First Undisputed Champion

[FanSince99]

I was recently watching the Greatest Superstars of the 21st century and when it came up to Chris Jericho they talked about him being the first Undisputed Champion which he defeated Austin and the Rock in the same night. That night got me thinking why Jericho was picked to be champ over Austin, Rock, and Angle.

Now I’m not saying Jericho did not deserve the title because he was great with it but I’m just curious as to why they pulled the trigger on Jericho being the first Undisputed Champion over guys like Rock and Austin. Especially when people claim Vince never puts outside talent over his own home grown talent. I even looked at the fall out following Jericho’s victory and they still had him go over the Rock and Austin in the following month pay per views only for him to lose to HHH at Wrestlemania 18.

If the plan all along was to get the title to HHH at wrestlemania, Angle, Rock, and Austin all had history with HHH so it would have made a lot more sense in the long run. The storyline leading up to Wrestlemania was even more about Stephanie and HHH with Jericho kind of in the middle. I think putting Angle in the situation of Jericho would have played out perfectly because you would have Kurt going on and on about his accomplishments and the history with Stephanie was already there and made a lot more sense.

Again not to take anything away from Jericho because he is one of my favorites it was just odd seeing him hold both titles and go over both Austin and the Rock in the same night and again in back to back pay per views. So I ask you what are your thoughts as to why Jericho has the title of being the first Undisputed Champion?

 

[KoC417]

Because Rock or Austin didn't want to lose it to HHH a few months later.

Not just that... but Vince wanted to "shock" people because who in their right minds thought JERICHO of all people would be the survivor? I personally thought it was going to be Angle. Maybe Austin. But when Jericho won I was left with my jaw dropped. My eyes got wide and I said "nice move Vince, nice move". Didn't expect it. But the damn angle took off like a bat outta hell! Jericho used his awesome mic work and made everyone absolutely despise him. WWE did right by giving Jericho the gold.

As far as Austin/Rock not wanting to lose it to HHH I don't necessarily believe that entirely. It may have played a factor but Austin has business sense. He knows everything in WWE is temporary. As does the Rock.

 

[ChuckBartowski]

You know I was at the PPV. I lived in San Diego at the time and was looking forward to seeing the Rock be the Unidsputed Champion. When it came down to Austin and Jericho in the finals, I was rooting for Y2J. I was never much of a Stone Cold fan. When Jericho won, the place erupted.

Anyways, the reason I think Jericho went over the other 3 was because compared to Austin and Rock, Jericho was kind of a fresh face. Someone with main event talent and mic skills to rival that of the current WWE maineventers. I believe Vince saw a superstar in Jericho and decided to pull the trigger on it. Good Call Vinny Mac!

 

[jmsdeuce]

maybe Vince looked into his crystal ball and saw that Austin and The Rock were starting an end of being at every Raw and every PPV... yes I know it took awhile but still with Y2J winning, the younger crowd was starting to knock on main event status, another thing that took awhile but happened. I think it went great, it was almost like ok Steve and Rock it's time to let others get noticed. Case in point- WCW- 1 reason why fans stopped watching, 1 push (Goldberg), anyone after that was just sad. Jeff Fuckin Jarret are you kinding me the IC shouldn't have been given to him, only reason why he got semi-popular was anybody?.......anybody?...... oh I know Owen Hart. I might watch TNA if he wasn't on it.

 

[AttitudeChild]

From what I have read from past articles the story goes like this: HHH made his return at Madison Square Garden after being injured for about 8 months. Everything was being set up so that The Game would become the top Face of the WWE, win the Rumble and then go main event 'Mania. At the time, Austin & Rock were the hottest things in pro wrestling and the WWE knew that the crowd would not cheer HHH over Austin or Rock. So they gave the title to a lower level guy. A guy that was not as big as the Game so that he had guaranteed fan support going into "Mania.

 

[wushady]

I agree with AttitudeChild a 100%. I also think it was for shock value no one really thought Jericho would win. It did make perfect sense to me Jericho was getting over as a top star at the time. Rock, Austin, and Angle were already top stars and multiple champions. Jericho needed it more to establish himself as a main eventer.

 

[Foshinzo]

I think that, if you look back, Jericho was picked because of the RAW episode when he famously beat HHH for the WWF Title, only to have the call reversed by the official. He got a huge pop, that night, and I think in the minds of WWF personnel, they made a big mistake by not letting him have a run. Jericho was over, plain and simple. Sure, he wasn't Austin or Rock big, but then again, how many people not named Hogan have been? I'd like to think the decision wasn't political, that they had seen something in Jericho finally that a lot of fans knew he had, and that they put the strap(s) on him because he deserved it and because they wanted to make him into a megastar. Was that the reason? Probably not. I'd say Attitude Child is right and that they just wanted to get HHH over. But, did it work out for Jericho fans? Most definitely, or at least for the most part. Having him be the heel was a mistake, and to this day I've never gotten HHH as a face, when he was outside of DX. But, am I grateful that they gave the honor to Jericho? As an all-time Jerichoholic, no question about it. He was at the top of his game, then, and I think it's easy sometimes to forget just how great he is, or at least to some people.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Simple answer is Jericho needed the win, it had nothing to do with putting HHH over, the day of Survivor Series the papers confirmed Hogan, Hall and Nash were signed so they most likely had planned the nWo angle therefore Austin and Rock were tied up with that as they were the 2 big names in WWE and the nWo was hired to kill the WWE by Vince.

Also at the time Rock, Austin and Angle were made men, they didn't need that accolade and Jericho needed the rub more than the other 3. Personally I would have loved to see HHH vs. Austin at WM18 but truthfully Jericho really needed the push at the time, business wise it was the right decision. I think HHH vs. Angle or HHH vs. Austin would have both been better for the main event but making Jericho the 1st undisputed champ was smart, it just would have been nice if he dropped the title before WM but it makes sense, HHH feuded with Angle up to WM (which made for a good feud) and Austin was needed for the nWo angle. It would have made the nWo look weak if Rock took them all down alone (and they didn't know Hogan was gonna get cheered like he did against the Rock, it just happened).

 

[d3thRoW]

I don't know what the long term plans were when they made that call but it was the right move. Jericho was deserving of it, they had to bring him up to that level. Was a total suprise too because I really think everyone just expected it to be Austin or Rock considering what was on the line and the honor that comes with it. I was always a huge fan of his so I was ecstatic. My memory on this may be cloudy but I recall being super pissed during his run though because they made him into the typical heel/coward champion...logically for me it sucked because you hand this guy the first ever undisputed championship, and now he can't beat anybody? Don't have a problem with him dropping the belts to HHH at mania but his run with those belts should have been better imo.

 

[GameOver]

I think it was shock value more then anything, everyone expected Austin to win, outside possiblity it would be The Rock and No Chance In Hell it would be Jericho and to top it off, he was only a transitional champ til Triple H took over anyway.

But atleast as d3thRoW said, it brought Jericho upto the main event spotlight and cemented him as a contender and a guy that could work with the best.

 

[GameOver]

From what I have read from past articles the story goes like this: HHH made his return at Madison Square Garden after being injured for about 8 months. Everything was being set up so that The Game would become the top Face of the WWE, win the Rumble and then go main event 'Mania. At the time, Austin & Rock were the hottest things in pro wrestling and the WWE knew that the crowd would not cheer HHH over Austin or Rock. So they gave the title to a lower level guy. A guy that was not as big as the Game so that he had guaranteed fan support going into "Mania.

This seems logical
it was shock value more then anything, that's a givem, everyone expected Austin to win, outside possiblity it would be The Rock and No Chance In Hell it would be Jericho and to top it off, he was only a transitional champ til Triple H took over anyway.

But atleast as d3thRoW said, it brought Jericho upto the main event spotlight and cemented him as a contender and a guy that could work with the best.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It was supposed to be Triple H originally instead of Jericho. They were going to have the 3 biggest stars in the same match with Trips going over the two bigger names of The Rock and Stone Cold. He got injured though. The idea to put the first Undisputed Championship on Jericho was a way for them to kill two birds with one stone. Angle, Rock, and Austin were already stars. Jericho benefitted from this more than any of them would have. They built up a new star in a MASSIVE push, and had a feud ready made for when Trips came back. Sure enough, Trips went over at Wrestlemania 18 so he still got to be the Undisputed Champion. Things worked out for the better in the end due to Jericho having something to brag about forever, something that helped elevate him when he needed it.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Shock value, Jericho had been main eventing fo awhile, he was over with crowds, could wrestle and talk, and of the big names in the mini tournament he did seem least likely to actually win. It was a good move, wish they would have given him more to do as champ instead of bringing back Hogan and putting so much into re-starting the NWO shortly afterwards, pushing his time as champ to the backburner.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

It's simple: Jericho needed it more than everybody else. The Rock and Austin were the biggest stars in the company (and 2 of the biggest ever) and that wasn't going to change just because of a match regardless if they won or lost. Having Angle won would've done a lot for his career but at that point he was already a 3-time World Champion, a Grand Slam Champion, and one of the most over guys on the entire roster. Y2J, who was just about equally over as Angle, didn't have the accolades or the kayfabe success that the other 3 guys had. This win was all about solidifying Jericho as one of the greatest wrestler of all-time.

People can say what they want about his reign, but he was the first and longest-reigning Undisputed Champion in WWF history and no one can ever take that away from him.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I have always viewed this as a move to protect Triple H as a face. Triple H had never been face before, The Rock was doing a great job as a face and while Austin in 2002 wasn't the Austin of 1998, the crowd were not at all willing to boo him. We know that initially Triple H's face turn went down very well with the crowd but you could never be sure about these things. Maybe Austin vs HHH at Mania would have been the best booking option in theory but it wouldn't have looked great if HHH had gotten booed at the biggest stage while wrestling as a face. The WWE wanted to ensure that HHH's face turn was a success. Enter Jericho, the whiny complaining heel who was easy to hate.

This is part of the reasoning and the other part is that it was done to build Jericho. I guess you could say that WWE killed two birds with one stone.