wrestling / Columns

The Piledriver Report 12.30.11: Champions of Honor

December 30, 2011 | Posted by RSarnecky

THE RISE OF EDDIE AND CHRIS

The date was March 14th, 2004. The place was Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event was WrestleMania XX. On that night, Eddie Guerrero successfully defended the WWE World Championship against Kurt Angle. Later that night, his best friend, Chris Benoit would go on to capture the World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Following Benoit’s triumph, the fans were presented with one of the greatest moments in WrestleMania history as Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit celebrated together in the ring.

While the events of the weekend of June 22nd-25th, 2007 will forever put a huge black eye on the moment, at the time the Benoit-Guerrero celebration was more than just a worked segment on a wrestling show. Both Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero had very similar career paths. Each wrestler was deemed too small to ever hold a World Champion. Both were excellent workers, with Eddie Guerrero also being really good on the mic. Despite their abilities, neither man could break through the main event glass ceiling that was World Championship Wrestling or the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. That was, of course, until 2004.

On February 15th, 2004, Eddie Guerrero beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE World title. Less than a month later, Benoit was in the ring at WrestleMania XX celebrating his own title win alongside Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero wrestled almost seventeen years before his WWE World title win. Chris Benoit was nearly an eighteen year veteran before capturing his World Heavyweight title. Sure, Benoit won the WCW World title, but that was given to him to try to appease him from leaving WCW for the WWF. Both men’s World title reigns in 2004 were amongst the most important title reigns in the WWWF/WWF/WWE’s history. Their reigns signified that if you work hard, despite your size, you will be eventually to rewarded. Should it have taken over a decade and a half for either man to find the glory that they were destined to receive? No, but it shows that if you have the drive, heart, and determination, with a little luck, your effort will not go unnoticed. Their title reigns in 2004 were the wrestling equivalent of the movie “Rudy.” Rudy had no business being on the same field as the huge All-American star college football players, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He busted his ass, and eventually got to play on the gridiron as a Notre Dame football player. While both Benoit and Guerrero shared the same characteristics as Rudy, unlike Rudy, both wrestlers were among the best workers in the business. They just were never given a break. In 2004, the underdog finally flourished.

FAR FROM HOGAN AND ANDRE

As the year 2012 draws near, why bring up two title reigns that being almost eight years ago, especially when one of those championship runs belonged to a murderer? The reason is simple. When looking at the World Champions in the WWE, I see a similar pattern to the World title picture from 2004. The World Tag Team Champions are Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne, the World Heavyweight title holder is Daniel Bryan, and the WWE Champion is CM Punk.

These men are not your typical WWE World title holders. Kofi Kingston is 6 foot and 210 pounds. His partner is 5 foot 9 inches and weighs 165 pounds. They aren’t exactly Demolition or the Road Warriors. Road Warrior Animal weighed 305 pounds, which is only seventy pounds LESS than both Air Boom members combined! Daniel Bryan weighs 210 pounds and stands at 5 foot 10 inches tall. The only wrestler smaller than Bryan Danielson to hold the World Heavyweight Championship was Rey Mysterio. The only performers to hold the WWE World title that are both shorter and weigh less than CM Punk are Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero.

The WWE is normally a big man’s league. When you think of the main players in WWF/E history, you think of Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and John Cena. Bruno was the shortest at 5 foot 11 inches, but he was a muscular 265 pounds. Shawn Michaels was the lightest at 225 pounds. Everyone else was over six feet one inches and over 234 pounds.

Not only are the World title holders among the smallest in the company’s history, but the secondary champions, Cody Rhodes and Zack Ryder are amongst the lightest with each weighing 215 pounds. For the first time in the WWE’s history, size really doesn’t matter. When looking at the WWE roster, it seems that men like the Undertaker, Triple H, the Big Show, and Mark Henry are becoming the exception, rather than the rule. It seems like most WWE performers these days are under 6 foot 4 inches and 235 pounds. In the past, a wrestler like Daniel Bryan didn’t have a shot of getting anywhere near the main event scene, except in the rare occasion. Today, it seems like working ability and promo skills are taking precedence over size and stature.

REPRESENTING THE RING OF HONOR

When I first looked at the WWE’s list of champions, besides noticing the wrestlers size, something else struck me. Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan, and CM Punk were all alumni of Ring of Honor. Why did this catch my attention? According to many wrestling dirt sheets, wrestlers who were “indy darlings” were looked down on by the masses in the WWE front office. To see the Ring of Honor boys all holding major titles in the WWE shows a new direction, or perhaps a new philosophy, in the company.

When CM Punk first came into the WWE, while the fans loved him, the front office wouldn’t get behind him. Wanting to put the ECW title on CM Punk at December to Dismember was one of the reasons why the WWE and Paul Heyman parted ways with each other. It wasn’t until CM Punk turn heel as he began to preach about being the a straight edge superstar in his feud with Jeff Hardy that Punk started to climb the ladder. Of course, Punk finally crashed the glass ceiling for good this summer leading up to his Money in the Bank pay per view match against John Cena. Now, he is no longer seen as an “indy geek.” He is viewed as a main player in the WWE.

While CM Punk started off on the wrong foot in the WWE, Daniel Bryan came in with a terrific reputation. Not only did WWE superstars want to work with him, the veterans wanted to make Bryan look good in the ring. A prime example of this was during Bryan’s stint on the first season of NXT. Bryan had a match against Chris Jericho. Jericho could have tried to bury Daniel, but instead, he acted like a true pro, and had a terrific bout with Bryan. Unfortunately, for most of 2011, Bryan seemed to be the jobber to the stars. After winning the SmackDown! Money in the Bank briefcase, a push towards the World title seemed inevitable. Instead, Bryan was put on job duty some more. Apparently, Vince never believed that Daniel Bryan was money. Like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit before him, Daniel Bryan is arguably the best worker on the WWE’s roster. However, because he doesn’t look like Triple H, Vince McMahon doesn’t see what everyone else does. Daniel Bryan can draw. Not since Shawn Michaels retired has the WWE had a main event performer who can steal the show every time he gets put on the card. Daniel Bryan can do that for the WWE. Let him work 20-25 minute matches on every show, and he will draw money because the fans will know that he will deliver each time out.

Despite not believing in Bryan, Vince still put the World Heavyweight title on him. I feared that the WWE will give Bryan the same type of title reign that they gave Mysterio during his first run with the belt. Sure, he was the champion, but they booked Mysterio to fail. So far, the WWE has done the opposite with Bryan. He already beat the ex-WWE World champion Alberto Del Rio, and at last week’s SmackDown!, he scored the victory for his team against Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. So far, so good.

Seeing CM Punk and Bryan Danielson as the two top champions in the WWE, is very reminiscent of the Guerrero/Benoit title reigns. Both men have paid their dues by learning their craft throughout the world before finally landing in the WWE. Neither man were ever viewed as being a future WWE Superstar, never mind being the top champions of the company. However, that’s exactly where they see themselves at the moment. They are the new faces of the WWE.

When the WWE had Punk, Bryan, and Zack Ryder open Monday Night RAW a couple of weeks ago, the belts seemed more meaningful than they have in some time. This was followed up by a photo shoot of all of the WWE Champions together. Punk, Bryan, Ryder, Rhodes, Kofi-Bourne, and Beth Phoenix. Is this a new era in the WWE? While we haven’t seen the last of the Cena, Orton, and Big Show title reigns, the current champions are showing the world that you don’t have to be the WWE’s chosen ones or a genetic freak in order to succeed in the WWE. With hard work and determination, an indy geek can have his day. Somewhere Gabe Sapolski is smiling.

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