A gambler once said you got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em, and know when to walk away. Tony Khan’s bid to land a television deal for Ring of Honor (ROH) nine months after purchasing the company yielded an uninspired result.
On the heels of Ring of Honor’s Final Battle pay-per-view event on Saturday, Tony Khan announced the promotion’s HonorClub streaming service has officially relaunched with new weekly television episodes coming soon to the platform.
Ric Flair said it best when he proclaimed the WWE Championship “is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you number one. When you are the king of the WWF, you rule the world.” No title is more coveted, and no belt symbolizes success more.
Many wrestlers spend years grinding it out to prove they have what it takes for WWE to put them front and center on the marquee. Bret Hart thought he’d never win the title. Eight years, one month, and fourteen days later, “The Hitman” hoisted the title up high.
However, an elect few made such an impression in a short time; tenure and inexperience were ignored to serve the bottom line. We’re going to look at the 12 wrestlers who won their first WWE Championship in the fastest time since Vincent Kennedy McMahon went all in on Hulkamania in 1984.
Bob Backlund won his first WWE Championship four months after he started working for the company exclusively under Vincent J. McMahon. The now-retired McMahon inherited Backlund when he bought the company from his father in 1982 and therefore did not make our list.
Universal and World Heavyweight Championships are not on the menu here. It’s all about the most coveted prize in the industry.
The fairest way to chart the list is to start when the wrestler made their in-ring/television debut in a match or angle. Many debut matches were filmed days, weeks, and months before they aired on television. To the audience, a character is only in play once they’re on TV.
Survivor Series unleashed WarGames upon the WWE Universe at the TD Garden in Boston. The sinister structure bookended the five-match PLE, which included two title bouts. Each WarGames match had two different objectives. The women performed an action-packed affair with weapons galore, and the men focused on telling a specific story.
After years of demand, WarGames will finally have its coming out party on the mainline WWE product at Survivor Series on Saturday. WarGames was a WCW staple and the brainchild of Dusty Rhodes dating back to 1987. “The match beyond” occurred once a year, except for 1999, due to budget cuts, until Vince McMahon purchased WCW in 2001.
Despite owning the I.P., McMahon never allowed WarGames to occur on the main roster. Triple H got the green light to use the concept in NXT beginning in 2017 to a resounding success. Some say McMahon felt it would cannibalize the Hell in a Cell concept, while others claim he believed two rings would take up too much space and cut into ticket sales.
Of course, there’s the age old theory that McMahon will never support a concept he didn’t create. Despite proof of sucess in his own company, McMahon wouldn’t allow the match to touch anything related to Raw or SmackDown. Once Triple H became the head of WWE creative, one of the first things he did was officially bring WarGames to the main roster.
Two weeks removed from the most poorly conceived Money in the Bank cash-in of all time, one thing is clear.
No one misses Vince McMahon more than Austin Theory.
Seventeen years of MITB (Money in the Bank) winners found the opportune moment to vie for the world championship. Win or lose, wrestlers endured a brutal ladder match for a guaranteed title shot exclusively on their terms. Well, Paul Levesque tried adding a new wrinkle to the MITB concept.
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced on Sunday that WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura will face The Great Muta at their Budokan Hall show on New Year’s Day.
Keiji Mutoh, otherwise known as The Great Muta, is in the process of setting up his retirement tour, with his final match scheduled for February 23, 2023, at the Tokyo Dome.
Most American fans were first introduced to Muta during his days in the NWA/WCW, where he debuted in 1989. Muta had a memorable feud with Sting, where he won the Television Title before dropping it to Arn Anderson on his way out of the promotion.
The post-All Out backstage brawl is either the most well-booked fight we’ll never see or the most bizarre legit donnybrook of all time.
Reports came out last Friday that AEW is working on a buyout of CM Punk’s contract. Even more reports on Wednesday confirmed The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) were backstage at Dynamite and are returning soon.
But wait, there’s more.
WrestlingInc.com reported on Wednesday that when the door of Punk’s locker room was kicked in, it accidentally hit his dog, Larry, in the mouth. A few days later, at a pre-scheduled vet appointment, an exam revealed two of Larry’s teeth were knocked loose and had to be removed.
Larry’s role in the Labor Day weekend brawl has seemingly evolved every few weeks. At first, Ace Steel’s girlfriend was watching Larry. Then, Kenny Omega moved Larry to get him out of harm’s way, only to get bit by Ace Steel. Now, his teeth were knocked loose.
If you’re looking for some excellent professional wrestling to watch, check out the first and last match from this past Saturday’s NXT Halloween Havoc.
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