got a good match out of the Great Khali? I guess the matches against the more talented guys on the
same amount of people who can say they got a good roster, and those guys were all in the midcard. I
match out of the Ultimate Warrior. asked people if they would rather watch Jericho
Now let’s think about the technical experts who have
defend his title against the Undertaker, or Kane, or
held the highest championships. You have Bret Hart,
Big Show, or would you rather see him have midcard
who tanked the ratings almost immediately after
matches against Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt
winning the belt in 1992, then tanked them again in
Angle, etc? To me, it was a no-brainer. The potential
1994 when he was given the title back. Not a
for better matches was in the midcard. But smart
reflection of his actual talent, mind you, but rather
marks could not be swayed, and would rather see
just the fact that Bret Hart was not as interesting as
Jericho slum it in the main event, having to slow his
Hulk Hogan. Shawn Michaels was supposed to be
style down.
the guy who would help the WWE turn it around, and
instead he busted as champion right out of the gate,
way before the nWo showed up. His match with Bret
Hart at Wrestlemania 12, where they practically
I’m GOING TO Say
advertised him winning the belt ahead of time was
THaT CENa IS IN
supposed to pop a huge buyrate, only managed to
ESSENCE a
draw slightly above average. Kurt Angle was
mOdERN
supposed to be the guy after the attacks of
RIC fLaIR....
September 11th, but even with the country united
under patriotism, he proved to be such a bust that
they moved the championship off him after only a
I was later proven absolutely correct on my point
couple weeks. And of course, there’s Chris Benoit,
when Chris Benoit won the championship. It started
who did better then almost anyone else, but the
great! He (along with Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
ratings still slowly leveled off under his reign.
busted out a classic five-star match at Wrestlemania
20, then nearly repeated the greatness a month later.
I mEaN, HOW maNy GuyS GOT
Smart fans everywhere were loving it. The guy they
a GOOd maTCH OuT Of THE
had been cheering for, despite having little
personality and a small stature, was on top and
GREaT KHaLI? having great matches. But then it came crashing
down. You see, those guys who Benoit had to muscle
Of course, this model I’ve presented is not absolute. past to get to the top? They were still on top. That’s
Poor wrestlers more often then not prove to be poor how wrestling works. It’s not ‘what goes up must
draws, such as the Ultimate Warrior, Sycho Sid, John come down.’ At a certain point, once you go up and
‘Bradshaw’ Layfield, or the Great Khali. The difference stay up, you don’t come down. And so Shawn
is that smart fans dislike anyone who’s not their Michaels and Triple H were still on top and main
anointed ones. There’s many things that factor into eventing while champion Chris Benoit was relegated
what makes a wrestler draw, and if anyone had an to defending his title against Kane as an after
indisputable answer to what that was, a smart mark thought. After this he was re-inserted into a feud
would argue it was otherwise. A smart fan’s hatred with Triple H which was designed only as a means to
for those established top stars nearly qualifies as get over Triple H’s angle with Eugene. Finally, he lost
mental illness. his heavyweight title to Randy Orton who was years
Is John Cena the best wrestler in the WWE? No, of
away from being ready for such a spot.
course not. But your favorite wrestler doesn’t have to So while we got the feel good moment of Benoit
be on top to enjoy him. I remember in 2000 when the winning the title and a decent follow up rematch, the
WWE teased Chris Jericho beating Triple H for the remainder of his reign included mediocre title
title, only to take it away minutes later. Smart marks defenses and using him as a secondary foil to get
everywhere got all outraged and complained about over the established star’s angle. Ignoring all the
the WWE and it’s ‘glass ceiling’ to anyone who would stuff that would come later with Chris Benoit, ask
listen. Me, I was thrilled. It wasn’t that I disliked Chris yourself: was it really worth having him as
Jericho, but rather I wanted to see Jericho have champion? During his five month reign, would you
6 The online magazine for pro wrestling fans worldwide thewrestlingpress.com
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