Wagging the Wednesday Night Wars and the Real Heavyweight Championship

War! What Is It Good For? Ratings?

I am a wrestling fan, so this will turn into a wrestling blog, but I have an observation outside of the business. Is Donald Trump shuffling troops and abandoning the Kurds away to distract from the impeachment inquiry? He is going to get impeached, but if we are suppose to further invest our hopes and prayers towards our troops who are getting stationed in Saudi Arabia to attack Iran, Americans will have more patriotic things to worry about. And should we not respect the president for his "victory" over ISIS?

My subheading was the first title that I came up with for the blog. In it was two question. After the last paragraph, it turns out that that war just results in more questions. Why my original title suggest ratings is not about Wednesday Night Wars, it was that people will tune in for war. This at least tells us that Trump is an expert in reality TV. He will get people to pay attention to what he wants us to, even if that puts thousands at risk.

Now I further appreciate my preference to being a cord cutter. It keeps me away from most live broadcasts. And I know Hulu will not inspire me to change the channel when Fox News/Fox Nation try to sell their message on the NFL or Smackdown.

Then again, how am I going to watch All Elite Wrestling? If you are not watching live, how are you helping AEW's side? Maybe Comcast will make it easier once they get back to me about our dispute over DM's (or lack of DM's) about why I still have a shitty modem, why they did not follow up with me as promised, and why I must repeat information the I provided in the DM's to @comcastcares multiple times?

The FCC promised me they would. Too bad we must return to phone calls to do so. My next day off is Columbus Day, so wish me luck in returning their call.

If we cannot work something out, knowing my luck, the feds will read my anti-Trump and anti-Trump supporters blogs and tell Comcast they did their best. Best not to piss off Google then. If my assistant is ease dropping, GITMO may be in my future.

You would think I ought to be more afraid of my girlfriend's Alexa, but she uses it primarily for Christian radio, so it would need to navigate the orders to get me in trouble. The most extreme thing I ever asked it was, "Alexa. Play Ministry." There is a chance that might confuse it as well.

It surprised me that I would have anything to blog about this week. I have been busy enough with my downtime trying to preserve my seventh anime-related website that I have not drafted another NFL fantasy team, forgot to draft a replacement tight end for one of them, or read any comic books. My Saturday shift might be dedicated to binging "Peaky Blinders". Which reminds me, my better half and I best start "Fleabag" tonight.

With nine anime reviews sitting in my drafts a long with eight other blogs to be released, I was fearing that I would lose track of wrestling blogs to move over to my site dedicated to the nuances of "No Holds Barred" and THE REAL heavyweight championship of wrestling. Then I realized that my back-and-forth structure for "Rip 'em System" posts was going to be a blog short. If only there was a title change that demanded debate to determine who the Real Heavyweight Champion was?

2019's Disgruntled Wrestling Fan's Real Heavyweight Championship Title History

The 85th Real World Heavyweight Champion:

IWGP's Kenny Omega (January 1 to January 4)

(To see how we got there, check out "A Wrestling Weekend Past and All the Corrections").

Pretender(s): NWA's Nick Aldis; ROH's Jay Lethal/Matt Taven

Since Matt Taven was claiming to be the Real ROH World Heavyweight Champion, it would not be fair to Flair (1991 throwback) to discount him as being in contention.

The 86th Real World Heavyweight Champion:

WWE World Heavyweight Champion: The New Daniel Bryan (January 4 to April  7; 4th reign)

Pretender(s): IWGP's Kazuchika Okada; ROH's Matt Taven

Okada was the first IWGP champion to hold the Real Championship, but because Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jay White failed to defend the championship after Kenny Omega lost it, conventional wisdom dictates that a true champion is one who can defend their title.

The 87th Real World Heavyweight Champion:

WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Kofi Kingston (April 7 to October 4)

He has never got to wrestle the style of matches that the five prior champions have, but he has been able to stay with the same company for eleven years and be the best performer at times during it. He may be too good to ever allow to face the likes of Okada or Omega

The Current (Oct 11) and 88th Real World Champion:

AEW's Chris Jericho (October 4 to at least October 16 [Darby Allin's challenge], 2nd reign)

Pretender(s): WWE's Brock Lesnar, NXT's Adam Cole, ROH's Rush

I know this comes across as an AEW mark's opinion, but the Ring of Honor's roster is not what it was when any of the former Real Champions who represented the title had to contend with. With AEW taking most of the Being the Elite cast, the gaijin element in NJPW went with it (At least in terms of those who identify as North American. Chase Owens is an honorary Tongan). Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship victory has only added to the disgruntled's need for another championship option. The Universal Championship ruining Bray Wyatt's Fiend does not make that an option.

Chris Jericho had to defeat Kenny Omega to be in contention for the title. Pac's one pinfall loss and a victory over Omega shows how stacked the AEW roster is. The challenger that all eyes are focused on, Cody, is a former Real World Champ. And speaking of eyes, not since World Championship Wrestling did another World Championship have so many looking at it. 

The AEW World Heavyweight Championship cannot help but be the top title despite such little history behind it. It could be argued since the WWWF title was in primarily contested in the country's most influential city, it was reasonable to say it was the only other important American version of the world heavyweight championship. When Chris Jericho is the first champion, all seems right with the wrestling business. The Invasion was over by that point.

Eva saying, "This is my hand. There are many others like it but this one is mine." (at Champaign, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4i3h3zpvMv/?igshid=1f0yfk718dnf6

CM Trump and NXT's Developmental Talent

What would the Monday Night Wars have been if there was accessible social media? My go to website was Bill Apter's 1wrestling.com, which was maintained by the same crew who handled Extreme Championship Wrestling's web presence. The reason I found that was because of ECW, so as far as I could tell, straight from the promoters' mouth was the only way to obtain any news. This kept the war limited to TV, so unless a wrestler came on to a Canadian sports program, it was relatively drama free. Neither of the three sides seemed to make it personal.

Social media has definitely changed that perception. On one front, these are allegedly independent contractors. Thus, everyone has got to make a name for themselves. The only way to sell yourself is to display that you are the best regardless if you believe it. So it started with Seth Rollins claiming that bank account trumps the admiration of experts, the industry, and compassionate wrestling fans.

This was a poor decision since no one was out to take food from his table. The IWC was only inspired to see people stealing bread from decadents. They were not going hungry thanks to The Elite, but they felt like the rich kid was out for their lunch money. I realized the Black Days were over.

The trolls wanted to be fed and CM Punk has better things to do...

Like paying Colt Cabana's legal fees. The courts may not agree with me, but it is what a well off person should do for someone who can see everything go to shit in an instance. Sorry if I am under estimating Cabana's worth. My experience is you can keep pressing on and only be a credit score. The only problem I am having with that is a lack of resources to get a Matt Classic tattoo to offset my Punk montage. But more importantly, the courts allow for the rape culture in this country, so just settle out of court.

All Elite Wrestling are more than happy to fulfill the demand. For the most parts, these guys know how to cut promos, unlike a babyface Rollins. Dominik Dijakovic needs to develop that. Hence why he is NXT, WWE's developmental brand. In a way, his Twitter response to Kenny Omega's interview saying that NXT talent would be doing dark matches or opening the Dynamite is a fairly valid opinion.

I have seen Donovan Dijak live and know that he is uber talented. The issue is that an indie promotion like AAW, there is no time for promos. Your actions are your words. And this is the same when it comes to a Ring of Honor TV taping. If you have a great match, you will be talked about. Since it is difficult to know when and where to watch ROH (before Fite TV), that was enough to make sure the world knew who you were. But...

The televised product does not tell the world who you are. NJPW answered that with the press conference-style post match interviews. With Fox wanting a sports-based product, maybe they should have moved NXT to Friday to go and give hot indie talent under that roster the developmental answers. Once Dynamite debuts, to probably a big number than NXT, Triple H will do the wise thing and mimic the AEW format to hide the underdeveloped weaknesses.

It is too early for anyone to start calling something AEW lite, and there are definitely marks who will buy the WWE narrative. I doubt "WWE 2K20 "sales will decrease due to a protest of them highlighting their "Women's Revolution." Since I am a wrestling fan who feels another narrative needs to be out there, here are the NXT performers who should be satisfied with being in Tony Khan's "handshake and a hot dog" matches.

NXT's Developmental Talent

Aliyah
Arturo Ruas
Boa
Bronson Reed
Cezar Bonomi
Damian Priest
Dexter Lumis
Dominik Dijakovic
Forgotten Sons
Humberto Carillo
Joaquin Wilde
Kona Reeves
Mansoor
Raul Mendoza
Riddick Moss
Street Profits
Taynara Conti
Tino Sabbatelli
Vanessa Borne
Xia Li

When I look at this list, a lot of the talent need gimmicks or angles to make them ready for WWE TV. Much of the talents had never been established themselves as winners on the WWE Network, so an a good angle could make them ready, especially in the women's division. Kona Reeves will not be AEW ready since they have MJF and the Street Profits are not as talented as Private Party. As for the Forgotten Sons and Moss and Sabbatelli, they just look live Vince McMahon hires, so there is no place for them outside WWE.

After doing the math, NXT's roster is still comprised of more ready for TV talent than not. Neither side in the war will be booking NJPW style, so NXT has enough depth. The advantage AEW has though is they are not relying on soon-to-be ready for TV talent. If you are on Dynamite, you are a star. WWE has a lot of guys and girls who need pushed to eventually fill in, but with only so much time, 15 of those listed may only be sitting out contracts that will leave them without a name.

This leads me to think that the age of developmental territories has passed. Sorry Kenny Omega had to remind us of the not ready for prime time players to make me realize that.

CSCHL Hockey: where the refs are also amateurs. Let them skate. @illini_d2_hockey  (at University of Illinois Ice Arena) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4YjttbJZ7-/?igshid=1m46ir4bsxs7r

4/22/13: What to do without Punk on a Monday? Feminism and Bad Wrestling

I suppose, I should actually turn to listening to the Riot Girl genre instead of waiting for the return of the CM Punk.  If only I was not listening to Bratmobile iHeartRadio at work.

My god, I did not mean for that to be a sensible transition to the why a lack of CM Punk makes Monday Night Raw nearly worthless (as a Danny Daniels student, I will still believe in the Shield, they still need more promos to keep my attention).  History lesson, Bratmobile would be the little sisters of Bikini Kill in terms of the Riot Girl (as a guy who preaches spelling Stevens with a V, I cannot bring myself to spell it Grrl). Riot Girl was a punk rock movement of the early 1990's that was about everything women need to be to fight the masculine authority through preaching the "do it yourself" philosophy to get the message across.  The music was pretty raw for the most part and overshadowed by other all girl bands like Hole (yeah I know there was a guy in the band, but trying telling Courtney Love he was not her bitch with a six string) and L7.

With the exception of Courtney Love, Peoria's premier bullshit rock station (you cannot really say any of them are not bullshit since Bloody Mess left for Oregon) 105.7 the X would lead you to believe that the other pissed off chicks were Alanis Morrsette (only her American breakout track) and Shirley Manson (ironic, but angry?).  Of course history does not sell in the Midwest.  Thus, I can claim Peoria radio encourages socialism because that is an example of a lack of compassionate capitalism.  Then again, as of 1995, we still had rascist history teachers in Morton (it is not okay to instruct white students to call Native American an American Indian, and since the cry baby conservatives calling for secession after Romney lost, the Civil War was about ending slavery not keeping the country together), so the RadioPlex is just doing their part to keep the redneck status quo.

The real pissed off women were going to make you listen and feel uncomfortable until you understood them.  Too bad it worked in 1992, at least in places in this country that count.  The movement stayed underground after the first Bush was defeated, thus Roe v. Wade was going to be safe for at least eight years.  Activist tried to bring the themes back for the W era, but I feel women were not concerned with it since there was terrorism.  On the bright side, Bin Laden did keep the country's mind off of wanting to burden this country with unwanted children.

The downside is women seem to be adjusting their beliefs and fears to the conservative agenda.   Guns will not save women from being raped.  Forcing society to call bullshit on it will.  Unfortunately, most guys will not take the time out of their day to do so.  Most guys are not raping, so why step on the roofie market (especially when we need a reason for Helms, Cooper, and Galifianakis to destroy "culturally corrupt" cities).

So that was all pretty long winded, but at least I got pissed about something.  I just do not see myself being worth much without my anger.  It may result in my clinical depression and being unlovable, but I think if I try to fuel it by watching Fox News, I would probably be consumed it.  This blog feels like a winner now that I have a theory of how Rupert Murdoch is the dark lord of the Sith (Hannity, O'Reilly, and Smith are just apprentices).

Discussing evil empires, I can easily just start talking about what pisses me off about the WWE and why none of should watch it of The Shield is not headlining.  It is not the recent burying of Antonio Cesaro and CM Punk (sorry, losing to a part-timer twice and the easiest to predict match of the year is not a long-term plan to put butts every 18 inches).  It is that without CM Punk, it is just the same sexist company that I tried to boycott when Vince McMahon had Michael Cole bury the division to promote Cole v. Lawler by preaching how their matches were not important.  And then there is Snooki getting Melina canned, Nattie Neidhart being placed in a joke valet role instead of being the constant number one contender with the departure of Beth Phoenix, AJ Lee and the Bellas focusing on the unusual appearances of the top female athletes (Kaitlyn and Amazing Kong), etc.

If you are going to have women wrestling, you have to treat it like it is worthwhile.  Mark Madden is right...to an extent...women's wrestling doesn't sell.  I think it will not sell when you are having it as part as of the top male shows.  If you use the top male shows to promote the women, then you are not stepping on any toes.  Just look at what Shimmer does with AAW (Danny really needs to give me another in in Chicago for how much I'm putting him over).  You tell them, that there is wrestling tomorrow when you are running today, you've guaranteed a sell out.  Provided you give them great wrestling.

Maybe things will change when the WWE Network finally comes (hell, New York, I have given you an equation), but that is a maybe.  If we want to make sure that women get treated well now, we gotta quit watching the first two hours of Monday night wrestling.  Money is the reason anything will change in this country.

If I only I created memes to share to get the message about.  My love of words will be my downfall.

kelogsloops.tumblr.com

The Elite Disgruntled’s Real World Heavyweight Championship Title History

How have I been since I finished my intense post (two/three days have passed in that time)? It is almost like I need to put out spoilers. Am I NXT, ROH, NJPW on Axs? Or am I Impact?

Acknowledging my trauma from sexual assault in regards to the wrestling business was therapeutic. I will have probably given the post at least one more proofread, more time to work through it, relive it, regret it. At least the expectations are known…except for  a significant loss of @maineventzombie Twitter followers (80 to 75, guess I am as insincere as those saying my anti-Southern Pride blog claim). As long as Kavanaugh has not made any decisions between now and then, my outlook should not be any more dire.

With that thought, placing our cats in suspended animation when we are not at home to extend their lives should be a technology to explore and to patent. We can use my girlfriend’s cat, a cooler and some dry ice to start. Then there will be no more need to inquire my readers about helping me out in finding a way to promote my B-movie pro-wrestling zomcom, Main Event of the Dead, I would be happy to send you a treatment if you e-mail me at russthebus07@gmail.com.

Placing a plug there reminds me that Redbox may need my film. “Black Water” with Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren amused me, but was 15 minutes too long to warrant any more coverage a submarine B-movie that was filmed on one sound stage deserves. Sound stage may be too generous. It may have been whatever floor in an office building the production company claims to be their’s.

With “Main Event of the Dead,” there are no illusions that there will not be a variety of sets. Trying to convince us that the same control room desk is on opposite sides of the sub will not be an issue. But, with the next rewrite, maybe we could set it in a submarine instead of Don’s in Donahue or The Eagles Club in Berwyn.

“Black Water” shows me that finding the perfect length for a project is important, so since this is the end of my “Disgruntled’s Real World Champion” blog, I worked on a summary of the past four entries’ lists to fill up any empty space. Hopefully, my last ditch effort for discussion, will not be like that film.

2014 to Now:

77th World Heavyweight Champion - WWE’s Randy Orton (1) - 12/15/13 to 4/6/2014

Since this is Orton’s second to last reign as WWE/World Champion, I almost got away with keeping him out of the Real World Champion narrative. Adam Cole had won a tournament to claim the vacant ROH title, but that was just the start of him breaking out on a national level. This is the closest we have been to one champion since Chris Jericho, so I cannot deny who The Ringer’s Dave Shoemaker calls, “The measuring stick for a WWE superstar,” his place in history.

78th World Heavyweight Champion - WWE’s Daniel Bryan (3) - 4/6/14 to 6/9/14

If I think back to 2015, I am sure Bryan had said he was the unbeaten champion upon his return, but if you are that, you need to pull the Shawn Michaels’s Intercontinental Championship gimmick and bring your belts with you. Ironically, he would be relegated via ladder match to the IC title upon his brief return.

79th World Heavyweight Champion - ROH’s Adam Cole - 6/9/14 to 6/22/14

The WWE spent 20 days vacant, and there was only one champion available. I know Total Nonstop Action has been excluded, but can you sell me on Eric Young over Adam Cole Bay Bay?

80th World Heavyweight Champion - ROH’s Michael Elgin - 6/22/14 to 9/6/14

Bobby Lashley might be the better person, but Big Mike is the better all around worker.

For TNA/Impact Marks:

Sorry Dixie. Let it be known, when I originally started working on the list, I was doing my best to take the TNA World Championship into consideration. But, when it was WWE light, their former WWE talent that captured their highest title was reminiscent of Verne Gagne and Vince McMahon Sr. trying to prove the NWA wrong. This also left the WWE presence constantly overshadowing their “home grown” talent. I think AJ Styles was not a fully formed wrestler until he walked away from the company.

Having been involved with the business, the more places to make money the better should be my mindset. But TNA/Impact feels like a drag on the business since they never seem to do anything right. It just drives me nuts to hear people say, “they’re really getting better,” and then how they shot themselves in the foot. If I wanted trying to get better, I will drive to towns 30 minutes outside of a metropolitan area to catch a no budget, $20 talent indie instead of adding $15 a month on my cable bill. To see that stuff with a large budget bothers me, so Impact bothers me.

81st World Heavyweight Champion - WWE’s Brock Lesnar (4) - 9/6/14 to 3/29/2015

You cannot put a chicken farmer, a Briscoe, up against a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion.

82nd World Heavyweight Champion - WWE’s Seth Rollins (2) - 3/29/15 to 11/4/15

If you are going to cash in Money in the Bank, do it at the one place where no one can deny your cunning.

83rd World Heavyweight Champion - ROH’s Jay Lethal - 11/4/15 to 8/19/2016

Jay Lethal was defending two titles at this time and managed to hold ROH’s most prestigious title over a year. Roman Reigns’s first three title reigns all occurred during this time frame.

84th World Heavyweight Champion - New Japan’s Kazuchika Okada - 8/19/16 - 6/9/2018

The title reign was nearly two years. During this reign, the champion defended against the ROH Champion Cody on national TV in the United States. The Universal Title has had only one interesting title reign (Kevin Owens), and it could be said that Okada may have ran AJ Styles back to the United States. Kenny Omega may have helped with that as well.

Current World Heavyweight Champion - New Japan’s Kenny Omega.

#MeToo and the Disgruntled’s Real World Champ Part 4

Simon's Cat

Damn, it has been a tough week. Joe Madden may have over thought the Cubs last two games. “Venom” is a so bad it is good movie which leads me to fear the fate of the Sony franchises. I seem to be getting ahead of my blogs by one week, hence I may be working too much.

And then you have the all but certain demise of the country with the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation. How do you tell a happily married man who takes you to sporting event and respects his Nike-boycotting wife that there is no way I want to stand for a flag that represents a dead country. But I respect the man, so I should not embarrass him despite his wife has said that we cannot fault powerful men for abusing their power, unless they were communist revolutionaries.

I never got away with anything growing up. Being too honest has plagued me. Striving for decency deters me from a negative path. The point is, if I screwed up, I paid, and have always paid. If we have learned anything from the Me Too Movement, is that everybody should answer for their indiscretions. It is not vengeance, it is a means to encourage protecting those whose safety is the target of those in power.

Thus, I am pondering if I should make this rant relevant to the current theme of the blog by exploring the incidents of sexual assault and harassment that I have experienced from my time in professional wrestling. You could call it hazing bullshit, but the fact of the matter is if I broke these guys faces, I risked never being booked again by that promotion. What really hurts is that the promotion never used me again. To their credit, I was booked and wisely ended up being a healthy scratch on my last trip to Southern Wisconsin for a last minute appearance by Silas Young, so at least the promotion remembered me.

It was 14 years ago. I was victimized. You cannot hold it against me if I was bumped from the card for someone less prestigious that The Last Real Man in Professional Wrestling (do not hold the gimmick against him). The culprits and facilitators are remembered, especially those who boasted about it. The stories were something I laughed off with the guys in the business like it was just a permanent marker stunt on my face, but when normal people ask for crazy and obscene stories from the business, you realize that the ones that come to immediate mind demonstrate behavior that is not acceptable. You realize that you were abused and you feel you can only blame yourself since you still want to be a part of the business. You cannot blame the sport.

But, these guys (for the most part) are friends and a couple of them have kids. There is a slim chance their life could be ruined since I am already wrestling’s persona non grata south of I-80. Why be afraid of going national? Should I wait till I hear about their next job opportunity? I have not killed their present, but why do I feel like I have paid for their constant happiness I have perceived?

I suppose I should just be happy not having post traumatic stress in regards to this issue, or am I just now showing that I suffer from these stunts? Time does not heel all wounds. If this would have been realized when I was in therapy in regards to abusive relationships and and failing to prevent a gas station suicide, perhaps the Supreme Court fulfilling the wills of sex offenders for the next 20 years would not leave me considering snuffing myself (I really needed a better therapist, so probably not).

Hopefully, Ronan Farrow gets wind of this blog and helps me decide if I will name names. Provided that we get over the mess of me being a Woody Allen apologist of course. Time wears away, it does not heal. So I guess the moral is not to wound in the first place.

With that said, I would like to apologize to “Lauren” at Big Al’s in Peoria (2015) if I was too handsy to begin with. It was me testing boundaries, and regardless if I stopped when told, I did wrong to begin with.

I gotta at least answer for my indiscretions, before I get this blog back on track. If only I could hold off on the posting till WWE’s Evolution for the sake of cultural relevance. But, releasing this a week later may be too much time from when I wrote this.

Anyhow this blog has all the stuff marks want in bold, so the intro and transition do not matter to anyone besides me I suppose. More reason to try and be brave about abuse and the regret that people may have givien a shit about me if my struggles were more relatable than just being in my head.

Pardon the dark tone. It makes me hope a lot of the visitors just paged down to The Disgruntled’s Real World Champion content.

66th Real World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champion John Cena (2) - 5/11/2001 to 7/17/11

Edge had forfeited the Big Gold Belt due to a career-ending injury. Christian and Randy Orton’s battle for that belt was full of stipulations and swaps to please the fans who thought it was ridiculous for Christian to only have a two-day reign after succeeding the man he broke in to the business with.

Davey Richards aloofness toward Ring of Honor and wrestling in general always left a bad taste in mouth, and until Kevin Steen came into the title picture, his challengers, like him, lacked personality to match their in ring talent. If you thing that in ring ability trumps personality, then you would be ignoring the wrestler of the summer.

67th World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champ CM Punk (1) - 7/17/11 to 8/14/11

68th World Heavyweight Champion - NWA’s Adam Pearce - 8/14/11 to 4/8/2012

Before “All In” there was “Seven Levels of Hate,” the story of two wrestlers (Pearce and Colt Cabana) wanting to do right by the business. That has never been WWE’s prerogative. Fearing a drop in ratings, WWE had Alberto Del Rio cash in Money in the Bank on Punk so that he could drop the belt to Cena. Realizing it did nothing for the long term, Cena would drop the belt back to Del Rio. Del Rio would then drop the belt to Punk and avoid making THEIR star look bad by losing to his rival thrice.

69th World Heavyweight Champion - NWA’s Colt Cabana - 4/8/12 to 7/21/12

70th World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champ CM Punk (2) - 7/21/12 to 1/27/2013

It is tempting to give the belt to ROH’s Kevin Steen since he was the headliner during Richard’s reign without even wrestling. Him winning the title proved his importance to the business. But, WWE has gone out of their way to make us forget the 434-day reign of the predecessor to Steen. In the end, NWA fell from relevance not committing to Pearce and Cabana efforts to elevate their title. WWE chose stock over substance having Punk drop the title to a part-timer in the Rock.

71st World Heavyweight Champion - ROH’s Kevin Steen - 1/27/13 to 4/5/13

Just because WWE chose their stock, does not mean I have to.

72nd World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champ The Rock (5) - 4/5/13 to 4/7/13

And then indie wrestling shoots itself in the foot. Jay Briscoe had the resume to be ROH Champion, but in what were progressive times, he was not meant for the REAL champ title. This reign brought us the personalized world title belt featuring Confederate battle flags. The injury that ended his reign may have been legitimate (Wikipedia says no), but I think his babyfaced character’s pro-gun, anti-marriage equality tweet during his championship was the reason his reign did not make the two-month mark.

73rd World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champ John Cena (3) - 4/7/13 to 8/13/13

74th World Heavyweight Champion - WWE Champ Daniel Bryan (2) - 8/13/13

75th World Heavyweight Champion - World Heavyweight Champ Alberto Del Rio - 8/13/13 to 10/27/13

Randy Orton had cashed in Money it the Bank to start the “brilliant” storyline for Daniel Bryan’s Wrestlemania moment. I still believe this narrative was not going to happen until Punk left and the Bootista backlash occurred. Alberto Del Rio’s reigns with the Big Gold Belt had everything. He beat the Big Show as a babyface. The break in his reign was a raw deal with a Money in the Bank cash in, so he became a vengeful heel to regain it.

76th World Heavyweight Champion - World Heavyweight Champ John Cena (4) - 10/27/13 to 12/15/13

The original formatting of this blog post actually allowed me to conclude this list. But with the title and the downer nature of the intro, I think it is best to conclude this with my next post. This blog’s title may get more eyes on it, and the feedback to make the post more fun. Or more insightful if the focus will be on the intro. If I want to get the most out of my writing, gotta make it so it encourages more.