Kane as Champion: Success or Failure?

[RoyHahn]

When Kane won the ECW Championship at Wrestlemania, I was thrilled. I am a big believer in the fact that the ECW Championship itself needs a push to be equal to the other two. I thought that by placing the belt around the waist of an established, popular superstar such as Kane, the championship and the brand of ECW would receive legitimacy. I was expecting a Bobby Lashley-like reign, with constant attempts to make the ECW title equal.

However, Kane's reign has been described accurately as "stale." He hasn't initiated competition with the other champions much, and has done little to represent ECW. He hasn't looked strong even within his own brand, losing to the likes of Morrison. I confess myself disappointed in Kane's reign. Don't get me wrong: it's still salvageable. Yet, it seems like WWE is getting a clue by pushing Big Show for the championship. He is someone who could turn the ECW title into a major force, which Kane has failed to do as of yet.

So what are your thoughts? Has Kane been a success or not?

 

[Joaquim Akaem]

Its too early to determine his reighn as a sucess or failure at this point.
I see what you're saying though, Kane has had the title somewhere close two months now and has done very little with it.
Kane could have been the unstoppable force that Lashley was, but so far he has looked rather weak. Instead of concentrating on his own title, he has been chasing Miz and Morrison and failed miserabley.
So far on this subject i would wait until after One Night Stand, and see how his feud with the new number one contender plays out. A Kane vs Big Show match could breathe a bit of credibility back to the ECW title, much like Big Show put the ECW title on a par with the WWE and WHC when he was matching up against Cena and Booker at Cyber Sunday that time.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Honestly, in the history of Kane as a Champion (regardless of what title) this has been his greatest reign. He might not be doing much more than destroying Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely until his next challenge at Night of Champions, but hes still remained the Champion through his first strong challenge.

Yes, I called Chavo & Neely a "strong challenge." Why? Because dispite neither guy truly being in Kane's league as a Heavyweight, the fact is Chavo was still a former Champion for a bit. That has to be seen as something, maybe not big, but still something.

This reign was meant to bring Kane back into good standing as a dominate force in the W.W.E. For too long has Kane just been aimlessly wondering in the midcard ranks, jobbing much like Umaga is doing right now, without purpose other than to put over guys that may or may not be better than him.

I'm happy with Kane's run, and I think if anything he shouldn't be to blame over lack of competition on the E.C.W. roster, I mean it is a roster with him as the Heavyweight and all the others as glorified cruiserweights.

 

[Trumike]

I think Kane as being a champion is failing bad. I mean he was dominated in the rumble match on Smackdown last month. He, Finlay, BigShow, Matt Hardy and some others. Big Show made Kane look so weak. How can he represent a brand. He needs to lose the belt soon so they can try and salvage ECW. He is not dominating. He looks bored. He knows he is always going to lose. HE needs a feud with Armando Estrada. That might be intresting if played correctly. If not just give the belt to Big Show.

 

[Joaquim Akaem]

I'm happy with Kane's run, and I think if anything he shouldn't be to blame over lack of competition on the E.C.W. roster, I mean it is a roster with him as the Heavyweight and all the others as glorified cruiserweights.

That being said, I honestly preferred ECW when they had Morrison, Punk and Chavo as champions.

The matches between all those glorified cruiserweights were actually quite impressive very competitive and definatley entertaining. But a match with one super heavyweight and anyone under 250lbs, is always going to be pretty much the same. One sided, with very little chance for the challenger to show off any of his moves, because the other guy is too big and heavy to get off his feet.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

That being said, I honestly preferred ECW when they had Morrison, Punk and Chavo as champions.

The matches between all those glorified cruiserweights were actually quite impressive very competitive and definatley entertaining. But a match with one super heavyweight and anyone under 250lbs, is always going to be pretty much the same. One sided, with very little chance for the challenger to show off any of his moves, because the other guy is too big and heavy to get off his feet.

You're Preaching to the Choir on that one. I'm the biggest John Morrison mark there is. And I prefer the days of cruiserweight action as well. If the brand is going to subject their Heavyweight Championship to the cruiserweight division though.. they need to go ahead and move Kenny Dykstra, Shannon Moore and even Rey Mysterio over and put Kane on Smackdown then. Because the only way E.C.W.'s Heavyweight title will be greatly viewed, is if its got a ton of competition going for it, thats evenly matched.

And I still enjoy Kane being a Champion, he does deserve the spot, and once more.. it is not HIS fault that hes fighting a ton of smaller guys. He didn't design who's on that brand, he just agreed with going there. Big Daddy V is currently gone in an attempt to lose weight, Mark Henry is lost somewhere on Smackdown, Khali is on leave, and Big Show looks to be taking over on E.C.W. as the unstoppable force.

 

[Harpa]

Kane's run hasn't helped ECW all that much, and that's mainly due to the fact that he isn't used enough. When he teamed with Undertaker their championships seemed equal, because Kane and Taker were made equal themselves - and the value of a championship should be determined by who holds it.

Apart from that I haven't been to satisfied, but that might be because he really has no one to feud with. Who on the ECW roster would be a believable opponent for Kane? The only wrestlers that come to mind are CM Punk, Morrison, The Miz, Shelton Benjamnin, Kofi Kingston and Elijah Burke.
CM Punk, Morrison and The Miz seem to be on their way out of ECW, with Miz and Morrison holding the SD tag titles and Punk with MITB which he most likely isn't using for ECW.
Shelton Benjamin and Kofi have their own feud right now which could turn into something great. Apart from that, Kofi is not ready for a feud with Kane (or the fans aren't ready for a feud between them), so he needs somebody to feud with and Shelton seems perfect.
Elijah Burke.... Well, now there's someone who could very well feud for the title. It's been said lots of times and why he doesn't get a feud with Kane when he isn't feuding right now is beyond me. Seems like this guy will never get a title.... Unless someone who doesn't like him in the creative team (and there's gotta be someone) is gone.

So, with Big Show coming to ECW, we might finally get a good feud for the ECW title. That is, of course, if WWE gives them enough time.
Some people in here say that Big Show is going to do what Kane couldn't do, but actually he wouldn't be able to do that without Kane, just like Kane wasn't able to do it without a good opponent (Big Show).
Let's just hope everything goes well now.... WWE can't possibly mess this up, can they?

 

[Shocky]

No one person can help ECW at this point. ECW is just Velocity with a name from the past trying to sell people that it is a legit wrestling show.

Kane's reign is only 6 or 7 weeks old, so there really isn't enough time to say if it was a success or not. Plus, ECW has never been the focal point of the company, so there really is no pressure on Kane to live up to being a top tier performer. Kane is simply a transitional champion. He's a safe bet and a big name to keep the belt warm until the WWE decides to push someone else into that spot. Until there is someone that they think is ready to take on the title of the C show, then that belt isn't going anywhere.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Honestly I am mystified and confiused about this reighn. It seemed so perfect at the start. Older, Monsterous face champ, on a brand of great up and coming heel talent needing some good big time feud experience. And they have done nothing with it. No feud with Shelton. No feud with Elijah. No feud with Morrison. No feud with Miz. Nothing. Fucking Chavo, and probably Big Show next. I really dont understand it. His reighn has dont diddily squat shit for ANYONE including himself. And do we all realize thet CHAVO FUCKING GURRERO has been in the title picture on ECW since fucking January??? Seriously CHAVO??? Ugh. So much for building talent that actually has a fucking chance to be anything other than a mid carder ever.

 

[RoyHahn]

I'll clear things up a bit and say that I do not blame Kane for his lack of success as champion; I blame the WWE writers. I'm very happy to see Big Show coming over to feud with Kane because it gives legitimacy to the belt to see someone dominant coming to fight for it. I thought that Kane would be used more to represent ECW rather than be a semi-jobber as champion. For that, I blame the WWE, not the man.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Failure...but its not all Kane's fault. Several factors are coming into play:

1. Chavo Guerrero. Come on, none of us took this guy seriously as a champion, so Kane defeating him and having a drawn out feud with him made it worthless. That's like when they had Umaga defeat Hacksaw for a spot in the Royal Rumble lol. Chavo is, at best, a tag team or midcard challenger, not a belt holder.

2. Lack of other challengers. Tommy Dreamer? No way. Elijah Burke? The guy's been booked as a loser for months now and barely ever even gets on TV (Colin Delaney has had more matches than Burke lately). Kane has already had feuds with Mark Henry, Big Daddy V, and Khali so many times that it nullifies any interest.

3. Kane's reputation. For a while, he's just been "the big guy that can take a loss so that someone else can look good". Because of how comfortable he's fallen into that role, nobody would bat an eye if we saw him lose a match next week to say, Mike Knox.

I don't think a Big Show/Kane feud will bring legitimacy to the ECW title. It'll help, that's for sure (unless they totally botch it) but it won't be the miracle cure. The only way Kane's title reign will be looked at in a brighter light is if he has many feuds that actually seem like they matter.

ECW is a catch-22 situation. You're basically sent over there to be pushed higher than before, but in a way that doesn't bury the other talent that they want to move up, so in the process, all you defeat are jobbers basically. Thusly, you don't receive that push to the top, because you're not defeating people that matter lol. Kane had no chance at ever being the top guy on Raw or Smackdown, as he's not who they're looking for in terms of a major player, so he goes on ECW or gets buried. He's the top guy on that brand, but that doesn't say much. Morrison was the top guy and it did wonders for his career, but he had to take a minor step backwards. Punk was the top guy and now look where he is lol. Kane will drop the belt in a few months (or maybe sooner) and either be "#2" on ECW and thusly job now and again, or return to Raw/Smackdown and be the glorified jobber he was beforehand.

ECW's title is "Developmental +", so it will never have the credibility of Raw or Smackdown unless they change that, which they most likely won't.

 

[Rusty]

I still think its a little too early to really tell if his reign is a success or failure. However, Kane needs to get the upper hand more often. How the fuck can fricken Chavo Guerrero who is a cruiserweight almost always gets the upper hand on Kane? I don't care if Chavo has a bodyguard or not. Kane clearly should be booked as a monster champion.

With that being said, his only feud as the ECW champ was with Chavo. A Kane vs Morrison feud interests me. I DO NOT want to see Big Show vs Kane because there are other guys that need to be pushed and the Big Show is way too over to be the ECW champion in my opinion. Show should be going for the World Title instead.

However, Kane should have a lengthy reign with the belt. I also don't want Punk challenging for the ECW title, as he has MITB. I would like a Kane vs Dreamer match, Kane vs Miz for ECW title and especially Kane vs John Morrison. Have Kane reign supreme over everyone until Survivor Series where he loses the belt in a triple threat or something WITHOUT being pinned to lose the belt.

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

i dont understand why the wwe is pushing chavo as a contender now or why they even made him ecw champion. i mean this guy 10 years ago was riding around on a wooden horse named pepe and then a few years down the line went by the name LT. Loco. I dont get how they are even having him as a contender to the title after he got demolished in 7 seconds at wrestlemania. how does the wwe think that we can respect a guy going for a world title after he gets squashed at the companies biggest event

 

[Danmen001]

He might not be doing much more than destroying Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely until his next challenge at Night of Champions, but hes still remained the Champion through his first strong challenge.

True, but ECW really needs to step up and at least have differenet people becoming contenders all the time.

Yes, I called Chavo & Neely a "strong challenge." Why? Because dispite neither guy truly being in Kane's league as a Heavyweight, the fact is Chavo was still a former Champion for a bit. That has to be seen as something, maybe not big, but still something.

I wouldn't say that Chavo and Bam are a strong challenge, but on the point that they were the only challenge available is definately true to a great length. But there is room for other contenders.

This reign was meant to bring Kane back into good standing as a dominate force in the W.W.E. For too long has Kane just been aimlessly wondering in the midcard ranks, jobbing much like Umaga is doing right now, without purpose other than to put over guys that may or may not be better than him.

Which was a shame I agree, Kane just can't bring the title back to level by himself, he needs challenges. That not his fault as u said though.

I'm happy with Kane's run, and I think if anything he shouldn't be to blame over lack of competition on the E.C.W. roster, I mean it is a roster with him as the Heavyweight and all the others as glorified cruiserweights.

Absolutely true. I like Kane's run here but they need to give him some cometition.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

A good title reign, as people have said, is built upon decent fueds and a champ that always wins. It's why Cena's reign sucked balls bcoz he had 1 month fueds that had no real build up. It was always, Ok Cena ya beat HBK, this month do it again, and Edge and Orton as well. Ok Ya beat those four, now beat Kahli. Ok ya beat Kahli but we've got another big show next week so do it again. Ok ya beat Kahli twice, now beat these five random guys we're not using bcoz it's NOC and everyone else is defending the belt so you'll have to too. Ok ya retained at NOC, now beat Lashley. Ok ya beat Lashley now beat Orton again.... but this time he's gonna kick ur dad in the head. That finally started to go somewhere and then the week before, Cena got injured and we, the cena haters, were gipped out of seein him get beat.

Kane had a month long fued against Kerwin White... sorry, sorry, Chavo Guerrero who for no reason has a bodyguard (shudn't he have had a bodyguard when he was champ? Maybe then he would still have the belt?) who did fuck all to help him in his rematch and then........
"Ok Kane, you and that ROH ****** r gonna have a tag title shot for no reason and you'll lose because we want to make Morrison and whassisname look good without really trying."
And then the ECW style PPv comes around and the ECW champ isn't even on the card.

When Big Show... sorry, one of the contenders, wins the Singapore Cane match, will they actually get a fued or just a one off title shot and then onto the next random title match after a month of champ-jobbing? Who knows. I still say the ECW belt shud ALWAYS b contested under extreme rules but apparently that's too much to ask.

 

[slimmshady]

If the wwe are really desperate to improve ecw, when the undertaker returns to the ring, maybe they should put him on ecw for a bit, but still as a member of the smackdown roster, just to make sum decent feuds with kane.

 

[PWAQfan]

i think we need to see a change back to the Kane of old, where he was fierce and straight to the competition, like his fued with MVP or in the Royal Rumble where he chokeslammed Sabu out of the ring through the table, he dominated that match.

Kanes reign at the moment is just lobbing around, he had a decent match with CM Punk and i think they could have a decent fued, either having Kane go over as a monster heel or having punk eventually turn heel by using cheap tactics.
thats just my opinion though.

 

[Miko]

well i am a massive Kane mark, so i think he could still come out strong on this title reign. Have him go over the Big Show, then Mark Henry and we could have some new challenges (shelton, morrison etc) have Kane go over on them and eventually lose the title in a triple threat where he isnt pinned.

If WWE did this right he could then be a legit threat to the WHC or the WWE title, or maybe thats just my markiness coming through

 

[D-Squared]

Kane could be a great champion given half a chance! Not even the likes of Triple H could get a decent match let alone a rivalry out of Chavo.

ECW should be the home to the likes of Jeff Hardy, Carlito, Benjamin, Finlay, Kennedy - think of how much better the ECW title and the brand itself would look with guys like that puttig on top class matches every week.

Kane on the other hand, i think this ECW title reign is a falilure,a s much as it hurts to say it, ive wanted Kane to hold some gold for a long time but he hasnt really done much except challenging for the WWE Tag Titles with a glorified jobber like Punk

 

[FOTH 3:16]

I think it has been a failure.I think this because he is not a credible champion.He loses a lot.He has lost many matches and that does not build his credibility as a champion any.Not whatsoever.The man wasn't even on the card for One Night Stand.Can you explain to me how a credible World Champion doesn't have a pay-per-view match?It is simple.He is not a sucessful champion in this reign as he is not credible.

 

[valon10]

^Wait a second,Your saying that he's not a successful champion.I know he lost a couple of matches but,WWE will hopefully keep the title on him still for a few months by building him back up again.Since, Undertaker is no longer World Champion I have a feeling WWE might just put the belt on Big Show.I could care less if the belt is on Big Show or Kane because the match doesn't prove anything.If it proves something then what does it prove?To answer the previous question Kane's title reign as ECW Champion is a success the way I see but if he keeps losing matches it will be a failure.

 

[Golden Standard]

Building him back up again? Since when he was down in the first place WWE just didn't give him the respect he deserved to get. He should be World Heavyweight Champion instead of ECW Champion. He doesn't deserve this crap shitfest title. He not a youngster like CM Punk or John Morrison. Kane deserves bigger and better. Hopefully he gets a real world title run and it last more then one day.

 

[Mr Wrestlemania]

I don't think it's much of either. I think it's more of a "What can we do with Kane?" type of situation. For a long time when he first arrived (masked and with hair) he was pretty much unstoppable and immovable. Now that 10 years have passed and we all see he's human and such, there's really no one for him to feud with that would make us take notice. He hasn't really gotten a decent push in a while and I think this is WWE's way of trying to get Kane more face time and allowing the casual fan (fans who watched WWF like crazy from 1998-2001) to know the name of the ECW Champ as I don't think they'd know who the hell CM Punk or John Morrison are.

 

[Mr Wrestlemania]

Building him back up again? Since when he was down in the first place WWE just didn't give him the respect he deserved to get. He should be World Heavyweight Champion instead of ECW Champion. He doesn't deserve this crap shitfest title. He not a youngster like CM Punk or John Morrison. Kane deserves bigger and better. Hopefully he gets a real world title run and it last more then one day.

I agree, but usually successful (and lengthy) world title runs are given to those who sell merchandise (John Cena) or guys who can cut decent promos (Triple H). I'm not sure if Kane does either of those, though I'd truly like to see Kane on the mic more often.