Were The WWF/WWE Undisputed Champions In A League Of Their Own?

[Mitch Henessey]

Chris Jericho beat Stone Cold Steve Austin back at Vengeance 2001 to become the first ever Undisputed champion. After Jericho's time as champion ended, some of WWE's biggest names ever would go on to hold the Undisputed title. The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, and The Rock all held the title. Brock Lesnar, who was a young phenomenon in the WWF/WWE around this time also had his time as champion. Also,

This is a class of champions we might not ever see again. Undertaker wasn't as banged up as he is now back then, Triple H only had one quad tear, The Rock....well The Rock was THE ROCK, Hulk Hogan's win over Triple H provided plenty of nostalgia, Jericho was still Y2J, and Lesnar was truly "The Next Big Thing". Also, lets take a minute to examine the Undisputed title. This title consisted of two legendary championships merged together, and only the cream of the crop were able to wear this belt around their waist. Will we ever see the WWE and the World Heavyweight Championships merged again? There's a slim chance it could happen some where in the future, but I highly doubt we'll see it again.

Just take a look at WWE's roster now. The only guys who might be capable of carrying the title "Undisputed champion" would be John Cena, Edge, and Randy Orton. Out of those three, you could say Cena is really the only one truly deserving. You have to throw Edge and Orton in their mainly because they are on the list of top guys in WWE now a days.

Back to the WWF/WWE undisputed champions. Not only did some of WWE's most decorated wrestlers hold this title, but the matches weren't too bad either. Hogan VS Triple H might not have been a classic, but Hogan winning the title while riding the "can the old man still pull it off?" storyline was something that could give you goosebumps, and him taking the belt off of Triple H at Backlash 2002 provided one of those great "moments". Brock Lesnar and The Rock also had an amazing match at Summerslam 2002, and let's forget the action packed triple threat match between The Rock, Kurt Angle, and The Undertaker.

What are your thoughts about the Undisputed championship, the champions, and the impact it had on WWF/WWE history?

 

[Ferbian]

I would hardly say that's the case. Considering the fact that this version of the championship was pretty much thrown between each and every one of the top guys during that time. It didn't have the same kind of prestige that the belt have had at other given points in WWE history.

The impact it made was pretty good. Considering it faded out a championship that needed to be faded out, and gave us a new belt. The fact that Chris was the first one to get the championship also gave a decent amount of shock value alongside the impact, because I'm certain everybody expected The Rock or Austin to walk out the first undisputed champion.

But yeah, overall the belt wasn't really anything more than a name and a nice thing to look at, be it two championships or one championship that looked kick ass, it wasn't much more than that.

 

[brighamosity]

I agree wholeheartedly. In a time where you have Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, and Sheamus holding world titles, it just doesn't seem to mean as much. Honestly, I think the intercontinental championship in the 90's had more prestige than the world titles do now.

 

[CJ The Pirate]

It doesn't mean as much? Are you kidding? You can quite easily draw parallels between then and now. Guys like The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan were huge names in Wrestling back in 2002. Despite nearing the end of his era, if not already surpassing it, Hogan was hugely supported and it was a nice thing to give him a final title reign.

So lets compare that to 2010... Lets throw Batista in the mix to contrast with Hogan.

Yes, I know that Batista could only dream of being as successful or as popular as Hogan ever was but in terms of ability and situation, they are very similar. Their matches both relied on a set, five moves of doom thing. It wasn't the most attractive style of wrestling but it got them both to the top. You can also add the fact that both Hogan's Undisputed reign and Batista's 2010 reign was as transitional champions. Both holding it for fewer than six weeks. There is a parallel.

The biggest and hottest guy right now? Randy Orton. Easy. He matches perfectly with The Rock. Do I really need to elaborate? The stalk, The serious, straight faced attitude, the crazy fan support, the history of face/heel/face/heel. It's an easy comparison. Parallel.

How about John Cena. Bit of a Superman, the guy who at the end of all the bad will inevitably become good. Well, back in 2002, Triple H was that man. Who can forget his return in his denim/leather biker gear. Then he wins the Royal Rumble and goes on to beat the newly, really annoying heel Chris Jericho for the title at Wrestlemania. He 'saved us' so to speak. Cena has done that for years. Parallel.

Chris Jericho's win at Vengeance thrust him into the main event for a short time and is still reference today. He's proud of that achievement. That kind of works well with our young Jack Swagger. He won the title and then lost it and kind of didn't instantly benefit from it. He's still there but I don't think anyone expects him to instantly get the title back anytime soon. The entire money in the bank concept kind of mixes with this as we kind of now get all the winners being thrust into the ME scene so guys like Punk and Edge were given that instant thrust upwards. Parallel(s)

And what is Sheamus if not Brock Lesnar? He's crazy hated, he's a monster, he went undefeated for almost a year. (Longer than Lesnar) and he won the WWE championship months after his debut. Parallel.

There is no difference between the two times, the Undisputed title didn't carry any more weight than the WWE championship does now. It was just a name which fit the era at the time, a time where Vince was flaunting the fact that he'd beaten all his rivals. The prestige is exactly the same.