The Shimmy 1.28.08: The WWE Championship- The Modern Era

Until No. 30. John motherfucking Cena made his return! The place went unglued and those last few moments were just awesome. The Cena-Triple H-Batista Final Three was epic and I was on the edge of my seat cheering on Cena when it came down to him and Triple H. Who thought he could even appear let alone wrestle? And now he is going to WrestleMania in a state that may not boo him! In the words of Larry, ELEVENTY BILLION STARS.

I can’t wait for the Cena haters to get their panties in a bunch. Bring it on, bitches! Your time is up, his time is now.

Andy Enjoyment Index: Royal Rumble

1) Royal Rumble Match
2) Edge-Rey
3) Jericho-JBL
4) Flair-MVP
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5) Orton-Hardy

And Now Your Featured Attraction

Since August 2002 World Wresting Entertainment has been a promotion with a splintered World Title. No long a company that promoted an “Undisputed” Champion, WWE has had two, and some may argue three, World Championships. No doubt the two most important titles in the wrestling world have been these splinter titles, the traditional WWE Title and the newer World Heavyweight Championship. Since the announcement of having two different belts for the two different primary brands each title has seen its fair share of defenses. From major events to small events these matches have run the gamut in terms of participants, stipulations, and locations. This week I will examine the title defenses of the traditional championship, the WWE Title, since its sister was created.

When the split occurred the WWE Champion was Brock Lesnar. In fact, it was Lesnar that caused the need for a World Heavyweight Championship in the first place. Lesnar had just beaten The Rock at SummerSlam to win the Undisputed Title and Raw GM Eric Bischoff put together a No. 1 Contender’s Match between Triple H and Undertaker. Thanks to Brock, Triple H won that match but he wouldn’t have the opportunity to challenge for the title because SmackDown GM Stephanie McMahon made Brock promise to never defend the title on Raw again. The Undisputed Title was now disputed.

On SmackDown, Lesnar’s first challenger would be Undertaker. After getting screwed out of an opportunity to be the World Champion on Raw, Taker switched to SmackDown and defeated Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a Triple Threat Match to get a shot at Lesnar’s title. At Unforgiven the two men hooked up but there was no winner. Lesnar and Taker beat the hell out of each other and the match ended in a double disqualification. I’m often said that this is my favorite PPV non-finish because they made it work so well. It also led to their epic rematch at No Mercy that took place inside Hell in a Cell. Many people consider this one of the best Hell in a Cell Matches and I can’t really disagree. Lesnar got a major rub from being able to take out the Deadman in his own playground.

Following Hell in a Cell Lesnar would have a relatively easy title defense oversees as part of the Rebellion show. Brock teamed with his agent Paul Heyman to defend the title against Edge in a Handicap Match. The randomness of this title match would haunt Edge for years and end up becoming a contributing factor for his gold bloodlust later in his career. Brock retained the title no problem and it looked like he would be a dominant champion for a long time.

Or so we thought. Fresh from a four-for-one trade from Raw, Big Show came onto SmackDown with one goal in mind: win the WWE Title. Brock didn’t like somebody else muscling in on his territory so he took the fight to Show. Against Heyman’s wishes Lesnar defended the title against Big Show at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden. Brock was doing well for himself in the match despite having broken ribs, but in the tradition of Survivor Series screwjobs Heyman would turn on Lesnar and help Big Show win the WWE Title. That Thursday on SmackDown Big Show would successfully defend the title against Edge (everyone must have thought he’d be an easy defense) and once again it looked like Big Show might be dominant as champion for a long time.

Guess again. Kurt Angle won a classic Four-Way Elimination Match against Edge, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero to earn a shot at Big Show’s title. Thanks to a little help from Brock Lesnar, Angle managed to slay the giant and win the WWE Title just one month after Big Show won it from Lesnar. After his title win Angle had someone to thank…his new manager Paul Heyman. With Heyman in the picture as Angle’s manager Brock was pretty much assured that he would never be granted a title opportunity. Instead Heyman wanted to keep it all in the family and proposed that Angle defend the title against the former champion Big Show. Chris Benoit had a little something to say about that though and he managed to defeat Big Show in a No. 1 Contender’s Match to get a title shot at the Royal Rumble. At the Rumble Angle and Benoit put on one of the finest technical matches of all time. Despite putting forth a losing effort Benoit received a standing ovation from the crowd as they knew that they had just witnessed an instant classic.

While Angle may have been lucky enough to get by Benoit, his luck would run out as Brock Lesnar would go on to win the Royal Rumble and by doing so received a guaranteed shot against Angle at WrestleMania XIX. Due to some of Angle’s dubious actions SmackDown GM Stephanie McMahon would allow the WrestleMania match to happen, but only after a title defense on SmackDown two week prior. Many people thought that Lesnar would mow right through Angle as he had been suffering from a broken neck and Heyman had also disappeared after being demolished by Brock inside a Steel Cage. At first it looked like Brock would win the title in near record time until he realized something: the man that he was beating up wasn’t Kurt Angle but Kurt’s brother Eric in disguise. The momentary distraction was enough that the real Kurt Angle needed to roll Brock up and escape with his title. Unfortunately for Angle he wouldn’t be as lucky at WrestleMania. Faced with having to actual wrestle Brock due to a stipulation that the title would change hands on a disqualification or a count out Angle didn’t have enough left to defeat the “Next Big Thing.” Even after Brock almost broke his own neck by attempting a Shooting Star Press he still had enough wherewithal to deliver his third F5 of the match to Angle to win the championship. Brock would gain Angle’s respect along with the title and the two would become friends while Angle was recovering from his neck surgery.

Brock’s first defense would come against a man that had targeted him shortly before WrestleMania, John Cena. Cena won an eight man tournament defeating Chris Benoit in the finals to gain a shot at the title. Cena put up a hard fought effort and even almost scored the upset but in the end it was the champion that emerged victorious. After Brock’s feud with Cena he would cross paths with an old nemesis, Big Show.

Brock would stand up for Rey Mysterio after Big Show viciously attacked him by strapping him to a stretcher and bashing it against the ring post. As a result of these actions the two met in a Stretcher Match. Thanks to some help from Rey and the use of a forklift Brock managed to defeat the mammoth challenger. Later that week they would hook up in a rematch on SmackDown, but following a huge superplex the ring itself would implode, ending the match. They would try to face one another the next week in a No DQ Match but it ended in a no contest.

Their feud would be interrupted by a returning Kurt Angle. Angle and Lesnar may have been friends but Angle still wanted his shot at the title. At the first SmackDown only PPV Vengeance, Angle would defeat Brock and Big Show in a Triple Threat Match to reclaim his belt. Shortly thereafter Brock would turn on Angle and team with Mr. McMahon in an effort to regain his championship. At SummerSlam “The Real” Brock Lesnar challenged Angle for the title, but despite interference from Mr. McMahon Angle was able to avenge his WrestleMania loss with a tapout victory. Angle would attempt to get past Brock by defending his title against Undertaker in a classic match, but before the match could reach a conclusion Lesnar would interfere and cause a no contest. Mr. McMahon would order a 60-Minute Iron Man Match to take place between Angle and Lesnar to settle their differences once and for all. Brock would employ some dirty tactics to get the early advantage on Angle and would eventually hold on to win five falls to four. This match was considered by many to be the 2003 Match of the Year.

With Angle clearly in his rearview mirror Brock would turn his attention to the other man in the title hunt, Undertaker. First he would show off his dominance by offering a title shot to Paul London in his first match in WWE. Brock would go on to dismantle London and send a message to Undertaker in the process. One year after their epic Hell in a Cell Match Lesnar would defend the title against Taker at No Mercy, but this time it would be a Biker Chain Match. In the end it would be interference by Mr. McMahon that would seal the Deadman’s fate. Lesnar would briefly fall back into a feud with Angle in time for Survivor Series but he would not defend the title against him. Instead he found himself defending the title against the man that forced him to tap at Survivor Series, Chris Benoit. Benoit had defeated his ally John Cena in a No. 1 Contender’s Match set up by the fact that they each were declared the winner of a Battle Royal. That same night Benoit would go toe-to-toe with Brock and would come within a hair of winning the WWE Title for the first time in his career. New SmackDown GM Paul Heyman would have none of that and not only did he cost Benoit the match but he swore that Benoit would never get a title shot against Brock Lesnar again. It is this political atmosphere that would send Benoit to Raw following his win in the 2004 Royal Rumble Match.

Lesnar would soon find himself a target not just because he was WWE Champion, but because he almost ended a man’s career. Hardcore Holly had suffered a broken neck at the hands of Lesnar early on in Lesnar’s career and was now back for blood. Heyman allowed Holly to fight for a shot at Lesnar in a tag team match, teaming with Shannon Moore against A-Train and Matt Morgan. Before the tag team match Brock defended his title against Moore to soften him up. Of course Brock won, but his softening up of Moore didn’t help and Holly would win his tag team match and as such a title shot against Brock at the Royal Rumble. In what would be the benchmark for forgettable Rumble title matches Brock successfully defended his title against Hardcore Holly.

After Benoit left for Raw, GM Paul Heyman would scramble to put together a worthy No Way Out main event to make up for his lost talent. He would set up a 15 man SmackDown Rumble to determine the No. 1 Contender. In the end it would come down to two friends Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle with Guerrero spilling Angle out to the floor and winning the title opportunity. Eddie would make the most of that opportunity by defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title at No Way Out in front of a frenzied crowd at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. On his first SmackDown as champion Eddie would have to defend his newly won title against his estranged nephew Chavo Guerrero, with Kurt Angle substituting as the guest referee after the original guest ref Chavo Classic was knocked out. Angle would end up turning on Eddie and making it known that it is all about the WWE Title. At WrestleMania XX Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle battled in a classic that saw Eddie successfully retain his title. There would be no rest for the weary however as on the next SmackDown Eddie would defend the title against his good friend Rey Mysterio. Rey would come up short in his quest for the title, though, and Eddie could turn his attention to the upcoming WWE Draft. In the draft Triple H would be sent to SmackDown and he would immediately get a title shot against Eddie. The Raw and SmackDown rosters would spill out into a huge brawl and the match would be ruled a no contest. Within the week Triple H would be traded back to Raw for a group of people, one of whom was Booker T. Booker T was not happy about leaving Raw but would be rewarded for the move by getting a title shot. The match would not see a clean finish though as Eddie’s next rival would make his presence known: JBL.

Fresh off the dissolution of the APA, the newly rechristened John “Bradshaw” Layfield made it known that he was going to start his knew run at the top. SmackDown GM Kurt Angle gave JBL his Great American Award and the title shot that came with the award. After a personal attack that caused Eddie’s mother to have a heart attack Eddie was out for blood, not to retain his title. Both men would be a bloody mess in their title match and Eddie would end up losing the match, but not the title, by disqualification. As a result of his win JBL would be allowed to name the stipulation for his rematch: a Texas Bullrope Match. The Bullrope Match would be yet another violent encounter and it seemed as if Eddie had won, but the replays showed that Eddie inadvertently helped JBL touch all four corners and in a shocking turn of events JBL became the new WWE Champion just two months after being a tag team midcarder.

JBL would start off his reign with a bang, defending the title against Spike Dudley on SmackDown. That was sarcasm by the way. Eddie would receive his rematch a week later inside a Steel Cage. The match was a classic and Eddie was near victory when Kurt Angle interfered to prevent him from regaining his title.

With Eddie preoccupied with Angle, JBL would have to focus on his new challenger Undertaker. At SummerSlam Undertaker destroyed JBL but managed to get disqualified in the process. New SmackDown GM Teddy Long would force JBL to put his title on the line in a rematch on SmackDown but JBL was too banged up to compete. Instead he had his Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan defend the title on his behalf. Thanks to dubious tactics by JBL, OJ managed to hold on to his boss’ title, but JBL would soon find himself back in the ring with Undertaker. This time the two would clash in a Last Ride Match where the winner would have to lock the loser in a hearse in order to win. Once again Taker completely destroyed JBL but this time it would be interference from Heidenreich that would cost Taker the title.

After vanquishing Undertaker, JBL would engage in a short feud with Hardcore Holly. The two would meet in a Hardcore Match for the title in London, a match that JBL would win. JBL’s next opponent would actually be a former ally, Booker T. After the JBL-Booker T alliance fell apart Booker set his sites on JBL’s title. A victory over Orlando Jordan secured Booker a title shot at Survivor Series but OJ would make up for his earlier loss by interfering in the match at every turn ultimately costing Booker T his shot at the title. JBL may have escaped Survivor Series with his title, but soon all of his demons would come back to haunt him. Booker T, Undertaker, and Eddie Guerrero would all be named No. 1 Contender and JBL would have to fend them off in a Fatal Four-Way Match. JBL seemed to have lost his faith in his abilities as he kissed his belt good bye before the match, but little did he know that he wouldn’t need to. As he managed to do several times during his reign JBL won the match by just surviving the onslaught and being in the right place at the right time.

Finally JBL could forget about those three men and move on to different challenges. If it were up to JBL he would defend the title against Shannon Moore, but Teddy Long had different ideas. JBL would find himself defending his title against Kurt Angle in a match that didn’t have a conclusion because Big Show interjected himself into it, and the title picture as well. JBL would actually be forced to defend his title against Moore anyhow, but the looming threat was an impending Triple Threat Match with Angle and Show set for the Royal Rumble. Thanks largely to his Cabinet JBL managed to come out on top yet again, pinning Angle to retain. Teddy Long would not be happy with the interference in the match though and booked JBL vs. Big Show in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match to ensure that no one would interfere. Big Show would actually manage to chokeslam JBL through the ring but little did he know that he sent the champion all the way to the floor. As Big Show readied himself to walk down the steps to certain victory it was announced that JBL had already escaped the cage due to Big Show’s enormous chokeslam. With Big Show out of the way JBL had a major title defense on the horizon: WrestleMania 21.

His challenger for the big event was the antithesis of everything JBL was, John Cena. Cena had won an eight man tournament defeating Kurt Angle in the finals in order to get his title shot and he made sure to take advantage of it. For nine months JBL held on to the WWE Title by whatever means necessary, taking whatever punishment needed to be taken in order to just survive. On this night, however, Cena made short work of the Wallstreet maven. Maybe JBL overlooked Cena or maybe Cena was just that dominant, but whatever the reason John Cena ended the reign of JBL and in the process took the WWE Title into a whole new era.

That’s where our little history lesson will end this week. We will pick up with Cena’s reign either next week or the week after depending on how things turn out over the next week. Be sure to check it out!

Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!

Chris Nima asks about the Rumble:

Is there any chance we will have a surprise entry such as The Big Show and or Lashley into the Rumble? Show did have a surprise entrance in 2001

You know when I first heard about Big Show’s return my first thought was of his surprise return in the 2001 Rumble. Good call! I guess after last night we have our answers, eh?

Chris Jacobs does his Lil Jon impression in regards to my SmackDown spoilers:

How can the Palumbo stuff be bad, it’s an awesome heel turn, and turns Noble face…WHAT!?!?!?! Anyway, it’s great heat, and will bring some life into this feud.

Watching it live it went on way too long and just came off badly. On TV is came off relatively harmless but that’s the wonders of post-production. I don’t really mind the story itself, it was the execution at the tapings that was bad.

Speaking of the tapings, I made it on camera quite a bit. For those interested in getting a glimpse as yours truly, check me out cheering on my boy Collin Delaney here. You can’t miss me, I’m right on top of Tazz’s head. Narcissistic? Maybe. But you know you wanna anyhow.

The Shimmy Likes It Raw!

There is a Tide in the Affairs of Men…

My One Tree Hill reporting duties continue in this week’s edition of An Unkindness of Ravens. You should read it and make me feel loved. There’s that narcissism again. Or is that lack of self-esteem? Read the column and decide!

That does it for me. Next week will either be the conclusion on my WWE Title recap or my final attempt at booking WrestleMania before the pieces really start to fall into place. We’ll see how adventurous I’m feeling next week. In any event, I’ll be here so you should too. Until then, don’t die. Clark…out.