does the TNA championship mean something?

[Jobber Bob]

In TNA Kurt Angle is known as a 13 time World Champion. lets just say he

decides to return to the WWE. Will he still be known as a 13 time world

champion or will WWE pretend he took a 3 year hiatus from wrestling and say

he was a former 9 time champion. thoughts???

 

[It's Damn Real!]

They'd call him a 9-time former WWE champion. They won't credit TNA, because they have no reason to. TNA credits WWE because it can elevate it's roster's credibility by including the work the wrestler did in other promotions.

And not to derail your thread, but I doubt Angle goes back to WWE without signing a contract much like the Undertaker owns where he'd work very, very little.

 

[Jobber Bob]

yeah true, but im saying if he did sign with wwe, would they say that he took a break

from wrestling like they did with christian and still call him a 9 time champion or would they say briefly he was at TNA and call him a 13 time champion.

 

[gd]

That would still call him 13 time World Champion, declining to mention the specific World Title that he's won. It's something every company will do. They give their wrestlers as many titles as possible to their credit, it makes them look better and more importantly it makes whoever beats them look better.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

They'll never use the words "TNA" on television. They have no reason to acknowledge their "competition", ever. Only TNA does, because TNA is trying to establish themselves as a legitimate competitor.

They'd say something along the lines of "we haven't seen him since 2006".

 

[Hyorinmaru]

they don't credit Christian with his 2 NWA title wins so they would not credit Angle with his multitude of TNA title wins.

While I don't agree with it I can see why Vince doesn't do it. TNA is Vince's competition and to acknowledge them in anyway may get people to tune in to TNA and they may like it more than WWE. Smart business by Vince

And for those that will inevitably bring up Vince acknowledging the WCW and ECW title let me just say WCW & ECW aren't in business anymore and they're owned by Vince anyway. TNA is in business and isn't owned by Vince

 

[johnbragg]

I think that, out of respect for Angle if he comes back, they would carefully avoid the issue of how many title reigns he had. Olympic Gold Medalist, WWE Champion, World Champion, he's done it all! And he's back!"

 

[MattMoses]

Well, even if Kurt Angle made his way back to the WWE, they wouldn't need to call him a thirteen time world champion, because he simply hasn't won thirteen world titles. If I'm counting correctly, he's had one WCW Championship, one World Championship, four WWE Championships and three TNA. Simple maths brings this total sum to nine world championships. And TNA probably count the IWGP championship as one as well, so we're at ten. I'm not quite sure how it works, but it's not giving TNA any credibility when they have to add non-existent title reigns on to their wrestlers when they're already accomplished enough.

One thing that happened with WCW when an influx of wrestlers came over from the WWE before the Monday Night Wars was the fact that WCW would credit these people with their WWF world championship reigns without actually saying where, how or when they won it. I remember within weeks of Randy Savage making his debut on WCW Saturday Night, WCW were calling him a former two-time heavyweight champion and left all mentions of it at that. Then when he won his second WCW championship from Flair in that brilliant match on Nitro, he was a four time world champion. Obviously, the WWE never did this while in competition with WCW, but once they purchased them, they actually acknowledged their world title was on equal status with theirs.

Obviously what's funny here is that, when Ric Flair joined the WWF in 1991, they never made reference to him being a former eight time world champion, but simply just the real worlds champion. When he won his WWF titles, he was merely a two-time world champion, and not the ten-time world champion which in reality he was. But when he came over to the WWF ten years later, he was a sixteen-time world champion. So them title reigns they decided didn't matter ten years prior now did. And that's because they owned them.

If WWE owned TNA, then no doubt they'd credit former TNA champions in their company as former world champions, but while in competition, they just aren't going to mention it at all.

 

[Lee]

No they wouldn't and it's simple why:

Christian is a two time NWA heavyweight champion in TNA as is R-Truth, with Christian they just refer to his previous WWE midcard reigns with R-Truth they forget K-Kwik ever existed. So I can't see this being the case with Angle and WWE.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

No they wouldn't and it's simple why:

Christian is a two time NWA heavyweight champion in TNA as is R-Truth, with Christian they just refer to his previous WWE midcard reigns with R-Truth they forget K-Kwik ever existed. So I can't see this being the case with Angle and WWE.

With all due respect to Killings and Christian, Angle does command a little more respect than either of them.

While I do agree that they wouldn't acknowledge his TNA titles, I don't think it has anything to do with the fact they don't credit thier mid-carders with the same as much as it simply does with wanting to keep TNA as irrelevant and unknown to their audience as possible.

 

[Ryan420]

Well, even if Kurt Angle made his way back to the WWE, they wouldn't need to call him a thirteen time world champion, because he simply hasn't won thirteen world titles. If I'm counting correctly, he's had one WCW Championship, one World Championship, four WWE Championships and three TNA. Simple maths brings this total sum to nine world championships. And TNA probably count the IWGP championship as one as well, so we're at ten. I'm not quite sure how it works, but it's not giving TNA any credibility when they have to add non-existent title reigns on to their wrestlers when they're already accomplished enough.

He also has 1 NWA World Championship, right b4 TNA made their own Titles. And the other 2 are his 1995 Amature World Championship and ofcourse his '96 Gold Medal counts too.


But i dont think WWE would acknowledge his TNA/NWA World Titles but maybe his 1995 and Gold Medal just out of respect for him. But IMO Angle wont go back to WWE anyways.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The WWE will not acknowledge Kurt Angle's reign with any world championship that isn't under their control. There's no reason for the WWE to do so. Even if the WWE never mentioned TNA by name, using the "13-time World Champion" moniker that TNA uses would be acknowledgement of TNA. A minor acknowledgement yes, but it's still one.

To be perfectly honest, I find it laughable to suggest that there are wrestling fans in the United States that still don't know of TNA's existence, I just find that hard to believe. Even still, for the WWE to even acknowledge ANYTHING connected to TNA will give TNA just a little extra bit of legitimacy. If Angle were to head back to the WWE, the only way the WWE will allow anything even remotely regarding TNA to be spoken of by Kurt Angle would be for Angle to dog the company. Angle would have to be willing to publically, metaphorically speaking, take a giant crap all over TNA.

 

[darbare]

i dont see why not. they tout ric flair as the great 16 time world champ, when in acutality hes more of a twenty something time champ. i dont care what wwe says cuz im not a mindless puppet like some people. flair only held the title in wwe twice. as long as you know the reality in wrestling, and u arent like a lil kid who takes what they say to heart, then who cares if wwe doesnt acknowledge the other reigns or competition for that matter. i enjoy tna way more than raw or smackdown most of the time. i definitely dont watch superstars or ecw for that matter. im just ranting now lol, my bad

 

[Futurist]

They'll give him credit for what he won in WWE and probably nothing more. Its kind of like when someone fights in the UFC and leaves then returns they make no real mention of the other promotions they fought in. They just say something like "he's been fighting in Japan for a couple years".

 

[PEP3]

We already know how the WWE would treat Angle's TNA title reigns: They would ignore those. There is absolutely no reason to believe WWE would act any differently about Angle's championships outside of the E than they already do Christian and R-Truth, who also held the TNA title more than once each.

Since shortly after Hogan won the their title for the first time, the WWF/WWE company policy has been to ignore any and all championships outside their promotion. Prior to that era, they would frequently acknowledge other organizations, even occasionally pitting their champions against other promotions' champs. However, during the '80s it became so bad, they wouldn't even acknowledge that wrestlers existed before their WWF debuts. Frequently they would change wrestlers' long-standing names to not only gain full rights to those but further encourage the idea that they, basically, "created" the performer.

This policy proved particularly awkward on a number of occasions. How on earth do you NOT discuss the careers of people like Harley Race, a multiple-time champion, when he joins your roster? What about people like Dory and Terry Funk? I believe on a couple of occasions they might have mentioned they were "champions around the world," but never, ever addressing any other organization by name.

WWE now acknowledges people's ECW, AWA and NWA/WCW careers, but only because they have purchased the rights to those organizations. Effectively speaking, they have bought entry into the "WWE universe." TNA, however, has not. They won't exist in Vince McMahon's history books until he's purchased them.

As a result, it stands to reason that if Angle were ever to return, his accomplishments and time away from WWE simply...never...happened.

 

[PEP3]

By the way, regardless of the fact that WWE would ignore Angle's title reigns if he returned, I don't understand how that answer leads to the question this thread poses: "Does the TNA Championship mean something?"

Obviously, the answer is yes. The TNA World title has grown into a viable championship worn and sought by some of professional wrestling's most acclaimed performers. Therefore, it has value and merit. In essence, it means something.

Vince McMahon's decision to acknowledge TNA (or not) doesn't have a thing to do with that. Despite what some of the IWC might lead one to believe, it's entirely possible to have an incredibly worthy, much-sought after championship without Vince McMahon's vote of confidence.

As Madonna once said, "Your approval is neither required nor desired."

 

[Henry Hill]

In TNA Kurt Angle is known as a 13 time World Champion. lets just say he

decides to return to the WWE. Will he still be known as a 13 time world

champion or will WWE pretend he took a 3 year hiatus from wrestling and say

he was a former 9 time champion. thoughts???

Kurt Angle has NOT won 13 world championships in professional wrestling. His Gold medal victories are counted in TNA as well as his kayfabe world title wins. The point I;m making is this: even if WWE counted Angle's TNA wins, he wouldn't be credited for 13 title reigns.
Also, we all know that WWE just won't acknowledge TNA reigns, at least not unless TNA becomes real competition. If TNA is able to make a name for itself to the point that it isn't just a "little engine that could" promotion, then WWE will be forced to acknowledge previous world title reigns. The point of view that tna is not a real promotion will continue, however, until TNA is able to draw better PPV buys, weekly ratings and house show attendance.

 

[byrnside]

I think the TNA title means something. I don't think it has the same prestige as either of the WWE's world titles. I'd compare it to more like the ECW title, and not the Sy Fy version, I mean the original ECW title. Guys like Sting, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash have held this title, it has to have some credibility to it.

Kurt Angle has NOT won 13 world championships in professional wrestling. His Gold medal victories are counted in TNA as well as his kayfabe world title wins. The point I;m making is this: even if WWE counted Angle's TNA wins, he wouldn't be credited for 13 title reigns.
Also, we all know that WWE just won't acknowledge TNA reigns, at least not unless TNA becomes real competition. If TNA is able to make a name for itself to the point that it isn't just a "little engine that could" promotion, then WWE will be forced to acknowledge previous world title reigns. The point of view that tna is not a real promotion will continue, however, until TNA is able to draw better PPV buys, weekly ratings and house show attendance.

Even so, the WWE NEVER acknowledged Flair as being a umpteen time world champion until after WCW was purchased. And as far as I know they never mentioned it with anyone else either. I don't think they would do it if Kurt Angle came back, they'd be more likely to count his olympic medals as world titles.

 

[PEP3]

Also, we all know that WWE just won't acknowledge TNA reigns, at least not unless TNA becomes real competition. If TNA is able to make a name for itself to the point that it isn't just a "little engine that could" promotion, then WWE will be forced to acknowledge previous world title reigns. The point of view that tna is not a real promotion will continue, however, until TNA is able to draw better PPV buys, weekly ratings and house show attendance.

Not true at all. This isn't just about TNA. It's not a matter of TNA being too insignificant for WWE to acknowledge. The WWF/WWE has a proven track record of absolutely ignoring all titles outside "WWE Universe," no matter how well-established, credible or note-worthy. Need proof?

WWF never acknowledged Curt Hennig's AWA World Heavyweight Championship. WWF never labeled Harley Race as a seven-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. They never acknowledged Dory or Terry Funk as former NWA World Champions. They repackaged Dusty Rhodes as "The Common Man," giving him a polka-dot make-over and all, but never brought up his being a three-time NWA World Heavyweight champion. They didn't mention Rick Martel's near-two year reign as AWA World Champion. "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich was never presented as a former NWA World Champion. "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin wasn't billed as a former NWA World Champion. Jerry "The King" Lawler was introduced as a Memphis legend, but not a former AWA World Champion. When Vader joined WWF, his three WCW World title reigns weren't mentioned.

As someone quite correctly observed previously, even when Ric Flair joined WWF, bringing the then NWA World Title belt with him, he was only billed only as "The Real World Heavyweight Champion." They never once made mention of where he wrestled previously or what belts he'd won. And, until he won the WWF World title, they didn't present him as a former World Champion at all.

Vince and WWE have always had the policy that if it doesn't happen in a WWE ring, it doesn't exist in the WWE universe. Period.

 

[Jobber Bob]

By the way, regardless of the fact that WWE would ignore Angle's title reigns if he returned, I don't understand how that answer leads to the question this thread poses: "Does the TNA Championship mean something?"

Obviously, the answer is yes. The TNA World title has grown into a viable championship worn and sought by some of professional wrestling's most acclaimed performers. Therefore, it has value and merit. In essence, it means something.

Vince McMahon's decision to acknowledge TNA (or not) doesn't have a thing to do with that. Despite what some of the IWC might lead one to believe, it's entirely possible to have an incredibly worthy, much-sought after championship without Vince McMahon's vote of confidence.

As Madonna once said, "Your approval is neither required nor desired."

of course the TNa championship has meaning, but i was saying once your

outside of the company,ie roh wwe i.c., do you get recognized as winning the

title.

 

[deadman403]

The TNA championship has changed hands so many times that I'm surprised someone was able to keep count of Angle's wins. He's become the Ric Flair of modern day wrestling. Not to knock Flair at all...

 

[johnbragg]

of course the TNa championship has meaning, but i was saying once your outside of the company,ie roh wwe i.c., do you get recognized as winning the title.

Recognized by whom? IF you answer that, then you're halfway to your answer. There is no standard reference or authority that decides what pro wrestling world championships are legitimate.

In boxing, there is a community of boxing journalists that sort of collectively decide that four sanctioning bodies are more-or-less legitimate (even though they are in fact useless crooks) and the rest are complete fly-by-night dime-store operations not worthy of respect.

In wrestling there is no such community. There is what each promotion can get away with.