TPWW Forums - View Single Post - There's never gonna be another title chase/title win like Mick Foley's first

**Fox** · 10-14-2012, 05:31 PM

I don't think it's impossible to recreate the kind of atmosphere that surrounded Foley's chase for the WWF Championship. It all comes down to the writing - it's all about investing in a superstar who has fan backing and long-term planning for his eventual victory.

I thought they had a great thing going with Jeff Hardy chasing the WWE Championship toward the end of his run with the company. He came so close against Randy Orton several times only to just barely get beaten out on several occasions. I remember feeling like Jeff was never going to really get his WWE Title run. When he finally captured the WWE Title from Edge and Triple H, it was a great moment, lessened by the fact that it wasn't the true main event and that he had held the World Heavyweight Title before hand. It was also lessened by poor writing. The Jeff Hardy chase should have been the main storyline on TV, but it wasn't.

I do miss the days when a guy would chase his first world title only to get that big victory at WrestleMania. It's such a great moment when it happens - Benoit's victory at WrestleMania XX is still one of my favorite moments of all time. Shawn Michaels' victory at WrestleMania XII is another great example, as well as Bret Hart's at WrestleMania X. Mysterio's win had the same potential, but it was lessened by the shadow of Eddie Guerrero's death, the fact that the match was very short, and the fact that it wasn't the main event. I think they could have done similar stories with guys like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but again, WWE doesn't have the discipline to execute these kinds of long term storylines and give them the attention, detail and TV time that they deserve.

We can only hope that WWE will try one of these sorts of stories again sometime in the future. Right now the only guy I can see pulling this off is Dolph Ziggler, but really it's a better story when the guy is a face. Dolph has proven himself to be a great heel, but I don't know if his face potential is nearly as great. Besides, they'll probably blow this opportunity by having him do a cheap cash-in and win the World Title from Sheamus at some point in the near future.

10-14-2012, 05:31 PM	#19
Fox "Ask him!" Posts: 10,072	I don't think it's impossible to recreate the kind of atmosphere that surrounded Foley's chase for the WWF Championship. It all comes down to the writing - it's all about investing in a superstar who has fan backing and long-term planning for his eventual victory. I thought they had a great thing going with Jeff Hardy chasing the WWE Championship toward the end of his run with the company. He came so close against Randy Orton several times only to just barely get beaten out on several occasions. I remember feeling like Jeff was never going to really get his WWE Title run. When he finally captured the WWE Title from Edge and Triple H, it was a great moment, lessened by the fact that it wasn't the true main event and that he had held the World Heavyweight Title before hand. It was also lessened by poor writing. The Jeff Hardy chase should have been the main storyline on TV, but it wasn't. I do miss the days when a guy would chase his first world title only to get that big victory at WrestleMania. It's such a great moment when it happens - Benoit's victory at WrestleMania XX is still one of my favorite moments of all time. Shawn Michaels' victory at WrestleMania XII is another great example, as well as Bret Hart's at WrestleMania X. Mysterio's win had the same potential, but it was lessened by the shadow of Eddie Guerrero's death, the fact that the match was very short, and the fact that it wasn't the main event. I think they could have done similar stories with guys like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but again, WWE doesn't have the discipline to execute these kinds of long term storylines and give them the attention, detail and TV time that they deserve. We can only hope that WWE will try one of these sorts of stories again sometime in the future. Right now the only guy I can see pulling this off is Dolph Ziggler, but really it's a better story when the guy is a face. Dolph has proven himself to be a great heel, but I don't know if his face potential is nearly as great. Besides, they'll probably blow this opportunity by having him do a cheap cash-in and win the World Title from Sheamus at some point in the near future.