The ECW Title

[boobshaw 0]

Is it just me or is Chavo Guerrero the worst non-celebrity World Champ in history?

[haws bah gawd 0]

Is it just me or is Chavo Guerrero the worst non-celebrity World Champ in history?

 

I'll second that one. Chavo as a World Champion in any capacity is a joke. Maybe back in 2005 when he was red hot for a couple weeks following Eddy Guerrero's passing, I could see him looking credible in a title opportunity, but NEVER as champion.

Judging from the Smackdown spoilers, it looks like WWE is pushing Mark Henry to be the one to beat him for the ECW belt.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Judging from the Smackdown spoilers, it looks like WWE is pushing Mark Henry to be the one to beat him for the ECW belt.

 

I wouldn't say that..they've tried to make Khali and Snitsky look like contenders this week too. I think they're just pushing the whole idea that anyone can win it.

[RedJed 0]

This may have been brought up in the ECW thread, but I'm surprised how weak the lineup for the 24 man battle royale looks on paper. Guys like Richards, Colin Delaney, Big Daddy V.....just those three off the top of my head could have and should have been put in this match. Whatever the case, I guess it doesnt really matter anyway since the match isnt even going to be on ppv itself.

 

Real surprised BDV isnt on here, though.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Snitsky will not be seen as a contender after Smackdown

 

This thing HAS to go to Kane. Give it some credibility and maybe him some regular feuds.

[SamoaRowe 0]

I'd say further down the midcard to the point where it won't consistently be defended on pay-per-views anymore.

[BorneAgain 0]

Kane is probably the guy in the battle royal with most legitimacy, plus they'll want a babyface against Chavo.

 

I wouldn't mind Miz myself, but that's just personal preference.

[King Cucaracha 0]

The ECW Title is still a world title!? In who's eyes?

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Although I think Kane deserves an extended run with a World title, I don't see him lasting very long as ECW champion if he wins it on Sunday. As much as I like Kane, he isn't going to bring in viewers and having a veteran win the title out of nowhere doesn't really do much to spice up the brand. I'd have him defend it against Chavo and Punk in a triple threat at Backlash, with Punk pinning Chavo and getting the belt. Then I'd have Punk fued with Shelton until Umaga goes over to ECW and we get the Punk vs Umaga match that I've been wanting for a while.

 

That being said, I see Chavo holding it until GAB and defending against Punk at every PPV until then.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Just give it to Kofi, and start everything all over around him.

[The Truthiness 0]

I think Chavo has been a good Champion. He is a good heel, a more than solid worker, and knows how to lay out a match. He can carry lesser workers to something acceptable, and can have a very good match with a guy who is equal or more talented than him, can't ask for more than that. Now the ECW championship not meaning much is another story, it hasn't meant much since June 2007, thanks to the incident. I think Chavo should probably go over sunday, but more than likely he'll lose the title to Colin or Kane.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Just give it to Kofi, and start everything all over around him.

 

A Kofi/Chavo match at WM would be great, but the problem is Kofi isn't really that over, although a good match at WM and winning the ECW Title would help. Id also love to see some more matches between him and Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke.

 

 

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Just an idea, but why not put the ECW title on a guy like Batista? I know politics and egos will prevail in the end, but a freshly turned heel Batista running roughshod over ECW for like a year, could very well bring credibility that the ECW title sorely lacks. Plus, it gives them time to really develop a long-term draw for ECW.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Just an idea, but why not put the ECW title on a guy like Batista? I know politics and egos will prevail in the end, but a freshly turned heel Batista running roughshod over ECW for like a year, could very well bring credibility that the ECW title sorely lacks. Plus, it gives them time to really develop a long-term draw for ECW.

Im sure youd have him repeatedly squash guys like Kingston, Delaney and the couple of other young guys that they are trying to develop. What better way to set that back than to have a guy in his mid 40s squash them all over a meaningless title.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Its better than putting the title on someone that nobody gives a shit about. Why should I care that Chavo Guerrero is the ECW champ, when he would be floating around in the IC and US title scences on the other two shows.

[The Truthiness 0]

Its better than putting the title on someone that nobody gives a shit about. Why should I care that Chavo Guerrero is the ECW champ, when he would be floating around in the IC and US title scences on the other two shows.

 

The guys who hold IC and US title only defends them once every 4 months.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Man, I bet Kane with the mask (the half-mask) over again would re-ignite him. Just a small thing, but growing the hair back out and dawning the mask along with the ECW title would just be a much more useful idea than his 5 year long stale midcard tweener act.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Man, I bet Kane with the mask (the half-mask) over again would re-ignite him. Just a small thing, but growing the hair back out and dawning the mask along with the ECW title would just be a much more useful idea than his 5 year long stale midcard tweener act.

 

Personally, I think after losing the ECW title (if he wins it) Kane should go on a losing streak, get upset about it, and then disappear for a month or two. He can then come back with the old mask, outfit, and music and wreak havoc all over the company. I've always liked Kane but I haven't cared about him since 02. This would make him important again.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

It is NOT a world title.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

It is NOT a world title.

 

It is the main championship of a show, and used to be the main championship of an entire company. It is a world title.

[Dandy 0]

It is a World Title in the WWE world. Whether it is viewed in the same vein as the World Titles on Raw and Smackdown is a different matter. Of course, the ECW title is viewed by more people than the NWA or ROH titles, bank on that.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

There is a reason WWE has stopped calling it the ECW World Title. It's just the ECW Title. Chavo was in the Rumble match for a shot at world champion for crying out loud.

[The Truthiness 0]

There is a reason WWE has stopped calling it the ECW World Title. It's just the ECW Title. Chavo was in the Rumble match for a shot at world champion for crying out loud.

 

He had already qualified for the Rumble.

[Hawk 34 0]

The reward for winning the Royal Rumble isn't just a world title shot but a promised main event. Chavo wasn't booked into a match for that particular night, so it would be perfectly logical for Chavo to seek a a main event slot.

 

The notion that the IC/US titles are above the ECW title at this moment isn’t accurate. They are at the same level playing ground and the ECW title has a tremendous advantage of having some sense of importance surrounding it as it’s defended virtually every week on television and typically gets a spot on the PPV events. That can’t be said about the United States and IC championships, which can go weeks without a defense and rarely appears on PPV.

 

Chavo being the ECW champion wasn’t the most desired circumstance but he hasn’t been ineffective as a champion but on that same accord, he hasn’t exactly set the ECW brand on fire. He has kept ECW as a product and brand stagnate which isn’t a good thing but it’s not a glaring negative.

 

You can easily argue that a great majority of people were equally or more qualified and deserving of that spot and I would strongly agree. I don’t think it’s fair to call him the worst champion in a very long history because that just isn’t true. His reign hasn’t been a disaster and I think that ought to be taken in consideration before making such a claim. Jericho and Mysterio, just for recent comparison were enormously deserving of their lone world title reigns but each of those reigns were devastatingly botched and did more damage to those guys then any good.

 

I won’t support the idea that this title is a genuine world title in the same manner of the other two recognized world championships in WWE but like Dandy pointed out, this championship and the title holder is generally the focus point of a nationally aired primetime cable wrestling program. It’s on the same level as TNA and their version of a world championship. There’s no disputing that this title loses a bit of luster because of this current title reign. It’s not because of the champion but rather the direction-less path it has followed since the apparent end of the CM Punk feud. If Elijah Burke were in the position that Chavo is in, I don’t think the situation would be any different.

 

As far as improving the perception of the championship, that simply requires good promotion, stars and a strong program built around it. That’s just simple logic right there. Make people care about the people involved and establish that the object they are fighting over is important and the fans will buy it. That isn’t going to occur with Chavo Guerrero at this point. The best ECW champion has been Big Show and that is simply because he was so well booked but the product on ECW as a whole was horrible. No one really noticed it and then came the horrible mess that was the Lashley and McMahon period. Does that mean putting CM Punk back in that spot? While Punk is very well received by the fans as a personality and wrestler, his title reign didn’t have much success beyond pushing Punk.

 

He was asked to extend an already exhausted feud with John Morrison, whom the crowd wasn’t buying as a champion and then Miz was added to the mess. While the matches they produced were perfectly acceptable, it never felt important. They moved on from there with a big man/little feud with BDV which many liked to call a failed attempt to imitate the 1992 series with Sting and Vader. Followed with a lack of direction prior to the arrival of Chavo, Punk continued to toil around doing almost nothing of note. It should be noted that the segments with Edge garnered great reactions and interest. What does that indicate? Pair Punk with someone the crowd takes seriously and not as a novelty act and they’ll go with it. The ECW title will never approach the importance of the other world titles but it certainty has the chance to be something more then a mid-card act.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I put the ECW title ahead of the IC/US titles.

 

But it's not a World title.

 

It's enough of a stretch for me to believe that a company can promote having 2 world champions. I'm not buying 3. I'm not buying a llineage of Chavo, Punk and Morrison (guys who before, during and after their runs get beat regularly whenever they make it onto the real shows) as being on a level with The other 2 titles.

 

No one wants it. The show that it's the top title of can't even get most of their guys into a battle royal for the damn thing.

 

And (according to WWE.com) the show only has 17 people on it...including Knox, Thorn, Nunzio, Richards, Striker, BOOGEYMAN, Burke, BALLS MAHONEY... I'm just stopping there.

 

I don't remember who said it...but someone made a comment years ago that the most important title is the one that the best wrestlers fight over. If Undertaker and HHH were feuding over the RoH title...that would be the most important title in the world.

 

On Raw we've got HHH/Orton/Cena

On Smackdown we've got Taker/Edge

On ECW we've got CHAVO GUERRERO against a person to be determined by a battle royal...on the internet...featuring mostly people not on the show.

 

Not a World title.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Just give it to Kofi, and start everything all over around him.

Id also love to see some more matches between him and Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke.

 

I didn't know we were still in the 40s and 50s and still having the special attraction negro match...

[Scroby 0]

I find it funny that people are arguing if the ECW should or shouldn't have the name "world title". Honestly, why does it matter what the WWE calls the belt. Weather you think or not, the ECW title is one of the major 3 titles in the WWE. It's a top title for the 3rd brand, meaning it's one of WWE's top titles. Just because you have your own opinon about where the belt actually ranks, doesn't mean a damn thing to anyone except for yourself. Everyone judges the importantance of a title in their own view, so trying to debate weather the ECW is a world title or not is a pointless argument.

 

Chavo has only been champion for a few months now and he's been fine as the heel champion. What I like about Chavo being the champion is that he's a fresh face as a top champion. That's one thing I've really liked about the ECW title scene, it isn't the same people going after the title over and over again. One program between two people ends and another one picks up using a fresh face. I think if anything Chavo really hasn't had a chance to shine as a heel champion. Once his program with Punk ended a little bit ago, a new challanger hasn't shown up, other than Colin and Dreamer but a new challanger hasn't shown up for the ECW title yet, and that's the whole point of the battle royal/title defense at Wrestlemania.

 

The whole point of the battle royal is to set up a new challanger, whoever wins the battle royal most likely will not beat Chavo for the ECW title. Instead Chavo will either cheat to beat that person or will do something to get DQ'd or counted out and a new angle will set up.

[RedJed 0]

I think we all know that no matter how much it is stated by the company that the ECW title is a "major" title, nobody buys it, and given who is the current titleholder, its just showing that it really isn't given that much, I dunno, prestige? The only exceptions to that rule was when Show and Punk have had it, for some reason, maybe because those two are much more over than the rest? And shouldnt that be a preresiquite to hold a major title anyway? Thats where the confusion lies in this title.

 

My thought is that from Mania onward, they should just turn the ECW title into what moreless would be a more prominent version of the Hardcore title, if they are insistant on presenting in such an inferior way. Every ECW title match HAS to be done under extreme rules, no exceptions. That gives reason to have the extreme rules gimmick presented every so often, and it would fit guys more conditioned in the "brawler" type role. I could easily see Kane get a run in that manner, and I certainly would love to see a JBL "ECW sucks and I'm going to beat everyone's ass" type run with the belt as well.

 

Bottom line is that at least the belt would stand out as something unique, versus this third brand "world" title that really is nothing that even matters at this point.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

RedJed, how can you argue against the ECW title when you're a fan of a promotion that had JEFF JARRETT as their "world" champion on multiple occasions? ECW outrates TNA by a good margin, so clearly more people would treat the ECW title with more prestige than the TNA title, right? But that doesn't stop you from treating the TNA title with a semblance of importance. Like Scroby said, it doesn't matter what some people might perceive the title. It is what the WWE wants it to be. If ROH can claim their title to be a world title, the WWE can claim the ECW title to be a world title.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

First of all...it isn't what the company want's it to be.

 

Were that the case, local indy fed with 4 18 year olds wrestling in the backyard can claim there's as a world title too. Actually...they do. But there's common sense reasons why no one else calls it that.

 

Points of favor for the TNA title over the ECW title:

 

1. Unlike the ECW title (and for that matter the WWE and World titles since the end of the solo ppvs) the TNA title headlines it's own ppvs.

2. The TNA title headlines it's own house show tours.

3. The ECW title is at best, the 3rd best title in one company. How crazy are we going with World titles here?