Best Short Title Reign

[Mr. TM]

I feel that many believe a good title reign has to be long. People down play reigns because they were short, when in reality, they did great things for many people.

Now tell me what is the best title reign that was a month and under, or for about the time it takes to go from one pay per view to another.

Chris Benoit- WCW Heavyweight Champion- 1 Day.

Chris Benoit was finally able to win the WCW title, except the very next day, he had quit the WCW and jumped to the WWE as the champion. This might not sound like a great title reign, but it did a few things. Chris Benoit's jump as champion gave the WWE the ability to have the person who was just the main guy on WCW as a star on their show. If Chris had never won the WCW title, I doubt he would not have been able to win the World Heavyweight title years later at Wrestlemania XX.

 

[The Big Gunnzbowski]

I don't know if I totally agree with that, but I definitely see your angle.

How about Andre The Giant's infamous 45 second title reign? Short, indeed. I'm guessing it was probably at the very least, HIS best! Well...considering it was his ONLY WWE title reign, I'd say it was the best...of Andre's.

 

[Mr. TM]

Well I am not asking for certain wrestlers best, I am asking for the best title reigns that were short. Chris Benoit's was great because what it did. It made the Radicalz seem bigger, which led to two of them being World Champions in WWE. It led to the push of JBL and Randy Orton against these guys. It led to the decline of WCW and the rerise of the WWE.

 

[The Big Gunnzbowski]

Well I am not asking for certain wrestlers best, I am asking for the best title reigns that were short. Chris Benoit's was great because what it did. It made the Radicalz seem bigger, which led to two of them being World Champions in WWE. It led to the push of JBL and Randy Orton against these guys. It led to the decline of WCW and the rerise of the WWE.

If you are seriously insinuating that Chris Benoit dropping the WCW Title and jumping to WWE had a part in the crumbling of WCW.....I think I may actually agree with you.

But as far as my serious opinion on best short title reign? I'm gonna say Vinnie Macs' 6 day title reign. It proved that even the boss stops giving a shit what the fans think... and brought down the heavy heat that only a McMahon could bring. In all honesty, I think it was also an "I told you so" to his father,Vince Sr, who didn't want Vince becoming a wrestler in the first place.

 

[Vee Dub Represent]

Well, Vinnie Macs title reign was done while he was a face believe it or not. So im not sure how much heat it really gained him. My choice for best short reign is Edges first run, he was never more hated than at that time due to the Matt Lita thing still being kinda fresh and it spawned us a live sex celebration and a phenominal TLC match with Ric Flair. Plus his 2 week run were the highest rated RAW's since the attitude days and began to go back down as soon as he lost it back to Cena.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

I hate short title reigns but when Ron Simmons won the WCW Heavyweight Championship back in 1992 he had a couple months with the belt that I found very entertaining, same with Rick Rude when he held the International World Heavyweight Championship in WCW in 1993-1994.

In WWF there were a ton of short title reigns that were somewhat fun to watch, but others were painfully stupid. I like a reign to be as long as possible and the titles to be elusive and hard to come by, it makes the titles look more "worth it" in my eyes.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

1. Yokozuna, 128 seconds. A heel dominated the Royal Rumble, and then turned that into a pretty dominating win over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 9. Wrestlemania 9 was pretty weak overall, but the emergence of this heel champion was significant. Hogan's title win 2 minutes later made the fans happy, but despite its brevity, Yoko's first title reign still signified something major.

2. Chris Jericho, "The Phantom Title Win. I listed the Jericho vs HHH match from Monday Night Raw as one of my all time favorites, and Jericho hitting the Lionsault for the 3-count was an epic moment at State College in Pennsylvania. Sadly, it was reversed, which a) made Jericho a tremendous tragic hero, b) gave Triple H even MORE heel heat that before, and c) set-up a great feud between the two men.

3. Bob Backlund, The One Nighter. Backlund, a 40-something who snapped, defeats Bret Hart in a very impressive "Throw in the Towel Match" featuring an Oscar-worthy performance by Owen Hart. The family tension in the match almost took away from Backlund's win, but the old fella proved he still had it in him. He would get dropped the following night at Madison Square Garden in 8 seconds by Diesel.

 

[jeffro1979]

the best short title reign for creative purposes was Kane's one day championship run, it established Kane as a monster even further and showed fans that Ole Stone Cold is indeed human, while it was only 24 hrs it served it's purpose and helped continue each characters story lines flawlessly.

 

[GNR8701]

I think it was Mankind's first reign as WWF champion. He had it for about three weeks and him winning it was a very special moment as it was about someone who was truly grateful for the win, but the loss of the title was even more important because he lost it in an I-Quit match to The Rock, and it was the famous I-Quit match where mankind never quit and rock beat him with a chair over and over again, maybe about 30 consecutive hits and then he stuck the mic by mankinds mouth and it was obvious that a recording of mankind's voice was used to give rock the win because makinds mounth never moves but you hear a loud voice yell "I QUIT, I QUIT, I QUIT" and it was the best short title reign because it established mankind as a main - eventer and it established the rock as a whoop-ass machine not to mention it was an all time great match

 

[crymetyme]

How about either Edge's surprise return and title win at survivor series, or his win at the rumble and loss at no way out to set up his next reign, say what you want but both of these reigns solidified the ultimate opportunist's legacy.

 

[Phoenix]

Or just Edge's first? That was a pretty impressive reign at the time, he beat Cena at the right moment. He defended his title against Ric Flair in a great TLC match, only to lose out because they wanted Cena and Triple H for the ME.

Another nod to give would include Randy Orton's first World Title run, because of the history that came with it. Plus it set the grounds for how Batista would evolve. It was rushed and all it did was put Triple H back in it after a month, but Orton did work the face role pretty well. We saw what potential he had...now look at him!

 

[Rizza]

Im gonna say Chris Jericho with the win coming in the scramble match. Not only did he win completely unexpected, but it also transitioned in to the feud with Michaels which IMO is the best program WWE has put on in a few years ,not that the feud needed the belt but somehow it still felt like it added something, the ladder match that came out of it was very impressive,and is one of my favorite matches of 08'.

For a Close Second I will have to go with Edge's first reign beating Cena in the Elimination Chamber. Of course the way he earned the title was classic in itself ,but it was from this moment on that Edge seemed like a real main eventer and not a upper midcarder. It may have not been Edge's best reign but to me it was defiantly one of his most important.

 

[RH23]

Jeff Hardy's because he somewhat deserved it after all the things he did(minus the drug usage). It also helped push him into a main-eventer

 

[McFoley]

Im gonna say Chris Jericho with the win coming in the scramble match. Not only did he win completely unexpected, but it also transitioned in to the feud with Michaels which IMO is the best program WWE has put on in a few years ,not that the feud needed the belt but somehow it still felt like it added something, the ladder match that came out of it was very impressive,and is one of my favorite matches of 08'.

Huh?

Wasn't he already fueding with Michaels for months before that? He had a grudge match with HBK that same night before winning the belt.

 

[Rizza]

Huh?

Wasn't he already fueding with Michaels for months before that? He had a grudge match with HBK that same night before winning the belt.

Yes I understand,by "IT" I meant the belt transitioned into the feud with Michaels to where as before there was no belt during the feud. The thread was about a short Title reigns so i thought that it was a givin that i was speaking about the title.

 

[Ben-Phillips]

In my opinion, Randy Orton's first WWE Title run. I mean, his World Title win in 04 was well deserved, but I think they only put the title on him to say "Hey, this guy is the next big thing in the WWE, but he still needs to mature." But his WWE Title run, that pretty much disgraced Orton's huuuuuge push that started after Backlash 07. He was looking damn near invincible and poised to beat Cena... Then when he was awarded the title, Triple H came up and took it away some 25 minutes later. Just because Cena was gone doesn't mean Raw NEEDED another main event face right then and there. The least they could have done was have Triple H weasel his way into the match and win later on, at Unforgiven or something. Or even return Y2J right then and there... Which would have been far better. But no, Triple H insisted on FURTHER burying Orton. I mean, all three of Orton's runs have come to an end at the hands of Triple H. D:

So yeah, I've said my piece.

 

[The Todd]

I will go with Jeff Hardy's one. Why? Quite a few reasons actually.

1) If he didn't win the belt once after all the title matches he was in, he would have looked extremely weak. How best to make him look strong but not have him in the title picture for WrestleMania? Give him a month reign. Worked perfectly.

2) It was totally unexpected. Him winning the belt got the biggest pop of the year. No one expected him to win that match but he did. However, whilst he is ready for the title, he is not ready for main eventing WrestleMania, but this short reign gave him credibility.

3) Him losing the belt was totally unexpected to the live crowd, and the manner he lost it in (with Matt screwing him) was unexpected to online fans. Shock factor again from the WWE.

4) What is the best way for Matt Hardy to turn heel in time for the brother vs brother storyline? Him costing Jeff the title after he had become champion. If he had cost him the chance of winning it, it would not have been as big. To have worked his way to the top then have his brother, his closest friend, cost him the title is huuge. This gives Matt more heat, keeps Jeff main event and loved by the crowd, and sets up the Mania feud very nicely.

3)

 

[stingerlegends]

Well, it didn't do what I thought it would, but Raven winning the U.S. Championship before dropping it the next night to Goldberg. He was having some AMAZING feuds with Benoit and DDP and was the first (if I remember correctly) to hit his finisher on Goldberg. Alas, Raven didn't really get pushed again until Bash at the Beach (I think) where he refused to tap out to simultaneous submissions by Benoit and Malenko. Maybe this isn't what was asked, but I immediately thought of this. Mankind's short reigns were pretty significant too, because up until that point, you didn't really have any championship reigns for "loyal employees that worked their butt off for the company." Now that's a commonplace thing.

 

[nitrousfunna]

canadianic

your thought of Jericho on raw for what an hour as champ is exactly what i had in mind. it was brilliant and did set up a great feud.

my other best short title reign was the dudleys ECW tag title reign which then the i believe dropped the belts to dreamer and raven in there last ecw match

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

the best short title reign for creative purposes was Kane's one day championship run

Lol, i'm shocked someone chose this as an answer.

it established Kane as a monster even further

How? He never came close to busting Austin open, and was laid out on his ass when Taker smashed Austin's face in for him. How does that make him like a monster? If anything he came off as a coward for covering his entire body in clothing, and needing interference just to help him make a guy bleed. It made people accept him as a ME talent, nothing more. In fact, i'd say that the way they did it was actually detrimental to the Kane character.

and showed fans that Ole Stone Cold is indeed human

Because we saw him bleed? He bled all the f'n time! Him passing out in the Sharpshooter did more to humanize him than bleeding did. I don't remember people calling Austin 'Superman' or anything like that back then, and that was his first World title reign wasn't it? All of about 3 months? So, again how did this match affect how people viewed Austin?

while it was only 24 hrs it served it's purpose and helped continue each characters story lines flawlessly.

Hmmm, from what i remember suddenly everyone was fighting over the tag titles and then it was Kane and Taker ganging up on Austin, and then they went back to fighting each other, while Austin just fucked McMahon around a while longer, so i don't really see how those 24 hours with the belt helped anyone really. Surely those exact same story developments could have occurred just as succesfully without Kane going over Austin at KOTR.

After months of Kane beating on Taker, and demolishing groups of men at once, even destroying Vader, being made to look virtually unbeatable, he wins the title in a match that was stupidly difficult for him to lose in the first place, courtesy of somebody else, and loses it in his very first title defense, which was relatively short, to Austin.

He can beat the other monsters and strong men with relative ease, but when he faces a normal man who's had previous serious neck injuries, he loses in the blink of an eye.

Very well booked.

 

[Slyfox696]

I feel that many believe a good title reign has to be long. People down play reigns because they were short, when in reality, they did great things for many people.

Now tell me what is the best title reign that was a month and under, or for about the time it takes to go from one pay per view to another.

Chris Benoit- WCW Heavyweight Champion- 1 Day.

Chris Benoit was finally able to win the WCW title, except the very next day, he had quit the WCW and jumped to the WWE as the champion. This might not sound like a great title reign, but it did a few things. Chris Benoit's jump as champion gave the WWE the ability to have the person who was just the main guy on WCW as a star on their show. If Chris had never won the WCW title, I doubt he would not have been able to win the World Heavyweight title years later at Wrestlemania XX.

I disagree. That was an awful decision. Why would you give a title to a guy 1 day before he leaves? It was absolutely atrocious and made zero sense. That was not a good reign.

It just shows how ridiculous WCW was even before Vince Russo got there.

1. Yokozuna, 128 seconds.

I agree with this. It was a great reign because we didn't have to see Yoko as a champion, and it was able to transfer the belt from Hart to Hogan, without Hart having to lose to Hogan, thus preserving the ability of the WWF to say that Hart was still as good as Hogan after Hogan left.

 

[Queers and Steers]

mines would be edges first run as champ. because it was shocking, he had the great match with flair and it led to the whole cena edge rivalry that lasted through 06. In my opinion
that will always be Cena's best rivalry. because Edge actually made me like Cena and whenever edge is around Cena likely loses because the ultimate opportunists is largely opportunistic at his expense.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I really wonder if WCW put the belt on Benoit in an attempt to get him to stay. Benoit was known as a traditionalist, and perhaps WCW thought putting the World Title on him would entice him to sign with them, figuring "well, they put this historic belt on me, I may as well honor that decision."

I also wonder if Benoit's title reign was a contractual obligation. It's common knowledge that WCW wrote title reigns into wrestlers contracts (which is why we had to endure Rick Steiner with a singles belt), and if Benoit had one day left on his contract with an unfillfilled title reign, that would make sense.

In either scenario (both of which are perfectly legit), Sly is absolutely right. It just showed the deficiency in WCW to properly write a championship storyline at that point in time, and how little faith they had in both their creative department and their main event stars. It also showed how early WCW acquiesed to using historic title belts as "props" and "bargaining chips," both of which are abhorrations.

 

[The Earl]

You're right about why Benoit got the title. It was a stupid move, because there was no way in hell Benoit was going to stay as long as Kevin Sullivan was calling the shots.

As far as my favorite short title reign..I would say Kevin Nash's first WCW title reign. Not good, by any standard, but it will go down in history as one of the key moments that killed WCW. You have an undefeated Bill Goldberg as champion, who at the time was as popular as Steve Austin. WCW had already jumped the shark by that point, but were still competetive with WWF mainly because of Goldberg and the Flair angle. So, head booker Kevin Nash decides to book himself as champion, and then one week later drops the title on the Nitro from Hell, forever rendering the WCW title as worthless thanks to one good ol' FINGERPOKE OF DOOM!

I think Nash's one week was more damaging to WCW than Benoit's one day. Because WCW still had an audience then.

 

[pyrusane]

Yes I understand,by "IT" I meant the belt transitioned into the feud with Michaels to where as before there was no belt during the feud. The thread was about a short Title reigns so i thought that it was a givin that i was speaking about the title.

Hmm. Interesting thought. Of course, by interesting I mean totally stupid. The street fight prior to the scramble match was the blow-off to the feud between these two. After this, Jericho went into a short program with Batista, then feuded with Cena for a while. The scramble win did absolutely nothing for the Michaels/Jericho feud because at this point, the feud was over.

I agree with the earlier post that mentioned Andre's 11 second title reign. While this did nothing for Andre other than give him the title he had never won (for a few seconds), it had a huge overall impact.

1) For the first time in 4 and a half years, Hogan was not the champion. This was HUGE at the time, because there were a lot of fans at the time who had literally never seen the WWF without Hogan as champ, myself included. I started watching between WM2 and WM3, and I was watching that night on SNME when Andre won, and it was the first time I had ever seen anyone other than Hogan with the belt.

2) To my knowledge, this was the first time that an angle was ever run on a large-scale promotion featuring a crooked ref in such a prominent role. Today, we are used to the concept of a referee screwing one guy or another, especially with all the "special" referee matches we see these days, but at the time, the concept of a real referee being paid off (especially for such a high profile match) was shocking.

3) Even though he wasn't an actual participant, this match helped cement Ted Dibiase as one of the all-time great heels. The fact that he truly bought himself a world-title was appalling, even if he was stripped of it later.

4) The resulting world title tournament at WM4 led to the ascension of Randy Savage to the Main Event scene.

So yes, Andre held the title for only about 11 seconds, but the impact that reign made on the wrestling world was immeasurable.