Does It Matter Who The Champion Is?

[The Brain]

Over the last several years I have felt the frequent number of title changes along with the addition of a second world title have greatly devalued the prestige of being world champion. This is hardly a new thought as I know there are several that feel the same way. However, this thread is not about a champion’s reign or legacy or anything from a kayfabe point of view.

I started watching wrestling during the middle of Hulk Hogan’s first title reign. He was without question the face of the company. In addition to being in the main event he was on talk shows, magazine covers, and even had his own cartoon show. For the next decade or so the champ was always the face of the company in and out of the arena. Whether it was Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Bret, HBK, Austin, or Rock, the champion was always driving the train. Sure there were transitional champions along the way, but for the most part there was always an undisputed number one guy. That number one guy was the guy who represented the company. That was the guy who was on the Tonight Show to hype the product. That was the guy who went to the charity events and autograph signings. That responsibility came with the title. In fact this concept was the entire basis of the Austin vs. McMahon feud during the attitude era.

Now it doesn’t seem to matter who the champion is. John Cena is the face of the company with or without the title. Triple H is always a go to guy to represent the company away from the ring with or without the title. Our current champions are Sheamus and Kane. I have a feeling if Vince wanted someone to appear on the Tonight Show or the Tonight Show wanted someone from WWE Sheamus and Kane would not be high on NBC’s list.

It seems that Russo’s idea of the belt simply being a prop has become evident. Do you think champions of this era don’t have the same responsibilities of past champions? Does it matter who the champion is to the outside media?

 

[brighamosity]

I fully agree. I think with 2 brands, two weekly shows, and montly pay-per-views, they throw these belts around to keep stories fresh. In the mid 90's, all you had was Raw and then a ppv every few months. So they would build stories for a little longer, people would keep the belts longer. In the 80's, they had even less ppv's and even less television shows, so they'd have feuds going for on for like a year it seems.

 

[Sharpshooter51]

Now it doesn’t seem to matter who the champion is. John Cena is the face of the company with or without the title. Triple H is always a go to guy to represent the company away from the ring with or without the title. Our current champions are Sheamus and Kane. I have a feeling if Vince wanted someone to appear on the Tonight Show or the Tonight Show wanted someone from WWE Sheamus and Kane would not be high on NBC’s list.

It seems that Russo’s idea of the belt simply being a prop has become evident. Do you think champions of this era don’t have the same responsibilities of past champions? Does it matter who the champion is to the outside media?

I think that Russo is PARTIALLY right in that the belt is a prop. But at the same time, I think we can blame the Rock's departure to Hollywood as a reason why Vince may be reluctant to let guys make media appearances. He doesn't want his guys to get the acting bug and ditch him for more money/reasonable schedule.

There are plenty of guys in WWE today who have personalities that could do well on late-night talk shows...

Off the top of my head:

Edge, Christian, Jericho, Miz (even tho I loathe him, he is photogenic), R-Truth, CM Punk (provided he dresses right..), MVP, John Morrison (with a good partner on the show, it could be like the Dirt Sheet)

all those guys I think would do a great job on talk shows and all of them are in/near main event material, but Vince would rather make money off them and not risk them jumping off to TNA or Hollywood.

That being said, The Big Show has been getting a Main Event-ish push recently and he also had his guest spot on Royal Pains, Orton's in the main event and he has a movie coming out soon.


As for it mattering to the outside media, I think that it doesn't, in ring ability does not translate to media ability, think of it this way, Rickey Henderson was a great baseball player back in the day, but listening to him talk is downright painful, on the other hand, John Flaherty SUCKED as a player, but he's now, IMO, a great announcer for the NY Yankees.


I think the champions have the same kayfabe and lockerroom responsibilities, but as for the outside media...it seems to be giving spots to anyone who can handle it.

 

[Kaneanite]

The show is evolving. Kane, Swagger, Rey, Cena, Shaemus, HHH, Undertaker, Edge, Jericho, Orton, to name a few all have had their time with the title and I wouldn't be surprised if all of them had another run with it (other than Kane). They, again only naming a few, are capable to make good title runs and deserve their shot at gold. Though I would like it more to see just one title and longer title runs, it'd just be hard to do now. Too many guys who SHOULD be there would be excluded and in pointless storylines. That's just how I feel about it, at least.

 

[minionofdarkness]

No, who has cared about who the champ is in the last couple of years? Watching someone get screwed out of a title has been the way to go. Fans love to see it because
it keeps a storyline going. Back in 1997 Bret Hart was going to WCW and still had the belt around his waist. What were to happen if VKM had not found out about that? Remember Madusa Miceli? She jumped to WCW and threw the Women's title in the trash. Why would Vince risk that again? Someone like Sheamus, as long as he has the title, or is getting that push will stay. He needs the prestige. Unlike him, Cena can leave, he has an acting career to fall back on. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! But still, he would be a draw for some movies. And now Orton. He has a movie coming out, and VKM would not want him, nor anyone else to leave while still holding the title. Cena and Orton can afford to explore life outside wrestling, whereas someone like Sheamus still needs wrestling.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I think that Russo is PARTIALLY right in that the belt is a prop. But at the same time, I think we can blame the Rock's departure to Hollywood as a reason why Vince may be reluctant to let guys make media appearances. He doesn't want his guys to get the acting bug and ditch him for more money/reasonable schedule.

I completely disagree. The WWE has made countless movies since The Rock left, so if what you said was true, men like HHH, Austin, Ted DiBiase and even the current World Champ Kane would have never appeared in movies. Also, Chris Jericho has his own show although it's not doing too well. Russo's opinion is very true in today's standard. But you can't blame the wrestlers because they don't know how to value a belt, especially a world belt. Everyone knows wrestling is fake, so instantly the cat's out the bag. Also, since the belts are so frequently changed, no one has a long reign which could lend some much needed credibilty to the title. Kane will lose his title as soon as The Undertaker comes back because the storyline is too damn predictable. He won't lose it to The Undertaker, but by September he'll no longer be champ, October at the latest.

Sheamus will probably keep his longer, say until Survior Series but that's it. That being said, both men will have only a four/five month reign respectively. How can anyone take it seriously at that point?

 

[Brahma Bull]

i dont think that being the biggest draw, having the title, and being the face of the company are the same things. even looking back to the attitude era when austin was the biggest draw for awhile, the rock could have been said to be the face of the company. besides wwe related media, the rock was the one doing more talk shows and appearing on more regular shows. austin did too, but i would say that the rock was the face, since he did have the best natural charisma. the title has been devalued i would say, but i think it has been like that for a long time. you cant base a show on 1 person anymore, like wwf did with hogan. cena is the main draw, but he has always had hhh with him, or edge, or other big draws. he had a long as title run to show that he was at the top, but they cant make the whole show about him.

wrestling is changing. for better or for worse. the champion does matter because it gives the guy a push. and even though wrestling is fake, we still want our guy to win. i mark out huge when jericho wins the title (or when orton looses it, lol.) so even though the face of the company doesnt have the title, what matters is the matches and the drama that the title brings about.

 

[mrbrownstone]

I think that you are right, no matter who the champ is John Cena is always the top dog he is the guy that is going to be in the movies, talk shows and magazines so no to the outside media it does not matter who the holfer of the championship is.

 

[WweBreezybre]

To me the it is no a title a title is something you respect most wrestlers dont even wear it around there waist but drag them around on there shoulder the Wwe titles are nothing more than props.

 

[Sharpshooter51]

I completely disagree. The WWE has made countless movies since The Rock left, so if what you said was true, men like HHH, Austin, Ted DiBiase and even the current World Champ Kane would have never appeared in movies. Also, Chris Jericho has his own show although it's not doing too well. Russo's opinion is very true in today's standard. But you can't blame the wrestlers because they don't know how to value a belt, especially a world belt.

I see your point, but the difference is, after Rock left, VKM started working it into superstars contracts that they can pretty much only do movies for WWE-Films, so this keeps the superstars in movies that are controlled by VKM. How many of the movies of the Post-Rock Era (2002-present, because that's when Rocky left as a full time guy) that active WWE superstars have been in have been truly mainstream high budget movies with elite casts?



The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the Blade movie that HHH was in, and I wonder why HHH got that role...

My next question is, how many movies since 2002 that active WWE superstars were in, especially in starring roles, had VKM/WWE in the credits?

The answer, to my knowledge is most, if not all, of them

 

[mikeyboy]

No it doesnt matter that much anymore ,imo the luster of holding the title has wore off, its basically due to the title changing hands so often , it just does not mean what it used to, i long for the days of really long title runs, it made it much more exciting when it did change hands.

 

[DDPandNWOfan]

It obviously doesn't matter anymore because both world champs right now are not draws. Whenever Sheamus is champ the belt feels like a mid-card title. Look at Raw right now the focus is all on Cena, Nexus, Orton and Miz with the briefcase. Sheamus is just "there".

And Smackdown is just a mess right now. The only guys on Smackdown that are stars are Rey, Big Show, Punk and when he's there Undertaker. Kane is a glorified jobber that only has the belt because he's a kayfabe brother of WWE's 2nd biggest star and he's just keeping the belt warm til Taker returns.

 

[The Holy One]

Excluding the rare occasions like Kane, I think the champion is important if it's not John Cena or Triple H. The belt these days is used more or less to determine if the holder can be A face of the company. If Vince thinks the champion has gotten over with the wrestling world to a point, he will be made to be a face as seen in Orton right now and maybe the Miz eventually.

 

[Ferbian]

It seems to me that they're trying to somewhat bring back the working champion. Working in the way that he does appearances outside of the business. John Cena has done it numerous times. So has The Miz, and Miz is getting rewarded for it.

But that doesn't mean we are in an era where we can keep the title on Miz or John Cena. The world would turn bored on that. I'm surprised they stayed so loving to Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair back in their days when they were such obvious long reigning champions. Especially because like I would believe is the case today, back then I could only imagine them getting bored rather quickly. But then again obviously not.

In the end it doesn't truly matter who's the champion. WWE is trying to build legacies through world championships. We're just in an era where long reigns doesn't cut it anymore. And quite frankly? I'm grateful there's no incredibly long reigns.

And you might ask "Why Ferbian? Why?". Well look at this, we still got interesting storylines, we still got a great company. All in all if it was for the most popular face of the company to hold the championship. The world would go berserk over John Cena getting a 500-1000 days reign. So instead we get a larger amount of choices we can variate between for holding the championship. Making it interesting for the fan that wants to see changes.

So in the end, it doesn't really matter no. But it doesn't mean there won't be a different people wanting different champions. Making the choice of whether the championship should be switched because the person is over and able to carry it and draw the ratings. Which in the end is the important thing.

 

[Dave]

I do agree that they do not have to share the same responsibilities as the stars of yesteryear had to do but that is because the WWE has settled into it’s own groove now and outside appearances, like The Tonight Show, are rarely needed and wouldn’t really do much for the WWE. Of course, a lot of the outside appearances do a lot for the WWE but I don’t think it is in the same way as Hogan’s Era or the Attitude Era worked. The WWE has a great amount of TV time and I would not be the least bit surprised if Vince wasn’t working towards creating his own TV channel. The mainstream WWE of today is a far cry away from the products of the past and the fact of the matter is that the WWE don’t need the outside appearances as much as they did in the past.

As for being the Champion, I don’t think it should necessarily be the guy who is wearing the Championship. Sure, it is nice to see that but you simply can’t have that in the WWE now. With so many young and fresh talent coming through the ranks with the WWE right now, it wouldn’t make any sense. You could send Sheamus to outside appearances but would he get nearly the same reaction as someone like John Cena or Randy Orton? Of course he wouldn’t and it is silly to suggest otherwise. At the end of the day, the WWE are going to send the guys who are going to ignite the interest in the WWE the most and that means sending John Cena or The Miz.

At this point in time, I think you have a point but it needed to happen if the WWE is to bring through new stars. Of course they are not going to generate the same interest as Cena but in the future, you may see it playing out a little differently.