Which X Division Champions Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda Been World Champion?

[Uncle Sam]

TNA made a huge mistake when they made Chris Sabin world champion. Not because Chris Sabin's a bad wrestler (on the contrary) but because now I can say, whenever I want, "How comes they made Chris Sabin world champion and not ___________?"

Your job, good people of the TNA section, is to help me fill in the blank. Throughout history, what X Division Champions would you have liked to have seen given the same opportunity as Austin Aries and Chris Sabin? During which reigns? What haircuts should they have sported?

I'll start with an obvious one and, in a cruel twist, one that actually did end up being world champion - albeit a while after the fact: Samoa Joe.

Joe signed with TNA in June 2005. It actually took him longer to win the X Division title than people might realise - the infamous Unbreakable three-way took place in September and was Joe's first shot at the title. He didn't win the match. Alright, so that's not that long, but it is in X Division terms. As Joe hovered around the X Division title scene, losing the belt on a number of occasions without being pinned, he was hot shit. Before Kurt Angle debuted, Joe looked on track for a proper shot at the world title scene. When Kurt debuted, Joe was given a feud at him, which is arguably an even bigger award, but Joe was never world champion while he was one of the hottest properties in wrestling. To this day, it still strikes me as odd that he's only a one-time world champion.

I've got a list as long as my arm, but I don't want to hog all the good choices - hence why I chose a shit one. You go.

 

[Dirk]

Good thread. I disagree on Sabin, though. Following Aries's "Option C", I think Sabin was plenty good. I think he'll be great in years to come. If TNA doesn't fire him for some MMA guy, that is

I loved everything Aries did as champ. I would say everything he did since then (especially his team with Roose), but that would include the infamous bronco buster incident, so no...

I have high hopes for Kenny King. His feud with RVD was great IMO. I can totally see him filling some of the void left by Van Dam, because the "kicking style" he did entertained me very much. Maybe, six or seven years from now, it'll be Kenny King vs Magnus for the championship.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The one who springs to mind for me would probably have to be Christopher Daniels.

Daniels was someone who was always fun to watch inside the ring but, as a character, I never gave two shits about the guy for the VAST majority of time he was in TNA. Or, I should say since TNA has been on Spike. He didn't really seem to have a character or any real personality that I saw. He was just kind of an average size white guy with a good tan who wore eyeliner. So yeah, he came off as an entertaining in-ring guy with no personality to speak of. As a result, he struck me as someone who belonged exactly where he was: in the mid-card or tag team picture.

However, as part of Bad Influence, Daniels has shown that he has a ton of personality, charisma and genuinely good mic skills. It makes me wonder why they didn't go this route with him years ago because I think he could have been an entertaining TNA WHC. I think it's possible that he still could win the title before too long, though I hope that it's not during a feud with AJ Styles. If he was to have a run, I don't think he'd be a particularly dominant champ, unfortunately. He's 41 years old and he's never really been someone that TNA has gotten behind with a consistent push and build as a top level guy.

 

[Eyebrows]

I'd go with Daniels as well. I always liked the guy and thought he could have had at least a short, token reign. If all the big names hadn't come in and been given a push ahead of him I think he would have had a reign.

I don't think he'll get one now, as entertaining as he is, but under the Fallen Angel gimmick he definitely should have held the belt. He has everything you'd need in a champ, IMO.

 

[Chauncy Talon]

I believe that Chris Sabin was offered that World title because he was on his way out. His last match with the company he torn his ACL. I think TNA was worried that he was going to follow Alex Shelly. I believe that he was offered the World Title when he returned, just Bully, if he would not leave the company.


I have to say Daniel is the only person beside Joe, and Styles, who should have touch the World strap. Daniels in ring work, mic skills and relationship outside of wrestling is amazing. He was in the only 5 star match that TNA had put on.

Remember, your champion should be easy to identify on and off the job. If you can't relate to the character, then why are they carrying the company biggest prizes. Since his recent gimmick of how he's frustrated with the way things are going for him, why not give him the title. It's something for him to brag about later in the line.

#datSTROKElife

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Well, there's been 7 X Division Champs who have also won the World Championship: Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Abyss.

Of the rest, there are 5 guys that immediately come to mind.

1. Petey Williams- I've always liked Petey and although he is small, he has a lot of charisma and can pull off some crazy moves. I feel that TNA shouldn't have ever fired him, because he could've become a big star if they invested enough time in him.

2. Christopher Daniels- He's one of TNA's solid veterans, but he never screamed "big star" to me. Still, if Sabin could get a 3-week reign, I think Daniels deserves it more.

3. Jay Lethal- Jay was on fire during his feud with Flair. It seemed like he was going to become one of TNA's biggest stars, but they really dropped the ball with him. Jay is one of TNA's biggest fumbles.

4. Brian Kendrick- The Brian Kendrick was gold on Smackdown and I was pulling for him to become champion when he was in that Scramble match. I really like his charisma, plus he does a kick-ass Sliced Bread #2. He's got the looks, the moveset and the personality to be champion.

5. Alex Shelley- He was always booked as the star of the MCMG. I definitely believe that if he was still with TNA, he would have been in Sabin's spot.

Other than these 5, there are other guys I think could be champion, but were never really developed enough on TV. Eric Young is one who had a great character during his "Global Champion" gimmick. He could have gone on to the main event easily, but they instead decided to turn him back into the American Santino. Sonny Siaki, Johnny Devine, Zema Ion, Michael Shane and Daivari were also good talents, but never taken seriously enough to be main eventers.

Low Ki and Amazing Red were way too small, but if they played their cards right, TNA could have had their own Rey Mysterio. Instead, they used Red's popularity to push Crimson. Bummer.

Homicide and Jerry Lynn were both over huge in ROH, but it never really translated as well to TNA. And I never really liked Kid Kash or X-Pac that much. I don't see a champion in either of them. Kazarian is another guy I never really got behind. He's good in his current role, but not as the face of the company.


Manik, Robbie E and Kenny King still have a lot to show us, but I definitely think Kenny could be TNA's biggest African-American star if they use invest time in developing his character.

The only guy left is Doug Williams. I freaking loved Doug, and I would skyrocket him to the top of the list if it wasn't for his little exposure on TV. Just like Lethal, TNA really dropped the ball with him. Had they given him more main event feuds, he could have gotten really over. He had the talent, the mic skills, the ring skills, and the smug British foreigner attitude that would have gotten him over as a top heel. I could have seen him carry TNA for years, but TNA underestimated him.

 

[Limitless]

Christopher Daniels gets my vote, but only just recently did I care about his persona. I didn't see much in Daniels besides being a X-division guy or a fill in for a AJ Styles or Samoa Joe Feud. I mean he seems to lose a lot of matches to great performers and never gets any real recognition for his in ring work.

Now that he is part of Bad Influence he is just awesome... him and Kaz just work well together. Daniels was the only one out of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe to not hold the World Title after there Awesome Triple Threat at unbreakable... and it's because he always takes a back seat. I would let Daniels win the X-Division title and cash in option C and let him win the World Title before he retires. The man deserves it, he works hard and has been with TNA for a while.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Out of all the former X Division Champions, the one who deserved more than any of them to have gotten a TNA World Championship reign was Christopher Daniels. He has the talent both in the ring and on the mic. His matches are rarely not entertaining, they are often among the better matches of the night. Daniels would have been a great choice for TNA World Champion and I still hope he can make it there some day. Other former X Division Champions such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, and Chris Sabin have all gone on to win the TNA World Championship. If all of them deserved it, then why not Christopher Daniels?

Daniels deserves it far more than some of the other former X Division Champions. Taking a look at some of those names on the list of former X Division Champions (excluding those who went on to win the TNA World Championship) such as Amazing Red, Jay Lethal, Zema Ion, Kenny King, and even Kazarian; I'd argue that Daniels deserves a world title reign before any of them do. Out of all the former X Division Champions that have NOT been TNA World Champion, Daniels is the one who should get a run with the belt next. He should have gotten a chance long ago.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

It's Christopher Daniels by miles. Hundreds of miles, in fact. The people talking about his lack of personality, or anything close to it, I'd seriously question the attention span of during TNA's formative years, because even when he was feuding with Sting and answering to a "higher power" (talking to God), he was killing it.

I get that it took Bad Influence for people to really latch onto his persona, but Daniels is a guy that not only never should have been fired, but a guy the company should have recognized a deep talent pool in back in 2006 when he was proving it on a weekly basis.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I get that it's AJ Styles' time right now, and believe me, I want him to topple Bully Ray and dismantle Aces & Eights once and for all come Bound For Glory, but as they've already proven in the past (please, spare me the "this again!?" nonsense), Daniels and Styles can put on a helluva show. Based on both their ages, I'd love for one of Styles' first defensive runs to be against him.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I would say Christopher Daniels deserves it most and that would definitely have been cool with his Fallen Angel gimmick but the one I would most want to see was Petey Williams. I'd pick Petey from when he was doing his Little Petey Pump thing and if I'm not mistaken he won the Word title briefcase during their Thanksgiving Turkey briefcase match but he ended up trading Scott Steiner for it or something along those lines. I would have loved to see him hold on to that briefcase and then win the world title he could have been the Austin Aries before Austin Aries.

 

[mlp420]

Pretty much everyone who was anybody in the X Divisions been world champ. The only person that I can think of besides obviously Daniels would be Manik which seems likely to happen eventually.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Pretty much everyone who was anybody in the X Divisions been world champ. The only person that I can think of besides obviously Daniels would be Manik which seems likely to happen eventually.

I think there are more notable exceptions other than Christopher Daniels, and I'm horrified to think that Manik qualifies as an "anybody."

Second on my list - to, obviously, Christopher Daniels - would be Senshi. It's not difficult to analyse why I like Senshi - he does flips, he does kicks, he does flip-kicks and he looks cool. I mean, it's not exactly as if The Ultimate Warrior appealed to the opera critic in all of us, is it? Various indies, out of necessity considering they don't have any other 'name' talent, have sold Senshi (or Low Ki or Kaval or whatever) as straight-up dangerous, and it's always seemed pretty awesome to me. An exciting martial arts experts that kicks people's heads in. Give that man a world title.

 

[Alex]

I know I'm a mark for the guy but Alex Shelley

The guy is a lot like Austin Aries except taller. He can talk, has great matches and connects with the crowd. I mean I know his X-Division reign was a bit shit but the guy has all the tools capable of being a world champ. There's a reason he's tearing up Japan and having matches with the IWGP Junior Champion

 

[Chauncy Talon]

Well, there's been 7 X Division Champs who have also won the World Championship: Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Abyss

.


Let's look at this list. 4 out of 7 wrestlers benefited with the X Division title as the stepping stone for the World Title. Kurt won the strap as unification. Rob Van Dam went from World Champion to X Division Champion. I think they want to bring Hardcore with Abyss. I think the debate is, "who should have been World champion after winning the X Division championship."