Benoit is 'just a transitional champion'...

[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.

WRONG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took him 2 to get it back from Goldberg.

Only because he was off filming a movie.

[AndrewTS 0]

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

Well, didn't Flair just have a bunch of short reigns, as opposed to long reigns?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

So I take it when he gets his record breaking 17th title that he'll go for Bruno's seven year record?

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

 

"Feed me."

 

Just, um, imagine that Benoit's picture is in there, too.

[Styles 0]

So I take it when he gets his record breaking 17th title that he'll go for Bruno's seven year record?

cries

[Guest Anglesault]

So I take it when he gets his record breaking 17th title that he'll go for Bruno's seven year record?

I figured Graham would be next.

 

I'm shocked that the reign from hell last year ended before he beat that.

[Brett Favre 0]

Jesus. This is just retarded. Everytime he loses the belt, he gets it back. How about Benoit dropping it to someone like Cena or *shudders*...Randy Orton (WHEN HE GETS OVER ENOUGH), when the time is right. He's going to keep the business down. Rock and Austin never did this crap. That's why HHH will never be as popular. There is too damn much of him with the belt. Rock and Austin had long title chases which drew their popularity through the roof. If HHH keeps doing this, the company will go straight to hell. Thank God for Eddie.

[Guest Anglesault]

Jesus. This is just retarded. Everytime he loses the belt, he gets it back. How about Benoit dropping it to someone like Cena or *shudders*...Randy Orton.

No no no no no no no no.

[Guest MikeSC]

Folks, this is ridiculous. Benoit is not going to hold the belt FOREVER. No matter WHEN he loses it --- or whom he loses it to (I suppose Jericho notwithstanding), you're going to gripe about it.

 

Why not just enjoy his reign for what it is and stop fretting about what my happen in the future? Meltzer is good --- but he's not perfect. Heck, I missed the ladder match ME at WM.

-=Mike

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I'm relieved that the Meltzer post said nothing about dropping the title at Backlash. I can imagine at Bad Blood, but not Backlash.

 

HHH's 2002 scenario is much different from Benoits now. In 2002, HHH was already an established and credible World Champion, so dropping the title the month after WM was not a problem. But Benoit has only recently been booked strong, and screwin him over in 4 weeks is not the smart way to go.

[Guest Gary Busey]

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.

 

Did I miss something, or is Stephanie no longer head of creative?

[Styles 0]

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.

 

Did I miss something, or is Stephanie no longer head of creative?

He was being facetious, hence the sarcastic comment "remember when that happened?"

[snuffbox 0]

Im still feelin last Sunday...

 

Im giving Vince/HHH the benefit of the doubt for awhile...

[Styles 0]

The funny thing about Flair's title reigns, is the real total, according to matches documented by www.wrestling-titles.com is 20. Now, 1 is unrecognized, so that bumps it down to 19, and one was kind of a phantom reign during WCW under Russo, so if you don't count that, it's down to 18. To get 16, WWE would actually be ignoring their own title, as Flair's 2 reigns as WWF champion added to his 16 "recognized: NWA/WCW reigns makes 18. 20 total. You would think they would call him a 20 time champion since thats so much more prolific sounding that 16. Anyway, here is the proof:

 

NWA

Dusty Rhodes [2] 81/06/21 Atlanta, GA

Ric Flair 81/09/17 Kansas City, MO

Wrestles to a double count-out against WWF Heavyweight champion Bob Backlund on 82/07/04 in Atlanta, GA; around 82 in DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Flair allows himself to be pinned by Jack Veneno to avoid the riot from the audience, but the title is returned to Flair; Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes under mask) defeats Flair on 83/02/09 in Miami, FL but returns the belt when asked to indentify himself by NWA president Bob Geigel.

Carlos Colon # 83/01/06 San Juan, PR

Ric Flair # 83/01/23

# Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder.

Harley Race [7] 83/06/10 St. Louis, MO

Ric Flair [2] 83/11/24 Greensboro, NC

Harley Race [8] 84/03/21 Wellington, NEW ZEALAND

Ric Flair [3] 84/03/23 Kallang, SINGAPORE

Kerry Von Erich 84/05/06 Irving, TX

Ric Flair [4] 84/05/24 Yokosuka, JAPAN

Wrestles to a double count-out against AWA World heavyweight champion Rick Martel on 85/10/02 in Tokyo, JAPAN.

Dusty Rhodes [3] 86/07/26 Greensboro, NC

Ric Flair [5] 86/08/07 St. Louis, MO

Ronnie Garvin 87/09/25 Detroit, MI

Ric Flair [6] 87/11/26 Chicago, IL

Ricky Steamboat 89/02/20 Chicago, IL

Ric Flair [7] 89/05/07 Nashville, TN

Sting 90/07/07 Baltimore, MD

Ric Flair [8] 91/01/11 East Rutherford, NJ

Tatsumi Fujinami 91/03/21 Tokyo, JAPAN

Ric Flair [9] 91/05/19 St. Petersburg, FL

Stripped on 91/09/08 when Flair signs with WWF, where he claims the "Real World Heavyweight Title"; NWA World Heavyweight Title is vacant for the first time in its history; Flair wins WWF World Heavyweight Title on 92/01/19 in Albany, NY; some reports say Lex Luger, who has won the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Title by defeating Barry Windham on 91/07/14 in Baltimore, MD, is briefly given recognition as NWA World champion by the NWA board, controlled by WCW Vice President Jim Herd; Luger is not recognized by NWA as a former champion.

 

WWF

Ric Flair 92/01/19 Albany, NY

Wins Royal Rumble, eliminating Sid Justice; has claimed the "Real World Heavyweight Title" since 1991/09 with his NWA World Heavyweight title belt.

Randy Savage [2] 92/04/05 Indianapolis, IN

Ric Flair [2] 92/09/01 Hershey, PA

Bret Hart 92/10/12 Saskatoon, SK

 

WCW

Ric Flair 91/01/11 East Rutherford, NJ

Wins NWA World heavyweight title from Sting; recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight champion; stripped on 91/07/01 when Flair fired by WCW.

 

Big Van Vader/Vader [3] 93/03/17 Dublin, IRELAND

Ric Flair [2] 93/12/27 Charlotte, NC

Title held-up after a match against Ricky Steamboat on 94/04/17 in Rosemont, IL ends as a double pin.

Ric Flair [3] 94/04/24 Atlanta, GA

Defeats Steamboat in rematch; unifies "WCW International" World title, defeating Sting on 94/06/23 in Charleston, SC.

Hulk Hogan 94/07/17 Orlando, FL

 

Randy Savage 95/11/26 Norfolk, VA

Ric Flair [4] 95/12/27 Nashville, TN

Randy Savage [2] 96/01/22 Las Vegas, NV

Ric Flair [5] 96/02/11 St. Petersburg, FL

The Giant [2] 96/04/22 Albany, GA

 

Hulk Hogan [5] 99/01/04 Atlanta, GA

Ric Flair [6] 99/03/14 Louisville, KY

Diamond Dallas Page 99/04/11 Tacoma, WA

 

Jeff Jarrett [2] 00/05/07 Kansas City, MO

Defeats Arquette and Diamond Dallas Page in a Triple Cage match.

Ric Flair [7] 00/05/15 Biloxi, MS

Stripped by Vince Russo on 00/05/22.

Jeff Jarrett [3] 00/05/22 Grand Rapids, MI

Defeats Kevin Nash.

Kevin Nash [4] 00/05/23 Saginaw, MI

Defeats Jarrett and Scott Steiner in a triple threat match.

Ric Flair [8] 00/05/29 Salt Lake City, UT

Belt returned to Flair by Nash.

Jeff Jarrett [4] 00/05/29 Salt Lake City, UT

[The Amazing Rando 0]

This company grows more screwed up by the hour. Why hasn't Linda McMahon won a title yet? she's the only one that hasn't!

[Vyce 0]

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

Respect for his idol???

 

 

Now you know better.

[AndrewTS 0]

This company grows more screwed up by the hour. Why hasn't Linda McMahon won a title yet? she's the only one that hasn't!

She believes that the fans don't want to put up with her admittedly wooden acting, and she doesn't believe she's a compelling on-air character at all.

 

So apparently, just like in kayfabe, she's the closest you can get to a good, living McMahon.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

compelling on-air character??

 

Wooden acting??

 

I think she needs to have a lonnnnng talk with Randy Orton.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Folks, this is ridiculous. Benoit is not going to hold the belt FOREVER. No matter WHEN he loses it --- or whom he loses it to (I suppose Jericho notwithstanding), you're going to gripe about it.

 

But there's a difference between Benoit losing the belt, and losing it to HHH a month later.

 

That's exactly why I don't watch RAW. because no matter who HHH feuds with, you can assume he's going to win. And if he doesn't, you can assume he'll win it back at the next PPV.

 

I don't care if he loses the belt; but to lose it back to HHH in a month or two will only confirm my beliefs, and give me less of a reason to watch the show (not like I need less of one, but still)

[AndrewTS 0]

compelling on-air character??

 

Wooden acting??

 

I think she needs to have a lonnnnng talk with Randy Orton.

You forget that she isn't involved in booking.

 

I just think she handles some of the business decisions outside of creative--when she's not coming up with creative ways to sugarcoat WWE's fucking up for those stockholders' meetings.

 

Slapnuts: Kudos for the Flair title reigns refresher.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Benoit won the Royal Rumble from #1, and then won the title by making HHH submit at Mania. We all know he is going to lose to HHH, but the difference between Benoit & Jericho is that Benoit isn't booked as a joke. Even the poor booking between Rumble & Mania didn't matter because in the end he won. Ten years from now when they do Wrestlemania XXX most people probably won't remember what happened afterwards, it is what happened at Royal Rumble & Wrestlemania that will be remembered. This is why I said before Wrestlemania, that it was at Wrestlemania that Benoit had to win, even if it meant losing in his hometown at Backlash. Wrestlemania is the big one.

 

Jericho/HBK was the same way from XIX, and we saw how that damaged Jericho's career even though he got the win back later.

[Karc 0]

Rock did his damnest to not make Jericho a joke by putting him over in three PPVs. Didn't matter in the end, because HHH squashed him for three months.

 

Jericho should have taken the torch from Micheals years ago, but too many top guys have it out for him. Why else would he be booked to be a total pussy for Trish?

 

WWE has a habit of ignoring WCW guys, so them ignoring Ric Flair as WWE Champion is not unexpected in the slightest.

[Guest CronoT]

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

 

Give the belt to the guy with the fresh look.

You want a new look? How about I shove a 5 ft. steel reebar up his ass?

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

It would absolutely suck taking the belt from around Benoit's waist so soon.

 

But then again, although it won't be the same effect as it would be when he first went over for it, at least he can be kept in the title picture.

 

And besides - you still do have to consider the upcoming Draft.

[Tawren 0]

Folks, this is ridiculous. Benoit is not going to hold the belt FOREVER. No matter WHEN he loses it --- or whom he loses it to (I suppose Jericho notwithstanding), you're going to gripe about it.

If it's done wrong, as the article suggests it will be, yeah, there are reasons to gripe.

 

Don't be so fucking dumb.

[Guest Brian]

Now that Benoit's had his run, he can pack it up. There's really no point sticking around. Angle, Benoit, and whomever else can get off the boat before it sinks.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Flair's actually got more than 20 title reigns. i believe there were some reported international phantom swithces where he dropped the title and than won it right back.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I always wondered wether on not HHH wanted to beat Flair's record. So how many is he up to now?

 

And when and how long is he going to make movies for?

 

From Meltzer's post:

 

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.

 

WP -- Does anyone know the date Benoit's losing? Any mention of it rescently in the Observer?

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

4 WWF (1999-2000)

1 Undisputed (2002)

3 World (2002-2004)

 

8 Total - He is halfway there. If he truly was the smartest man in wrestling and wants to beat Flair's record, he should realize that it will take years and years for him to do that if he's holding onto a title for 4 to 10 months each time. I don't know if his body can take several more years of punishment.

[Hektik 0]

HHH has 8 combined World titles. So far here is my list of the most.

 

Ric Flair (w/17) 8 NWA, 7 WCW, & 2 WWE - I counted the September NWA/WCW 1991 title reign as one.

 

Hulk Hogan (w/12) 6 WWE & 6 WCW

 

Verne Gagne (w/10) all from AWA

 

The Rock (w/9) 8 WWE & 1 WCW

 

Triple H (w/8) 5 WWE & 3 Raw World titles

 

Bret Hart (w/7) 5 WWE & 2 WCW

 

Sting (w/7) 1 NWA & 6 WCW