Benoit is 'just a transitional champion'...

[Use Your Illusion 0]

From Scott Keith's blog:

 

MJ pointed me to a rather depressing post by Meltzer on the Wrestling Classics messageboard, basically saying that Eddie is there for the long haul as champion and Benoit is there as a transitional champion (from HHH to HHH, as it were), but while it's kind of depressing that Hunter will be getting the title back any day now (probably in Edmonton if I know him, and I think I do), Benoit can at least SAY he was champion once in his career, which was really kind of the point. All we've ever been saying all along is that he deserved to have a run with the title at least once, and now he has, so he can retire knowing that he got to the top of the mountain, even it was for a little while.

 

Don't act surprised, any of you.

 

UYI

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I am shocked, SHOCKED.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I doubt he'll lose it so soon, but if he does....

 

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!

[AndrewTS 0]

So, he's just HHH's Garvin?

 

Nope, not surprised at all.

 

Maybe those evil Quad Tear demons will strike again.

[Guest JMA]

Could this be why Benoit's hometown was changed by WWE? Maybe they want to keep a riot from breaking out in Edmonton.

[Guest Anglesault]

HHH has become the most entertaining part of this company.

 

Not on TV of course, but you take what you can get.

[Papacita 0]

I somehow doubt that. I can't see them putting as much effort into his push and then just taking the title off of him like that. WMXX was a milestone show, and I doubt Vince would allow Benoit to win in the Main event if he wasn't serious about pushing him strongly.

[AndrewTS 0]

Could this be why Benoit's hometown was changed by WWE? Maybe they want to keep a riot from breaking out in Edmonton.

What's more insulting, having Benot job in his hometown to HHH, or expecting the Edmontonians to just forget Benoit's from there?

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I still don't believe it will happen so soon. ::Prays to god that the lottery IS random and Benoit and HHH aren't on the same show::

[AndrewTS 0]

I somehow doubt that. I can't see them putting as much effort into his push and then just taking the title off of him like that. WMXX was a milestone show, and I doubt Vince would allow Benoit to win in the Main event if he wasn't serious about pushing him strongly.

I don't think this was Vince's idea...

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Fuck that shit.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

But.....Triple H has new boots.

 

Give the belt to the guy with the fresh look.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

They can't give someone the title in the main event of WrestleMania and then make them a transitional champion. That would just be retar-

 

Oh, poopies.

[BoboBrazil 0]

When HHH jobs the title he always wins it back at the next ppv. I don't see why anyone would be surprised by this.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I still don't believe it will happen so soon. ::Prays to god that the lottery IS random and Benoit and HHH aren't on the same show::

You're praying for something to *not* be pre-determined in professional wrestling.

 

Alrighty then.

 

UYI

[ChrisMWaters 0]

When HHH jobs the title he always wins it back at the next ppv. I don't see why anyone would be surprised by this.

WRONG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took him 2 to get it back from Goldberg.

[Guest Anglesault]

I somehow doubt that. I can't see them putting as much effort into his push

Uhm, he won the Rumble, and he won at mania, but between those shows, there was a total lack of effort.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

They can't give someone the title in the main event of WrestleMania and then make them a transitional champion. That would just be retar-

 

Oh, poopies.

Triple H actually did it when Hulkamania accidentally ran wild in 2002 for a whole 4 weeks.

 

Why do I bring this up? This is likely to be Hunter's reasoning for pushing the notion of him winning the belt back at Backlash.

 

UYI

[Styles 0]

Here's Meltzer's complete post (I've bolded my favorite part):

 

There are two very different types of title reigns and to lump them together is not understanding belts.

 

First off, all the belts except the two big ones are mid-card belts. Is Undertaker going to win the U.S. title this year? When HHH was slated to win the IC title, he turned it down and got a second world title made. Saying Jericho is getting pushed and citing his IC title reigns, or that Benoit was pushed for the same reason, means nothing.

 

There are different types of world champions. When Jericho had the undisputed title, there were no plans for him as champion except losing to HHH at Mania. Plans for a year were HHH wins title at Mania. Jericho, for better or worse, was as much as champion as Ron Garvin, not Ric Flair, and there is a gigantic difference. Billy Graham was the perfect example of a super successful Ron Garvin, in that he did incredible business as a guy set up to lose from the start to Backlund. The business didn't matter because Vince Sr. only viewed babyfaces as real champs, but Bruno wanted out and Backlund wasn't ready, so he needed 10 months out of Graham to get Backlund ready. Graham's long run didn't come because he was drawing well. It was because it was Sr.'s time frame of when he'd have Backlund ready.

 

Jericho was a good wrestler to put over the guy being groomed. Him getting the belt was never like when Austin beat Michaels, which really was a changing of the guard.

 

When Brock Lesnar won the title, they pushed him as champion and there was no plan to take it from him. His loss to Show came only because Hogan walked out of a scheduled program and they panicked and turned Lesnar face, and felt as a face, they needed to take the belt from him. Before he lost it, he knew he was getting it back at Mania. Neither Show nor Angle were going to have long reigns no matter how business was. When he lost it to Guerrero, it was completely different, and he didn't handle it well. There is no set plan that on this day Guerrero loses the belt. He's being groomed to be a real champion, which is more of an issue the fans forced than a decision the company made.

 

When Bill Goldberg won the title, the decision had already been made HHH gets it back on the day he wants it back. If business caught on fire, it wouldn't have mattered, not that it was going to because the damage had been done. HHH didn't put Goldberg or Benoit over out of selflessness. His goal is to break Flair's record, and he wasn't sacrificing the belt, he was lengthening his tenure on top. To break Flair's record, he has to lose the title at least 16 times. He's doing a movie soon so there is no point in him keeping it right now. The point is, if Benoit was really winning the title as the top star, they wouldn't have already decided the date and person he was losing it to before he ever won it. It's great for him he got his moment. It's not a business mistake because of Benoit's flaws, because Benoit is not in the position of the guy they are grooming to carry anything. That's still HHH's spot. If HHH had done that job and then known he was moving to the mid-cards, he'd have done something selflessness. He was just adding another number to his eventual record and doing his job the best way possible, which was doing his part to keep the belt over (by losing instead of Shawn, which would have sabotaged Benoit) and having a great match. This isn't a knock on him or praising him other than he had a great match at Wrestlemania working with two of the best wrestlers in history, and he carried his end. I think he's at times been a great wrestler and he's very smart, although if he was as smart as he thinks, he'd have figured out why business was down. He's buried people with Vince constantly and the reason they had to bring Benoit is was because he'd buried everyone else to where they couldn't mean anything challenging him. The idea that he does what is told is funny, because the ideas for him, come from him. Who gives the head writer ideas for HHH, the guy who thinks about HHH 24 hours a day and that she's married to, or some writer in a revolving door staff? And what writer, knowing it's a revolving door, is going to even suggest it's time, when it was, for HHH to be moved out of the top spot or not have so much promo time?

 

The idea Vince will put business in front of family is best exemplified by, when creative went to hell, he got rid of the head of creative even though it was his daughter. Remember when that happened? Business and family to him are the same. It's a business that defines his family and is a business of and for his family. HHH is his family.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Good Lord.

[Papacita 0]

I somehow doubt that.  I can't see them putting as much effort into his push and then just taking the title off of him like that.  WMXX was a milestone show, and I doubt Vince would allow Benoit to win in the Main event if he wasn't serious about pushing him strongly.

I don't think this was Vince's idea...

Vince has final say in the end.

[AndrewTS 0]

But.....Triple H has new boots.

 

Give the belt to the guy with the fresh look.

They're WHITE boots, so he should be seeing ceiling, not winning.

 

I'll be worried if he starts wearing gold boots, though.

 

Then again, maybe they're just working you, just like they are with Brock. Brock'll be back any week now, just you wait!

[Use Your Illusion 0]

But.....Triple H has new boots.

 

Give the belt to the guy with the fresh look.

They're WHITE boots, so he should be seeing ceiling, not winning.

Logic has no place within these walls.

[Papacita 0]

I somehow doubt that.  I can't see them putting as much effort into his push

Uhm, he won the Rumble, and he won at mania, but between those shows, there was a total lack of effort.

Still, that's a win at the two biggest PPVs of the year. That's pretty damn strong, regardless of what happened in between.

[AndrewTS 0]

But.....Triple H has new boots.

 

Give the belt to the guy with the fresh look.

They're WHITE boots, so he should be seeing ceiling, not winning.

Logic has no place within these walls.

Which is the illogical part: the way WWE books, or the tendency for white boots to be found almost exclusively on jobbers?

[Boner Kawanger 0]

They can't give someone the title in the main event of WrestleMania and then make them a transitional champion. That would just be retar-

 

Oh, poopies.

Triple H actually did it when Hulkamania accidentally ran wild in 2002 for a whole 4 weeks.

 

Why do I bring this up? This is likely to be Hunter's reasoning for pushing the notion of him winning the belt back at Backlash.

 

UYI

I've tried to block out that era.

 

And damn your damnable logic.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I'll take option A, Andrew, for $500.

[geniusMoment 0]

That post did not say anything about Chris losing the title anytime soon. If he can get a good ten months like The Superstar did, then I will be happy. I do agree that due to the cripplers flaws he is not the guy to build your entire promotion around. He is not the total package, like Austin in 97 or Rocky in 99.

[Guest Anglesault]

I was wondering if he wanted to break Flair's record or if he would respect his idol by leaving it alone.

[AndrewTS 0]

That post did not say anything about Chris losing the title anytime soon. If he can get a good ten months like The Superstar did, then I will be happy. I do agree that due to the cripplers flaws he is not the guy to build your entire promotion around. He is not the total package, like Austin in 97 or Rocky in 99.

Agreed.

 

Neither is HHH, though.