Does the length of time truly mark a great champion? Or the number of times winning the same championship? Or winning multiple titles? Because that seems to be the great debate in the wrestling circles.
Does Nikki Bella surpassing the previous record held by AJ Lee as WWE Divas champion make her the greatest? Would tying Ric Flair’s record of 16 World championships make John Cena the greatest? Does becoming the first-ever to hold the WWE World Heavyweight and WWE United States championships make Seth Rollins the greatest? Or how about Jay Lethal being the first-ever to hold the ROH World and ROH World Television championships?
The inter-web reports that John Cena influenced the decision to keep the championship on Nikki. Her goal was to hold the championship for 300+ days. Other reports indicated that Charlotte, much like Paige, was supposed to win the title on her official debut on Monday Night RAW. Is it true? And does it really matter?
Sure, it sucks that Nikki out-reigned AJ Lee as the WWE Divas champion. But let’s face it. AJ retired. WWE can do whatever they very well please because it’s their championship and intellectual property. So in this case, did the length of time mark Nikki as the greatest?
Nikki is definitely the best that she has ever been, but as far as being the all-around best it would have to be AJ Lee. She was a better talker on the mic, she was entertaining, and she was the better wrestler.
Ric Flair on multiple occasions has gone on record to say that he doesn’t care if John Cena ties or even surpasses the much talked about 16x World championship record. Factually, Flair won more than 16 World titles, but they aren’t recognized by WWE. Just like Sting was a multi-time TNA World champion, but of course it will never be mentioned since WWE does not consider TNA as part of its record books. If John Cena became a 16x World champion, or even a 17x World champion, would it really matter?
John Stewart, former host of The Daily Show, seemed to think so. Which was by far the most irritating moment of WWE SummerSlam. Especially because he not only interfered in a great championship match, he botched the damn spot!
Which brings us to first-evers: It was pretty cool seeing Seth Rollins hold both the WWE World Heavyweight and WWE United States championships for the past month, but it didn’t last. Winning the championships is one thing. Following through with the daunting task of actually defending the titles is a whole different beast incarnate. Seth Rollins lost the US Title back to Cena at WWE Night of Champions, and failed in his rematch the following night on RAW. But he did retain the WWE World Heavyweight title, so there’s that.
At Best in the World 2015, I was fortunate enough to be in attendance when Jay Lethal made history and defeated Jay Briscoe for the ROH World championship. And to think TNA didn’t know what to do with Lethal? But on top of that, Lethal has been the longest reigning ROH World Television champion with an astonishing 536 days and counting, and an unprecedented 38 championship defenses. He’s also defended his World title on 3 separate occasions. Does winning championships and having a combination of long reigns and quality title defenses the mark of a great champion?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments section below this post. Or if you just want to hit me up, you can do so on the twitter @WrestlingTimesX or follow my interests and journey to a healthier fit lifestyle on my instagram @losfriday!
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