Defining Wrestling Championships

First of all, watch this, please; it will take no time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LlfOnTE1cI

That’s right; you heard correctly….but I’ll talk about those lines later.

Wrestling promotions usually have a set of championships assigned for competitors in the roster; these titles vary a lot in their prominence inside the promotion, positioning among divisions (tag, heavyweight, cruiser-weight, lightweight, women’s, hardcore, mini’s, etc) and world recognition.

Most American promotions consider the heavyweight titles as their top prize, yet others around the world can prefer a cruiserweight over that, or, sometimes, create a “weightless” championship to cover such necessity of a top accomplishment inside the company.

This, my fellow readers, means that in each and every wrestling promotion, there’s only one true champion.

So, what’s the meaning of being THE Champion?

Aside from the money, glory and recognition, it means you’re one of the real top guys, true main event material, and as such, you’re expected to be a huge draw, the main (or only) reason fans pay to watch the show, that your matches are the most enjoyable at the end of the night.

In short, being the Champion means you are THE BEST guy in the promotion at that point.

Then again, defining the term is not that simple. Why? Well, each and every promoter will certainly build an ideal champion, one that most probably represents what his/her promotion is really about, and we know wrestling promotions are not always all about the “wrestly” side in their product.

Verne Gagne was unwilling to put the strap on Hogan because AWA defined itself through very conservative outlines, thus the AWA Heavyweight Champion, in Gagne’s eyes, needed to be a master technician in the ring, something Hulky wasn’t (in spite of his true capability to work the mat).

I was unlucky enough to miss ECW during their original days, yet I suppose Paul Heyman would lock the title only on those wrestlers able to embody ECW’s style/presence through their performances.

WWE has a trend for crowd entertainers over wrestling purists as champions (with a couple exceptional cases, of course), a true ball-buster for hardcore fans, yet, who are we to criticize Vince’s eye for what HIS champion should be?

It’s no secret that in WWE, most times, the top belt will be reserved for outstanding entertainers while true wrestling geniuses hold secondary titles. Sometimes an individual can turn to be both things, yet incidents are few.

Hogan, Savage, Flair, Austin, Rock, Michaels, Taker, Cena, Edge, Orton, Triple H, Angle, Lesnar; all of them reached the top most probably because of the constantly alluded “it” factor, a symbiotic microorganism which translates into an natural capability to reach the crowd, whether it’s on the microphone or the ring.

McMahon’s next lot of Champions for the age will appeal to him in a certain way that reflects his vision of WWE, just like John “Thug-a-nomics” Cena is doing right now.

This being said, WWE World Championships are meant to be held by entertainers; if the champion in term deploys outstanding wrestling ability, it’s only a circumstantial plus (or an accident).

Now, back to Hogan’s words in the video; “this belt is just a toy (…) like an ornament.”

We know Hogan’s a showman, so any controversial claim done by the man will be spoken for the sake of entertainment.

Then again, those who have witnessed Hulky’s work in Japanese promotions may think the man was being serious about his claim, at least in part.

Japanese wrestlers/promotions/audiences are known to be more serious in their approach to wrestling; they can be damn over-the-top with their ultra-gimmicky matches sometimes, yet these guys don’t fuck around with wrestling; it’s entertainment, yes, but such trait does not equalize it to a damn game.

Taking this into account, perhaps Hogan meant that to the spirit/aura of what wrestling represents in Japan, a WWF/E Championship means shit, or at least the transcendence of it won’t be related in any way to wrestling purity.

In a very similar way, any NJPW Championship would have no significance for American mainstream wrestling fans.

So, championships in wrestling can’t be defined easily. Hell, this article probably did a horrible job at it, but I tried.

The only persons who can truly define a wrestling championship are the promoters themselves through “positioning” of the belt; though, in very special cases, wrestlers are able to define a title, in a positive or negative way, of course.

Thanks for the read.

PS: How would you define a wrestling championship?