The final post

This is to let any reader know that this little column has been picked up by the Inside Pulse website. I will be updating these columns slightly when posting them on the other site, and I appreciate you coming by and reading what I've written.

Thank you.

Robert H. Blatt

What does the world title mean?

The world title. It's the light at the end of the tunnel, the most cherished prize in the game. But what does it really mean? If you're Ric Flair, it means that the company has put it's faith in you that you will make money for it.*1 For Chris Benoit, it was the result of 18 years of hard work and to prove that he was "For Real" as he claims.
But what about those "other" guys? Mostly, I wonder what the world title means when it's around someone like David Arquette. These were very dark times for World Championship Wrestling. April 25th, 2000 David Arquette, most known for his appearances in the Scream movies, collect calling commercials and marriage to Courtney Cox, won the WCW World Heaavyweight title in a special stipulation tag match while teaming with Diamond Dallas Page against Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett in a cross promotion with his movie Ready to Rumble. What did this mean for the business? An actor, who wasn't particularly strong or big or anything really, was supposedly at the top of our business. The business that I have more love for than most of my ex-girlfriend's combined had someone who was completely new to it as it's "best".
To say I was upset was an understatement. Five days later, the title was vacated, but Mr. Arquette was placed in the triple tier cage match with Jarrett and DDP (whe one where Kanyon took the gimmicked bump into the entrance ramp courtesy of Mike Awesome). Arquette turned on DDP, handed Jarrett the title on a silver platter and was quickly aborted from the wrestling world.
But what did it mean to the guys who have also only held the title once? Think about Ron Simmons*2 who held the title from August to December in 1992. Think about what the title reign meant to professional wrestling. Mr. Simmons only reached that zenith once in his long career, and so did David Arquette. Heck, he was in the wrestling business for only a few months at most, and he won the title. No wonder Ric Flair's had the title so many times, right? Wrong.
When Ron Simmons won the title, it simply meant more. Not just because he was the first african-american to put the gold around his waist, but it meant more to him as a wrestler, an athlete, a performer. It meant the pinnacle of his career all compacted into that exact moment as Big Van Vader lay on his back for a three count. It didn't mean anything to David Arquette, just part of a cross-promotion with his movie, which not only flopped, but was bad to boot.
So we'll move ahead to the time between Wrestlemania XX and Summerslam 2004. Just the mere mention of "Chris Benoit" and "World Title" in the same sentence makes me happy.*4 Did it mean the same thing to Chris Benoit when his 18 years of a wrestling career all came together when Triple H tapped out of the Cripller Crossface in the middle of the 125 year old Madison Square Garden as it meant to Mr. Courtney Cox? Obviously not, but you can bet it was closer to the feeling Ron Simmons had when he held the belt.
For Benoit, the title meant that all his decisions were the right ones. That his career gamble jump from WCW to WWE was right. That he wasn't too small, that he wasn't uncharismatic, that he had it in him to win the big one. I'm sure while training in the Dungeon 18 years earlier he never thought that the day would come where nearly a million people in the U.S. alone would be watching him de-throne the most dominant champion in recent history at Wrestlemania XX.
Do you think that in the Worcester Centrum December 28th, 1998*5, that Mick Foley felt the same way that Mr. Arquette did winning the title? That all of his "sleeping on the floors of hotel 6's*6" and "in the back of his Ford Fairmount" as I'll remember Michael Cole calling the match wishing it was J.R. Do you think they both felt the same thing?
Doubtful.
It's the wrestler who makes the belt, not the belt that makes the wrestler. We've all seen more emotion go into a cruiserweight title victories than a world heavyweight title victories. It's all about the wrestler who fights for and holds that title. And for the fan, it's all about sitting at the edge of your seat screaming "TAP!" or gradually getting closer and closer to the TV as you feel every impact of the match with your stomach in a ball not knowing just who will win or how, but you've made the connection already to both competitors.
So the next time the title changes hands, you look at that wrestlers eyes and how they look at that title before you judge how they affect that title. When Ric Flair holds it time 13, 14, 15, you'll see his eyes that he still knows and respects what that title means. When it's put across the waist of Eddie Guererro or Chris Benoit or Mick Foley, you can see what the title means instantly.

*1 http://www.wrestlingplanet.com/wpheadlines/93151717.shtml
*2 Yeah, the same Ron Simmons who was Farooq and was fired by the WWE to make room for the John Bradshaw Layfield charecter
*3 WCW/WWE title unification
*4 Unless the sentence is "Chris Benoit lost the World Title." But you get my point.
*5 Aired January 4th, 1999
*6 Where no doubt, the light was "left on for him"

Why Triple H hit gold by losing the title

He's Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He's supposed to be the best in the business*1, the top of the pile of what a wrestler should be, so why is a check in the loss column one of the greatest things that's happened to him recently?
The answer's not so simple. At Wrestlemania XX, Chris Benoit got what was coming to him, the world heavyweight title. Triple H got a big loss at the biggest stage of the year, the grand-daddy of them all. Finally, someone had bested Triple H and taken the title from him, not an easy thing to do. The title reign Hunter had killed superstars in the WWE. Scott Steiner was left att the wayside, Goldberg was a victim but held the title for two months, Kevin Nash was a victim, Michaels was able to hold the title for a month as well, but eventually gave it back. The title reign survived such atrocities as the arm wrestling match with Scott Steiner, the never actually happened bench pressing competition with Steiner, an Elimination Chamber, a Hell in the Cell with Kevin Nash, but Benoit took the gold and ran with it.
So why is it so good that he lost the title? It's not so much that he simply lost it, but more how he lost it. He tapped out in middle of the ring, without being attacked by someone who wasn't involved in the match. He tapped out.
And instantly the crowd, including mysef and my friends also attending, exploded into celebration. Was it that Benoit had finallly gotten hold of the title? That was only part of the celebration. Triple H had finally decicevly lost to someone. It was all that much sweeter that it was Benoit.
And then it all happened the next night, which I was also a part of. No, not the announcement of the RAW that Vince McMahon was going to "shake things up"*2 with the draft lottery, the crowd started chanting the first time Triple H showed his beak in the Continental Airlines Arena.
"You tapped out! You tapped out!"
Simple and to the point, but it was the first chant that I can remember the crowd creating in a long time. Another that comes to mind is "Shane's a pussy!" and the Kurt Andgle "You Suck"*3 The New Jersey/New York crowd started chanting, and would not stop. So again, why's this good for Triple H?
Because he'll always claim to be the best. He'll claim that no one can beat him, and the crowd will always remember that at Wrestlemania XX, someone did just that. Any time that he mentions that he's the best, the masses will remind him that he tapped out. Everyone will remeember that when faced with the pain of the crippler crossface, simply bearing the pain until he could once again reach his way to the ropes, he gave in. His title was on the line. The one thing that mattered most to him was on the line. If he could only bear the pain that Benoit was dishing out, he could walk away from what would be, without a shadow of a doubt, his biggest victory to date. Bigger than his August 23rd 1999 victory over Mankind where he won his first world title. Bigger than his 1997 victory over Mannkind to earn the King of the Ring status. Bigger than his April 29th 2001 tag title win with Steve Austin over the Undertaker and Kane to become the second ever Grand Slam Champion. You get the picture, so why?
Because this was Wrestlemania XX, the biggest Wrestlemania to date.*4
So until the day that the fans forget that he lost at Wrestlemania XX, he'll always be reminded that he tapped out when it was all on the line in front of people in 90 different countries around the world, and in front of the 20,000 fans from 16 different countries.
It's simple, he tapped out. And the crowd picked up on that it doesn't happen all that often. So they'll remind him at every opportunity they get.

*1 Yes, of course Ric flair is the best, but certainly not as a performer. Ad again, yes Bret art is the best there is the best there was and the best there ever will be, but let us not digress
*2 Vince's previous announcements have included that he was going to go home to be a "genetic jackhammer" as well, so we were all a tad bit skeptical
*3 I'll have to double check that, I remember Edge egging the crowd on the chant it during his music, but I'm not sure if the crowd started it.
*4 Each current one is, isn't it?

The evils of the RAW diva search

So the WWE decided to search for a new face in the women's division on RAW, wonderful. They could always use some fresh talent in that highly competitive division. (And believe it or not, the womens division is one of the most competitive they have) That's good for everyone, as we can see someone new fight Molly, Trish, Nidia, Lita, Gail Kim, Jazz or god forbid Miss eye candy herself, Stacy Kiebler.
Unfortunately I thought wrong. They're searching for a RAW DIVA. Not a competitor, but a DIVA. Someone to fill the obvious need for another female on RAW who has the same role as Ms. Keibller*1 on RAW and Kidman's wife, Torrie Wilson on Smackdown.
What do these women do per se? Well, when they want a heel to seem like a monster, the diva will come out to shill some new product or aspect or PPV the WWE is going to produce, and the said "monster" will come and intimidate them, or rarely hit them. They will also be required to participate in the annual RAW gravy wrestling match the Monday prior to Thanksgiving, or Smackdown's Bikini competitions. They'll also be required to kill time during Wrestlemanias to make other matches seem more exciting than theirs in comparison. But hey, a three hour version of Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania XX would seem exciting compared to the diva match.
But back to why this is a bad idea in the first place. The WWE debuted the Diva Search special to very little fan fare, and those of us who actually watched the entire hour and a half*2 then had to watch a few minutes of recap on the following RAW. The girls were too green for TV as the couldn't hold their composure while uncle Eric was belittling them for destroying his office.
The WWE had committed themselves to displaying these women on a weekly basis in order to, in my opnion, kill time. Why else would one of the three segments from the July 26th edition of RAW be dedicated to the divas while the other two were dedicated to figuring out the main event at Summerslam? Simply to pass time and to put storylines on hold. Like Meatloaf says, 'Two Out of Three Ain't Bad' and that was 7/26/04's RAW to a T.
And worst of all, they are obviously not wrestling fans. Or they are "Johnny Come Lately" fans that have not liked wrestling long enough*3 to realize that there's any kind of history behind this damn sport that I love. The WWE unleashed Kamala, the Ugandan Giant upon the unsuspecting possible divas. Now unless they were watching WCW exclusively for the years*4 that he was wrestling in the WWF*5, they should know Kamala. And judging that these girls couldn't be more than 25 or 27, they should have an idea of who he is becaue they grew up during the rock and roll wrestling era and he followed shortly after.
But then there's the boobie factor. I dumb down the word because it's meant for dumbed down crowds.I won't fall for it, and neither And if the wrestling audience responds positive to this, then it's my fear that wrestling is going out of style.
So until next time, take care.

Footnotes:
*1 Who I thought was better as Miss Hancock
*2 in which the entertainment was to be found within Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge and Jericho
*3 I'll be light and say that "wrestling history" starts retroactively with the 1997 Survivor Series
*4 Early 1990's. Kamala left the WWF in 1993, eleven years prior to his re-debut
*5 I know he has been around much longer, but I'm giving them the shadow of a doubt here