC is right about the end being anticlimactic though as if nothing else, the IC title change was wasted last night. I get that Vince is the biggest thing happening on the show, but why couldn't Punk be the main event last night? Instead what was it, a divas match, and a 2 minute one at that? Punk winning the title could have been huge but it's almost an afterthoguht now. I don't think i heard a word about Punk getting the triple crown last night but I'm sure it'll come up soon. If nothing else it could help elevate the belt for once, but it's hard to say. Either way, a great accomplishment that might not be achieved again for a lon time.

 

[TwistofRKO]

Mainly what some others have said. The ECW belt is just there to build up credibility for younger guys in there they want to give a push. The ECW belt doesn't mean crap.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I thought it would have paid off better if the Regal had won last night, and then Steph had put them in a title match again at eh Rumble, which is where i saw it going. Who knows maybe Regal will get his rematch for the title at the PPV, which the belt itself sorely needs.

It would also be nice to see a mid card champion defend the title frequently AND have a lengthy reign every once and a while, as opposed to long reings occurring after next to no title defences, or several defenses leading to a month long reign. Basically, i wanted Regal to be IC champ for quite a while longer then 2 months, in which the champion had to wait for his opponent to be decided.

As for Punk gaining the triple crown....... yawn! I'm still going to call him the Straight Edge Snooze-Fest

 

[Thriller Ant]

Don't count on this being the end, agent. They are trying to build up the Intercontinental Championship so they can sell the dvds, and how better to do that than by having a lengthy feud for it. Regal can have his rematch at the Rumble, and they can have a nice series of matches together for the title, maybe even trade it a time or two. I think Punk is a very good younger superstar, and they don't have anything else to do with Regal's chubby ass anyway. Put these two into an intense feud, maybe even until Wrestlemania, for the IC title and let them hopefully bring back the prestige of the belt.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Much like most of his career, C.M. Punk is going from top to bottom, not vise versa. And leave it to the W.W.E. to sadly attempt getting him over as best they could, but altering any number of historical facts possible.

The Triple Crown wasn't even meant to include the W.C.W./World Heavyweight Championship. But because they couldn't wait a moment longer to attempt making his failed run as Champion now suddenly seem the slightest bit credible.. bam, he's the fastest person to do this.

Let's just stop for a moment and ask ourselves this question. "Why was he exactly the fastest person to do it?"

Was it because he randomly went after every Championship, while being a Champion? Or was it because every time he won a Championship, instead of being a credible and defending Champion.. he was a worthless and horrible Champion, whom ended up losing those titles mere monthes (I stress the plural on that word too) after winning them? Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd thought too.

And before anyone (like it'll stop them) tries to jump in and say.. Oh TheOneBigWill you're just saying this because your hatred for Indy Punk is so outrageous. Seriously, it's not. And if that's your only defensive argument, don't even waste your time typing it.. because you'll make yourself look more stupid than trying to make me look bad.

How is "my hatred" suddenly erasing facts that I've shown? I guess "your love" could do the same then, huh??

At any rate, back to the point. This is, for all purposes involved.. the W.W.E.'s way of erasing Punk's miserable run as World Champion and replacing it with a better title of "Triple Crown" winner. It makes him seem better, for being a Champion.. regardless of how any of those reigns actually went.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Have WWE billed him as a Triple Crown Champion? I thought it was just some random bit of wrestling news.

I regard the triple crown as being the WWE Championship, World Tag Team Championships & the Intercontinental Championships. The three belts that the first Triple Crown Champion held. Punk is one belt missing from those three. He's never held the WWE Championship. He's held the highly prestigious 6 year old World Heavyweight Championship.

But if they are claiming that he's now the fastest Triple Crown Champion of all time, then I guess they're wrong. The ECW ititle is the top belt of that brand, just the same as the WWE & WHC are on theirs. So if the WHC is now part of the triple crown, then I guess the ECW belt is too. So yeah, he really became a Triple Crown champ when he won the tag belts.

Either way he's still a four time champion, so he needs a new label.

 

[Tastycles]

The World Heavyweight Championship has been considered part of the triple crown since Benoit won it, and this was reinforced when Booker T won it in 2006. They were both called triple crown champions by WWE, and the WWE Tag Team belts have counted since they started calling Angle a triple crown champion, so WWE altering the definition for the purpose of calling someone a triple champion is not a new thing at all.

With reference to Punk, it serves to reestablish some of his credibility following his franklyt disasterous reign as champion. I'm a Punk fan, but one or two legitimate wins in a title match isn't very good at all. Him and Kofi were in the right place at the right time - they had to get the titles off Priceless without building up a tag team feud, so what better solution than the two most over midcarders? Well, actually there's plenty of better solutions, but the WWE didn't use them.

Punk's win emphasises that this doesn't really have much of a significance any more. He is the 13th person to acheive it this century, compared to the 6 that did it in the entire history of the WWF before 2000. The Grand Slam means nthing now either - there's only JBL, Regal, Christian, Matt Hardy, Helms and Henry left that have won the European title and not the Grand Slam, and it is highly unlikely that Henry, Helms or Regal will ever win the big one, so there's only 3 more potential winners.

Perhaps changing a Grand Slam to mean ECW, WHC and WWE titles. That would be no mean feat to acheive, and only someone who is consistently good could do it. As for triple crown, I would say isolating it to one brand, but pretty much all of the previous winners have been from one brand, so I don't have a clue.

 

[Captain Charisma.]

I thought it would have paid off better if the Regal had won last night, and then Steph had put them in a title match again at eh Rumble, which is where i saw it going. Who knows maybe Regal will get his rematch for the title at the PPV, which the belt itself sorely needs.

Eh. You gotta put the belt on Punk in Chicago. It's just too perfect not to do.

Anyway, I'll go out on a "limb" and give the ECW Championship an F.

It has been said that the point of that title was to see if a certain superstar could carry a show. For upstart talent.

BUT! What in the hell has ANY ECW Champion done since its re-inception?

RVD got fired after about a year.
The Big Show quit. Came back. To do nothing except challenge for the ECW Championship, AGAIN.
Bobby Lashley was done three months after he lost the title for the second time.
Vince McMahon, heh.
John Morrison has not challenged for a singles title since he lost the title. And has reverted back to the beginning of his career, except with a less talented partner.
CM Punk is the definintion of a fluke. I hate the guy.
Chavo Guerrero. Where the hell has he been?
Kane is back to his rightful spot in the mid-card
Mark Henry is doing what he always does, nothing much.
Matt Hardy. Man do I hope he succeeds after this.

The ECW is virtually pointless.

 

[Tenta]

Wow, how quickly our attention spans divert?

I agree with what everyone says about the ECW title. For all intents and purposes, it's a starter belt. It gives the wrestler a chance to introduce himself to the audience, and to work a smaller audience that is, more or less, a fraction of the WWE's audience. The same people that watch ECW are going to watch Raw and Smackdown. At ECW, a wrestler can learn his craft before being moved up to the big boys. It has become more or less a developmental league with a TV contract.

As for Punk, Lest we forget this is a man that's only been in WWE for three years. and again, much of the that time was spent in the Developmental league that is ECW. He still has the time to get that long reign. Hell, he hasn't even had time yet to have a full heel turn (Which, when you see that, I believe the wrestling world will see the true essence of Punk). Let's give Punk some time to work with this IC reign. It seems the WWE is on the bandwagon of re-establishing the IC belt. Let's hope it doesn't go the way of the Light Heavyweight Championship, where WWE always promises to build it up, only to put it back on the back burner. I'm all for giving the IC belt some legitimacy. I think Punk could use a rival to feud with for months. A candidate that comes to mind is John Morrison. I know it's been done before, but I feel these two make natural rivals, and always put on excellent matches. Put them together again, put them in the ring, and watch them go.

 

[Jane]

The hierachy of belts is this

WWE Championship=World Heavyweight Championship
Intercontinental Championship=United States Championship=ECW Championship
World Tag Team Championship=WWE Tag Team Championship
Diva's Championship=Women's Championship

The thing is, the Triple Crown does not include the United States, even though it is pretty much equal to the Intercontinental. I think that if they were to start saying the US Championship is in, then yes, the ECW Championship would be part of Triple Crown. For now though, it is worth nothing, just like the US is worth nothing when it comes to the Triple Crown.