The WrestleMania Main Event That Never Was

   In the Fall of 1991, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair left the NWA and WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.  It was unprecedented!   No one ever thought they would see Ric Flair in the WWF.  What made matters even more interesting is that he showed up on WWF television with the Championship belt.  Of course, it was blurred on television to prevent lawsuits.  They never referred to it as the NWA Title and never mentioned the letters NWA or WCW.  Flair was calling himself the real World Champion.  

   At the time, Flair had just about had enough with the new management at WCW.  WCW Executive Vice President at the time, Jim Herd, was making many changes.  It's still speculation but one of those changes allegedly was to have Flair become known as Sparticus, cut his hair, and wear an earring.  I'm not in the business, don't claim to be, nor have I ever booked a wrestling storyline; but that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard!  If that was true, Flair had similar thoughts.  Flair was butting heads with WCW management and didn't generally like the direction of the company.  Mind you, this is before Eric Bischoff took over.

   There was a reason Flair and the WWF were able to present the belt on television.  To counter the lawsuit against Flair for doing such a thing, he had a solid case that the physical belt belonged to him.  That was partially true as Flair had paid the $25,000 deposit for ownership of the belt while he was champion.  Flair claims he never got the deposit back, therefore not giving the belt back, as per the NWA's agreement at the time.  Because it took such a long time for this lawsuit to be settled, WCW created a new interim physical Championship belt.

   For weeks, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan had been promoting the arrival of the real World Champion, never mentioning Ric Flair's name.  Rowdy Roddy Piper confronted Heenan about it, even spitting upon the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Finally, Flair showed up, confronting Piper and mentioning his intention on one day meeting Hulk Hogan in the ring, along with taking the WWF Title for himself.  The seeds were planted and the thought of a match between Hogan and Flair caused fans to salivate.  It was a dream match!  Unfortunately, that dream match never to place on the big stage in the WWF and we had to wait to see that match on television until WCW did it at Bash At the Beach two years later.  

   To this day, I still don't understand why that match didn't take place at WrestleMania!  I read something about Hogan/Flair matches happening in the House Show circuit and apparently didn't draw as well as they thought it could.  I don't really buy that for some reason!  Don't get me wrong, the match between Ric Flair and Randy "Macho Man" Savage was a classic and was one of two matches that saved a fairly lackluster card.  However, many people wanted to see the main event of Hogan and Flair.  

   After two controversial Title matches between Hogan and the Undertaker, the WWF World Heavyweight Championship was held up.  The new champion would be decided in the 1992 Royal Rumble match.  30 superstars had a chance to become the champion.  It was an incredible event!  The match itself contained former WWF Champions such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Undertaker, Sgt. Slaughter, and the Iron Shiek, along with former NWA Champions such as Kerry Von Erich and Flair himself.  

   Towards the end of the Royal Rumble match, the final 3 were Hogan, Flair, and Sid Justice.  Everyone knows the rules of the Royal Rumble state it's every man for himself, therefore all is fair in love and eliminations!  Sid took advantage of this and tossed Hogan out, to the shock of the crowd, as many pegged Hogan to win the whole thing.  After all, he had won the previous two Rumbles.  Uncharacteristic of Hogan, he threw a fit and after feigning shaking Sid's hand, he didn't let go and tried to pull Sid out.  Flair took advantage of the opportunity and dumped Sid over, becoming the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion.  Not only that, Flair had entered the match at number 3 and lasted nearly an hour.  To quote a part of his victory speech, Flair said: "...with a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment of my life!"  I'll never forget that!

   Despite implications of going into WrestleMania VIII with Flair as champion and Hogan as challenger, other things had developed, namely a new feud between Hogan and Sid.  The crowd was audible in actually booing Hogan for his antics during the Rumble.  It's not the first time he did such a thing and that's a whole new blog for the future so look for that.  Gorilla Monsoon did his best on commentary to cover it up.  

   The WWF held a press conference that included new champion Flair, his Executive Consultant Mr. Perfect, and WWF President Jack Tunney.  The panel included all the men Tunney deemed fit for a possible main event title shot at WrestleMania with Flair.  Those men were Hulk Hogan, Sid Justice, Randy Savage, Undertaker, and Roddy Piper.  As Tunney was about to make the announcement, he pointed toward what Sid thought was his way, only to decide the Hulkster was getting the title shot.  You could see the way Sid's facial expression changed and it was clear what was to come next.

   They teased tension between Hogan and Sid, while still going with Hogan vs. Flair.  At Saturday Night's Main Event in February of that year, Hogan and Sid teamed up to take on Flair and Undertaker.  During the match, like many tag team partners had done, he left Hogan to fend for himself.  He took to the Barber Shop to defend his actions and physically assaulted Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Hogan's friend!  Thus, Sid now turned heel.  The storyline twisted towards a Hogan/Sid match while they now had to create a new challenger for Flair heading into WrestleMania.  Savage was chosen and to make this title match a personal matter, a storyline was created with Flair claiming the lovely Miss Elizabeth was once his girlfriend.  It got very personal and went pretty far for the time period.

   In my opinion, it was a complete missed opportunity to do a WrestleMania main event of that caliber, even a match of that caliber!  This was arguably the biggest match never to happen up until then.  By the time it happened in WCW, not as many people cared.  To rework WrestleMania around that match, I would have done a final match between Randy Savage and Jake Roberts, while placing Sid against the Undertaker.  Were there other reasons why this match didn't take place?  Hogan was about to leave for almost a year and perhaps they didn't want to have Hogan win the Championship on his way out.  On the other hand, it's quite possible Hogan didn't want to lose to Flair, or at all!  As much of a Hulkamaniac I was and still am, I wouldn't put that past Hogan.  Those are somewhat valid points, at least points that make more sense than alleged House Show draws.  However, I still to this day believe that Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair for the WWF Championship should have been the main event at that year's WrestleMania!

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android app is vastly approaching so stay tuned!

Missed Opportunity for Impact

   At this point, the words "missed opportunity" and Impact sound cliche.  They just go hand in hand and have for a number of years.  Honestly, there's too many to mention so I'm going with something specific that came to mind.  This may not be something people would have thought about but it's been in my brain for quite some time.  Before I start, here's a little context!

   

   If I'm being honest, and many people might agree, the NWA itself as a promotion, and especially the NWA World Heavyweight Title, hasn't meant much, if anything, in a long time.  Look back to 1994 when "The Franchise" Shane Douglass threw down the NWA Title in that infamous speech, marking the true beginning of Extreme!  Douglass mentioned that the NWA was basically a dead promotion and their championship meant nothing.  I couldn't argue with that then and I can't argue with it now.  

   The NWA was once the most prominent promotion in all of professional wrestling.   Names come to mind such as Lou Thesz, Dory Funk Jr., Jack Brisco, Harley Race, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Sting.  Absolute legends of the business!  The NWA name rose slightly with Jerry and Jeff Jarrett's creation of Total Nonstop Action (TNA).  Oh, how I loathe the TNA initials!  It's not clever and frankly, it stalled any chance of the company being taken seriously.  

   The first few years of TNA saw shows like The Asylum and then Impact grow and such was their use of the NWA World Title.  Despite my diatribe about its meaning, the letters NWA still had some value.  In fact, NWA had enough value that the Jarretts should have tried to purchase the promotion and lay claim once and for all to the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  After ECW was gone and WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon, he held a monopoly in wrestling.  TNA's presence added more to the table and a slight form of competition, which is what made the Monday Night Wars thrive.

   The first several years of Impact's existence as TNA took names like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe and made them stars when they became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.  Of course, Jeff Jarrett himself was a mainstay in that of championship contenders, but then you add legends like Sting and Kurt Angle, up and comers like Abyss, and journeymen like Christian.  These names ignited a new fire for the NWA!  In a move that Impact's owners thought was a good business maneuver, they broke away from the NWA, much like the AWA, WWF, WCW, and ECW had before.  

   But it wasn't just the World Heavyweight Championship division!  The NWA World Tag Team Titles once again rose, now with amazing teams such as America's Most Wanted, Triple X, LAX, and the legendary Dudley Boys.  Another thing that brought Impact to the table was their X Division.  The talent in the company was great!  Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Christopher Daniels, and many others took the company to new heights.  Even after the initial break-away, things were going great!  I personally enjoyed the AJ/Joe/Daniels triple threat matches, the Main Event Mafia, Motor City Machine Guns, Beer Money, and many other things they had to offer.  Another thing that set them apart was their six-sided ring, which I did not care for myself, but like I said, it set them apart!

   

   With the talent there, and a known name like NWA, I think going all the way and getting rid of the letters TNA would have made a significant difference.  Again, the letters TNA sound juvenile, like young teenage boys thought them up!  I just can't take a company like that seriously!  Yes, in recent times, they finally broke away from TNA but too little too late.  But maybe they were doomed either way!  The company has never had its act together, losing money left and right, letting Jeff Jarrett be the champion way too much, and losing their MVP in AJ Styles.  How could that have happened?  Dixie Carter was a joke and their failed attempt at competition for a new Monday Night War was laughable.  

   What I'm getting it is, the NWA could have risen like a Phoenix and with their name value, could have been a viable competitor for WWE.  A lot of wrestlers that waited out their AOL/Time Warner contracts and didn't end up in WWE or at least not for a while, were used in the NWA's TNA.  If the Jarretts had purchased the NWA, would the name value have been enough?  Although, I feel like Impact, or whatever name they call the company, is like a cockroach.  It just won't die!  Someone should have put a bullet in it long ago.  I want to know your thoughts!  What if it was the NWA in place of those God-awful letters TNA?  Would there have been a difference?

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. 

Sad statistic about the 1990 Royal Rumble

   The earlier Royal Rumbles were some of my favorites.  1992 is top for me.  1990 was a pretty good one too.  Some memorable moments include the Hogan/Warrior confrontation, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown beating the crap out of each other, and Mr. Perfect drawing the perfect number.  It's also noteworthy that the Million Dollar Man's finances couldn't help him to get number 30 this year and so he was number one!

   Going back through some of the older Pay-Per-View events, there is a sad set of circumstances if you really pay attention.  We all know that the wrestling industry has lost some greats at younger ages than were intended.  The 1990 Royal Rumble in particular, has one of the saddest statistics of all.  Out of the 30 men that competed in that year's Royal Rumble match, 12 have since passed away.  That's an astonishing 40% of the competitors.  

   The list of deceased wrestlers that competed that year are as follows: Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Bad News Brown, Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Dino Bravo, Ultimate Warrior, Rick Rude, Earthquake, Hercules, and Mr. Perfect.  That's a who's who of legends right there, 9 of which are WWE Hall of Famers.  Every single one of them died way before their time.  This statistic grows more and more as the years go by.  It's just a creepy thing I've noticed and this specific event shows it.  

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. 

12 Years Later: We Miss You, Eddie!

   It was this day 12 years ago when the wrestling world lost one of the most special people to ever be involved...Eddie Guerrero.  It still seems like it was just yesterday!  The man fought so hard and finally vanquished his demons, yet they still caught up to him.  He was doing so well!  He had become the WWE Champion a year earlier, and was on track to likely win another World Title.  If this had been years earlier during his worst time, it might not have been as shocking.  

   Eddie Guerrero will go down as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.  He may not have been the biggest or strongest, but he clicked almost every tab when it came to all-around wrestler.  He was fantastic in the ring, great on the mic, and his charisma was unparalleled!  Things really came together when that push finally came.  Eddie had been in the wrestling business all his life.  Eddie was the youngest of Gory Guerrero's three other children, Chavo, Mando, & Hector.  Chavo Jr. also became quite the technician.  Even Eddie and Vickie's daughter Shaul became a wrestler for a time and is now married to WWE Superstar Aiden English.  Wrestling was in Eddie's blood!

   Eddie grew up in El Paso, Texas and his family was Mexican royalty.  I can remember his rise through the ranks over the years.  He started out working CMLL and AAA, two of the most prominent Mexican wrestling promotions.  Who could forget his tag team with the late Art Barr, Los Gringos Locos?  Eddie wrestled in New Japan, participating in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament as the masked Black Tiger.  Eddie started to become famous in the United States while working with friend Dean Malenko in ECW.  Their matches for the World Television Title were legendary.  Eddie had a pretty good career in WCW as well.  He was a premiere Cruiserweight, having won the Cruiserweight Title a few times, as well as the US Title.  Things really took off when he made it to the WWF, although there were a lot of speed bumps along the way.

     Eddie Guerrero really started to shine in WWE.  He was part of the Radicals, a team of recent former WCW talent, along with Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn.  He then got into a storyline with Chyna and became known as Latino Heat.  His charisma was now developing at lightening speed.  He quickly won the Intercontinental and European Championships.  When he came back from a major rehab stint in 2002, he won the Intercontinental Title once again.  Eddie and nephew Chavo then formed Los Guerreros, with a couple stints as the Smackdown Tag Team Champions.   Eddie and Chavo together were priceless, with their slogan being to lie, cheat, and steal.  They exclaimed; "if you're not cheating, you're not trying!"

   

   After branching off to a singles career once again, Eddie really came into his own.  No one could match his charisma.  His low-rider entrance was unforgettable!  The crowning moment for Eddie's career came at No Mercy in February of 2004 when he defeated Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion.  At WrestleMania, after Chris Benoit won the World Title, he and Eddie's celebration together brought tears to my eyes.  He then had several classics with Kurt Angle and JBL, among others.  Eddie was in a program with backstage pal Batista.  Rumors have it that he was the next in line to become the World Champion.  Eddie was to compete at the 2005 Survivor Series but it wasn't to be.

   Everyone is aware of Eddie's demons.  He had a severe drug and alcohol problem, spending many stints in rehab.  Eddie's most significant time in rehab happened in 2001 when he was actually released from the company.  While getting clean, he performed briefly for Ring of Honor, having a classic match with Super Crazy.  He wrestled for some other independent promotions before returning in 2002.  Eddie needed to get released because it served as a wake-up call.  He finally got clean after that, and remained that way until his passing.  Unfortunately, his former lifestyle caught up with him.

   Eddie Guerrero made us laugh, made us cry, made us angry, but overall, entertained us all.  He is still missed to this day.  We can just imagine how many classic matches he could have had if he lived; dream matches with the likes of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and any number of wrestlers.  Eddie left behind a great legacy.  In 2006, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which I'm sure was bound to happen anyway.  Eddie Guerrero made an impact on my life as a wrestling fan.  In fact, I do possess any autograph of his, which was retrieved by my uncle, who had met him at an airport.  That is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.  12 years gone and you're stilled missed, Eddie!  Viva La Raza!

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. 

My time as a wrestling fan in High School

   Why is it that professional wrestling always seems to be looked down upon?  What's so different about it compared to other forms of entertainment?  How is it any dumber than anything else on television?  Don't get me wrong, I know there's been many stupid things to happen in wrestling.  Mae Young gave birth to a hand, there was the Katie Vick incident, and countless other things.  All these are questions I still ask to this day, yet I asked them even more when I was in High School.  I don't know what it's like nowadays but for me, wrestling was not something to be proud of being a fan of in High School.  At least if you partook in that hierarchical landscape!

   I started High School in the fall of 1994.  At that time, the WWF was in the "New Generation" period and WCW wasn't huge by any means.  I have been a wrestling fan my entire life and I got made fun of in Middle School for being a fan.  It sure didn't stop in High School!  I couldn't talk about it and God forbid I wore a wrestling shirt to school!  I'll be honest, growing up is tough and it was extremely tough for me.  The education part was hard enough, but socially I had a terrible time.  I never fit in, I wasn't popular.  

   Wrestling is an escape!  It still is for me.  It's nice to get away from the real world every once in a while and get lost in something.  Wrestling was that thing for me in High School.  There was definitely a stigma about being a wrestling fan at school.  It was looked down upon.  I tried my hardest not to talk about it too much, for fear of getting made fun of or possibly bullied.  However, it was and still is a passion of mine.  

   During my years at High School, professional wrestling changed drastically and ushered in the "Attitude Era."  I'm 38 years old and because of that, I was fortunate enough to have been a kid during the Hulkamania Era and a teenager during the "Attitude Era," the two most profitable and socially acceptable times for pro wrestling.  Not only that, but we were also in the midst of the infamous Monday Night Wars.  It was a good time to be a wrestling fan.  But was it a good time to be a wrestling fan in High School?  Is it ever?

   Even at its peak, with it being all over the place and guys like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin being household names, it was still hard to be a wrestling fan in High School.  I remember how proud I was to wear my Austin 3:16 shirt for the first time at school.  I almost had a swagger to me as I walked down the halls.  That all turned upside down in a matter of minutes with the looks and comments from passers by!  I just couldn't win!  Invariably, I'd get that question; "you know it's fake, right?"  If I couldn't get through High School at one of the most popular times in wrestling, how have other generations since then fared?

   In High School, I had a very limited amount of friends that liked wrestling.  I had a limited amount of friends period, really!  But that's neither here nor there!  The two friends I did have that liked wrestling, along with myself, called ourselves the Wolfpack, appropriately named after our favorite faction at the time, the Red and Black of the nWo.  We would always say Wolfpack 4 Life and do the "Too Sweet" hand gesture.  Doing the gesture wasn't acceptable.  After all, we were "Young Bucks!"  

   One of those friends is my fellow colleague at TagMeADate, Kat!  For 20 years, the Wolfpack has been running wild!  At the time, she helped run the school newspaper.  I began writing wrestling articles in the paper, whether it was analyzing that month's Pay-Per-View or whatever topic I had in mind.  Within the circle of the school paper, being a wrestling fan was somewhat okay.  Of course, outside the confines of those walls, it was like Lord of the Flies!  

   For those of you reading, how were your experiences as a wrestling fan in High School?  Those of you that are wrestling fans currently in High School, how is it going for you?  I'd like to know!  For most of my life, I had to hide being a wrestling fan.  You know what I did as I became an adult?  I stopped caring what people thought!  I'm a wrestling fan and proud of it!  Since the day TagMeADate started, I've had the privilege of meeting many wrestling personalities.  You know how people say don't meet your heroes?  That's nonsense!  Meet them!  Show them how much they meant to you or mean to you now!  

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. 

The "World Title" Situation

   There's been a debate about this subject any time there's been more than one "World Title" in WWE.  Just to clear things up, this is just my opinion.  Wrestling is subjective and there's no right or wrong.  However, I'm going to state the reasons for my argument.

   As far as I'm concerned, there can only be ONE World Champion in WWE or in a single promotion in general.  To me, it doesn't make sense to have more than one.  Who's the real champion?  Having more than one eventually means one will be treated better than the other anyway, therefore rendering the other obsolete.  (Please picture Broken Matt Hardy's voice on that word!)  If you think that can't happen, it already has in the past.  For a time, it was whichever Title was on Raw.  Other times, the World Championship, or what used to be WCW's "big gold belt," ended up being treated like a mid-card Title.  

   Having more than one World Champion dilutes the value of becoming Champion.  I hate the concept of participation trophies, but that's exactly what this is.  I was never good at sports and I'm glad I didn't receive a trophy I didn't deserve.  As everyone knows, Ric Flair is billed as a 16-time World Champion.  Now, so is John Cena.  Here's the difference!  Flair got those 16 titles over a 36-year career, whereas Cena got those in a 17-year career.  I'm not talking about the amounts necessarily but the point I'm trying to make is during Cena's time, often there was more than one World Title, meaning they were much easier to get.  

   For me, right now and whenever there was more than one World Title, the WWE Title was, is, and always be THE World Title!  Even when people I feel didn't deserve it held it...cough...Jinder Mahal...cough, I still considered it THE World Title.  It probably has something to do with the history of the company and the fact that it was the original World Title, developed at the same time the company did.  Every other title, whether it was the "World" Title, ECW Title, and now the Universal Title, were all secondary.  

   

   Right now, Brock Lesnar hijacking it notwithstanding, the Universal Title means nothing to me.  It doesn't matter how prestigious the holder was, whether it's John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, or even Bruno Sammartino, the Title itself means nothing to me and I don't consider it a World Title.  It has nothing to do with what it looks like, although I do joke around with my friends and call it the Fruit Rollup Title.  I don't even think that's necessarily why people booed it when it made its debut.  I was booing because it has no legacy.  It's not legitimate in my opinion.  Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Goldberg all held it and I still considered it a consolation prize.

   Yes, there were great moments when people became World Champion with the "Big Gold Belt" such as Mark Henry, Christian finally winning the big one, or yes, even Chris Benoit.  However, the person who held the WWE Title at the time to me was THE World Champion.  The brand extension, when it creates more than one World Title, means we get champions no one would have considered at the Main Event level and positively, wrestlers that worked hard to get to that level.  Unfortunately, if there was one World Title, would Eddie Guerrero have gotten the gold?  On the flip side, if there was only one World Title, we also wouldn't have Jack Swagger either.  Heck, guys like JBL, and especially Jinder Mahal, would never have gotten to be World Champion if there was only one Title.  

   But that's okay!  Not everybody can be World Champion.  Can an argument be made that wrestlers like Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase, Curt Hennig, or Rick Rude should have been the WWE Champion?  Sure!  However, I'm not angry that they never were.  Especially during that time!  As much as people say Hulk Hogan dominated the scene and was a backstage politician, he was the man at that time.  Only Randy Savage was on Hogan's level.  Yes, there were breaks in between Hogan's reigns, but only a select few got that far.  It was a similar situation with the Tag Team Titles during the Golden Era.  There were so many good teams, it was hard for teams like the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers or the Rockers, who in my opinion should have held them, to get them.  With the Hart Foundation and Demolition ruling the roost, not every team could get there!  It doesn't take anything away from these great teams either!

   I know an argument can be made that there are multiple promotions, which each having their own World Champion.  I understand that but it's apples and oranges here!  A different promotion is a different promotion.  Two brands under the same promotion each having its own World Title doesn't make sense.  During the Territory days, the NWA held all the marbles.  Yes, the AWA formed and created its own World Champion, as did the WWWF at the time.  However, I'm talking about all the territories under the NWA banner!  Each territory had a top Title, but when guys like Ric Flair or Harley Race held the NWA World Title, that wrestler toured the territories across the country and worldwide.  

   It all goes back to my original argument.  Logically, in one company, there can only be one champion.  Right now AJ Styles is the WWE Champion and Brock Lesnar is the Universal Champion.  Which one is THE World Champion to me?  AJ Styles!  It has nothing to do with preference either!  We just came off a six month Jinder Mahal reign that I personally didn't like.  However, during that time, I considered Jinder Mahal THE World Champion.  Some people argue that the brand split forces more than one champion or that traveling would be too hard or storylines would be too hard to write for having only one World Title!  Before the first brand split in 2002, the company had gone 39 years with only one World Title.  Yes, the roster was huge after the purchasing of WCW and the bankruptcy of ECW.  However, the first few months before Brock Lesnar settled with Smackdown exclusively, there was one World Champion across both brands.  

   I also don't like more than one Women's Title, more than one equal mid-card Title, nor more than one set of Tag Team Titles.  Alexa Bliss is the Women's Champion on Raw while Natalya holds the Smackdown Women's Title.  Which one means more?  The Bar are the Raw Tag Team Champions and the Smackdown Tag Team Titles are held within the confines of the Uso Penitentiary!  Which titles are THE titles?  The Miz is the Intercontinental Champion and Baron Corbin is the US Champion.  To me, the Intercontinental Title is more prestigious!  It's been there longer.  The US Title may have been around longer if you count its time under the NWA and WCW banners, but those promotions died or never rose back to prominence!  The mid-card is a tough one because during John Cena's time as US Champion, it meant more to me than the Intercontinental Championship did.  However, there's a difference between a mid-card Title and a World Title!

   The bottom line is, my opinion is that there should only be one World Title.  I do welcome feedback, however!

If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  

How I Became a Fan of The Miz

   For the longest time, The Miz was my least favorite wrestler of all time.  I hated him with a passion!  I don't know why or exactly what it was.  Perhaps for longer than I should have, I felt he didn't deserve what he got because he was this jerk Mike Mizanin from The Real World that I could not stand.  I'm guilty of seeing him that way.  I generally hated his very presence in wrestling, felt he had no business being handed the "Figure Four Leg Lock" as a finisher, and definitely did not deserve to be the WWE Champion for a time. 

   Even though I still never liked him and fast-forwarded almost every segment he was in, I grew to at the very least respect him.  I got to respect Mike Mizanin, the person.  At the beginning, he was not welcome in the locker room, rubbed some people the wrong way, and was just young and privileged. The Real World led to him getting signed.  Speaking of which, one of the reasons I hated him to begin with was his ridiculous attempt to be The Rock when he was on the show.  He was 19 or 20 at the time and just came off extremely immature and obnoxious.  However, I respected his desire to somehow make it to the WWF and just how serious he actually was.  

   To be able to go through what he did and come out a better person is commendable.  After that, it was just his character I hated.  It wasn't because he was a heel and I wasn't supposed to like him.  I was old enough to know the difference and understand the goings-on of professional wrestling. Again, I can't describe it...I just hated The Miz!  Even though he was one of the best on the microphone, I still couldn't stand him and never gave him any credit.  

   Somewhere along the line, that all changed.  Between his partnership with real-life wife Maryse and his scathing Daniel Bryan-based promo on Talking Smack, he won me over.  That was one of the best promos he had ever done.  It felt real!  He put more passion into that promo, and several others after, than he ever had up until that point.  Most recently, his promo against Baron Corbin was that of genius, especially being that one of my current least favorite wrestlers happens to be Corbin.  The Miz's promo against Enzo Amore was another that ranks right up there in the very best category.  Having the Miztourage also added a new layer.

   Going back to him becoming the WWE Champion,  I still feel he should not have become the champion.  When I say that, however, I mean for that time.  If you were to ask me if The Miz deserved to be the WWE Champion or Universal Champion today, I'd say hell yes!  Like I said, the man has won me over.  To be able to convince a die-hard Miz hater to like him is an amazing accomplishment.  Obviously, I know one person's opinion wouldn't have mattered to The Miz.  That's now what this is about.  I'm just trying to show how someone so committed to their craft could convince one of their biggest objectors to come around and not just respect him, but to actually like him.  Sometimes you have to give the devil his due.  

   I know that hindsight is 20/20.  However, now that I have come around, I feel like acknowledging some of his other entertaining moments that I may have glossed over during my time of blind hatred.  I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong!  Let's not forget, he has had several entertaining partnerships.  His team with John Morrison was a step in the right direction and that led to his evolution.  I loved the Awesome Truth and I even was mildly entertained by ShowMiz.  Of course, the work he did with Damien Sandow as his stunt double was great.  Yes, Sandow shined in that role, but that role wouldn't have existed without The Miz.  

   Even though I still believe he was not ready to be the champ when he was, I have to admit his WrestleMania entrance and pre-match promo were outstanding.  If there's anyone you can call a student of the game, it's The Miz.  He came from utter obscurity to one of the most entertaining superstars in wrestling today.  I'd even argue he's the top champion on Raw, seeing how Brock Lesnar is never around and I don't consider the Universal Championship a World Title anyway.  That's a topic for another time!  Now that I have said my peace, there's only one thing left to say.  He's The Miz, and he's...AAAAAWWWESOOOOOOME!  Thanks everyone!

   Is there a wrestler that you used to hate but now have come to grow quite fond of?  Is there a wrestler you were wrong about or never gave a chance to?  If you have any comments on the situation, let me know.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by TagMeADate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.