Welcome to a new series on my blog. Usually I write the articles you see here, but in order to further engage with my YouTube subscribers and make them feel even more apart of the SmarKDown community, I will also accept articles made by them. This one is written by Runn O. He’ll take it from here, enjoy!
Since NXT doesn’t have any PPV or live special during 2012 – 2013, I will include some monthly title defenses on TV instead.
Seth Rollins (August 29 2012 – January 9 2013)
Televised matches: 9
Record: 7-2
My match ratings:
Seth Rollins def. Jinder Mahal in a Tournament Final NXT Title Match – NXT August 29 2012 (***½)
Seth Rollins (c) def. Michael McGillicutty – NXT October 10 2012 (***¼)
Seth Rollins & CM Punk def. Antonio Cesaro & Kassius Ohno – NXT October 17 2012 (***¾) *R*
The Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No in a TLC Match – TLC 2012 (****¼) *HR*
Big E def. Seth Rollins (c) in a No DQ Match – NXT January 9 2013 (***¼)
Seth Rollins won the NXT Championship in a ‘Gold Rush’ Tournament to crown the first-ever NXT Champion by defeating Jinder Mahal in a pretty good final round match. He then went on to defend the title against several wrestlers and even team up with the then WWE Champion: CM Punk to take on the ‘Kings of Wrestling’ in a hidden gem. Shortly after that, Rollins would debut as part of ‘The Shield’ at Survivor Series and have that fantastic TLC match with Ryback & Team Hell No before losing the belt to Big E the following year. For a first ever Champion, Rollins did a solid job and his promos were quite decent, not to mention his impressive W-L record as well.
Rating: 6/10
Big E Langston (January 9 2013 – June 12 2013)
Televised matches: 23 (13 Main Roster)
Record: 8-1 (1 draw)
Main Roster Record: 5-8
My match ratings:
Big E Langston def. Seth Rollins (c) in a No DQ Match – NXT January 9 2013 (***¼)
Big E Langston (c) def. Conor O’Brian – NXT April 3 2013 (**½)
Team Hell No (c) def. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston in a WWE Tag Team Title Match – WrestleMania 29 (**¾)
Big E Langston (c) def. Damien Sandow – NXT May 15 2013 (**¾)
Alberto Del Rio def. Big E Langston – Main Event May 22 2013 (***½) *R*
Bo Dallas def. Big E Langston (c) – NXT June 12 2013 (***¼)
When Seth Rollins started to move on to the main roster as part of ‘The Shield’, NXT was in need of a new top guy. Enters Big E Langston, who was just awesome with his ‘five count’ gimmick during 2012. After winning the belt, Big E would go on to squash some jobbers and defend the title in some forgettable matches on TV. Oh, and do I need to mention the fact that he was already on the main roster at that point being the bodyguard for the heel Dolph Ziggler therefore making his face run on NXT quite confusing. The start was great but the rest wasn’t memorable at all.
Rating: 3/10
Bo Dallas (June 12 2013 – February 27 2014)
Televised matches: 16
Record: 11-5
My match ratings:
Bo Dallas def. Big E Langston (c) – NXT June 12 2013 (***¼)
Bo Dallas (c) def. Antonio Cesaro – NXT July 3 2013 (***¼)
Bo Dallas (c) def. Leo Kruger – NXT August 7 2013 (***½)
Bo Dallas (c) def. Sami Zayn – NXT October 6 2013 (***½) *R*
Bo Dallas (c) def. Adrian Neville in a Lumberjack Match – NXT December 18 2013 (***)
Adrian Neville def. Bo Dallas (c) in a Ladder Match – NXT Arrival (***½) *R*
Unlike fellows jobber, Jinder Mahal (with all due respect to The Maharajah). Dallas’s reign was actually comparable to JBL’s WWE Title Reign, maybe even better as some may say. Bo captured the belt by defeating Big E (who was already a heel on the main roster at that point but was still a face on NXT, WTF?) and went on to defend it occasionally on TV. A heel turn soon followed since the crowd was always booing him as a babyface, I gotta admit it was smart of them to turn him heel since he can’t connect with the fans as a face. After holding the belt for record 260 days, he would drop it to Adrian Neville. The first half was meh, but the second half was great which elevated my rating, his promos always delivered as well especially with the ‘Bo-Lieve’ gimmick. And then he got move to the main roster where his career would (kinda) died there.
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2001, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP
The Rock (February 25, 2001 – April 1, 2001)
Televised matches: 9
Record: 7-2
My match ratings:
The Rock def. Kurt Angle(c) – No Way Out 2001 (****3/4) *HR*
Steve Austin def. The Rock(c) – WrestleMania X-Seven (*****) *HR*
Sure, this only lasted a little over a month. But oh boy, what a month! First of all, the match with Kurt Angle at No Way Out was absolutely incredible, and you should definitely check it out. Between No Way Out and WrestleMania X-Seven, who can ever forget the segments between Rock and Austin, the brawl on RAW with all the beer involved, the interview with Jim Ross… And then the WrestleMania match, do I even need to say anything!? This was a transitional reign, sure, but damn what a reign.
Rating: 8/10
Steve Austin (April 1, 2001 – September 23, 2001)
Televised matches: 29
Record: 12-12 (5 draws)
My match ratings:
Steve Austin def. The Rock(c) – WrestleMania X-Seven (*****) *HR*
Steve Austin(c) & Triple H vs. The Undertaker & Kane in a Winners Take All Match – Backlash 2001 (**1/2)
Steve Austin(c) def. The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred Match – Judgment Day 2001 (***)
Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho def. Steve Austin & Triple H(c) for the WWF Tag Team Championship – RAW May 21 2001 (****3/4) *HR*
Steve Austin(c) def. Chris Benoit – RAW May 28 2001 (****) *R*
Steve Austin(c) def. Chris Benoit – SmackDown May 31 2001 (****1/4) *HR*
Steve Austin(c) def. Chris Jericho – RAW June 4 2001 (****) *R*
Steve Austin(c) def. Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho – King of the Ring 2001 (***3/4) *R*
The Alliance def. Team WWF – InVasion 2001 (***1/4)
Kurt Angle def. Steve Austin(c) by DQ – SummerSlam 2001 (*****) *HR*
Kurt Angle def. Steve Austin(c) – Unforgiven 2001 (****1/4) *HR*
Many people complain about this stage of Steve Austin’s career, but one thing is for sure – Steve Austin had the best in-ring year in 2001 since his awful neck injury in 1997. He put multiple guys over no matter the result, such as Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle and others. Some of his matches during this reign were absolutely beautiful, his heel work was some of the best heel work I’ve ever seen in my life (especially in that masterpiece with Kurt at SummerSlam), and his character just felt fresh. A few people dislike this, I love it. God bless freedom of expression.
Rating: 9/10
Kurt Angle (September 23, 2001 – October 8, 2001)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 4-2
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle def. Steve Austin(c) – Unforgiven 2001 (****1/4) *HR*
Steve Austin def. Kurt Angle(c) – RAW Oct. 8 2001 (***1/2) *R*
Usually I’m not a fan of playing hot potato over the top title. However, here I can understand. After 9/11, the WWF decided to put the ‘American Hero’ Kurt Angle over Steve Austin for a feel good moment after the real-life tragedy, but since the titles had to be on Rock and Austin heading into the unification match it was going to be short. His matches and segments were really good, though, but this was way too short.
Rating: 3/10
Steve Austin (October 8, 2001 – December 9, 2001)
Televised matches: 14
Record: 9-5
My match ratings:
Steve Austin def. Kurt Angle(c) – RAW Oct. 8 2001 (***1/2) *R*
Steve Austin(c) def. Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam – No Mercy 2001 (***3/4) *R*
Team WWF def. The Alliance – Survivor Series 2001 (****1/4) *HR*
Steve Austin(c) def. Kurt Angle – Vengeance 2001 (***1/2) *R*
Chris Jericho def. Steve Austin in a Title Unification Match – Vengeance 2001 (***1/4)
After Kurt Angle’s brief reign, the title was back on Steve Austin’s hands heading into the title unification tournament at Vengeance. Before getting there, though, Austin finished his heel run with The Alliance. After retaining the title in a fun three way against Kurt Angle and RVD, Austin and The Alliance went on to lose to Team WWF at Survivor Series before turning babyface. A few weeks later at Vengeance, Austin retained over Kurt Angle and took the WWF Championship to the final of the mini-tournament against WCW World Champion Chris Jericho, who would go on to win and become the first WWF Undisputed Champion. As for this title reign, it was weird as Austin spent the first month as a heel, the second as a babyface and then the reign ended before it really got going. It was still decent and quite memorable, but easily one of Austin’s “worst” reigns.
Rating: 5/10
WCW/WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Booker T (March 26, 2001 – July 24, 2001)
Televised matches: 9
Record: 6-1 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Booker T def. Scott Steiner(c) – Nitro March 26, 2001 (**1/2)
The Alliance def. Team WWF – InVasion 2001 (***1/4)
Kurt Angle def. Booker T(c) – SmackDown July 26 2001 (***)
Yes, I know this is a WWF/E article only and there’s the rating for a Nitro match above. However, technically that was a WWF show as WCW had already been bought and it was used to promote WrestleMania X-Seven anyway. Booker T made his WWF debut as the reigning WCW Champion, interrupting the WWF Championship match at King of the Ring before leading The Alliance to victory over the WWF at InVasion. The following week on SmackDown, though, Booker lost his title to Kurt Angle by submission. Historically important, that’s for sure, but apart from that this reign lasted (pretty much) only a month, since he did absolutely nothing after WCW’s death from March to June, and then lost it randomly on SmacKDown to Steve Austin’s challenger for the WWF Championship at the next PPV.
Rating: 3/10
Kurt Angle (July 26, 2001 – July 30, 2001)
Televised matches: 2
Record: 1-1
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle def. Booker T(c) – SmackDown July 26 2001 (***)
Booker T def. Kurt Angle(c) – RAW July 30 2001 (***1/4)
Well, just a few days after their match on SmackDown, Angle and Booker went at it once again on RAW in a rematch for the WCW Championship. In that match, Angle lost after eating a Stunner from Stone Cold. There’s reallynothing to say here. But hey,Kurt Angle was the WCW Champion, isn’t that crazy!?
Rating: -/10
Booker T (July 30, 2001 – August 19, 2001)
Televised matches: 5
Record: 2-1 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle def. Booker T(c) – SmackDown July 26 2001 (***)
The Rock def. Booker T(c) – SummerSlam 2001 (****) *HR*
This reign only lasted twenty days, but it was much better than the other one. The feud with The Rock was absolutely incredible and so fun to watch, and so was their SummerSlam match. Booker wouldn’t hold another World Championship until his run as King Booker in 2006, and it’s crazy to think he got back to the top of the card after years of goofy undercard stuff with Goldust. This reign was so much fun despite being very short.
Rating: 4/10
The Rock (August 19, 2001 – October 21, 2001)
Televised matches: 20
Record: 12-7 (1 draw)
My star ratings:
The Rock def. Booker T(c) – SummerSlam 2001 (****) *HR*
The Rock(c) def. Christian – RAW Sept. 4 2001 (***1/4)
The Rock(c) def. Booker T & Shane McMahon in a Handicap Match – Unforgiven 2001 (**3/4)
Chris Jericho def. The Rock(c) – No Mercy 2001 (****1/2) *HR*
It’s weird to say The Rock was WCW Champion, but was he on fire during this time or what. The feud with Booker T was really fun and helped elevate Booker T despite Rock coming out as the victor, and the feud with Chris Jericho that followed was absolutely incredible. Rock playing “heel in peril” and putting Jericho over at No Mercy was a thing of beauty, and helped Chris Jericho a lot. This was The Rock at his best.
Rating: 7/10
Chris Jericho (October 21, 2001 – November 5, 2001)
Televised matches: 7
Record: 5-2
My match ratings:
Chris Jericho def. The Rock(c) – No Mercy 2001 (****1/2) *HR*
The Rock def. Chris Jericho(c) – RAW Nov. 5 2001 (***1/2) *R*
Much like I mentioned in the WWF Championship piece, Stone Cold and The Rock were taking the belts to the unification tournament, so they had to put the title back on Rock. The title was living its last month too, so no big deal. This entire feud established Chris Jericho as a WWF main-eventer for life, so it gets a huge thumbs up from me. Rock and Jericho even got to hold the tag titles for a while during this time, because why not! This created a star forever, but it was still very short.
Rating: 5/10
The Rock (November 5, 2001 – December 9, 2001)
Televised matches: 11
Record: 9-2
My match ratings:
The Rock def. Chris Jericho(c) – RAW Nov. 5 2001 (***1/2) *R*
Team WWF def. The Alliance – Survivor Series 2001 (****1/4) *HR*
Chris Jericho def. The Rock(c) – Vengeance 2001 (****) *HR*
This reign was not as great as the first one, as it was more about WWF’s feud with The Alliance than it was Rock and his title. After beating Team WWF at Survivor Series, Rock took the renamed World Championship into the mini-tournament at Vengeance, but lost it to Chris Jericho in the first round. In what was another great match between the two, by the way. Rock was still on fire, but it was never really about the title or his reign.
Rating: 4/10
Chris Jericho (December 9, 2001)
Televised matches: 2
Record: 2-0
My match ratings:
Chris Jericho def. The Rock(c) – Vengeance 2001 (****) *HR*
Chris Jericho def. Steve Austin in a Title Unification Match – Vengeance 2001 (***1/4)
During the last day in the existence of the WCW Championship, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Steve Austin, becoming the new WWF Champion as well as the last WCW Champion ever. I can’t really give this a rating, though.
Rating: -/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
Steve Austin (WWF Championship, 01/04/2001 – 23/09/2001) 9
Kurt Angle (WWE Championship, 15/12/2002 – 30/03/2003) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2002, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWF/E CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Jericho (December 9, 2001 – March 17, 2002)
Televised matches: 24
Record: 17-7
My match ratings:
Chris Jericho def. Steve Austin in a Title Unification Match – Vengeance 2001 (***1/4)
Chris Jericho(c) def. The Rock – Royal Rumble 2002 (****1/4) *HR*
Chris Jericho(c) def. Steve Austin – No Way Out 2002 (***)
Triple H def. Chris Jericho(c) – WrestleMania X8 (***1/2)
There is no doubt Chris Jericho was the true king of late 2001. He finally won the big one against The Rock at No Mercy, he was having fantastic matches with pretty much everyone on the roster and he was the one chosen to transition the gold to the returning Triple H in the main-event of WrestleMania X8. In the process, he became the first e-e-eeeeeeever WWF Undisputed Champion by defeating both The Rock and Steve Austin at Vengeance. He then cheated his way to victory in a fantastic bout against The Rock at Royal Rumble 2002, but then it all went downhill. A brief feud with Steve Austin followed, and Jericho retained the belt at No Way Out after the nWo literally won the match for him. Then came the proper feud with Triple H – or should I say the feud between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (with Chris Jericho). Jericho had zero heat heading into WrestleMania X8, and he was walking Stephanie’s dog on the go-home episode of RAW before ‘Mania… The match is good if we look back, and Jericho lost the titles to Hunter before moving back all the way to the midcard. This reign should have been so much more.
Rating: 4/10
Triple H (March 17, 2002 – April 21, 2002)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 3-2 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Chris Jericho(c) – WrestleMania X8 (***1/2)
Hulk Hogan def. Triple H(c) – Backlash 2002 (*) *RTA*
After capturing the WWF Undisputed Championship from Chris Jericho at WrestleMania X8, Triple H ended his feud with Stephanie McMahon on RAW after defeating her and forcing her to leave for a while. However, he immediately lost the title to ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan at the next PPV and his super babyface run ended like that. Hmm okay then, I guess! This was over just like that, and Triple H’s babyface run wasn’t that great to begin with. It was way too short.
Rating: 2/10
‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan (April 21, 2002 – May 19, 2002)
The Undertaker def. ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan(c) – Judgment Day 2002 (1/2*) *RTA*
Here’s a bit of trivia for you – this reign was the very last in the history of the old World Wrestling Federation, and the very first in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment. Apart from that, though, what was the point of this? Vince McMahon wanted to make as much money as possible with Hulk Hogan during this reign, and since he got a huge pop at WrestleMania against The Rock he immediately turned babyface and captured the title at the next PPV. One thing that this proved, though, is that pops and noise don’t mean ratings or vice-versa, as numbers were going down during this time. It’s unfair to say it was Hogan’s fault, because it was not, but putting the belt on him didn’t save the world. His matches with Triple H and Undertaker were not good at all (remember that awful Chokeslam!?) and it was just weird. As we continue to go with this series, I will talk about some awesome Hulk Hogan reigns. This, however, was exactly the opposite.
Rating: 1/10
The Undertaker (May 19, 2002 – July 21, 2002)
Televised matches: 13
Record: 10-2 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
The Undertaker def. ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan(c) – Judgment Day 2002 (1/2*) *RTA*
The Undertaker(c) def. Triple H – King of the Ring 2002 (3/4*) *RTA*
The Undertaker(c) def. Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match – RAW July 1 2002 (****) *HR*
The Undertaker(c) draw. Kurt Angle – SmackDown July 4 2002 (***3/4) *R*
The Rock def. The Undertaker(c) and Kurt Angle – Vengeance 2002 (****1/2) *HR*
Damn, were those couple of months after WrestleMania X8 awful in the main title scene or what? After capturing the gold from Hulk Hogan at Judgment Day, he went on to retain in another slow and plain bad match with Triple H at King of the Ring. From there, it did get better, though. He had really good matches with Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle, not to mention the three way at Vengeance in which he lost the gold to The Rock. I still wouldn’t call this a good reign, but it’s definitely better than Hunter’s and Hogan’s.
Rating: 4/10
The Rock (July 21, 2002 – August 25, 2002)
Televised matches: 11
Record: 7-3 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
The Rock def. The Undertaker(c) and Kurt Angle – Vengeance 2002 (****1/2) *HR*
The Rock def. Eddie Guerrero – RAW July 22 2002 (***1/2) *R*
Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero def. The Rock & Edge – SmackDown Aug. 1 2002 (***3/4) *R*
The Rock(c) def. Brock Lesnar and Triple H – Global Warning 2002 (***1/4)
Brock Lesnar def. The Rock(c) – SummerSlam 2002 (****1/2) *HR*
For those of you who are following my YouTube channel, I am currently (slowly) reviewing SummerSlam 2002 and the build-up to this show, so my memory about this reign and Rock’s matches is quite fresh. When Rock came back in the summer for a couple of months, he had one job and one job only: put Brock Lesnar over at SummerSlam. In the process, he gave us a number of really good TV matches before the show. Do I even need to mention he was enjoyable to watch? He’s The Rock, come on! This reign was great despite being a bit short.
Rating: 7/10
Brock Lesnar (August 25, 2002 – November 17, 2002)
Televised matches: 13
Record: 9-2 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Brock Lesnar def. The Rock(c) – SummerSlam 2002 (****1/2) *HR*
Brock Lesnar(c) draw. The Undertaker – Unforgiven 2002 (***)
Brock Lesnar(c) def. The Undertaker in a HIAC Match – No Mercy 2002 (***3/4) *R*
Brock Lesnar(c) & Paul Heyman def. Edge in a Handicap Match – Rebellion 2002 (***1/2) *R*
Big Show def. Brock Lesnar(c) – Survivor Series 2002 (**)
The Next Big Thing had arrived. After beating The Rock in a great match at SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar took the WWE Championshp exclusively to SmackDown and started a feud with The Undertaker. They started with a no-contest at Unforgiven, and ended with a bloody and enjoyable Hell in a Cell Match at No Mercy. A forgotten entertaining Handicap title bout with Edge in the UK followed, before Lesnar dropped the title to Big Show and turned babyface. WWE were doing everything to create a new star, which is just everything wrestling should be. This was also a beautiful time for SmackDown, with the “SmackDown Six” stealing the show every week and them actually whooping RAW’s ass in the ratings for a while. And Brock Lesnar was the face of the show at that time. This was great.
Rating: 8/10
Big Show (November 17, 2002 – December 15, 2002)
Televised matches: 5
Record: 3-1 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Big Show def. Brock Lesnar(c) – Survivor Series 2002 (**)
Kurt Angle def. Big Show(c) – Armageddon 2002 (**1/4)
At WrestleMania XIX, Brock Lesnar was going to main-event the show against Kurt Angle. Problem is Lesnar was a heel, and since they couldn’t do the Angle match before ‘Mania, someone needed to transition it. Brock asked to work with RAW’s Big Show, who was doing absolutely nothing and had worked with Lesnar in OVW, and so there it was. Call Lesnar what you want, but you can’t say he’s dumb. Despite losing the title, a couple of months of F5’ing Big Show on TV got Brock crazy over, and he got the pop of his life at Madison Square Garden at Survivor Series. This was very brief, but it was necessary and got Brock even more over. Short, but not pointless at all.
Rating: 3/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H (September 2, 2002 – November 17, 2002)
Televised matches: 16
Record: 11-5
My match ratings:
Triple H(c) def. Rob Van Dam – Unforgiven 2002 (**3/4)
Triple H(c) def. Kane – No Mercy 2002 (**) *RTA*
Shawn Michaels def. Triple H(c), Kane, Chris Jericho, Booker T and Rob Van Dam in an Elimination Chamber Match – Survivor Series 2002 (****) *HR*
For those of you who ask me why I hate this version of Triple H so much, this reign is relatively short so we can actually take a look at each and every feud. We start with Rob Van Dam, the reigning Intercontinental Champion when their feud started. In the build-up to Unforgiven, Triple H beats Ric Flair and RVD loses his IC Title to Chris Jericho by submission(!) on TV. When the PPV comes, Ric Flair turns on RVD (who weren’t even together on TV to begin with) and Triple H goes over. In the feud with Kane, if Katie Vick wasn’t enough, Triple H goes over at No Mercy and, in the process, retires the Intercontinental Championship. And then, at Survivor Series, he does everything in his power to put his friend over again. Winners: The Kliq ; losers: everyone else. Political games at their best! At least the Elimination Chamber was introduced during this reign. So there’s that, I’ll take what I can.
Rating: 2/10
Shawn Michaels (November 17, 2002 – December 15, 2002)
Televised matches: 3
Record: 1-2
My match ratings:
Shawn Michaels def. Triple H(c), Kane, Chris Jericho, Booker T and Rob Van Dam in an Elimination Chamber Match – Survivor Series 2002 (****) *HR*
Triple H def. Shawn Michaels(c) in a 3 Stages of Hell Match – Armageddon 2002 (**)
Unlike Big Show’s reign over on SmackDown at the very same time, I would like to know what was the point of this reign. A month after Elimination Chamber, Michaels lost the title back to Triple H at Armageddon. Michaels’ pop at Survivor Series is incredible, though, but apart from that… there’s not much to say here.
Rating: 2/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
Kurt Angle (WWE Championship, 15/12/2002 – 30/03/2003) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2003, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Kurt Angle (December 15, 2002 – March 30, 2003)
Televised matches: 11
Record: 7-4
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle def. Big Show(c) – Armageddon 2002 (**1/4)
Kurt Angle(c) def. Chris Benoit – Royal Rumble 2003 (*****) *HR*
Kurt Angle def. Chris Benoit – SmackDown Feb. 6 2003 (****1/4) *HR*
Brock Lesnar & Chris Benoit def. Team Angle – No Way Out 2003 (****) *HR*
Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle(c) – WrestleMania XIX (****3/4) *HR*
In 2002, Kurt Angle was one of the highlights of the company, putting on classic after classic almost on a weekly basis, especially in the second half of the year as a member of the “SmackDown Six”. That earned him a spot as the antagonist for Brock Lesnar in the main-event of WrestleMania XIX, and considering both guys have incredible amateur wrestling backgrounds, it had everything to work. Angle first captured the WWE Championship from The Big Show at Armageddon 2002 thanks to Brock Lesnar, after promising he’d give Lesnar a title shot. However, it was then revealed Angle was working with Paul Heyman and Lesnar couldn’t challenge Angle for the belt. While Lesnar won the Royal Rumble Match in order to guarantee his title shot at WrestleMania, Kurt Angle was having absolutely beautiful matches with Chris Benoit. And then, to finish this reign, Angle finished the storyline with Lesnar at WrestleMania, put him over big time and turned babyface after the match. The storyline was really good, Angle was an absolute machine inside the ring, he was enjoyable to watch (when was he not?) and he also introduced Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. This was almost perfect, and if Angle had not broken his neck during this title reign I would’ve given it my first ten.
Rating: 9/10
Brock Lesnar (March 30, 2003 – July 27, 2003)
Televised matches: 13
Record: 7-5 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle(c) – WrestleMania XIX (****3/4) *HR*
Brock Lesnar(c) def. John Cena – Backlash 2003 (**3/4)
Brock Lesnar(c) def. Big Show in a Stretcher Match – Judgment Day 2003 (***1/2) *R*
Kurt Angle def. Brock Lesnar(c) and Big Show – Vengeance 2003 (****) *R*
From the moment Brock Lesnar showed up in WWE, it was quite clear this guy was going to be (no pun intended) the next big thing. After a first run top as a heel, WrestleMania XIX was supposed to be Brock Lesnar’s big babyface win. Despite almost killing himself at the end of that match, it was a fantastic match and a great start to his babyface run. However, once Angle left due to injury, Lesnar struggled for a while without any credible heel to work with. Brock was still a bit green, and John Cena (his first challenger) was SUPER green. Big Show, despite being huge, at the end of the day he’s Big Show and he already had years of awful booking to be taken seriously. Once Kurt Angle came back, though, his reign became much more interesting… and then it ended. Who can ever forget the backstage segments between these two on SmackDown!? The matches were solid, but babyface Lesnar was never as impressive as heel Lesnar. Apart from the Kurt Angle stuff, it was okayish. The Kurt Angle stuff was fantastic.
Rating: 6/10
Kurt Angle (July 27, 2003 – September 18, 2003)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 4-1 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle def. Brock Lesnar(c) and Big Show – Vengeance 2003 (****) *R*
Kurt Angle(c) def. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2003 (****1/2) *HR*
Kurt Angle(c) draw. The Undertaker – SmackDown Sept. 4 2003 (****1/4) *HR*
Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle(c) in an Iron Man Match – SmackDown Sept. 18 2003 (*****) *HR*
As soon as Kurt Angle made his return, he won back the WWE Championship in one of his first matches back at Vengeance. And why wouldn’t he? Angle could have a four star match with a knife at this point, and he was such a pro that he could get anyone over no matter the result. Shortly after the Vengeance match where Lesnar lost the title to his friend, Brock attacked him and turned heel to properly restart their feud, this time with the roles reversed. At SummerSlam, they had another spectacular match (I’m shocked too!) that saw Angle force Lesnar to submit to the Ankle Lock. A few weeks later, Angle defended the title in one hell of a match against The Undertaker, that ultimately ended in a no-contest caused by Brock Lesnar. In Angle’s final night as champion, him and Lesnar put on a clinic in their Iron Man Match (their best match together, in my opinion) that saw Lesnar win back the title. Oh, and by the way, Angle wrestled that match just a few days after his sister passed away. Imagine how he had to be feeling, and he still put on a classic. If you think “The Wrestling Machine” was just a gimmick, this proves you wrong. This title reign was also awesome.
Rating: 8/10
Brock Lesnar (September 18, 2003 – February 15, 2004)
Televised matches: 17
Record: 9-8
My match ratings:
Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle(c) in an Iron Man Match – SmackDown Sept. 18 2003 (*****) *HR*
Brock Lesnar(c) def. The Undertaker in a Biker Chain Match – No Mercy 2003 (**)
Team Angle def. Team Lesnar – Survivor Series 2003 (***)
Eddie Guerrero def. Brock Lesnar(c) – No Way Out 2004 (****1/2) *HR*
From the moment WWE signed Goldberg for a year in 2003, the plan had always been for Goldberg to finish his run putting Brock Lesnar over in less than a minute in his final date at WrestleMania XX. Therefore, Lesnar was never taking the WWE Championship to WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Eddie Guerrero was getting more and more over and he was eventually the man chosen for the top spot on SmackDown. While Lesnar was champion, though, he did a terrific job of putting Eddie over the entire freaking time. From his irritating and quite brilliant heel work in the Iron Man bout against Angle, to him killing all the undercarders and even Stephanie McMahon on TV, to him calling himself “the greatest WWE Champion ever” only to then struggle and have to cheat to beat tougher challengers such as Chris Benoit, it all made Eddie Guerrero’s moment that much bigger. Brock Lesnar was absolutely phenomenal during this title reign, and he put Eddie over big time at No Way Out before moving on to do business with Bill Goldberg. The only two negative things about this reign were his meh matches with Undertaker at No Mercy and Bob Holly at Royal Rumble. Apart from that, it was perfect.
Rating: 9/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H (December 15, 2002 – September 21, 2003)
Televised matches: 29
Record: 18-10 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Shawn Michaels(c) in a 3 Stages of Hell Match – Armageddon 2002 (**)
Scott Steiner def. Triple H(c) by DQ – Royal Rumble 2003 (DUD) *RTA*
Triple H(c) def. Scott Steiner – No Way Out 2003 (1/4*) *RTA*
Triple H(c) def. Booker T – WrestleMania XIX (**1/2)
Triple H, Chris Jericho & Ric Flair def. Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels & Booker T – Backlash 2003 (***)
Kevin Nash def. Triple H(c) by DQ – Judgment Day 2003 (DUD) *RTA*
Triple H(c) def. Ric Flair – RAW May 19 2003 (***1/2) *R*
Triple H(c) def. Kevin Nash in a HIAC Match – Bad Blood 2003 (***)
Triple H(c) def. Kane – RAW June 23 2003 (***1/4)
Triple H(c) def. Goldberg, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Kevin Nash in an Elimination Chamber Match – SummerSlam 2003 (***1/4)
Goldberg def. Triple H(c) – Unforgiven 2003 (**)
Damn, going from Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar to this makes me like it even less. And I thought that was impossible! Where do I start? Not only was this reign filled with controversy and backstage political bullshit, his matches were also repetitive and boring. The match with Shawn at Armageddon 2002 is without a doubt the most psychologically backwards wrestling match I’ve ever seen, the feud with Scott Steiner was what it was, the feud with Booker T… don’t even get me started… the feud with Kevin Nash was just there and did nothing from me, and then he dropped it to Goldberg. Sounds bad? Now add the fact that it lasted NINE MONTHS. This was awful, hurt a lot of guys in the process, and let’s just move on.
Rating: 2/10
Goldberg (September 21, 2003 – December 14, 2003)
Televised matches: 14
Record: 10-2 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Goldberg def. Triple H(c) – Unforgiven 2003 (**)
Goldberg(c) def. Triple H – Survivor Series 2003 (**3/4)
Triple H def. Goldberg(c) and Kane – Armageddon 2003 (*1/2) *RTA*
One month after eating an unnecessary loss at SummerSlam, Goldberg captured the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at Unforgiven in a career threatening match. Goldberg continued to feud with Hunter the entire time, and eventually he confronted SmackDown’s WWE Champion Brock Lesnar for the first time at Survivor Series. In that same show, Goldberg retained the gold in a solid match with Triple H before dropping the belt back to ‘The Game’ at Armageddon in a three way that also involved Kane. The SummerSlam loss really hurt his momentum, and it was felt during this title reign. If there’s one thing WCW always did better than WWE, that would be knowing how to book Bill Goldberg. This reign wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t bad. It was a thing that happened during a very meh time for RAW.
Rating: 3/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
Kurt Angle (WWE Championship, 15/12/2002 – 30/03/2003) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2005, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Eddie Guerrero (February 15, 2004 – June 27, 2004)
Televised matches: 18
Record: 10-4 (4 draws)
My match ratings:
Eddie Guerrero def. Brock Lesnar(c) – No Way Out 2004 (****1/2) *HR*
Eddie Guerrero(c) def. Kurt Angle – WrestleMania XX (****1/4) *HR*
Eddie Guerrero(c) def. Rey Mysterio – SmackDown March 18 2004 (***3/4) *R*
JBL def. Eddie Guerrero(c) by DQ – Judgment Day 2004 (***3/4) *R*
JBL def. Eddie Guerrero(c) in a Bullrope Match – The Great American Bash 2004 (***1/2) *R*
When Eddie Guerrero won the WWE Championship in February 2004, it truly was a special moment that no one thought would ever actually happen. After his win over Brock Lesnar at No Way Out, Eddie retained in another spectacular bout against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX. A feud with JBL followed, which ultimately saw Eddie drop the gold to him at Great American Bash. Many people don’t like this reign, and I agree that it wasn’t as great as it probably should’ve been. That doesn’t mean it was Eddie’s fault, though. In pro wrestling, it takes two to dance as well. And all of a sudden, as soon as Eddie won the title, SmackDown found itself without its two top heels (Brock Lesnar left and Kurt Angle broke his neck again) and Eddie was left on top feuding with the APA guy no one bought as a legit main-eventer. Eddie was always entertaining as champion, he was really fun to watch, and he could tell great stories and get people emotionally invested. Plus, all of his matches listed above are recommended. I don’t love this reign, but I don’t think it’s even close to being bad. It was solid.
Rating: 6/10
JBL (June 27, 2004 – April 3, 2005)
Televised matches: 29
Record: 16-11 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
JBL def. Eddie Guerrero(c) in a Bullrope Match – The Great American Bash 2004 (***1/2) *R*
JBL(c) def. Eddie Guerrero in a Steel Cage Match – SmackDown June 15 2004 (***3/4) *R*
The Undertaker def. JBL(c) by DQ – SummerSlam 2004 (*1/4) *RTA*
JBL(c) def. The Undertaker in a Last Ride Match – No Mercy 2004 (*1/2) *RTA*
JBL(c) def. Booker T – Survivor Series 2004 (**)
JBL(c) def. The Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero and Booker T – Armageddon 2004 (***1/2) *R*
JBL(c) def. Kurt Angle and Big Show – Royal Rumble 2005 (***1/4)
JBL(c) def. Big Show in a Steel Cage Barbed Wire Match – No Way Out 2005 (**1/2)
John Cena def. JBL(c) – WrestleMania 21 (**)
Speaking of said APA guy no one bought as a main-eventer, JBL started his feud with Eddie Guerrero over the title just a few weeks after working undercard matches with Faarooq, still as Bradshaw. At WrestleMania XX, he was apart of a forgettable four way tag match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Just like that, he was the top guy in wrestling – the WWE Champion. This was a very weird time. On one hand, JBL’s matches were mediocre at best and kind of always had the same finish with The Cabinet interfering. On the other hand, he could cut some amazing heel promos on TV. But still, I’d say it was still way too long and made SmackDown much less interesting than it was the prior year with Angle and Lesnar suplexing the shit out of each other and wrestling for an hour over the title. However, it was all to make a new star in the end, so I’ll be generous with my rating.
Rating: 5/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H (December 14, 2003 – March 14, 2004)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 2-2 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Goldberg(c) and Kane – Armageddon 2003 (*1/2) *RTA*
Triple H(c) draw. Shawn Michaels in a Last Man Standing Match – Royal Rumble 2004 (***1/2) *R*
Chris Benoit def. Triple H(c) and Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XX (*****) *HR*
In 2003, Triple H spent the entire first nine months of the year as World Heavyweight Champion. People were sick of him on top, but the title holder Goldberg was never supposed to take the belt to WrestleMania XX, as hwe was wrestling his last date on that night. Therefore, with WrestleMania on the horizon and everyone sick of him as champion, that could only mean one thing… it was the perfect time to put it on him again. The match with Shawn Michaels in San Antonio a few weeks after winning the belt was a five-star classic without a finish and their match at Royal Rumble 2004 was fine. However, this reign will always be memorable for one thing, and that’s Chris Benoit forcing ‘The Game’ to submit in the main-event of WrestleMania. And that’s why putting the title on Triple H for a while once again when everyone was sick of him was a great decison. This was perhaps his best reign with the Big Gold Belt.
Rating: 7/10
Chris Benoit (March 14, 2004 – August 15, 2004)
Televised matches: 26
Record: 19-6 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Chris Benoit def. Triple H(c) and Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XX (*****) *HR*
Chris Benoit(c) def. Triple H and Shawn Michaels – Backlash 2004 (****3/4) *HR*
Chris Benoit(c) def. Kane – Bad Blood 2004 (****) *HR*
Chris Benoit(c) def. Triple H – Vengeance 2004 (***1/2) *R*
Chris Benoit(c) def. Triple H – RAW July 26 2004 (***3/4) *R*
Randy Orton def. Chris Benoit(c) – SummerSlam 2004 (****1/4) *HR*
At WrestleMania XX, Benoit closed the show alongside his brother Eddie Guerrero, the WWE Champion, on top of the world. Unlike Eddie over on SmackDown, however, Benoit had established main-event talent to work with and had a much better reign, in my opinion. The rematch with Hunter and Shawn at Backlash, despite not being as memorable and emotional as WrestleMania, was still spectacular. So was his bout with Kane at Bad Blood, a back-and-forth contest which saw Benoit try multiple ways to fight back against the monster – it was easily one of the best pure non-gimmicked matches of Kane’s career. The feud with Triple H that came afterwards was not as good, though, as it involved a lot of Eugene for my taste. Eugene even won the Iron Man Match for Benoit… but their matches were still really good. Finally, the last match against Randy Orton helped ‘The Legend Killer’ a lot on his way to the top. He wasn’t great at promos, but he could tell the story using his wrestling insde the ropes. The moment he won the belt is memorable, the moment he lost it is memorable, all the matches are recommended and he even got to win the Tag Team Titles with Edge while he was World Champion! Remove the Eugene crap, and this is everything a title reign in wrestling should be.
Rating: 8/10
Randy Orton (August 15, 2004 – September 12, 2004)
Televised matches: 4
Record: 3-1
My match ratings:
Randy Orton def. Chris Benoit(c) – SummerSlam 2004 (****1/4) *HR*
Randy Orton(c) def. Chris Benoit – RAW Aug. 16, 2004 (****) *HR*
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c) – Unforgiven 2004 (**1/2)
When Randy Orton captured Chris Benoit’s World Championship and became the young title holder in WWE history, there was no stopping Randy Orton. He had one of the best Intercontinental Title reigns in ages earlier that year, had a spectacular feud and match with Mick Foley, worked with (and defeated) The Rock at WrestleMania XX, and in the summer wrestled awesome matches with Edge and Benoit. And then the feud with Triple H came, and Orton suddenly turned babyface as champion. A number of weeks later, he lost the title to Triple H at Unforgiven. The fans became more invested in Batista chasing Triple H, and all of a sudden Randy was just another babyface on the roster. If it wasn’t for that Undertaker feud in 2005, who knows what would’ve happened to him. Nope, this reign didn’t help anyone.
Rating: 3/10
Triple H (September 12, 2004 – December 6, 2004)
Televised matches: 10
Record: 4-5 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c) – Unforgiven 2004 (**1/2)
Team Orton def. Team Triple H – Survivor Series 2004 (***)
This reign is really weird, and I’m afraid I have very little to say about it. I was not a fan of the feud with Randy Orton, and the feud with Batista was in his fifth and last reign as World Champion in 2005. He did have an interesting mini-story with Edge and Chris Benoit, which ultimately saw the title get vacated in December. A solid but not very memorable match with Shawn Michaels at Taboo Tuesday happened in this reign too, but I just feel nothing stands out here. Plus, he didn’t really put anyone over in the end of his title reign (the belt was vacated) and he ended up becoming the next champion anyway. This was not necessarily bad, it was just sort of there.
Rating: 2/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
John Cena (WWE Championship, 17/09/2006 – 02/10/2007) 9
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2005, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
John Cena (April 3, 2005 – January 8, 2006)
Televised matches: 36
Record: 27-9
My match ratings:
John Cena def. JBL(c) – WrestleMania 21 (**)
John Cena(c) def. JBL in an I Quit Match – Judgment Day 2005 (****1/4) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. Chris Jericho and Christian – Vengeance 2005 (****) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. Chris Jericho – SummerSlam 2005 (***1/2) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Chris Jericho in a “You’re Fired” Match – RAW Aug. 22 2005 (***3/4) *R*
Kurt Angle def. John Cena(c) by DQ – Unforgiven 2005 (***1/4) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels – Taboo Tuesday 2005 (***1/4) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Kurt Angle – Survivor Series 2005 (***1/2) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Carlito and Chris Masters in an Elimination Chamber Match – New Year’s Revolution 2006 (**3/4)
Edge def. John Cena(c) in a MITB cash-in – New Year’s Revolution 2006 (N/R)
If you watched John Cena back in 2003 and 2004, it was quite obvious the then-United States Champion was going to be a huge star in the wrestling business. One year after kicking off the Grandest Stage Of Them All in Madison Square Garden, Cena finally ended JBL’s long reign as WWE Champion. Throughout his first reign, almost all of Cena’s matches were really good – JBL at Judgment Day exceeded everyone’s expectations and then some, and feuds with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle gave us some really good matches. The way this reign ended, with Edge cashing in Money in the Bank for the first time, was legendary and gave birth to an exciting new ways to create future heel champions.
Rating: 7/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H (January 9, 2005 – April 3, 2005)
Televised matches: 8
Record: 5-2 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Randy Orton, Batista, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Edge in an Elimination Chamber Match – New Year’s Revolution 2005 (***3/4) *R*
Triple H(c) def. Randy Orton – Royal Rumble 2005 (***)
Back in January 2005, Triple H had pretty much been the World Champion ever since September 2002 and it was more than time for the company to create a new star for good and take a break with ‘The Game’. However, this was without question one of his best reigns with the Big Gold Belt, winning the vacant title in the Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution and starting a fantastic storyline with Batista. After ending his (very disappointing) rivalry with Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble, Triple H dropped the gold to Batista at WrestleMania. Good stuff.
Batista(c) def. Triple H in a HIAC Match – Vengeance 2005 (****1/2) *HR*
JBL def. Batista(c) by DQ – The Great American Bash 2005 (**)
Batista(c) def. JBL in a Street Fight – SummerSlam 2005 (***)
Batista(c) def. Eddie Guerrero – No Mercy 2005 (***3/4) *R*
Batista def. Jonathan Coachman in a Street Fight – Taboo Tesday 2005 (DUD) *RTA*
Team SmackDown def. Team RAW – Survivor Series 2005 (***1/4)
Kane & Big Show def. Batista & Rey Mysterio – Armageddon 2005 (**)
After leaving Evolution and dethroning his former mentor at WrestleMania 21, Batista beat Triple H two more times (the second being in that awesome Hell in a Cell Match at Vengeance) before moving to SmackDown. Over on the blue brand, Big Dave was involved in some really weird matches and/or finishes (a street fight with Coach!? On PPV??), but he always played his role quite well. In case you want to compare his first reign with Cena’s, he didn’t have as many great matches as Cena did, but he received much better reactions than Cena and was a more enjoyable character than Cena was on TV at that time. Plus, that feud with Eddie was something else! This was a really good reign that sadly ended due to injury.
Rating: 7/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
John Cena (WWE Championship, 17/09/2006 – 02/10/2007) 9
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2006, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Edge (January 8, 2006 – January 29, 2006)
Televised matches: 4
Record: 2-2
My match ratings:
Edge def. John Cena(c) in a MITB cash-in – New Year’s Revolution 2006 (N/R)
Edge(c) def. Ric Flair in a TLC Match – RAW Jan. 16 2006 (****) *HR*
John Cena def. Edge(c) – Royal Rumble 2006 (**1/2)
Despite being very short, Edge’s first reign as WWE Champion is also a very memorable one. After Cena’s win in the Elimination Chamber Match, Edge came in and became the first wrestler to ever use the Money in the Bank contract to become the WWE Champion. And then, during his three weeks as champion, his live sex celebration “segment” with Lita did one of the best RAW ratings in years and he also had a spectacular TLC Match with Ric Flair for Edge’s gold. Finally, Edge lost the title back to Cena at Royal Rumble before moving on to his great feud with Mick Foley. Yes, it was short but I couldn’t care less. This reign was one for the ages.
Rating: 8/10
John Cena (January 29, 2006 – June 11, 2006)
Televised matches: 22
Record: 15-6 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
John Cena def. Edge(c) – Royal Rumble 2006 (**1/2)
John Cena(c) def. Triple H – WrestleMania 22 (***3/4) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Triple H and Edge – Backlash 2006 (****1/2) *HR*
Rob Van Dam def. John Cena(c) in a MITB cash-in Hardcore Match – ECW One Night Stand 2006 (****) *HR*
Another solid reign for John Cena, at least when it comes to his work in the ring. At this point I was getting less and less into Cena as a character on TV, but he never failed to deliver in the ring. Sure, his match with Edge at the Rumble was just not good for whatever reason (despite the incredible chemistry the two had), but all the other matches are recommended. Not his best reign, but still memorable enough and good enough. Speaking of memorable, his loss to Rob Van Dam was probably Cena’s most memorable title loss of them all.
Rating: 6/10
Rob Van Dam (June 11, 2006 – July 3, 2006)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 4-1 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Rob Van Dam def. John Cena(c) in a MITB cash-in Hardcore Match – ECW One Night Stand 2006 (****) *HR*
Rob Van Dam(c) def. Edge – Vengeance 2006 (***1/2) *R*
Rob Van Dam(c) def. Kurt Angle for the ECW Championship – ECW June 27 2006 (***1/2) *R*
Edge def. Rob Van Dam(c) and John Cena – RAW July 3 2006 (***1/2) *R*
Let’s all get up together and describe this title reign by chanting: WHAT. A. SHAME. I really mean that, as RVD deserved a run with the WWE Championship perhaps more than anyone else. As a kid, I remember very well watching RAW circa 2003 just to watch Van Dam. I’ve been a mark for RVD ever since and a part of me will ever be, and his matches were really good while he was champion but then… it all ended, due to stupidity. And he has no one to blame but ROB. VAN. DAM.
Rating: 3/10
Edge (July 3, 2006 – September 17, 2006)
Televised matches: 10
Record: 5-5
My match ratings:
Edge def. Rob Van Dam(c) and John Cena – RAW July 3 2006 (***1/2) *R*
Edge(c) def. John Cena – SummerSlam 2006 (***3/4) *R*
John Cena def. Edge(c) in a TLC Match – Unforgiven 2006 (****1/2) *HR*
Turns out the nickname “The Ultimate Opportunist” was more than just a wrestling gimmick, as Edge was the perfect character at the perfect time to capture the WWE Championship after Rob Van Dam’s incident. He immediately continued his feud with John Cena, slapping his father and beating Cena at SummerSlam before losing the belt back to Cena in their famous TLC Match at Unforgiven. Edge did a perfect job of putting Cena over during this reign, not to mention his awesome heel work and promos on TV during this time. Jeff Hardy returning to WWE to confront Edge, Cena throwing him into the Long Island Sound, the signature title belt… Good stuff!
Rating: 7/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Kurt Angle (January 13, 2006 – April 2, 2006)
Televised matches: 15
Record: 8-6 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Kurt Angle wins Battle Royal for the vacant title – SmackDown Jan. 13 2006 (N/R)
Kurt Angle(c) def. Mark Henry – Royal Rumble 2006 (1/2*) *RTA*
Kurt Angle(c) def. The Undertaker – No Way Out 2006 (****3/4) *HR*
The Undertaker def. Kurt Angle(c) by DQ – SmackDown March 2 2006 (****1/4) *HR*
Rey Mysterio def. Kurt Angle(c) and Randy Orton – WrestleMania 22 (***1/2) *R*
When RAW’s Kurt Angle suddenly appeared on SmackDown and won the World Heavyweight Championship recently vacated by Batista, everyone was shocked. The match with Mark Henry absolutely sucked (in all honesty, name one good Mark Henry match before his “Hall of Pain” run!) but the rest was pure gold. The match with Undertaker at No Way Out was a thing of beauty, and so was their rematch on SmackDown. Finally, at WrestleMania, Angle dropped the title to Rey Mysterio in a short yet fun three way that also included Randy Orton. Angle was intense during this reign, and he was just fun to watch.
Rating: 7/10
Rey Mysterio (April 2, 2006 – July 23, 2006)
Televised matches: 18
Record: 9-7 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Rey Mysterio def. Kurt Angle(c) and Randy Orton – WrestleMania 22 (***1/2) *R*
Rey Mysterio(c) def. JBL – Judgment Day 2006 (***1/4)
Rey Mysterio(c) def. JBL – Title vs. Career Match – SmackDown May 26 2006 (***1/2) *R*
Kurt Angle def. Rey Mysterio by count-out – SmackDown June 2 2006 (****1/4) *HR*
Rey Mysterio(c) draw. Sabu – ECW One Night Stand 2006 (**3/4)
King Booker def. Rey Mysterio(c) – The Great American Bash 2006 (***)
During Rey’s run as World Heavyweight Champion in 2006, it was quite clear the company wanted Rey nowhere near the title. He suffered four clean pinfall losses (and one clean count-out loss to Kurt Angle), he was absolutely destroyed by everyone on a weekly basis, and his wins were never convincing. The highlight of his reign was probably his feud with JBL, but apart from that this was really bad. When Rey finally lost the title to King Booker, it was long overdue. It was literally sad to see a World Champion being booked this way.
Rating: 2/10
King Booker (July 23, 2006 – November 26, 2006)
Televsied matches: 20
Record: 8-12
My match ratings:
King Booker def. Rey Mysterio(c) – The Great American Bash 2006 (***)
Batista def. King Booker(c) by DQ – SummerSlam 2006 (1/4*) *RTA*
King Booker(c) def. Batista, Bobby Lashley and Finlay – No Mercy 2006 (****) *HR*
King Booker(c) def. John Cena and Big Show – Cyber Sunday 2006 (***)
Batista def. King Booker(c) – Survivor Series 2006 (**)
Don’t let that win/loss record fool you – Booker was a heel, and literally half of those losses were by DQ. Another four were in tag team match, which probably saw a member of Booker’s Court get pinned. After years of teaming with Goldust, “people like you” promos and being an undercarder on RAW, moving to SmackDown was the best thing that could’ve happened to Booker T. Somehow, he was still motivated, and he managed to have a great feud with Chris Benoit over the US Title before winning the King of the Ring in 2006. As champion, he was a spectacular heel and, above all else, he was original. His reign was very enjoyable. ALL HAIL KING BOOKAH!
Rating: 6/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
John Cena (WWE Championship, 17/09/2006 – 02/10/2007) 9
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2007, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
John Cena (September 17, 2006 – October 2, 2007)
Televised matches: 68
Record: 50-14 (4 draws)
My match ratings:
John Cena def. Edge(c) in a TLC Match – Unforgiven 2006 (****1/2) *HR*
King Booker(c) def. John Cena and Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship – Cyber Sunday 2006 (***)
John Cena & Batista def. King Booker & Finlay – Armageddon 2006 (**3/4)
John Cena(c) def. Umaga – New Year’s Revolution 2007 (***)
John Cena(c) def. Umaga in a Last Man Standing Match – Royal Rumble 2007 (****) *HR*
John Cena & Shawn Michaels def. Batista & The Undertaker – No Way Out 2007 (***1/2) *R*
John Cena(c) def. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 23 (****1/4) *HR*
Shawn Michaels def. John Cena – RAW April 23 2007 (****1/2) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton – Backlash 2007 (****1/4) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. The Great Khali – Judgment Day 2007 (*1/2) *RTA*
John Cena(c) def. The Great Khali in a Falls Count Anywhere Match – One Night Stand 2007 (***)
John Cena(c) def. Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, King Booker and Mick Foley – Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007 (***1/2)
John Cena(c) def. Bobby Lashley – The Great American Bash 2007 (****) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. Randy Orton – SummerSlam 2007 (****1/4) *HR*
Randy Orton def. John Cena(c) by DQ – Unforgiven 2007 (*) *RTA*
Out of John Cena’s sixteen World Title reigns, this is probably the best one. His reign started in that fantastic TLC Match against Edge at Unforgiven, where Cena beat ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ to end their feud and win the gold. Unfortunately, Cena wouldn’t defend the belt on PPV in 2006, instead feuding with… god help us… Kevin Federline. However, once the new year arrived, Cena was incredible no matter who he was in there with. Umaga, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton – Cena had fantastic matches for the WWE Championship with all of them in 2007. He even managed to have a watchable match with The Great Khali! Cena can’t wrestle? This reign proved otherwise.
Rating: 9/10
Randy Orton (October 7, 2007)
Televised matches: 1
Record: 0-1
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c) – No Mercy 2007 (**1/2)
Randy Orton was scheduled to challenge John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match at this PPV. However, Cena got injured the prior week, and Orton was literally given the belt here. He then lost it to Triple H in the night’s opener. And that was Randy Orton’s first reign with the WWE Championship.
Rating: -/10
Triple H (October 7, 2007)
Televised matches: 3
Record: 2-1
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c) – No Mercy 2007 (**1/2)
Triple H(c) def. Umaga – No Mercy 2007 (**)
Randy Orton def. Triple H in a Last Man Standing Match – No Mercy 2007 (****1/4) *HR*
Much like Randy Orton, Triple H won and lost the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007. After winning the title from Orton and retaining in the midcard in a scheduled bout against Umaga, Triple H lost the belt in the main-event back to ‘The Legend Killer’ after a violent Last Man Standing encounter.
Rating: -/10
Randy Orton (October 7, 2007 – April 27, 2008)
Televised matches: 30
Record: 10-18 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Randy Orton def. Triple H in a Last Man Standing Match – No Mercy 2007 (****1/4) *HR*
Shawn Michaels def. Randy Orton(c) by DQ – Cyber Sunday 2007 (***)
Randy Orton(c) def. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 2007 (****1/2) *HR*
Chris Jericho def. Randy Orton(c) by DQ – Armageddon 2007 (***1/4)
Randy Orton(c) def. Jeff Hardy – Royal Rumble 2008 (***1/4)
John Cena def. Randy Orton(c) by DQ – No Way Out 2008 (**)
Randy Orton(c) def. Triple H and John Cena – WrestleMania XXIV (***1/4)
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c), John Cena and JBL in an Elimination Match – Backlash 2008 (***)
Much like Cena’s long reign, this was also one of Randy Orton’s best reigns – probably the best apart from his work with Christian in 2011. However, the reign was far from being perfect. After spending the majority of 2007 writing legendary wrestlers off TV such as Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Dusty Rhodes and others, all of a sudden Orton was a chickensh*t champion who needed to get himself DQ’d. Why? Plus, that win/loss record doesn’t help. The reign (“age of Orton”) was really good, but imagine if he had continued to win convincigly and even retired Ric Flair at WrestleMania. What if!
Rating: 7/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Batista (November 26, 2006 – April 1, 2007)
Televised matches: 14
Record: 12-2
My match ratings:
Batista def. King Booker(c) – Survivor Series 2006 (**)
John Cena & Batista def. King Booker & Finlay – Armageddon 2006 (**3/4)
Batista(c) def. Mr. Kennedy – Royal Rumble 2007 (**3/4)
John Cena & Shawn Michaels def. Batista & The Undertaker – No Way Out 2007 (***1/2) *R*
The Undertaker def. Batista(c) – WrestleMania 23 (****1/4) *HR*
Say what you want about Dave Batista, but he always looked like a World Champion. He always moved like a World Champion. And, most importantly, he was always booked like a World Champion. The first few months of this reign weren’t anything more than just mediocre, but once Undertaker won the Royal Rumble and their feud started… it was everything but mediocre! Their segments on TV were exciting, and their WrestleMania match exceeded everyone’s expectations. Their feud would continue, but WrestleMania marked the end of ‘The Animal’s second reign as WWE World Champion.
Rating: 7/10
The Undertaker (April 1, 2007 – May 11, 2007)
Televised matches: 7
Record: 4-1 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
The Undertaker def. Batista(c) – WrestleMania 23 (****1/4) *HR*
The Undertaker(c) draw. Batista in a Last Man Standing Match – Backlash 2007 (****) *HR*
The Undertaker(c) draw. Batista in a Steel Cage Match – SmackDown May 11 2007 (***1/2) *R*
Edge def. The Undertaker(c) in a MITB cash-in – SmackDown May 11 2007 (N/R)
After Undertaker won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 23, his reign only lasted a little over a month. However, that means nothing. All of ‘Taker’s title matches were spectacular (particularly the work with Batista), before dropping the belt to Edge and starting to plant the seeds for the following year’s WrestleMania. This was a short but fantastic title reign.
Rating: 7/10
Edge (May 11, 2007 – July 20, 2007)
Televised matches: 11
Record: 6-5
My match ratings:
Edge def. The Undertaker(c) in a MITB cash-in – SmackDown May 11 2007 (N/R)
Edge(c) def. Batista – Judgment Day 2007 (**1/2)
Edge(c) def. Batista in a Steel Cage Match – One Night Stand 2007 (**1/4)
Edge def. Chris Benoit – SmackDown June 8 2007 (****) *HR*
Edge(c) def. Batista in a Last Chance Match – Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007 (***)
When Edge moved from RAW to SmackDown and won the World Title, Undertaker went on hiatus due to injury and Edge feuded with Batista. Their matches were nothing special, but Edge managed to get fantastic babyface reactions for Batista, who’d recently played heel-in-peril in his feud with Undertaker. With that said, he did a good job as the heel as far as I’m concerned.
Rating: 5/10
The Great Khali (July 20, 2007 – September 16, 2007)
Televsied matches: 10
Record: 5-5
My match ratings:
The Great Khali wins Battle Royal – SmackDown July 20 2007 (N/R)
The Great Khali(c) def. Batista and Kane – The Great American Bash 2007 (1/2*) *RTA*
Batista def. The Great Khali(c) by DQ – SummerSlam 2007 (DUD) *RTA*
Batista def. The Great Khali(c) and Rey Mysterio – Unforgiven 2007 (**)
I’m going to make this short and very brief. Everything has been said about The Great Khali’s title reign – he couldn’t cut a promo and his matches were horrible. So was this reign.
Rating: 1/10
Batista (September 16, 2007 – December 16, 2007)
Televised matches: 15
Record: 12-1 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Batista def. The Great Khali(c) and Rey Mysterio – Unforgiven 2007 (**)
Batista(c) def. The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison Match – No Mercy 2007 (**3/4)
Batista(c) def. The Undertaker – Cyber Sunday 2007 (***3/4) *R*
Batista(c) def. The Undertaker in a HIAC Match – Survivor Series 2007 (****1/4) *HR*
Edge def. Batista(c) and The Undertaker – Armageddon 2007 (***)
Batista finally won back the World Championship from The Great Khali at Unforgiven 2007. Muchlike John Cena earlier in the year, Batista was able to have a decent match with Khali at No Mercy, before restarting his feud with The Undertaker immediately afterwards. Batista picked up a clean win over ‘The Deadman’ at Cyber Sunday to tie the score (‘Taker had won at WrestleMania) before surviving a great Hell in a Cell bout thanks to Edge. He’d drop the gold to Edge at the next PPV, who went on to feud with Undertaker heading into WrestleMania XXIV. Another solid reign for ‘The Animal’.
Rating: 6/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
John Cena (WWE Championship, 17/09/2006 – 02/10/2007) 9
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2008, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H (April 27, 2008 – November 23, 2008)
Televised matches: 29
Record: 20-7 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Randy Orton(c), John Cena and JBL in an Elimination Match – Backlash 2008 (***)
Triple H(c) def. Randy Orton in a Steel Cage Match – Judgment Day 2008 (***1/2)
Triple H(c) def. Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing Match – One Night Stand 2008 (**)
Triple H(c) def. John Cena – Night of Champions 2008 (***1/2) *R*
Triple H(c) def. Edge – The Great American Bash 2008 (***1/4)
Triple H(c) def. The Great Khali – SummerSlam 2008 (*1/4) *RTA*
Triple H(c) def. Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, MVP and The Brian Kendrick in a Championship Scramble – Unforgiven 2008 (***)
Triple H(c) def. Jeff Hardy – No Mercy 2008 (****) *HR*
Edge def. Triple H(c) and Vladimir Kozlov – Survivor Series 2008 (1/4*) *RTA*
After unsuccessfully challenging for Randy Orton’s WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV, ‘The Game’ went on to win the gold at the following PPV a number of weeks later, in another multi person match. He continued to feud with Orton until ‘The Legend Killer’ left due to injury in June 2008, while Triple H and the title moved to SmackDown. He’d retain the title over John Cena in a WrestleMania 22 rematch and went on to be a fourth wheel in the Edge/Undertaker/Vickie Guerrero/Alicia Fox storyline, retaining over the Canadian at The Bash. His reign really got going once he started feuding with Jeff Hardy, playing heel-in-peril in most of their bouts. Triple H and Hardy had some really good matches in late 2008, particularly at No Mercy, but it would ultimately be Edge winning the belt at Survivor Series during that giant clusterfuck against Vladimir Kozlov at Survivor Series. A low five out of ten for a solid yet not memorable reign that only got going once Jeff Hardy started chasing.
Rating: 5/10
Edge (November 23, 2008 – December 14, 2008)
Televised matches: 4
Record: 2-2
My match ratings:
Edge def. Triple H(c) and Vladimir Kozlov – Survivor Series 2008 (1/4*) *RTA*
Jeff Hardy def. Edge(c) and Triple H – Armageddon 2008 (****1/4) *HR*
Edge won the WWE title at Survivor Series 2008 in a nice swerve to make the fans want Jeff’s title win more and more. That was a great decision, and it was a moment well worth of main-eventing WrestleMania XXV. Instead, WWE decided to do it right away at the B (or even C) level PPV Armageddon, which was still a fantastic moment but imagine what if! There was nothing Edge could do here, it was a very short reign. At least the Armageddon match was great.
Rating: 2/10
Jeff Hardy (December 14, 2008 – January 25, 2009)
Televised matches: 5
Record: 4-1
My match ratings:
Jeff Hardy def. Edge(c) and Triple H – Armageddon 2008 (****1/4) *HR*
Edge def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a No DQ Match – Royal Rumble 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Jeff Hardy spent the entire year 2008 chasing the WWE Championship, starting at the first PPV of the year (Royal Rumble against Randy Orton) and culminating at the very last one. Once he finally won the belt, though, he lost it immediately at the next PPV to Edge thanks to Matt Hardy. I love Matt, way more than I do Jeff, but what a waste of a title reign and an entire year worth of build just to set up a disappointing WrestleMania program between the two. To make it all even more confusing, Jeff lost at WrestleMania, which makes zero sense at all. A giant waste of a storyline and a title reign that had everything to be much more.
Rating: 3/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Edge (December 16, 2007 – March 30, 2008)
Televised matches: 13
Record: 8-5
My match ratings:
Edge def. Batista(c) and The Undertaker – Armageddon 2007 (***)
Edge(c) def. Rey Mysterio – Royal Rumble 2008 (***3/4) *R*
Edge(c) def. Rey Mysterio – No Way Out 2008 (***)
The Undertaker def. Edge(c) – WrestleMania XXIV (****1/2) *HR*
Edge started his feud with Undertaker way back in May 2007, cashing in Money in the Bank to win the World belt and jumping from RAW to SmackDown in the process. Edge suffered an injury, though, and had to vacate the gold. He made his return at Survivor Series, costing ‘Taker the title and restarting their feud. Edge would win it back the next PPV, retain in a series of good matches with Rey Rey and finally drop it to ‘The Deadman’ in the main-event of WrestleMania. All while being the world’s most detestable heel and cutting fantastic promos with his Familia on SmackDown. Spectacular reign.
Rating: 8/10
The Undertaker (March 30, 2008 – May 2, 2008)
Televised matches: 9
Record: 5-1 (3 draws)
My match ratings:
The Undertaker def. Edge(c) – WrestleMania XXIV (****1/2) *HR*
The Undertaker(c) def. Edge – Backlash 2008 (***1/2) *R*
After beating Edge at ‘Mania, Undertaker defeated the Canadian in a rematch at Backlash. ‘Taker won both matches with his Hell’s Gate submission move, which Vickie Guerrero banned on the following episode of SmackDown before vacating the title. And that was it for Undertaker’s reign, only a month after winning the belt.
Rating: 2/10
Edge (June 1, 2008 – June 30, 2008)
Televised matches: 7
Record: 4-3
My match ratings:
Edge def. The Undertaker in a TLC Match – One Night Stand 2008 (****) *HR*
Edge(c) def. Batista – Night of Champions 2008 (***)
CM Punk def. Edge(c) in a MITB cash-in – RAW June 30 2008 (N/R)
The ‘Rated-R Superstar’ won back the vacant World title against Undertaker in his match type, TLC, at One Night Stand. He’d retain the belt against Batista at Night of Champions, before losing it to RAW’s CM Punk the following night via Money in the Bank cash-in. Another very short reign.
Rating: 2/10
CM Punk (June 30, 2008 – September 7, 2008)
Televised matches: 12
Record: 7-4 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
CM Punk def. Edge(c) in a MITB cash-in – RAW June 30 2008 (N/R)
CM Punk(c) draw. Batista – The Great American Bash 2008 (**1/2)
CM Punk(c) def. JBL – SummerSlam 2008 (***)
In his first night as a RAW wrestler, the former ECW Champion won the World title by cashing in Money in the Bank on Edge. To say that it was way too soon and that WWE didn’t see anything in Charles Manson Punk as champion would be a huge understatement, as Punk went on to retain the gold against Batista via draw. The only times Punk was able to retain his belt via pinfall were against JBL, who was not a main-eventer at this point in his career. Punk didn’t even get to lose the title in a proper match, being attacked by The Legacy instead and replaced in the Championship Scramble by Chris Jericho.
Rating: 2/10
Chris Jericho (September 7, 2008 – October 26, 2008)
Televised matches: 13
Record: 6-6 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Chris Jericho def. Batista, Rey Mysterio, Kane and JBL in a Championship Scramble – Unforgiven 2008 (**3/4)
Chris Jericho(c) def. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match – No Mercy 2008 (*****) *HR*
Batista def. Chris Jericho(c) – Cyber Sunday 2008 (***1/4)
At this point, there was no other heel in the entire wrestling business that could touch Chris Jericho. He won the title during his great feud with Shawn Michaels, and the two would go at it in a Ladder Match (personally my favorite ever) at No Mercy. The next PPV was Cyber Sunday, which saw Steve Austin be chosen as special referee and pretty much forcing the company to book a babyface ending and giving the belt to Batista for a few days. This had legs to go all the way to WrestleMania XXV, but it was still spectacular while it lasted.
Rating: 7/10
Batista (October 26, 2008 – November 3, 2008)
Televised matches: 3
Record: 2-1
My match ratings:
Batista def. Chris Jericho(c) – Cyber Sunday 2008 (***1/4)
Chris Jericho def. Batista(c) in a Steel Cage Match – RAW Nov. 3 2008 (***)
Batista only won the title at Cyber Sunday because Steve Austin was the referee and the babyface had to win. Eight days later, the gold was back with Chris Jericho. A waste of a title reign.
Rating: 1/10
Chris Jericho (November 3, 2008 – November 23, 2008)
Televised matches: 3
Record: 2-1
My match ratings:
Chris Jericho def. Batista(c) in a Steel Cage Match – RAW Nov. 3 2008 (***)
John Cena def. Chris Jericho(c) – Survivor Series 2008 (***)
Jericho won the title only to drop it to the returning John Cena less than three weeks later at Survivor Series. It was really enjoyable, but it lasted a cup of coffee.
Rating: 3/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2010, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Edge (January 25, 2009 – February 15, 2009)
Televised matches: 3
Record: 1-2
My match ratings:
Edge def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a No DQ Match – Royal Rumble 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Triple H def. Edge(c), The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, Big Show and Vladimir Kozlov in an Elimination Chamber Match – No Way Out 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
The championships in WWE were a big hot potato at this point, changing hands on almost every PPV. That makes it impossible for anyone to stand out as champion, and this was one of those very brief reigns. Edge won Jeff Hardy’s title at the Royal Rumble in a No DQ Match thanks to Matt Hardy, and at the next PPV was the first eliminated in SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match. Triple H would defeat Undertaker in an exciting finale, and he’d take SmackDown’s belt to WrestleMania in a feud with RAW’s Randy Orton. What a weird time… Edge does have two recommended matches out of two in this reign, though, and that counts.
Rating: 3/10
Triple H (February 15, 2009 – April 26, 2009)
Televised matches: 10
Record: 5-3 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Triple H def. Edge(c), The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, Big Show and Vladimir Kozlov in an Elimination Chamber Match – No Way Out 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
Triple H(c) def. Randy Orton – WrestleMania XXV (**) *RTA*
Hunter won his last WWE World Title (well, until 2016) in the aforementioned Chamber Match at No Way Out and his feud with Randy Orton had potential, but from there it only went downhill. The WrestleMania match with Orton was anticlimactic and, in the most WWE thing ever, Triple H retained at the biggest show of the year only to then drop the gold to the same opponent (Orton) at the next PPV… in a tag match. Words can’t explain the logic, and neither can I.
Batista def. Randy Orton(c) by DQ – Judgment Day 2009 (***)
Batista def. Randy Orton(c) in a Steel Cage Match – Extreme Rules 2009 (*1/2) *RTA*
Not only does that record look bad for a World Champion – two wins out of nine matches, with one of those being by DQ and the other in the Backlash tag match – but this reign ws a whole bunch of nothing. A feud with Batista would follow, where Orton would retain via DQ loss at Judgment Day before dropping the gold to Batista in one of the most average Cage Matches ever, which Batista won despite being injured anyway. Next.
Rating: 2/10
Batista (June 7, 2009 – June 9, 2009)
Televised matches: 1
Record: 1-0
My match ratings:
Batista def. Randy Orton(c) in a Steel Cage Match – Extreme Rules 2009 (*1/2) *RTA*
Batista won the title despite being injured, and then he was written off TV in an angle the next night on RAW which saw The Legacy break his arm. The company announced the next day on WWE.com that the title was now vacated. Nice way to make the top title more meaningless.
Rating: -/10
Randy Orton (June 15, 2009 – September 13, 2009)
Televised matches: 18
Record: 10-6 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Randy Orton def. Triple H, John Cena and Big Show – RAW June 15 2009 (***1/4)
Randy Orton(c) def. Triple H in a 3 Stages Of Hell Match – The Bash 2009 (***)
Randy Orton(c) def. Triple H and John Cena – Night of Champions 2009 (***1/4)
Randy Orton(c) def. John Cena – SummerSlam 2009 (**) *RTA*
John Cena def. Randy Orton(c) in an I Quit Match – Breaking Point 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Just eight days after losing the title to Batista, Orton was the WWE Champion yet again. He won it in a four way match on RAW and went on to retain in a decent but not impressive Three Stages of Hell Match against Triple H. John Cena would soon be added and Orton would beat both at July’s Night of Champions PPV, and from there Orton feuded with Cena. A bad and ridiculously overbooked match at SummerSlam saw Orton retain after the match was restarted three times, and Orton lost to Cena in an I Quit Match a few weeks later. His matches were solid, apart from SummerSlam, and his reign was solid as well.
Rating: 5/10
John Cena (September 13, 2009 – October 4, 2009)
Televised matches: 7
Record: 4-2 (1 draw)
My math ratings:
John Cena def. Randy Orton(c) in an I Quit Match – Breaking Point 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Randy Orton def. John Cena(c) in a HIAC Match – Hell in a Cell 2009 (**3/4)
After one solid reign, back to the game of hot potato we went. Cena won the title in the I Quit Match at Breaking Point, only to lose it less than a month later inside Hell in a Cell. The I Quit Match was really good, though, so there’s that. Apart from it, way too short and quite meaningless reign.
Record: 2/10
Randy Orton (October 4, 2009 – October 25, 2009)
Televised matches: 4
Record: 2-2
My match ratings:
Randy Orton def. John Cena(c) in a HIAC Match – Hell in a Cell 2009 (**3/4)
John Cena def. Randy Orton(c) in an Iron Man Match – Bragging Rights 2009 (****) *HR*
What I said about Cena’s reign in the last entry can be said here too. Very short and meaningless reign as the hot potato goes, but at least there was one really good match. Next.
Rating: 2/10
John Cena (October 25, 2009 – December 13, 2009)
Televised matches: 8
Record: 6-2
My match ratings:
John Cena def. Randy Orton(c) in an Iron Man Match – Bragging Rights 2009 (****) *HR*
John Cena(c) def. Triple H and Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 2009 (***3/4) *R*
Sheamus def. John Cena(c) in a Tables Match – TLC 2009 (***)
Cena came out of the endless Orton feud with the belt to end that game of hot potato, but a new one would begin shortly afterwards. The three way against DX was really fun and the match with Sheamus was solid, but it was yet another short reign from that year.
Rating: 3/10
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
John Cena (November 23, 2008 – February 15, 2009)
Televised matches: 15
Record: 12-3
My match ratings:
John Cena def. Chris Jericho(c) – Survivor Series 2008 (***)
John Cena(c) def. Chris Jericho – Armageddon 2008 (***1/4)
John Cena(c) def. JBL – Royal Rumble 2009 (**)
Edge def. John Cena(c), Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Mike Knox in an Elimination Chamber Match – No Way Out 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
John Cena won the World Title in his first match back from neck injury, ending Chris Jericho’s awesome heel run. Jericho really should’ve kept the title all the way to WrestleMania XXV and lose it to either Cena or Jeff Hardy, but instead Cena won it and Jericho went on to feud with multiple Legends. Cena went on to beat Jericho in a rematch before being the third wheel in the Shawn Michaels/JBL feud, and then lost it in the Elimination Chamber Match to Edge. Not bad, not good. This existed.
Rating: 3/10
Edge (February 15, 2009 – April 5, 2009)
Televised matches: 6
Record: 2-2 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
Edge def. John Cena(c), Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Mike Knox in an Elimination Chamber Match – No Way Out 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
John Cena def. Edge(c) and Big Show – WrestleMania XXV (***1/4)
Let the game of hot potato begin! SmackDown wrestler Edge won RAW’s World Title just a few hours after losing his WWE Championship, and he’d go on to WrestleMania in a three way against RAW’s John Cena and SmackDown’s Big Show. The way Show got involved? By kissing Vickie Guerrero on TV… let’s not even talk about that. The match at WrestleMania was fine, and that would be the end of Edge’s reign. A very confusing reign.
Rating: 2/10
John Cena (April 5, 2009 – April 26, 2009)
Televised matches: 5
Record: 4-1
My match ratings:
John Cena def. Edge(c) and Big Show – WrestleMania XXV (***1/4)
Edge def. John Cena(c) in a Last Man Standing Match – Backlash 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
Another really short reign, but a very memorable one at least to me. Cena won the belt at WrestleMania by pinning Big Show and continued the feud with Edge heading into the next PPV, which would see both guys go at it in a Last Man Standing match. During the build up to that match, Cena and Edge had that spectacular segment on ‘The Cutting Edge’ that saw Edge say he hated everything about Cena. Then, the two wrestled a spectacular match at the PPV that would be won by Edge thanks to The Big Show. Very good while it lasted, but ultimately way too short.
Rating: 3/10
Edge (April 26, 2009 – June 7, 2009)
Televised matches: 9
Record: 5-4
My match ratings:
Edge def. John Cena(c) in a Last Man Standing Match – Backlash 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
Edge(c) def. Jeff Hardy – Judgment Day 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Jeff Hardy def. Edge(c) in a Ladder Match – Extreme Rules 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
Immediately after winning the title from John Cena in that spectacular match at Backlash, Edge restarted his feud with Jeff Hardy from earlier that year. The two wrestled a good match at Judgment Day that saw Edge retain thanks to Matt Hardy, and then they’d go on to have a spectacular Ladder Match at Extreme Rules where Hardy would finally dethrone ‘The Rated R Superstar’. Apart from a number of unnecessary clean losses on TV to Money in the Bank holder CM Punk (who was about to turn heel anyway), Edge’s last World Championship reign as a heel was pretty solid.
Rating: 5/10
Jeff Hardy (June 7, 2009)
Televised matches: 2
Record: 1-1
My match ratings:
Jeff Hardy def. Edge(c) in a Ladder Match – Extreme Rules 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
CM Punk def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a MITB cash-in – Extreme Rules 2009 (N/R)
Jeff Hardy won his second World Championship from Edge in the Ladder Match at Extreme Rules. A few minutes later, CM Punk’s music played and he cashed in his Money in the Bank to win the title and start his slow heel turn. And that would be the start of their fantastic feud.
Rating: -/10
CM Punk (June 7, 2009 – July 26, 2009)
Televised matches: 12
Record: 4-7 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
CM Punk def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a MITB cash-in – Extreme Rules 2009 (N/R)
CM Punk(c) def. Jeff Hardy and Edge – RAW June 15 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Jeff Hardy def. CM Punk(c) by DQ – The Bash 2009 (**1/2)
Jeff Hardy def. CM Punk(c) – Night of Champions 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Now we’re talking! When he won the Money in the Bank for a second straight year at WrestleMania XXV, Punk was still the same exciting babyface but he lacked that little extra something. Once he cashed it in the second time on Jeff Hardy, just because it was Jeff and his popularity helped Punk big time. He started a slow heel turn, kick the referee “by mistake” instead of Jeff at The Bash due to an “eye injury” before finally turning heel. A really good rematch at Night of Champions would follow, won by Hardy so he could have one last World Title reign before leaving. This reign was very enjoyable and made CM Punk.
Rating: 6/10
Jeff Hardy (July 26, 2009 – August 23, 2009)
Televised matches: 7
Record: 4-2 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
Jeff Hardy def. CM Punk(c) – Night of Champions 2009 (***1/2) *R*
Jeff Hardy(c) def. John Morrison – SmackDown July 31 2009 (***3/4) *R*
CM Punk def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a TLC Match – SummerSlam 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
This was easily Jeff Hardy’s best World Championship reign of his three. Hardy was incredibly popular at this point, and he had really solid matches during his month as champion. The feud with CM Punk was obviously still going on, but he also had a spectacular match with John Morrison on an episode of SmackDown. He ultimately dropped the title to Punk in a fantastic TLC bout at SummerSlam, and just a number of days later he wrestled his final WWE match in almost eight years.
Rating: 5/10
CM Punk (August 23, 2009 – October 4, 2009)
Televised matches: 8
Record: 4-3 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
CM Punk def. Jeff Hardy(c) in a TLC Match – SummerSlam 2009 (****1/2) *HR*
CM Punk(c) def. Jeff Hardy in a Steel Cage Match – SmackDown Aug. 28 2009 (****1/4) *HR*
CM Punk(c) def. The Undertaker in a Submission Match – Breaking Point 2009 (**) *RTA*
The Undertaker def. CM Punk(c) in a HIAC Match – Hell in a Cell 2009 (**3/4)
Immediately after regaining the title from Jeff Hardy at SummerSlam, The Undertaker would make his return that very same night to start a new feud. He’d end his feud with Hardy on the next episode of SmackDown, ending Jeff Hardy’s career in a spectacular Steel Cage Match. Just like that, Punk had ended the career of the most popular wrestler at the time and he had all the heat in the world. Unfortunately, the feud with Undertaker turned out to be disappointing. Their Submission Match at Breaking Point was just another reason for WWE to shit all over the Montreal Screwjob for the 1,598th time, and their HIAC match was nothing more than an average normal match that just happened to be surrounded by a giant cage. Punk would lose the title to ‘The Deadman’ that night, and he’d create The Straight Edge Society in late 2009. The start of this reign was spectacular, but the feud with Undertaker was as meh as you can get.
Rating: 5/10
The Undertaker (October 4, 2009 – February 21, 2010)
Televised matches: 14
Record: 9-3 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
The Undertaker def. CM Punk(c) in a HIAC Match – Hell in a Cell 2009 (**3/4)
The Undertaker(c) def. Batista, Rey Mysterio and CM Punk – Bragging Rights 2009 (***1/4)
The Undertaker(c) def. Chris Jericho and Big Show – Survivor Series 2009 (***)
The Undertaker(c) def. Batista in a Chairs Match – TLC 2009 (**3/4)
The Undertaker(c) def. Rey Mysterio – Royal Rumble 2010 (***3/4) *R*
Chris Jericho def. The Undertaker(c), CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison and R-Truth in an Elimination Chamber Match – Elimination Chamber 2010 (***3/4) *R*
Undertaker’s last title reign was really weird. I am not a fan of his feud with CM Punk, and he spent the next couple of months as the third wheel in a number of feuds. At Bragging Rights he retained the gold, but it was ultimately about the Batista/Rey Mysterio angle. Then, at Survivor Series he retained as well but the match was all about potential tension between JeriShow. He went on to have an overbooked Chairs match with a Dusty finish against Batista at TLC, but once the storyline with Shawn Michaels began it was on another level. He had a really good match at Royal Rumble 2010 against Rey Mysterio, before losing the belt to Chris Jericho at Elimination Chamber thanks to Shawn Michaels. Weak first few months to be honest, spectacular last couple of months.
Rating: 5/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
CM Punk (WWE Championship, 20/11/2011 – 27/01/2013) 9
Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
Randy Orton (World Heavyweight Championship, 06/05/2011 – 17/07/2011) 8
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