Not Championship Material

Guest post from Chad. 

The 2011 Royal Rumble is a mere 4 days away. On that night, WWE Champion The Miz will defend his title against Randy Orton.  Speculation amongst my friends and other fans online is Randy will walk out of Boston as a 7 time WWE champion.  Why is that? Why is no one (except Miz’s personal propaganda machine Michael Cole) giving the Miz a chance of retaining the title?

Kevin and I discussed it on one of our YouTube conversations but the simplistic breakdown is titles are being put on wrestlers who either aren’t ready for the title or aren’t given the chance to succeed once they have the gold around their waist.

Currently I’d say WWE has five top tier main eventers. John Cena. Randy Orton. Edge (debatable). Triple H (on injured reserve) and The Undertaker (also on the IR). When these five guys are in a match with anyone else the general consensus is they will win the match.  Edge is the most likely guy of the five to end the match with his shoulders on the mat.  John Cena gets attacked by seven guys at once and still ends up standing tall when the bell has rung and the theme music starts playing.  Why should fans care about the opponent when match after match they see the same guys walking out victorious?

On the flip side of the above-mentioned talent there are guys who could be future main event talents but have been hindered by constant bad booking. Here are a few examples.

The Miz at a house show in Cape Girardeau

The Miz: We’ll start with Miz since he was mentioned at the beginning of this piece. The Miz is a multiple time Tag Team Champion, former United States Champion and as stated, current WWE Champion. Even with all those accolades, I’d wager most fans see his current championship reign as temporary, having already exceeded their expectations. A year before winning the WWE Champ, The Miz entered into somewhat of a feud with John Cena. I say somewhat because if memory serves me right the feud was mostly Miz calling Cena out and Cena never bothering to respond. Then when they did finally have a match Cena won in short dominating fashion.

Miz won the WWE title by cashing in his Money In the Bank briefcase and attacking Orton after Orton had just beaten Sheamus in a hard fought match.  Even though all but one MITB winner has won the match in similar fashion, it’s not exactly the best way to establish yourself as a serious contender. Since winning the title, Miz needed help from announcer Michael Cole to beat Cole’s broadcasting partner Jerry “the King” Lawler in a ladder match.  Miz was pinned by “The King” in a tag team match a week later. In a tables match, Miz, with help of Alex Riley, pushed Randy Orton through a table to retain the title. The only match Miz has had where he looked formidable was against former tag team partner John Morrison, who isn’t exactly viewed as a threat to any title.  Looking at how Miz has escaped with the title more times than successfully defended it and it’s easy to see why few people give him a chance at still being champion when Raw goes on the air Monday night.

Swagger wins MITB

Jack Swagger: Swagger won the Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 26.  Wasting little time, Swagger cashed in the briefcase beating Chris Jericho for the World Title a few days later.  Swagger had a previous run as ECW champion but that belt was often treated as a lesser title than the US or Intercontinental titles with Pay Per View matches being over in less than a minute. I honestly couldn’t remember any matches during Swagger’s title reign.  Looking at Wikipedia it appears he held the title for two months, losing it in a Fatal 4-Way match.  Since dropping the title, he hasn’t really had a real meaningful storyline.  He’s just kind of floundered around the I-C title picture.

The Legacy implosion at Wrestlemania

Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes:  Ted is a third generation superstar while Cody is a second-generation star. These two appeared destined for greatness as soon as they arrived on the scene. They were paired up with Randy Orton, himself a third generation wrestler, and dubbed Legacy.  Legacy imploded at Wrestlemania 26 with a three-way match that Randy easily won to prove his superiority over the other two.  Since that match, Ted reintroduced his father’s Million Dollar Title for a brief run before having it stolen by Goldust, and has been on a losing streak for the past few months.  Cody became “Dashing” Cody Rhodes and gets more airtime giving grooming tips than wrestling.  Even though Ted and Cody were Tag Team Champions, I can’t recall a single big match they won. They faced D-Generation X at SummerSlam 2009. That would have been the opportune time to have them beat an established team and move up the ladder of success. Instead DX won showing the fans Ted and Cody weren’t good enough to hang with the big boys.

Sheamus bullies Triple H

Sheamus: Within his first two months of being part of the Raw roster, Sheamus was presented as a dominating force. He would attack ring announcers and delivered such a lethal beat down to Jamie Noble, Noble ended up retiring.

Personally, I didn’t understand why I should fear a guy who’s claim to fame was beating up non-wrestlers and forcing a guy who hadn’t been seen as anything more than a whipping boy in over four years.  Nevertheless, Sheamus soon got a title match against John Cena at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs Pay Per View. Sheamus defeated Cena to win the WWE title when while fighting on the turnbuckles both men slipped and fell.  Sheamus fell to the outside of the ring; Cena fell backwards through a table giving Sheamus the victory.  Not exactly a credible way to win or show domination by the challenger. Sheamus would hold the tile for about two months, losing it in an Elimination Chamber match against five other guys.  He would regain the title at the Fatal 4-Way Pay Per View and have a three-month reign as champ. Since losing the title, Sheamus has mostly feuded with John Morrison and not been near the title hunt.

Those are just a few examples of guys who could be, and probably are, the future of WWE. If you look deeper into their times at champion, more often than not they were set up to fail.  No decisive wins. Short reigns on top. And as soon as they lost the title they fell back down the card instead of getting numerous rematches as Randy Orton, John Cena, Edge and Triple H are most likely to do.

Another difference between the top tier and the next levels is everyone on the top tier has reached a point where wins and losses don’t matter in the eyes of fans. John Cena and Triple H could lose every match from now until SummerSlam and the fans will still cheer for them like they do now.  Part of that might be because even in defeat they find a way to get the last shot in and be standing in the ring as the camera fades to black. On the flipside, they guys moving up the ladder are affected by wins and loses. When The Miz has trouble winning every match he has and is made to look like a punk (not the CM variety) by his opponent (namely Cena or Orton) fans see him as a chump. 

Who is at fault here? Is it the wrestlers who can’t convey to the audience an aura of superstardom to justify a lengthy title run? Is it the writers who don’t plan for more than a month at a time? Is it the current wrestling landscape of weekly television and monthly PPVs? Is it fans that have no long-term attention span and want something fresh every month?  Whatever the cause, something needs to be done to make sure the next champions are seen as championship material and not the second coming of David Arquette. 

Long Live the King

Another "king" will be crowned in the WWE Monday night as the 19th tournament is held on a special 3 hour Raw.  Most of us know about the pay per view and Raw tournaments, but back in the mid 80's, there were several kings crowned.

I remember back in 1986, being at a WWF house show in St. Louis that was being touted as a King of the Ring tournament.  Harley Race won that one by pinning Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat in the finals.  Of course, Race was already "the King" as that was his gimmick when he arrived earlier that year.

In 1993, the first ever PPV KOTR was held, with former world champion Bret Hart being crowned.  In the years that followed though, the tournament served as a stepping stone to the title.  In many cases anyway.  Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Kurt Angle are just a few who got the royal treatment before winning the world title.  Then we had "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn, Mabel, and Ken Shamrock who never quite achieved world title success.

The most recent King, William Regal, seemed to lose his momentum after being suspended by the WWE shortly after his coronation.  That was about two years ago, now it's time to crown a new king.

I must say, I like the 8 participants in this year's event.  I feel like any one of them is capable of winning this.  In other words, it's hard to pick a winner.  Past tournaments were a little lopsided, especially back in the 80's.  Did anyone really think Boris Zhukov or "Iron" Mike Sharpe would get the crown and scepeter?  Even the qualifying matches for this year's could have gone either way in most cases.  And here's a little fun fact.  In 1988, "the Outlaw" Ron Bass pinned Shawn Michaels in the KOTR tournament.  Wow.

John Morrison in action at Wrestlemania 26

I believe John Morrison has all the tools to win this tournament.  He's been in the WWE for a while now and besides a run as Intercontinental champion, he's not had much of a singles push.  With big wins over Chris Jericho and Sheamus over the last few months, he's proven to me he's ready for the next level.

Winning the King of the Ring would propel him into the title hunt.  I definitely don't think Morrison would "Billy Gunn" this opportunity.  So as of right now, John Morrison is my pick to win the King of the Ring.  However, I know history is not on my side, as most of the time the winner of this tournament is a heel.

Sheamus vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania 26

One other thing I like about this year's tournament is there are no former world champions in it,  except for Sheamus.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad for the Irish man.  My hope is that he will not win it, as I'd like to see someone who hasn't really contended for the world title be in the hunt.


But Sheamus has been doing the job lately to John Morrison and Santino.  Could the crown be his reward?  I could see that happening, and Triple H returning to ruin the coronation.  After all, he's a past KOTR and the "King of Kings" as he taught King Booker a few years back.

Kofi at Wrestlemania 26.

Kofi Kingston has been in a bit of slump lately.  It seems to have all started when he lost the U.S. title to the Miz late last year.

But he put on a helluva show at Wrestlemania 26 though.  Kofi seems to do well in the Money in the Bank matches.  He's a solid worker, dedicated, and over with the fans.

That being said, I'm not sure that he'll win this tournament.  Although I do think he's ready for the main event rub.  I didn't really care for the way they booked him in the Randy Orton feud.  I felt even then he deserved to go over in that program.

Another reason I don't think Kofi will win, he's already got King in his name.  We can't have King Kingston can we?  It just doesn't sound right.

Courtesy: WWE

Initially when I read who was in the tournament, my pick to win it was Ezekiel Jackson.  But after some discussion with a fellow fan and some thinking, I'm taking it back.

Since returning from his injury, Zeke has been unstoppable.  But victories over Zach Ryder, Alex Riley, and The Brooklyn Brawler hardly make you ready for the spotlight.

But the dude has a lot of potential.  I think I liked him better as a monster heel though.  I'm hoping Zeke doesn't get lost in the shuffle.  Being crowned king could be a great springboard for him, and just what he needed since he never really got to enjoy his reign as ECW champion.

Drew McIntyre climbing to new heights at Wrestlemania 26

Of the heels in this tournament, Drew McIntrye is without a doubt my favorite.  I think he's got a lot of potential but is still trying to find his way in the WWE.  A brief run as Intercontinental champion helped him, but his reign was marred with some bad booking.

Then his run with Cody Rhodes as tag team champions was laughable.  Not even sure why the WWE went there with that one.

Drew draws that natural heel heat.  He thinks he's better than everyone else and people hate him for that.  He reminds me a of young Triple H when he had the blueblood gimmick, and when he was crowned KOTR 13 years ago.

Cody Rhodes slugs Mark Henry at a house show.

Cody Rhodes is another guy with a great deal of potential, who seems to be floating around on Smackdown! right now.  But I expect big things for him in the future too.

I must admit, I'm not a big fan of the whole "Dashing" gimmick, but he seems to be making it work.  Since the split from Legacy, I think both he and Ted DiBiase have struggled to carve out a new niche and find their own identities.  Personally, I thought it was too early to split up that group.  He and DiBiase made an excellent tag team.  I would have rather seen them pushed as a duo and have another run as tag team champions.  Cody is good, but I don't think he's good enough to win the KOTR.

Courtesy: WWE

Alberto Del Rio has enjoyed quite the push since arriving in the WWE.  A win over Rey Mysterio on TV.  Hanging with Edge.  And beating the Big Show (albeit by countout) are just a few feathers in his cap so far.  He is also "responsible" for taking Christian out of action.

However, he came up short at the Survivor Series.  Is that an indicator of things to come? Again, this is a hard tournament to pick a decisive winner, and I would not be surprised at all by a Del Rio victory.  My gut tells me though that a Raw guy is going to win, since the tournament is being held on Raw.

Daniel Bryan leaving the Hall of Fame ceremony

I know I picked John Morrison to win in my earlier analysis, however I really like Daniel Bryan to win as well.  The one thing that may prevent that from happening is the U.S. title.

But it would make sense for him to win, especially with the Miz being world champion.  These two have a history and it would seem logical to have them meet again.  However, what's logical doesn't always come to fruition.

That being said, I don't think Daniel Bryan NEEDS the crown to propel him into the world title picture.  He's got the ability to wear the belt one day without having to go through a coronation ceremony.

So as you can see, I'm still going back and forth on who will win this.  I won't be disappointed in any of these guys.  I mentioned how I liked the fact that most of these guys haven't been to the top of the mountain yet.  That's good and bad.  The problem with it is there are no established guys in this tournament to put over any of the young talent.  It would have been nice to see Randy Orton, Big Show, or Edge give the rub to the future main eventers of the company.  No matter what, I don't think this tournament will disappoint, and I can't wait to see who's crowned king.