Ten Greatest WWE Champions of All Time

The WWE Championship is the holy grail of professional wrestling. It’s the belt that every aspiring and current wrestler dreams of holding. Having this honor bestowed upon you means you are the best that this business has to offer.

Today, I will rank the top ten WWE Champions of all time.

To say this list was hard to compile would be a colossal understatement—42 wrestlers over 50 years made for several list changes. The thing to remember is that all lists of this type are subjective. You do the best you can with criteria that make sense to you.

For example, Money is extremely important, but being a big draw doesn’t define a wrestler. Iron Man 3 made over four hundred million at the box office, but it’s not winning Best Picture at the Oscars.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

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Daniel Bryan’s Babyface Turn Elicits The Crowds Of Yesteryear

Last weeks episode of Monday Night Raw ended with a frenzy of “YES” chants when Daniel Bryan turned babyface, after two weeks of being a heel, he laid out Bray Wyatt in the middle of the ring. It was the perfect scenario as Bryan had his nemesis all to himself and locked in a steel cage. The live crowd can make or break a match because they provide that intangible “thing” that makes a moment so special. However, in general, crowd reactions aren’t as vociferous as they once were.

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WWE Superstars #1 Review

Superstars marks the newest foray into the comic book genre for WWE. While their previous efforts were met with little success, in essence, this offering has already succeeded where the others have failed because Mick Foley pens the script. The book reads like an episode of Monday Night Raw with several different story lines taking place within the noir landscape.

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Chris Jericho’s Undisputed Renaissance

The main event of this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view is scheduled to unify Randy Orton’s WWE title and John Cena’s World Heavyweight title. While one unified champion may emerge, they will not be the first. Twelve years earlier, Chris Jericho became the first undisputed champion at WWF’s year end event. There is a stark contrast, however, between Orton and Cena’s current status on the card and that of Jericho’s in 2001.

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An Inconvenient Truth: John Cena and Randy Orton

There is an inconvenient truth when it comes wrestlers in the WWE. It doesn’t matter how good their matches are, how hard they work, how loud the audience cheers for them, how good they make the company look in the media, or how much merchandise they sell. In the end, it’s all about John Cena and Randy Orton. It’s always been about them and until a new era is ushered in, nothing will ever change that. For the last eight years, no one has been booked stronger or protected more than Cena and Orton. They are the two performers that the company has put their faith in to lead them to the promised land because more than anyone else on the roster, they embody what it means to be a sports entertainer and not a professional wrestler.

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The New WWE – for better or for worse?

Dolph Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated Alberto Del Rio to become the World Heavyweight Champion. It was a moment many wrestling fans have been clamoring for and it occurred the night after WrestleMania 29. That’s the problem, it happened after, and not at WrestleMania.

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It’s Official, John Cena is a Good Wrestler

Guess what folks? John Cena can wrestle, and he proved it last Monday when he and CM Punk tore the house down, and arguably had the best match in the history of Monday Night Raw.

Is Cena the world’s greatest wrestler? No. Are his promos gods awful and infuriating at times? Absolutely. The fact of the matter is you can’t suck and have the kind of match that he had. CM Punk does bring the best out of him, but Cena wasn’t carried in any way, shape, or form.

“I’m serving humble pie and I hope all of my critics are hungry” were the first verbal shots fired by John Cena in his pre-match promo. He was determined to have the kind of match that fans will be talking about for years to come.

Cena is a lousy mechanic, which is what he gets such a bad rap for. However, he can tell a great story and knows how to work in the right situations. Don’t believe me? Let’s take trip down memory lane and look at the best John Cena matches.

Click here to read the rest of my column at Gerweck.net: Pro Wrestling News Since 1997

WWE Royal Rumble 2013 Predictions

The main course of this Sunday’s Royal Rumble will be the WWE championship match between CM Punk and The Rock. While the rumble match is still the apple of many eyes, this is a one match show that has everyone talking for a variety of reasons. Who do you want to win? Who do you think should win? What do you think is the likely going to happen? Let’s talk.

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The WWE Santa Clause

Does the WWE have a clause in their contract with Santa Claus that he has to receive a yuletide beating each year? Around the holidays every year, the Santa Claus character receives a squared circle thrashing, in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes, a suspect Santa gets a fist in the face and other times, the genuine article gets a body slam for his troubles. Trust me, no one is safe, not even someone as pure and jolly as Santa Claus, from the shenanigans of professional wrestling.

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Is it time to Reboot the WWE?

WWE Television is currently a stale product. Professional wrestling always has its down time before another boom period arrives. In order for the boom to take place, however, a new star needs to emerge. This person needs to be a bonafide superstar the caliber of Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock. Simply being a wrestling star such as John Cena, CM Punk, and Randy Orton will not move the needle in the required direction. When this boom period finally occurs, it’s usually a wrestler who was waiting in the wings for their big break. These days, Dolph Ziggler is the usual suspect. He is a good worker but can he be the box office smash that brings the business to Attitude Era heights?

On October 1, 2012, Monday Night Raw drew its lowest rating in 15 years. The company improved its rating by having its 67-year-old chairman wrestle the WWE champion. While it was certainly an attention grabber, it was only a short-term solution since Vince can’t wrestle every week. While Raw moving back to two hours would be a move in the right direction, it doesn’t address the larger problem at hand. The process of booking by committee dilutes what storylines ultimately end up on television. If the big three can’t do any more than they already have and there is no legitimate heir apparent on the horizon; what else can be done?

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