PWP Nation’s Bruce Hart talks about the current crop of WWE Champions.
Festive greetings to one and all.
Last week was an eventful week in the WWE, what with the crowning of a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and a new Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, among other developments.
I’m pleased to see that the powers that be in the WWE have finally chosen to give Reigns the strap, after having pulled the rug out from under him after he had won the Royal Rumble title shot last January and, again, after he had apparently won the strap at Survivor Series (against Dean Ambrose), only to have that ill-conceived fiasco with Sheamus cashing in his dubious Money in the Bank contract and being crowned the World Champion, instead.
All things considered, I think they should have just left the damn strap on him after his Survivor Series win or they should have had Sheamus drop the strap at the recent TLC pay-per-view, rather than having him win it on RAW.
Hopefully, they’ll let him keep the strap for a while, not only would that be good for Roman, but it might help restore some of the belt’s propriety, which has been diminished the past few years with all the ill-conceived swerves.
As for the Intercontinental title, I had mixed feelings about the title changing hands. I wouldn’t have minded seeing them leave the belt on Kevin Owens for a while, because he’s been having good matches and was just starting to get over.
On the other hand, Ambrose has paid his dues and is deserving of a push, especially after his epic match at Survivor Series against Roman. If nothing else, it’s nice to see the Intercontinental strap starting to regain some of it’s long lost lustre again, like it did back in the day, when guys like my brother Bret, Davey Boy and Mr. Perfect wore it so proudly.
The same can not be said for the U.S. title, which has become almost a meaningless afterthought lately. All things considered, I’d probably just morph the Intercontinental and the U.S. title into one belt and scrap the U.S. strap altogether, especially since the past few champions, like Rusev and Alberto Del Rio, haven’t even been Americans, anyway.
While I’m assessing the titles in the WWE, I’d like to give credit where credit is due by commending Paige and Charlotte for their recent matches – which have restored some needed credibility to the Divas Championship.
To be honest, it’s been a long time since I could even bring myself to watch the divas, as it was generally more about tits and ass than wrestling. All things considered, most of the diva matches are still too scripted, and there needs to be more actual wrestling, but at least the likes of Paige, Charlotte, The Bellas, Alicia Fox and a few others deserve to be referred to as wrestlers.
Having said that, I don’t know why the hell they don’t just call it Women’s Wrestling and do away with the Divas name, which to me, is about the equivalent of strippers calling themselves exotic dancers.
Not to be putting a proverbial lump of coal in the WWE’s stocking, but it’s disappointing to see the demise of the once proud tag team division – which has been on a precipitous downhill slide the past few years. I can recall when the WWE used to have some incredible tag teams, including guys like the Legion of Doom, my old Stampede cronies – the British Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation, Demolition, Murdoch and Adonis and Janetty and Michaels, among others.
Back then, the World Tag Team straps were almost on par with the World Heavyweight Title, but the past few years, the tag straps have been devalued so much that at last spring’s WrestleMania, the tag title match wasn’t even deemed worthy of being on the main card.
The recent tag title triple threat match at the TLC pay per view, with the Usos, Lucha Dragons and the New Day did little to restore anyone’s estimation of the tag titles either a preliminary match high spot fest that only served to remind people how far the tag team belts have declined in stature.
Hopefully, those pulling the strings in the WWE will see fit to bring back some badly needed respectability to the tag team division in 2016.
On a sad note, I’m told that Bob Leonard – widely considered to have been the foremost photographer in wrestling history and an old and dear friend of the Hart Family (and countless others in the wrestling fraternity) is fighting for his life in a Regina hospital, battling cancer.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Bob for the enormous contribution he has made to the wrestling business and to let him know how highly he’s regarded within the tightly knit wrestling fraternity. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, my friend.
In closing, I’d like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and fulfilling New Year!
