Can you be Main event material without ever being the World Champ?

[Destro 2.0]

I was thinking about Bobby Lashley and I know he was US and ECW champ but that really doesn't mean shit in WWE's eyes. I mean he was putting on some pretty good matches with Cena before he left.

But can you be look up to as main event material without ever having the world title?

[Xero]

Yes.

[Eklipse]

Its possible but unlikely. These days if they see you as main event material you'll have the title put on you.

[Gertner]

Scott Hall was for a looooong time. As were guys like Orndorff and Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant (I don't count him as a World Champ) and to a lessor extent Hennig.

All at one point were main eventers without ever winning the big one.

[Next Big Thing]

I was thinking about Bobby Lashley and I know he was US and ECW champ but that really doesn't mean shit in WWE's eyes. I mean he was putting on some pretty good matches with Cena before he left.

But can you be look up to as main event material without ever having the world title?

Had Lashley stayed he would have been a multi time champ. They were definitely pushing him. He's probably kicking the shit out of himself for leaving that gravy train.

Scott Hall never had the world title and in his days as Razor Ramon and early NWO I'd say he was one of the top guys. He's certainly WWE Hall of Fame Material.

Same could be said for Dibiase, Piper, Rick Rude, and Jake the Snake Roberts.

[Joesgonnakillyou]

Tommy Dreamer managed it for a long time in ECW

[Next Big Thing]

Tommy Dreamer fucking sucks. Unless he wrestled RVD while he was there, I think the closest Tommy Dreamer ever came to being in the ring with a true main eventer was when he took a Singapore Cane to the nuts from Jerry Lawler. The only reason he would ever be considered main event material in ECW would be because all the guys with talent were either in WWF or WCW.

[BollywoodSingh]

He's certainly WWE Hall of Fame Material.


But so are Koko B. Ware and Bob Orton. I think the only credential a former WWE wrestler needs to get into the Hall Of Fame is to be available the night before Wrestlemania.

[Next Big Thing]

But so are Koko B. Ware and Bob Orton. I think the only credential a former WWE wrestler needs to get into the Hall Of Fame is to be available the night before Wrestlemania.

You're right, but if you took Scott Hall and compared him to the LEGITIMATE hall of famers in there I don't think anyone would complain about his inclusion.

[Lock Jaw]

Can I be Main event material without ever being the World Champ?

Of course I could.

Could anyone else be Main event material without ever being the World Champ?

No.

[Next Big Thing]

Can I be Main event material without ever being the World Champ?

Of course I could.

Could anyone else be Main event material without ever being the World Champ?

No.

I hope Edge spears the hell out of you and Regal takes your job as Raw GM.

[JIMMY]

LOL @ NEXT NIG THING

[JimmyMess]

Scott Hall was for a looooong time. As were guys like Orndorff and Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant (I don't count him as a World Champ) and to a lessor extent Hennig.

All at one point were main eventers without ever winning the big one.


Not to be a stickler, but how can you not count Andre as a world champ? If he won the belt, he's a world champ... There's not really a gray area.

But anyways, there's been a few, like posters before me Scott Hall has always been a threat in the eyes of the main event. Lets also not forget, Hacksaw did win the Royal Rumble!! Ha ha ha

[MoFo]

RVD in ECW. He was main eventing while he was TV Champ.

[Swiss Ultimate]

If the writers were to add a bit more depth to the WWE progamming, yes. I like main-event baby-faces who never over-come the odds and career-heels who always have the title slip between their fingers.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Ted Dibiase and Mr. Perfect, 'nuff said.

[DLVH84]

I say yes. Davey Boy Smith comes to mind, especially when he feuded with Big Van Vader back in 1993.

[teamXtremist]

mcmg

[Emperor Smeat]

Christian right before he left WWE to go to TNA was looking like future main event material since the crowd was getting behind him while also being great with promos and wrestling skills. Of course he ended up leaving due to realizing Vince would not be pushing him due to his lack of size or "big man" image the WWE loves.

If Jeff Hardy managed to become a champion, then it would have also been possible for Christian to become a champion or at least be involved in the main event scene.

[Hanso Amore]

These days, no, because there are so many titles that the main event is usually controlled by the title.

back in the 80s, there was one champ, and not so many PPVs, and even less title changes. Tons of legit, Drawing, main eventers were never champs.

Dibiase, Piper, Snuka, Koloff, Magnum TA, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, Paul orndorff, The Legion of Doom, Rock and Roll Express, Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude and so on, all LEGIT main eventers and draws, Never WORLD Champ.

Its just a chnage in the times, you know?

[Hanso Amore]

You guys are confusing getting good pops with being a main event draw.

[DLVH84]

These days, no, because there are so many titles that the main event is usually controlled by the title.

back in the 80s, there was one champ, and not so many PPVs, and even less title changes. Tons of legit, Drawing, main eventers were never champs.

Dibiase, Piper, Snuka, Koloff, Magnum TA, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, Paul orndorff, The Legion of Doom, Rock and Roll Express, Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude and so on, all LEGIT main eventers and draws, Never WORLD Champ.

Its just a chnage in the times, you know?

Mr. Perfect has been a World Champion. He was the AWA World Champion.

Rick Rude was also a World Champion, three times over. He was the very first WCWA World Champion, when World Class Championship Wrestling broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance in February 1986, and he was a two-time WCW International World Heavyweight Champion.

[CSL]

Only those belts meant jack shit when they were won. The AWA belt's best days were long gone before Hennig got it and he was long gone soon afterwards. The fact you even mentioned the WCWA belt is ridiculous, ditto the international belt. Rick Rude was a world champion like Ezekial Jackson and John Morrison are world champions and I fucking love Rick Rude.

[DLVH84]

Only those belts meant jack shit when they were won. The AWA belt's best days were long gone before Hennig got it and he was long gone soon afterwards. The fact you even mentioned the WCWA belt is ridiculous, ditto the international belt. Rick Rude was a world champion like Ezekial Jackson and John Morrison are world champions and I fucking love Rick Rude.

Rick Rude was my favorite as well. Like Magnum T.A., he had it all. He had the look, the charisma, the ability, and he knew how to get the crowd going. If Rude didn't have that career-ending back injury in 1994, he would probably still be around, if not wrestling, maybe mentoring a younger star with a similar style of his.

[crusnik]

now adays 9 times out of 10 ,if you were in a mainevent then you are or were a champion,as stated by others earlier,back in the 80's you had a few who were never world champ ,but up on main event status,(Piper comes to mind,Jimmy Snuka as well).In today's wrestling, if you never had the belt and main eventing you are either gonna become champ or in a serious feud with the champ.Here is a question who in today's wrestling do you think DESERVES being in a main event who has not been champ(remember ,the the world is deserves) If anyone cares to answer this ,great. I'd be most interested in your answers , thanks.

[Jeritron]

Stone Cold was main event for a while before he finally got the title. Same goes for Shawn, to an extent.
Foley as well.

I'm sure there have been other examples along the way too. There are also plenty of guys who could have stayed main event for a longer time period before winning the title.
Undertaker comes to mind, as his first title reign was so short lived and then he rose in popularity over the years without holding the belt for a very long time.

[FourFifty]

Depends- is a major title the focal point of the show?

Look at <strike>The No One Gives A Damn 8, I mean 7. Damn it, scratch that, it's really 6</strike> Nexus. No world title in the scene, and yet they had Wade take out Cena more than once.

[Snowden]

Could you be a transient main event player? Sure thing. Like Fofiddy said, the Nexus were arguably the main heels on Raw for the past couple of months.

But I don't think its possible to be an extended main event player nowadays without holding the top title at least once. Quite simply, if the company is booking you at the top of the card nowadays, they're going to throw the title on you at least once. For better or for worse, a lot of the "big feuds" these days use the title as a prop. Take Undertaker/Kane...the title means jack in the feud. But if you're going to get big time storylines at some point or another (and you're not named John Cena), one of those big stories will either revolve around, or contain in some manner the title.

Its not that you can't be main event material, its just that in today's industry, and especially the WWE, its almost impossible not to have a main event spot without a main event title at some point.

[TGR]

I dont really count Kane's first reign as legit (mostly due to it's brevity). The argument could easily be made that he was a main event threat for fourteen years without winning (and retaining).

TECHNICALLY he was the champion. But if we want to talk about long-term credibility without a major title, he's your poster child.

[voncouch]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kpz4urhyQs1qzqc6po1_400.jpg

[glanville6]

Depends- is a major title the focal point of the show?

Look at <strike>The No One Gives A Damn 8, I mean 7. Damn it, scratch that, it's really 6</strike> Nexus. No world title in the scene, and yet they had Wade take out Cena more than once.

Yeah I was gonna say Wade Barrett.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

I know this will make a lot of people feel ill... Mark Henry.

[VSG]

http://i36.tinypic.com/rk1vn4.gif

[Next Big Thing]

I know this will make a lot of people feel ill... Mark Henry.

Mark Henry was not only main event material, he was a world champion....... on ECW...... :shifty: