The last great championship reign?

[MartialHorror]

Of any belt.

I feel that the majority of belts have lost their value do to stupid booking and unfortunate incidents. The IC belt is in the worst condition, despite Ziggler's claim that he wanted to return its prestige. Playing hot potato with the Miz was bad enough, but having it change hands so quickly afterwards just continued to make it more meaningless. I thought Barrett was making it work for awhile, but even with him, eventually he started getting pushed down the ladder before his injury. Big E had a stable reign, but obviously that didn't help him at all. I believe Axel was Champ before then and...well, Axel's vanishing act was certainly impressive.

The U.S Championship was arguably worse. It seems like since winning it, Rusev has been struggling even more than usual, although tbf he's also been in more important matches. While Sheamus had a strong reign, it seemed like the WWE would occasionally forget about it and every feud involving that belt felt like filler. When Ambrose had it, it had practically become a costume decoration and they even pointed out that he rarely defended it.

The Tag Team belts keep going back to the same people.. The Rhodes Brothers had them, but dropped them to the New Age Outlaws- who just returned. The Outlaws lost them anti-climactically to the Uso's, whose reign seemed 90% of fighting the Wyatts. But other times, it was like the Uso's were forgotten as well. Then they dropped the belts to the Rhodes, who dropped to the Miz before becoming a jobber team. The Miz managed to destroy the entire division by holding off every tag team single handedly despite how the face announcers keep undermining his actual abilities. Now the Uso's have it again, but does anyone really care? It seems like they have it because they're the safe pick. I wasn't around when Reigns and Rollins had the belts, so I can't comment on their reign. It seems like the WWE either lets momentum burn itself out before it can be capitalized on or cuts the reign too short for it to build momentum in the first place.

The WHT scene is a mess, although to be fair, not all of it is the WWE's fault. Lesnar would make an excellent champion if he showed up, but the attempts at building him have been worthless- especially if Cena wins the belt. Cena being champ was just the safe option and his reign was rather bland and unremarkable. I'm okay with Cena surpassing Flair in terms of how many reigns he has, but I hope the next one has a stronger build to it. Bryan's reign sucked, although it was awesome when he got the belt. But his storyline with Kane was dumb. I think I enjoyed Orton's reign more now than I did back then. During late 2013/early 2014, I thought his cowardly heel tactics were annoying. But now...I can take cowardly Orton more seriously than cowardly Rollins. At least with Orton, his cravenness became a central part of his story and they acknowledge that he wasn't the man he used to be. With Rollins, you just outright feel he's not as good as the people he's fighting.

But what about you? What do you think was the last great- or even good- reign for any of the belts?

I didn't mention the Diva's title because I don't watch 80% of the Diva matches. I was invested in the AJ/Paige feud at first, but eventually I got sick of that too.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As far as the tag titles go, I thought The Usos had a great run as champs. They held the titles for a long time, had a couple of memorable feuds that resulted in some killer matches, they were over with the fans as champs and people genuinely looked forward to their stuff. Personally, I don't know how anyone can realistically expect or hope for when it comes to a title run.

As far as the United States Championship goes, it's been a while since there was a great run. Both Ambrose & Sheamus held the title for a long time, but WWE ultimately had Ambrose just hold the title for almost a year and he defended it maybe 4 or 5 times at ppvs and TV events combined. Sheamus had the title and ultimately just felt like he was mostly doing the same thing in that he was booked mostly just to have the title. Whether Rusev has a great run as champ is yet to be determined but, in my opinion, he's done a solid job with it so far. He's gotten more out of being champion so far than either Sheamus or Ambrose did.

The Intercontinental Championship has been a bit of a mess, no doubt. If I had to pick out someone that I thought had the last great, strong run as champ, it'd probably be Cody Rhodes' 1st run back in 2011. Cody reintroduced the classic design, frequently put over the importance of being champion, had some good matches as champ, held the title for some 236 days.

As for the WWE Championship, as much as it might not seem like it, Orton's last run as champion was pretty solid. It wasn't perfect, especially considering how burned out people were with him as champion, but you have to look at things as a whole. Orton had great matches as champ, he held the title for close to 6 months and interest in the title scene was huge. A lot of that interest was due to it being WrestleMania season, the rise of Daniel Bryan and some other factors, but Orton, like it or not, did bring some needed stability to the title picture. In terms of Lesnar's run, I'm not all that keen about it myself, though I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's so different from what we're used to. We're accustomed to seeing the champion on TV every week, seeing him defend at ppv events each month whereas Lesnar's run probably isn't all that uncommon in the eyes of some fans. For instance, in New Japan Pro Wrestling, it's not at all rare for champs to have sparse defenses. AJ Styles was IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 163 days and only defended the title 3 times. Hiroshi Tanahashi's the current champ of 93 days with only 2 defenses thus far. Prince Devitt's, AKA Finn Balor, last run as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion lasted 419 days and he defended the title a total of 4 times.

I'm hoping there aren't any title changes until at least WrestleMania. The Intercontinental Championship in particular needs some stability after changing hands 7 times since Barrett vacated the title on June 30, 2014.

 

[CyberPunk]

JH makes some very solid points. I always thought the value of a title is associated less with the length of a reign and more with the story it's involved it. For me, IC title scene has vastly improved in last year, starting with Barrett. I am not a fan of hot potatoing of the belt myself, but the story behind IC title has been solid. The circumstances under which Ziggler lost the title were plausible. It changed hands may be twice more than it should have, but I'll say Ziggler along with Miz, Harper and Barrett, has actually brought some shine to the IC championship.

As far as tag team title goes, Usos did have a solid reign. We should remember that these titles would never have much spotlight, but throughout the last year, we had good to great matches coupled with solid feuds for the tag titles. They were defended regularly, so that was good to see.

The US title has been irrelevant for a long time. If my memory serves me right, the last time people got interested in seeing this title was when Zack Ryder beat Ziggler for the US title, and even that faded away real quick. However, Rusev holding the belt has been the most relevant this title has been in a long time. Here's hoping that he continues the strong showing and defends the title as he has been.

Divas should take offense that Diva's title was not even mentioned because honestly, that title had something good going on earlier this year with Paige and AJ Lee involved in a feud. Yes, it was never going to be THE attraction, but it was still better than what we've had in Diva's division for years.

Finally the WWEWHC. Unlike many people, I don't mind the title not being defended at every PPV. The problem I had was when Lesnar was not around, they barely mentioned the champion and the title. They could've built a story around his absence as well, but oh well. Orton had an OK reign and Bryan was unfortunate, but I believe they had a chance of making it special with Lesnar. Hopefully, the coming months will produce some good action around WWEWHC.

As the Mania season starts, I just hope that other titles don't get lost in the shuffle.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Tag Titles - It's been a reasonable year or two for them... The Brotherhood really worked as do Gold and Stardust and the Usos were only let down by a little bit of "dullness" in their long reign.

US Title - Matt Hardy/MVP was probably the last truely great reigns that title had. It was Hardy's WWE peak as a solo and MVP was also a great hand at the time. Really raised the belt, only for them to destroy it later... Perhaps there is an argument for Bryan but it was rarely anything other than a stepping stone.

IC Title - It's between Cody's run where the White Belt got returned and Drew Mac back in 09 for me. Cody brought some prestige back but it wasn't quite long enough to be a classic reign whereas Drew was given a solid 6 month run designed not just to push him higher but came at the end of a very strong run of guys winning it, Jericho, Rey, Morrison, JBL... The title was pretty prestigious and Drew held it at the same level, so I'd go with him.

Cruiserweight - It never got better than again, Matt Hardy and his gimmick of being over the weight...

World Title - Punk, Punk, Punk... you knew he was the champ, you knew it meant something and you knew it would take something special to end it... Like it or not, the Rock is pretty special.

 

[TheICChampion]

WWE Heavyweight title - Last great reign for me would have to be CM Punk's reign. Ever since then it's just seemed kinda meh for me because it's either been hot potato reigns, or guys who the fans don't want to see as champion anymore. *coughCenaandOrtoncough*

IC title - I was kind of getting excited to see what Ziggler could do as champ when he won the title last year...then played hot potato with the Miz. After he won it back, he loses it to Harper a little while later. After winning it again, he loses it to Barrett a few weeks later. So...I've kind of lost hope for the IC title. My pick for last great reign would have to be Cody Rhodes.

US title - Never really cared for this title much.

Tag titles - Gotta go with the Shield. They were more or less unstoppable, which made their loss to Goldie and Cody that much more special. One of the greatest stories in the tag division. Every other match seems more or less thrown together.

Diva's title - Again, not really all that interested in divas storylines or title matches. AJ vs. Paige was alright, so if I had to pick I'd go with AJ.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

The last great reign was CM Punks long world title reign. It made the belt mean more when Rock won it and then put Cena over. Aside from that I cannot recall the WWE title meaning all that much since Eddie G beat Brock Lesnar.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Whatever animosity is felt toward CM Punk today for the manner in which he left, it's hard to ignore his 400+ day world title reign. Yes, in view of the acrimony that went on between him and WWE management, it seemed a lot of that had to do with the powers-that-be looking to appease him, yet I can't help thinking that all the while Punk ruled, John Cena was out there....and despite the fact he wasn't the champion during that period despite many fans insisting Cena "never" loses and that everything in the company is geared toward him, the fact they'd let a direct opponent of Cena rule the roost for so long a time surely made Punk's reign the last great run.

After that, I'd pick Sheamus' run as U.S. title holder. He was a lot more dominant than people gave him credit for.

Of course, this topic is asking for the "last" great title reign, not the greatest of all time......but if that were a choice, I'd pick Bruno Sammartino's run from 1963-71, which took place in a totally different era of pro wrestling; one in which Bruno had to face the top available contender every month and beat him in front of 19,000 people packed into Madison Square Garden. Judging by the sold-out status of the Felt Forum every 30 days, the fans couldn't get enough of this guy. That's a title reign.

 

[JoeMallard]

The last GREAT championship reign was CM Punk's with the WWE Championship. For 434 days Punk fought every single opponent there was to face. They had to turn him heel eight months into his reign, because he beat every heel there was to fight. For the remaining six month, Punk had beaten every face there was. It had to take one of the biggest stars in WWE history to get the belt off him. If that doesn't say great, I don't know what does!

For the longest time the Diva's Championship meant nothing, until AJ Lee won it. You can't really say her reign was great, because no other diva had the personality or ring skills to compete. Now, since the title has been on Nikki, it hasn't meant anything, because she can't win a match to save her life.

When the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Titles, the titles started to mean something again. The Uso's and the Rhodes brothers have had memorable reigns.

Orton had a good run with the World Heavyweight Championship. Other than that I can't really think of anything else.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

The titles haven't meant anything since the 1990s. When wrestling changed to Jerry Springer with headlocks, the titles just became trinkets.

The last time I felt a title was important was when Bret Hart equalled Hogan's record of five WWF titles in 1997. Love or hate Bret, few represented the title as well as he did.

 

[StevieJ]

I think the Tag Team division is forming at a slow, un-forced and therefore great pace; The Usos are awesome champs, as well as Goldust and Stardust. Nothing for me to be worried about.

United States Title: Rusev is doing a great job as a heel champion, but i'm worried about who is going to take it from him and how well that person is going to do. Hopefully Rusev remains champion for a long time.

I think the last great IC title run was Cody Rhodes. Ziggler could have been great if, like others have pointed out, he wasn't forced to play hot potato.

I think the Diva's division is unraveling slowly, and not in a good way. They are using Total Divas to determine what happens in the Diva's division and it's champion, and the championship scene is not going good.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture has been a joke since CM Punk lost to The Rock. Daniel Bryan's reign would have been good if it lasted.

 

[kadroan]

Orton's last championship reign. Yes, he won the title at Summerslam 2013 with the help of HHH, had Bryan stripped of the title at NoC 2013 and won the title back at HIAC 2013 with the help of HBK. Orton beat Show thanks to The Authority distracting Show. The theme of his title reign, he always needed help to win his matches like Punk in his last few months with The Shield. However, against Cena at TLC, he won all by himself, proving The Authority wrong. But then at Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, he had help from The Wyatt Family which drew him more hate. Orton was so good at his role, fans wanted Bryan to get the title off him by any means and when he finally lost to Bryan at WrestleMania, it made the event special.

 

[WhiplashUnited]

CM Punk easily had the best reign of any title, luckily it was the WWE title.

The IC and US title is just a mid carder title or a strap put on a guy that WWE feels needs more time to be a top star (see Dolph Ziggler).

The tag team titles have almost meant more this last 6 months than the WWE WHT which is a real indictment of the world title. The Usos and Stardust/Goldust feud was entertaining and the Miz and Mizdow brought back some fun in to the division. I wouldn't mind a 3 or 4 team feud for the tag titles now the Ascension has made the major roster and Cesaro and Kidd have formed a team.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The last great reign overall for any title was Daniel Bryan's World Heavyweight Championship reign in summer 2014 following Wrestlemania 30. I loved the moment when he won and enjoyed the feud with Kane that took place afterward. It's the most recent great reign with a championship in WWE for me even though it was shorter than what I typically classify as a great reign. What I'll do now is break it down by each championship looking back on the last great and memorable reign for each for me.


World Heavyweight Championship
The last really good one for me was Daniel Bryan's in 2014 for obvious reasons. Now, if we are going beyond that then it takes me several years back. I cannot call CM Punk's 430+ day reign the last good one because for me it was highly tarnished by his booking, and that is NOT Punk's fault. For the WWE Championship I would have to go as far back as Randy Orton's Age Of Orton reign in 2007-2008. Just about all of the others that followed up until Punk's lengthy reign were not that memorable. That's if we are only talking about the WWE Championship from before the unification though. For the big gold belt before the unification it was John Cena's reign with it in late 2013 because it made that belt finally matter again going into the unification match.

Intercontinental Championship
The last great one here for me was Cody Rhodes' reign in 2011-2012 when he brought back the classic design. Far too many short and/or meaningless unmemorable reigns have taken place since then. This belt should be getting far better exposure and booking. It's truly sad that they did not take the opportunity to change that when the two World Championships got unified, this belt should have inherited the treatment that the big gold World Heavyweight Championship belt was receiving prior to the unification.

United States Championship
As much as I want to say Dean Ambrose's nearly year long reign, I can't due to the booking. I'd have to go as far back as Ziggler's reign back in 2011. No reign after that one stands out having meant anything memorable in a positive way for me. Back then at least it felt like they were trying to make this belt matter.

Tag Team Championship
The Shield's reign was ok, but for me the last great one was Team Hell No's reign with the belts in 2012-2013. With the exception of The Shield, every team after Team Hell No have had reigns that did not stand out at all as great for me. Several reigns were too short, and some never should have held the belt in the first place.

Divas Championship
AJ's reign from 2013-2014 easily. Paige's reigns were not what they could have and should have been, and AJ's other two pale in comparison to her first having ended far too soon. Don't EVEN get me started on Nikki Bella. AJ's first one, on the other hand, was the best in this belt's history. Oddly enough, the belt that gets the most hate around here was the 2nd most recent to have a great reign, losing only to the World Heavyweight Championship in this area as Bryan's last summer was for me the most great reign overall if you include any belt when asking the question.