Santino Marella: US Championship Reign

[Ruthless-RKO]

What I would like to know is, what you all thought of his title run?

He won the title from Jack Swagger on Raw back in March of this year, held the title for 167 days before losing it last week to Antonio Cesaro at SummerSlam.

Since winning the title, he defended it a few times against Jack Swagger, and then the likes off Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, David Otunga. Then after Extreme Rules, even though the match was a dark match, he didn't defend the title until June against Jack Swagger, and then again from June all the way to SummerSlam, where again his match was a dark match and he finally lost the title..

He hardly defended his title, to be exact, the number of defences is 7 including his loss. He never had a real feud going for the title, just silly ones with ADR's right hand man, Why did WWE put the title on him in the first place? Who knows.

What do you think about his first reign as US Champion? Was he a good champion? Could he have been better? Discuss!!

 

[Dagger Dias]

I'd say it was a rather poor reign. The only good thing about it was the number of title defenses that Santino had. They should never have put the belt on him in the first place because he is a comedy jobber who will never be taken seriously. A short reign, as in like.... a day or two, to thank him for his hard work in the past few years would make a lot of sense, but he held the belt for nearly half a year. Midcard belts should NEVER be placed on comedy jobbers. This reign devalued the belt significantly.

I also disliked that it was defended in pre-show matches on PPV. Once was borderline, but more than once? This proved that they do not care about that belt anymore. The belt will seem far more important if it is defended on the actual PPV card. The more often it is used for dark matches (not to mention the longer Santino would have held it), the lower its prestige will continue to fall. Everything that Ziggler's reign last year did for the belt was undone by Santino's this year.

Had they done things a little differently, it could have been a very good reign. Cesaro has the belt now. Say they want to do a similar reign for him that they did for Santino, in terms of length and number of title defenses. If they put some of those title defenses on PPV's other than Night of Champions and push him as a serious contender (which with him that shouldn't be too difficult) then it will be great for both Cesaro and the belt itself. What ruined the reign for me was a combination of the fact that they let a comedy jobber hold onto it for several months and that multiple title defenses were during PPV pre-show events. They went about things the wrong way, and that's not how you book a good reign for ANY championship.

The sad thing is, I've seen worse runs with the belt than this one. It sucked, however it wasn't THE worst US Championship reign.

 

[Defekt]

I can't remember a worse reign.

The title was already worthless when Santino won it, so I don't think any real harm was done, but I also wonder why they gave him the belt in the first place.

 

[TempestH]

Santino Marella winning the title wasn't the problem. The issue was his booking. I had no problem with a comedy character winning the U.S. Title. The problem is with WWE's booking of the midcard in general. Rather than booking a midcard roster that chases the belt, they put the belt on one midcarder they want to highlight. But under this system, Santino never needed the belt because he was getting regular TV time without a championship, so it was better served on someone who needs more TV time.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

<-For whoever voted "Excellent".

Obviously Santino's reign was VERY poor.

His best match during his reign was losing to Cesaro IMO.

Santino Marella winning the title wasn't the problem.

While I agree his lack of defenses, lack of TV time put into the title & not just his jokes, & his lack of opponents (before Mania and everyone debuted) added ALOT to his poor title reign, but I think it was simply Santino himself, winning the US title that killed it.

First off, If Santino was already so over WHY DID HE NEED A TITLE?!?!?!

If a performer, especially one like Santino that is a comedic character, already has crowd support then you give him odds to beat so that way the crowd get behind him more! That's BOOKING 101! That's why he worked well in the Elimination Chamber match and the end of the 2011 rumble!

Let alone I think Dagger Dias said it perfectly, Santino has undone all that Ziggler did for the US title.

Ziggler > Ryder > Swagger > Santino
WWE just slowly moved it from the best talent, to the most over young star, to nowheresville, to comedy land.

Santino did nothing with the title. It was just silly Santino with a new prop.

 

[HBsam31]

Santino did nothing with and nothing for the title. That is obviously not all his fault. I question as to why they put the title on him in the first place. He was super over anyway, and is a total comedic character. I would not have minded a short reign, but it went on way to long. I am also not a fan of a belt being defended on the preshow. Santino couldn't have really done much to stop the way his reign was booked, but the fact that he never even really mentioned the title hurt the situation too.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

Santino's reign was awful as far as the frequency with which they utilized him as a champion. He had plenty of backstage comedy roles, sure, but no true feuds up until losing the title. It's especially wasteful considering the momentum the US Championship had after Zack Ryder won it after a satisfying feud with Dolph Ziggler. Admittedly, it lost some speed with Swagger's transitional reign, but it would have been easier to recapture had they let Santino hit the ground running.

As conditions under which Santino lost the title, it was typical booking in order to protect the face for a potential rematch, albeit yucked up to match Santino's comedy character.

 

[Ethelion]

He never had a real feud going for the title, just silly ones with ADR's right-hand man

For the record, Santino never defended his United States Championship against Ricardo. They just feuded in a lame-brain Tuxedo Match.

What do you think about his first reign as US Champion?

Since I'm one of the minority who believes that it's not his fault that the title has lost all of its prestige, I'm voting for Santino having a fair regin. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's bad booking from the WWE.

Was he a good champion?

While he wasn't a good champion, he wasn't bad either. Again, It's bad booking from the WWE.

Could he have been better?

Yes, he could've been better... if he defended the US Title more. He could've defended it against other established mid-carders, maybe even against Tag Champs Kofi and Truth. Then again, there aren't any established mid-carders who are beneath the US Title aside from Swagger...

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

I remember back when he won the title, reports said he wouldn't hold the title more than a month (Losing it to Swagger or possibly David Otunga) and obviously Otunga couldn't have held it due to his absence for the lawsuit involving his wife. and Swagger shouldn't hold a title as long as Santino did (Not to say Santino should hold a title either...)

But I feel like creative has absolutly no idea what to do with the US title, thank god someone won it that might make it intresting for a bit

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I think his reign as a whole only has one shining moment. He's putting over Cesaro as a good heel. I have no clue what he really is, gimmick wise. Rugby player, and language extraordinaire. But what this program is doing, is making me really not like the dude.

Santino plays his role well, the fans love him, and this is the guy to get a heel over. The fans love Santino and by having Cesaro in a program with him is an easy way to put heat on him.

Overall I can't see what the WWE thought by putting the belt on Santino, other than to sell a bit of merch. But the one thing they are doing right is this. Putting an uber over face, with a new heel. It sells, and gets a lot of much needed heat on Cesaro.

Out of ten, I would give his reign a 2. But the way his reign ended was good. I don't like the whole cobra thing though. Cesaro could have gone over with a foot on the rope easily, or just a clean win.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I voted fair, simply because the reign wasn't horrible to start off with.

A lot of people dislike Santino simply because he is a comedy character or because he appeals to children and is gimmicky. Never mind a lot of those same people complain their aren't enough characters in wrestling today.

The character shouldn't be at fault. Creative could have still given him a feud. Swagger, the guy he took the title off of, could have easily been upset with the loss and became aggressive toward Santino in a pursuit of regaining the title. That isn't a great storyline but its better than nothing.

I think people need to stop saying Santino made the title a joke. Long gone are the days of the status it had in WCW, hell it isn't even on the level it was when guys like Miz and Big Show were holding the title. Santino was just another guy who held the title in a long reign of lackluster reigns.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I think the WWE did what some IWC fans have wanted for a long time and they turned the US title into a lower card belt.

With the brand extension being pretty much over (good riddance) there isn't much room anymore for ambiguity. For years there was the debate of which title means more, the WHC or the WWE Title, the US title or the IC title. The debate was rather pointless because all those belts were, for the most part, on separate shows. Not anymore. And at this point it's no longer a matter of opinion, but it's become rather clear how the belts rank (1. WWE 2. WHC 3. IC 4. US).

So, yeah, stands to reason the US Title has silently morphed into a tertiary title. Nothing wrong with that. A tertiary belt meaning next to nothing shouldn't be much of a surprise and it can be won by rookies and comedy acts. Fine by me.

I'm just glad that the IC title at this point means a little something again.