Could the following people be world champions?

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

I think they would really have to give the 'little guy' a title reign, so there would be zero doubt in people's minds that it can be done.

[Coffey]

To win the Rumble, you pretty much have to go over the entire roster though. Or they could give him #30 and actually make that number mean something.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

I don't think the idea would get over as good without a title reign. The people have to be left with no doubt that the 'little guy' can win the title, and for that to happen, he actually has to win the title.

[Guest Some Guy]

I told you I'm God.

 

As for Rey being World Champion, I think he is so good at playing the underdog that he could really get people into wanting him to win the WWE Title. I don't think he could have a long reign, because once the underdog wins the big title he loses some of that underdog character, but I sincerely believe he could make a good short term champion, with the heel who beats him getting a ton of heat for taking the belt off of him.

I would go along with this plan, but WWE would get only one potential buyrate out of it, it's probably not worth it to go through pushing him to the moon for very little return, when you know in advance that the return will be little. It's not like pushing Orton where they actually thought he's draw and he didn't.

I think the long term reward would be worth it, because not only would you get Rey even more over with a WWE Title win, but you would also be planting the idea in the heads of the fans that a 'little guy' can indeed win the WWE Title, and with that idea planted, it allows for more potential scenarios.

I think they did that when they put the belt on Eddy. They out Eddy over a monster heel in Brock and then over Angle. Eddy is like 5' 7", he's not exactly big.

 

I don't think anybody would even notice that Benoit is short because his style and ring work are heavyweight.

 

Another issue I have with the the notion of Rey winning the title is that it is so outlandish, in that it will never ever happen. It's nearly on the level of saying that Lou Thesz will come back from the dead to feud with Hogan before WM 22.

 

This is sort of off topic: What's the point of having a cruiserweight division if you are going to push the cruisers to World Title status? If Rey is a cruiserweight should he even be eligible, in kayfabe terms to fight for the Heavyweight title? If Big Show isn't allowed to go for the CW strap why should Rey be able to go for the big belt?

 

I don't think the idea would get over as good without a title reign. The people have to be left with no doubt that the 'little guy' can win the title, and for that to happen, he actually has to win the title.

This I agree with. Winning the RR means nothing unless you get the belt at WM.

[Coffey]

..but then the "little guy" actually has to win the title. That's my problem with the whole scenario. I don't think matches like Spike Dudley Vs. Austin, TAKA Vs. HHH or Jeff Hardy Vs. The Undertaker would've been nearly as good if the "little guy" actually went over.

 

Them just seeming like they can compete, I think, it good enough. It's the squash shit, like Triple H hitting the Pedigree to The Hurricane on the entrance ramp that makes shit look bad.

 

I think that people like the underdog but they like reality more. If they ever win, we, as fans, want it to remain an upset. We don't want Mysterio going into a match as the favorite. At least I don't. If you have the belt, you're the favorite. HTM taught us that.

 

He might now win the match but he's still the champion!

 

If someone small, like Rey, wins the title, it'll be looked at as an upset. People wouldn't buy into him being credible against people of all sizes. So, each of his defenses that he won would be upsets too. Suddenly, his wins aren't upsets anymore. I don't think I could rally behind that. I don't think a whole lot of other people could either. I can't believe that Mysterio could beat a heavyweight more than once. Once, sure. It was a fluke. The underdog won. Eventually, he has to lose though. Hotshotting the belt onto him just to get to that point doesn't seem worth it.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

I don't think most people realise just how small Eddie really is. Same with Benoit. But with Rey, they do know how small he is, and, while it could be a detriment, it could also be turned into a huge positive.

 

And I don't see why Rey winning the title would be so outlandish, when Vince McMahon, a total size freak, had WM XX end with two small guys holding both of his World Titles.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

I think that people like the underdog but they like reality more. If they ever win, we, as fans, want it to remain an upset. We don't want Mysterio going into a match as the favorite. At least I don't. If you have the belt, you're the favorite. HTM taught us that.

 

That's why the title reign would have to be short, so that kind of mindset doesn't have time to sink in.

[Guest Some Guy]

I don't think most people realise just how small Eddie really is. Same with Benoit. But with Rey, they do know how small he is, and, while it could be a detriment, it could also be turned into a huge positive.

 

And I don't see why Rey winning the title would be so outlandish, when Vince McMahon, a total size freak, had WM XX end with two small guys holding both of his World Titles.

With Eddy, I think they do realize how small he is. He wrestles a cruiserish style, which doesn't help in terms of seeming big in the ring.

 

I covered Benoit in my last post. Someone, I think on the old Eyada WOL show said that Benoit's size doesn't matter because "he wrestles big." I think that somes him up. Nothing about Benoit screams cruiserweight or midget. He looks, acts, and wrestles like a badass.

 

Coffey

..but then the "little guy" actually has to win the title. That's my problem with the whole scenario. I don't think matches like Spike Dudley Vs. HHH, TAKA Vs. HHH or Jeff Hardy Vs. The Undertaker would've been nearly as good if the "little guy" actually went over.

Do you mean Spike vs. Austin? I don't remember a Spike/HHH match, but I'm probably wrong.

 

If the little guy never wins then there is little point to ever invest emotionally in the macth. TAKA/HHH, while not a wrestling classic (see Loss' review) was a great match in terms of getting the crowd into it, and getting HHH over. HHH put TAKA over throughout the match to get the fans hopes up and then crushed them when he hit the Pedigree. The problem is that you can only go to that well so many times before people stop caring. Eventually the little guy has to win or no one cares. It doesn't have to be for the title but I think, if they are going to mix the smaller and larger guys together that the smaller guys have to win on occasion or there is no point to having them wrestle in the first place.

[Coffey]

No, you're right. It was Spike Vs. Austin after Spike tore up the petition because Austin called Molly a bimbo. Brainfart I guess.

 

My point is the little guy can occasionally win. It's just that putting the belt on him in the occasional win is a bad move. It just leads to a crappy title reign the devalues the title. Which, at this point, isn't saying a lot but it still matters.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

If the little guy never wins then there is little point to ever invest emotionally in the macth. TAKA/HHH, while not a wrestling classic (see Loss' review) was a great match in terms of getting the crowd into it, and getting HHH over. HHH put TAKA over throughout the match to get the fans hopes up and then crushed them when he hit the Pedigree.  The problem is that you can only go to that well so many times before people stop caring.  Eventually the little guy has to win or no one cares.  It doesn't have to be for the title but I think, if they are going to mix the smaller and larger guys together that the smaller guys have to win on occasion or there is no point to having them wrestle in the first place.

That's why I think a 'little guy' should win the WWE Title at some point, even if it is for a short term reign, so it's established that it can be done. They don't have to do it again for a really long time, but when they tease it, the drama is going to be there, because the people will have been educated into accepting that it can happen.

[Guest Some Guy]

Who do you think should be the one to drop the belt to Rey? Shoud they transition from Cena to Eddy to Rey so that they can ease the people into smaller guys and then have Rey drop it to Cena or JBL or whoever?

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

If Eddie gets the belt, then he could drop it Rey. The size problem wouldn't be that much of an issue, and they could have a tremendous match as well.

[Guest Some Guy]

Yeah, but that might take the suprise value out of it. Rey beating Eddy would be far less noteworthy than Rey beating Undertaker or Big Show.

[Coffey]

No, there wouldn't be a problem there. The problem would arise when people like The Undertaker, JBL or The Big Show want a shot.

 

Rey beating Norton in WCW, on free TV, with a low blow was a joke. Him beating the Undertaker in a title match on a PPV would be worse.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

Rey beating Norton in WCW, on free TV, with a low blow was a joke. Him beating the Undertaker in a title match on a PPV would be worse.

It didn't help that Norton was his usual self when it came to a match he was losing. If the booking is top notch, it could be pulled off, of that I have no doubt.

[Mad Dog]

Rey beating Bam Bam Bigelow and Kevin Nash around the same time were much better as far as showing how Rey could beat a bigger guy.

[goodhelmet]

This argument against Rey has too many flaws. First off, with the proper booking, any champion can look credible. HBK was a mini-me compared to most of the guys he was facing. In UFC, Royce Gracie was a midget compared to some of those monsters but he came out of every fight looking tougher everytime. With Rey, like I said, you need to do some work first. you need to give him a killer submission or other credible finisher that could be applied to ANYONE. Once you do that, you have a guy that people take seriously. He will be the Emmit Smith of wrestling... the little guy who defied all odds and took care of business. It would also take some work from the announcers, emphasizing Rey's credibility and skill and not constatnly reminding the audience he is a midget.

 

As for Eddie bombing as champion, it has to be said. As champion, his only major feud, post-Mania, was with JBL. JBL came out of nowhere and was not a credible challenger in my eyes or anyone else's. He had some great matches with Eddie but did zero before hand to make the crowd care. That is not Eddie's fault.

[Guest Some Guy]

By bombing, I don't mean at the box office, I mean he flamed oout and couldn't handle it. He snapped and attacked fans among other things.

[Loss]

Which has nothing to do with his size.

 

And for the record, to whoever said Eddy wrestles a cruiser-ish style ... have you watched him wrestle in the past year? He stays on the mat almost the entire time now, and he usually brawls when he's in against the big guys.

[Guest Some Guy]

I never said that his inabilty to carry the load had anything to do with his size. I think it was because he's one of them there Mexicans....

 

For the record I am joking about the Mexican thing.

 

And for the record, to whoever said Eddy wrestles a cruiser-ish style ... have you watched him wrestle in the past year? He stays on the mat almost the entire time now, and he usually brawls when he's in against the big guys.

I said it, he has changed his style a lot I will grant that. And he's managed to so without becoming a slve to WWE ME style.

[Ray]

Rey Misterio - There have been times where he's absolutely been over enough to hold the World Title. I don't know if now is one of them.

 

Christian - No. He's been booked as a cowardly mid-card heel who jobs all the time for far too long.

 

Edge - Yes. He's been protected in the booking and has the size/look. I think he could be a good sneaky/dickish heel champ.

 

Shelton Benjamin - If they really get behind him with a push, yes. He can do the "athletic underdog babyface who pulls off the shocking upset" thing pretty well.

 

Chris Benoit - Yes. He's BENOIT~! Crowd would absolutely buy him as the fightin' champ again.

 

Chris Jericho - Maybe, but it would take a lot to repair the damage done to him.

 

Eddy Guerrero - Yes. Way better than Cena. ;-)

 

Kane - No. His time has passed. They keep trying to re-push him over and over and it won't work. At best he's a decent opponent for a face champ to run through.

 

Big Show - No, he doesn't need it anyway.

[Tim Cooke]

Eddy's change in style in early 2004 was a HUGE reason that he was able to work with guys like Big Show and JBL, but remain very capable with Rey Jr. Eddy's 2002-2003 irked me at the time and looking back at it, even more so. Eddy's 2002-2003 style was WWE highspot oriented without any of the great moves that Eddy has. So instead of a great brainbuster or a stiff splash mountain powerbomb, he got lots of non stop moving with little reason. The laso from El Paso sucked. I even hated the rolling suplexes because of how they were just thrown out there. I took that back after Feb 2004.

 

Benoit vs. Eddy from 7/03 PPV is the worst match I have seen two great to excellent wrestlers have.

 

Tim

[Tim Cooke]

Forgot this. Should have kept O'Neill around for a couple of days. His insanity, in small doses, can be fun. I know a "Why Kurt Angle is over rated" thread would have made my day!

 

Tim

[goodhelmet]

Chris Benoit - I think Benoit could become champ again. More than anything, he should show hints of a heel turn, and keep the fans guessing up until his moment of truth.

 

Chris Jericho - With HHH on the shelf, maybe. As long as he stays on the same show as Trips, he doesn; ahve a chance. A lottery switch would do him good.

 

Eddy Guerrero - Absolutely. Eddie remains over and a couple of top-level feuds would put him right back in the picture. Hopefully, the 2ndtime around won't be so taxing on him.

 

Kane - The perfect time for Kane would have been after they removed his mask and he was truly a vicious looking heel with a loose screw. Now, nobody takes him seriously since Trips effectively squashed him as he was getting hot. I still don't know if he has done anything significant since Taker squashed him at WM XX.

 

Big Show -Yeah, by virtue of his size and demeanor, Big Show would always appear to be a cedible champion. However, in order for him to actually draw or make the company mony, they need to kep his jobs limited and not use him as a sacrifical lamb when building up a new guy. In WCW and WWF, Big Show should have had an Andre like record, losing only on countouts and disqualifications. If he submits to an injury, so be it but keep the pins to a minimum.