Who Do You Respect More As Champion?

[nightmare]

I have been thinking lately about who is more valid\credible of a champion in the eyes of wrestling fans. If a guy wins 16 titles and started his career in the WWE system, does that make him less worthy than a guy who started in the "territory" system?

Cena will beat Flairs' record. Bet on it. He is Hulkamania reborn. Vince knows it. But does that mean he dosent deserve it?

With the landscape of wrestling being firmly dominated by WWE, territories havent made a large scale impact in a while. Few have broken through to gain attention from main stream fans. It is vastly different from the days from when a guy became popular by kicking ass all over the country. WWE has made some great wrestlers in the past few years- Sheamus, Ziggler, Morrison, Miz, etc. Because they are WWE products, do they deserve less respect\credit than if they started in ROH or a smaller fed?

Guys like AJ, Joe, The Briscoes, Alex Shelley, Daniels and others will most likely never be champs in WWE. Should that make them less deserving of being recognized for their careers? Does it make them less respected than a pure WWE guy?

Thoughts?

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

It's a good topic nightmare and an issue where the older and the newer wrestling fans generally collide on. The older fans claim that the title meant much more back then and performing in all the various territories meant that champions had more work and that was what true champions did. Younger fans can claim that due to the fact that there were so many territories there were more opportunities which is not available today. The WWE title and the World Heavyweight Titles are more or less considered the only legit championships in the business even though the TNA Championship is considered to be equally important by the PWI. Few people buy it as that though. So I guess fans can claim that it is more of a survival of the fittest in these days.

I'd say that I respect both men but I would respect the guy from the older generation more. The thing is, that the wrestling business has become more professional these days. While the limelight on the wrestlers has increased quite a bit, so has the team of people working behind a modern wrestler. It is difficult to prove your worth initially but once you have done that, you rise to the top can be easier with a lot of people looking out for you, advising you on how you should behave in public, whether you should take this drug or not and basically on everything that you do.

I just believe that it was easier to self destruct yourself in those days. If you look at it, there are more examples of guys who could have made it big but failed to do so because of personal issues, before 2000 as compared to after it. You had fewer people looking after you, drugs and steroids were more rampant and so on.

As far as the current generation goes, yes to an extent the Samoa Joe's and the AJ Styles' would be slighted in comparison to a Cena due to them winning titles in inferior federations. But that is what the business has become all about. Winning a WWE contract has become a much much bigger prize than winning the ROH title. People know that no one would refuse the WWE if they are given a chance. As soon as a wrestler starts storming up the indy scene people wonder when he is going to go to the WWE. So, in such a scenario the guys who win titles in smaller feds are bound to be slighted.

 

[nightmare]

It has become the standard, if you will, to become a WWE superstar. That is true. Vince has built something few ever dreamed wrestling could have become. With that has come more title runs for guys that drive the machine, like Cena. The length of a title reign has became shorter through the years, starting the debate on credible champs. Regardless of length, having the strap means something still. No one will ever say Cena is a better submission\technician than Bret Hart in the ring, but does that diminish the fact Cena has held the belt more times?

At the end of the day, wrestling is about $. Sure Bret could put on a clinic in his day, no doubt. Cena busts his ass and brings out the fans in droves. Its not about who can apply the moves the best, its about who brings in the cash. Its not the same business anymore.

I have huge respect for guys in the past who made their name without WWE. If this was MMA, the better man would always win. But this is wrestling and those that draw the dollar will come out on top. Could Daniel Bryan actually destroy Cena in a match? Probably. Does it mean he deserves to be champ more times than Cena? Most likely not. If it were up to a handful of 'smart' fans, Christian and guys like Ryder would be champs forever.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There's a difference between respecting a wrestler and actually liking a wrestler as a fan. I'm not a huge fan of John Cena and never really have been. I like the guy ok and I think he can be great when he's in an intense and serious frame of mind on the mic. But I do respect John Cena because he's worked hard to get where he is. There's still a line of thought that you have to be a big muscular guy before you'll get the nod from Vince. It's a line of though that's lost a ton of strength over the past few years especially but it's still out there. Cena makes money, Cena pulls in fans, Cena gets people interested & keeps them interested in what he's involved in. At the end of the day, that's what matters most to a promoter. Some old school promoters didn't agree with that, however, like Verne Gagne & Fritz Von Erich and look what happened to their companies.

A lot of fans like to throw about "deserve" a lot when it comes to who gets a title run and who doesn't. It's not about deserving, it's about delivering. If you're not able to deliver, then you shouldn't be World Champion. It doesn't matter how incredible your build is, how athletic you are, how many amateur championships you won, how many years you trained or worked in Japan, or how flashy your moves are if the fans don't connect with you. If you can't make fans care, then you shouldn't be a World Champioin. It's just that simple.

I understand being frustrated with seeing the same names in the title picture. I truly and honestly do. Sometimes, it does get downright annoying. At the same time, however, that's how business works. If John Cena passes Ric Flair's 16 World Championship victories at some point, will he "deserve" it? As long as Cena continues to be involved in big matches, interesting feuds and can keep people tuned into what he's doing whether they're generally behind him or not then the answer is yes. If Cena can continue to deliver, then that's ultimately what matters.

 

[GrandSword]

The thing with the territories is that all the different bosses/bookers/promoters had to all agree on the champion.

Vince wakes up one day and says well Bret Hart/Triple H/John Cena is like a son to me, he's my champion.. then that's it. Has that guy earned it?

Ric Flair wrestled on average 30 mins matches every night of the week against countless opponents for years. Today's social media /internet/fast food society made Sheamus WWE Champion in under a month of being on Raw...

Is one better than the other? It's a different world, I'm an old school kind of guy and paying dues is a big part of the industry that's been lost. Then of course you add things in like the money in the bank where you can become champion after pinning an exhausted man, the WWE/WHC titles have lost much of their prestige.

Personally I think HHH'S/Edge's/Cena's World titles aren't worth half of what someone like Race, Sting, Flair or Hogan's reigns are.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The federation that a wrestler is working for during his career should not really affect the amount of respect he gets, but unfortunately TNA and ROH are both much less known than WWE. A wrestler who has been with WWE his whole career is more likely to have a larger fanbase or more overall respect than a TNA wrestler. It sucks but that is how it is. I personally do not rate WWE guys as better unless they legitimately are better on the mic or in the ring because skill is how respect should be measured not the fame of the organization. The TNA and ROH guys deserve just as much respect as the WWE guys.