Think anyone else will hold the title for 8 years?

[V]

It's happend before with Bruno Sammartino holding the title for (almost) 8 years, it seems unfathonable today to think that there was a time people would hold onto the title even longer than 1 year. Moolah also held the womans title for (almost) 30 years!

I can't imagine anyone hanging onto the title for even 3 years, I don't understand how the fans could live with 1 champion for so long, even though the older fans obviously had a different perspective on wrestling.

anyone think something like this will happen again?

[DaveWadding]

Moolah also held the womans title for (almost) 30 years!


Not really. The title was defunct for forever.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

It'll happen again eventually, the fans will find someone to rally behind, or a heel that is the ultimate bad guy, the man who they are so against that Vince will push him over all faces. It'll happen, I don't think it will be anyone around presently, the only guy in recent memory who could have done it would be Kurt Angle, but they've sort of ruined that option.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

Also, Brock had the credibility and the look to do it. As well as the skill, but with Brock I think most "smark" fans wouldn't have accepted it. Would have chalked it up to Vince's big man fetish, and overlooked his very obvious skill and talent.

[The Naitch]

Triple H. Although he might drop it, then regain it, then drop it, then regain it. It'll be a never ending cycle :y:

[Corkscrewed]

You mean JBL hasn't held the title for the past years?

Coulda fooled me.


:shifty:


No I don't think anyone would, unless by technicality, like if someone had a title, but it was dissolved, and 8 years later, it was brought back and given to that same person.

[RemyRed]

Wrestling was looked on a lot differently back then, it might never happen again, but hey you never know..

[asphyXy]

I can't see eight WrestleMania main events in a row ending without a title change.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

Wrestling was looked on a lot differently back then, it might never happen again, but hey you never know..
Agreed, that's the thing with Kurt and Brock to me. Hell Shamrock (if pushed right) could have pulled off a multi-year reign. I think for a title to be held credibly for multiple years, it's going to have to be done first by someone with a legitimate background.

Kurt was probably the best choice in a very very long time because he crossed the actual wrestling aspect of the industry with the entertainment part so well. He's incredibly versatile and has and Olympic background, Kurt could have credibly had a multi-year reign without it becoming repetitive or unbelievable.

Brock is another guy who could have done it (with Paul as his manager of course). He had a look and build that left you in awe, he was incredible in the ring and could do so much for a man his size (or even a man of "average" size in wrestling terms, think someone like Jericho or Kurt as "average" size). Brock had that intangible to him that just made you know, he was bad ass. He could have pulled it off as well.

Ken Shamrock's gimmick would have worked, former UFC champion, rated by NBC the most dangerous man in the world, great build, good look, and decent mic skills. Turn him heel and let him destroy. It would have worked.

That's the trend to me for this to work (for the first time, maybe even the first couple times, eventually most characters could have this sort of reign again). I think the person is going to have some sort of a legitimate background, he's got to be a serious heel (I don't think a face could do it, it would be anti-climatic for a face to do it anyway), and it's got to be someone who the fans believe could (in real life) hurt someone (obviously that ties back into the legit background though).

[HeartBreakMan2k]

Also the first time this could happen would have to be a maximum 2 and a half year reign, anything more would possiblity piss off your fan base.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The only person I can really see doing it from now on is Batista. I don't know why.

[Hired Hitman]

Not while wrestling has the whole Entertainment on it's shoulder, a year of holding the title is like holding the title forever.

Like you said a different perspective now. back in the day people would watch to see who would be able to beat the unbeatable champion, but these days people know it's planned, so the whole "Will he lose the title?" buzz has gone out the window, if a wrestler holds the championship for more than a year, people will simply stop watching out of bordom instead of watching to see who he will lose it to.

[RemyRed]

Another thing is is that back then there wasn't that much exposure. There'd be about a few odd shows a year. You can't hold someone's interest like that nowadays with a show airing every week, and about 15 PPVs a month. Plus there aren't nearly enough contendors at that level (let alone roster) for the champ to compete with, he'd be fighting the same few people every month.

[Xero]

Another thing is is that back then there wasn't that much exposure. There'd be about a few odd shows a year. You can't hold someone's interest like that nowadays with a show airing every week, and about 15 PPVs a month. Plus there aren't nearly enough contendors at that level (let alone roster) for the champ to compete with, he'd be fighting the same few people every month.
Exactly what I was thinking. Another thing is that most shows were live and not televised (or radio broadcast), so it would be different for a lot of the people, they wouldn't be watching the same matches week in and week out. They could run a year's worth of shows (obviously not weekly) with the same card and make it look great if they do it in different locations.

[PorkSoda]

JBL could pull off a 1 year reign, or very close to it with the way WWE is pushing him right now.

[Xero]

JBL, or Triple H for that matter, could pull off a one year title reign. Any longer than one year these days in a big promotion is a big mistake in my opinion.

At the rate that they're going with JBL, he will be champion until at least WrestleMania, and truthfully, him holding it longer won't do much more damage than it already has.

[Mayo]

A 1 year title rain would be terrible. Casual fans like change, and if the same person holds the title for too long, then it just gets really boring. Orton's 6 month was something in itself for this day and age, but I doubt that someone will ever hold it continuously again.

[MVP]

I can't see eight WrestleMania main events in a row ending without a title change.
If Hunter had his way...

[Head]

I highly doubt it, at least in any of our lifetimes. As others have said, national exposure has created many more shows, and has caused the rise of the casual fan dominating the market. If it happened again, I think it would have to be either during an extended slump in the business (ie, no national TV deal, and less shows), or if the product became increasingly marketed toward children again like it was in the 80s with Hogan.

[Nowhere Man]

Will anyone hold the Title for 8 years? Well that depends on how much longer Jeff Jarrett can wrestle.

[BCWWF]

I guarantee you that nobody holds the main title in WWE for 8 years

[The One]

No. I am sorry, but anyone who thinks otherwise is one of two things, simple-minded or completly unaware of professional wrestling's history. It would be completly impossible for one man to hold a (consistantly active) company's World Title for eight years. Bruno Samartino was able to do it for 3 reasons. One Bruno had (as many people have mentioned prior) a liagit backround as a bad ass. He actually took Pro Wrestling from being a circus act to be looked at as a lagit form of entertainment. But the two factors which people are overlooking are these; Regions and Promotion. Currently the WWE company runs about 340 shows a year, of those 340 shows, approx. 125 of them are seen via Television or Pay-Per-View. That is how this industry is promoted now adays. There was a time when a company would hold 200 shows (tops, despite someof the old guys talking about doing 400 shows in a year, it didn't happen like that). Of those 200 shows that a promotion would hold, MAYBE 20 or 30 would be seen by a Television audience, of those 20 or 30 shows seen on TV, none of them would be live, infact they would be MONTHS old. Couple that with no internet, and if your living in Kansas, odds are it would be a few weeks until you found out the results of a show that took place in New York (And that was is you were a die-hard fan). For that reason, having one guy carry a belt around for mutiple years was advantagious. Say your a casual wrestling fan (back in the day) you really only hear about a show comming close to you once or twice a year (unless you lived in a big market area, The Carolinas, NY, and Georgia), so for you people not in a major market, seening the WWWF World Heavyweight Champion in action came once a year, which ment that if Bruno had the title for 8 years, those fans in Alabama only got to see him defend the title 8 times. That is why with our current form of promotions, there couldn't be a 8 year reign because people would bore of seeing anyone (even a man like Kurt Angle) as champion 800 times. It's quite a big difference.

The other reason this couldn't work is because of regions. Back when wrestling was very much a terratorial thing, you might have one or two big stars in your area. So let's say Joey-Joe-Joe-Junior-Jabado is the biggest name in your terratory, well it wasn't uncommon for people to hold interpromotional matches, especially since alot of guys (even champs) wern't signed to contracts...they just had $25,000 deposities on the title belts. So here comes Bruno, he is the WWWF World Champ, and Bruno works out a deal with Arazona Championship Wrestling to work one show, you promote that show as having the WWWF Champ vs. Joey-Joe-Joe. People in Arazona think Joey has a chance to dethrone Bruno, awwwww too bad Bruno won, well next year Bruno will be back, and he will take on Marky Mark for the Title...basically with terratories, you had guys built up in local areas and the big champs (USWA, WWWF, NWA, and AWA) would come back to take on the local heros. That doesn't happen in today's world. If your on top of a company, in theory you only have at tops 10 guys who people would legit think they have a chance to take the title away...

...No. There is no way in today's world of wrestling that someone can hold the World Title for 8 years...and before anyone even gets into RVD and his 21 month ECW TV Title reign, remember, for those 21 months, who was really around in ECW. By the time RVD got big, most of the ECW big name guys were leaving and looking at the exit sign and the mountain of cash that awaited them once they got out the door. RVD was the center stone of a company that used him as a life perserver. And note how RVD never got a World Title run...

[SammyG]

whats the longest hollywood hulk hogan held it back in the glory days of WCW

[Eunos]

A Year Maximum.

Ill admit JBL hasnt done a bad job as Champ but for 8 years?

Thats pushing it.

[BigDaddyCool]

So, RVD was the last person to hold an title for more than a year, and before that was Hogan with what, a 3 year riegn?

In EWR, I booked a champion for 11 months, it was pretty good.

[The CyNick]

Nobody knows what the future of the business will be, so you can never say never. But under the current landscape of TV every week and PPVs every month, no, nobody will ever hold any title for 8 years. Although if someone were to do it, it would be Hunter I'm sure.

But seriously, guys can barely go a whole year without getting injured nowadays, so I cant see anyone going 8 without catching some major injury.

[Sting Fan]

Sting Fan]Yeah I would have to say todays wrestling layout works against it. I will use EWR as an example because BDC did, I booked Raven as world champion in my TNA game for 19 months and even with feuds lasting 3-5 months I just plain ran out of challengers.

So really I just dont see how with all the PPVs and T.V. shows it would be possible. That being said of course if by some freak of nature WWE closed up well who knows what could happen.

[Sting Fan]

Yeah I would have to say todays wrestling layout works against it. I will use EWR as an example because BDC did, I booked Raven as world champion in my TNA game for 19 months and even with feuds lasting 3-5 months I just plain ran out of challengers.

So really I just dont see how with all the PPVs and T.V. shows it would be possible. That being said of course if by some freak of nature WWE closed up well who knows what could happen.

[BigDaddyCool]

Yeah, there is no way anyone could do it now a days. Matches would get old really fast.

[Marcyo]

It would completely suck.

[AJHayes]

Shit, dude, don't say that. The WWE Creative time *cough*tripleH*cough* might hear you!

[tucsonspeed6]

Some canadians would say that Bret's held the title for 7 years....


Then again, some North Carolinans would say that the Montreal "screw job" doesn't hold a torch to the countless times Rick Flair was screwed and embarassed in his home town...meh.

[Cactus Sid]

In EWR, I booked a champion for 11 months, it was pretty good.

Chris Daniels, WWE Champion for 17 months :cool:

[The Show Off]

8 Year is impossible in this day and age, but a year long title reign isn't out of the question, and thought a long shot 2 years isn't totally stupid either. It's all about booking. All and all title reigns noadays will, on average, be 1 to 4 months, but eventually the WWE or TNA will go with a 12 months reign or a 18 month reign, but they'll happen like once a decade, 8 years is impossible for all the reasons stated above.

Samoa Joe 1 year 9 months 4 days
Rob Van Dam 1 year 11 months 8 days