Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Oct 25, 2021 4:53:49 GMT -5
I was thinking. While many, if not most, of us would consider Shawn winning the title off of Bulldog to be a something that'd ultimately harm the European title, I'm curious what an ideal alternative would have been.
I will say that I think Triple H winning it off of Smith directly instead of the HBK vs Triple H "match" would have probably been better. I imagine the Hart camp would have preferred virtually anyone outside of the Kliq winning the belt, but at least Hunter was obviously someone they wanted to build, so it wasn't like it'd be slumming it for Bulldog to lose to him, though they probably should have done so stateside or something.
I do think that the European title being a rung beneath the IC title was an inevitability. The IC title had a significant head start on lineage, and the European title also had a conceptual problem behind it, in that I think WWE originally expected they'd be touring in Europe more often than they ultimately did, so it wasn't like it was realistic for it to primarily be defended there or held by primarily European wrestlers. It's still kind of wild that they ultimately only ever had two win it, but WWE was less international at the time compared to how it is now.
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Oct 25, 2021 5:03:37 GMT -5
They should have let Bulldog keep the title with a DQ or some shit in the UK, and then had Bulldog drop the title to Hunter in the US later on. At least the optics of the situation would be D-X being a dominant faction each holding singles championships, as opposed to Shawn carrying around a belt that was beneath him until he got the belt he wanted, and gifting it to his lackey in a fashion that clearly devalued the title so badly it's a miracle that 1998 still had some decent European title runs.
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67 more
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Post by 67 more on Oct 25, 2021 6:34:05 GMT -5
It's possible to have a tertiary title that means something as long as the people competing for it give a shit. HBK quite clearly didn't and would even sarcastically refer to the European title as "coveted", burying the belt in its first year.
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auph10imitated
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Post by auph10imitated on Oct 25, 2021 7:18:22 GMT -5
I think the whole idea of the title was for Bulldog to keep it and let the European market mean something, so the plan of him loosing it to build to Mayhem in Manchester did actually make a lot of sense where he would have won it back and probably kept it a while, I dont know if it was ever meant to me a title to be traded around like it did. With William Regal coming in, in 1998 I would bet they would have built to a Bulldog vs Regal feud down the line.
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sungod2020
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Post by sungod2020 on Oct 25, 2021 7:18:50 GMT -5
I was thinking. While many, if not most, of us would consider Shawn winning the title off of Bulldog to be a something that'd ultimately harm the European title, I'm curious what an ideal alternative would have been. I will say that I think Triple H winning it off of Smith directly instead of the HBK vs Triple H "match" would have probably been better. I imagine the Hart camp would have preferred virtually anyone outside of the Kliq winning the belt, but at least Hunter was obviously someone they wanted to build, so it wasn't like it'd be slumming it for Bulldog to lose to him, though they probably should have done so stateside or something. I do think that the European title being a rung beneath the IC title was an inevitability. The IC title had a significant head start on lineage, and the European title also had a conceptual problem behind it, in that I think WWE originally expected they'd be touring in Europe more often than they ultimately did, so it wasn't like it was realistic for it to primarily be defended there or held by primarily European wrestlers. It's still kind of wild that they ultimately only ever had two win it, but WWE was less international at the time compared to how it is now. I think Michaels treating it as a prop suited his degenerate heel character to some degree. It could've been salvaged however by Bulldog winning it back at the next UK PPV which was originally planned but he left the company shortly thereafter. Michaels would've also had to agree to job to him which was nay high impossible in those days. I thought the European Championship, while unfitting in name did have a place in the Attitude Era. It was like the WWF's version of the TV title. Guys who were over enough to warrant a title run, but not quite ready or at the level for the IC championship, though I will admit the belt has had a pretty tumultuous history at times being taken seriously(Triple H's feud with Owen Hart over it, Kurt Angle bringing attention to the belt while also holding the IC title) while other times treated as a joke(Triple and Shawn Michaels having their "match", Mideon finding the belt in Shane McMahon's gym bag, etc etc). With the early days of the brand split, they retired the belt at the right time by merging it with the IC title since they no longer had any use for it. |
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Post by DoubleDare on Oct 25, 2021 8:11:40 GMT -5
Yea, what we did get ended up better than what they would've ended up having to do if Bulldog just kept the title, since he would've left after Survivor Series so either they'd have a tourny for the european belt, which would have been going along the tounry for the new light heavyweight title.
Or they would have just nixed the title altogether.
So Shawn Michaels winning it at one night stand somehow ended up being good for the title, even if in December he just laid down for Triple H so he could have it.
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Post by I'm A Pop Sensation on Oct 26, 2021 20:54:08 GMT -5
I was happy as hell when D'Lo Brown beat Triple F**k for the belt. I don't care what people say, Triple H was a shitty champion and buried Owen Hart when he should have had two wins of the dumb f**k
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2021 18:24:13 GMT -5
I was happy as hell when D'Lo Brown beat Triple F**k for the belt. I don't care what people say, Triple H was a shitty champion and buried Owen Hart when he should have had two wins of the dumb f**k Triple f*** made me giggle, not going to lie. |
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Oct 27, 2021 21:17:08 GMT -5
Yea, what we did get ended up better than what they would've ended up having to do if Bulldog just kept the title, since he would've left after Survivor Series so either they'd have a tourny for the european belt, which would have been going along the tounry for the new light heavyweight title. Or they would have just nixed the title altogether. So Shawn Michaels winning it at one night stand somehow ended up being good for the title, even if in December he just laid down for Triple H so he could have it. They granted Bulldog his release before his contract was up, so they could have had him drop the title to Trips on the way out. |
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Post by DoubleDare on Oct 28, 2021 9:48:55 GMT -5
Yea, what we did get ended up better than what they would've ended up having to do if Bulldog just kept the title, since he would've left after Survivor Series so either they'd have a tourny for the european belt, which would have been going along the tounry for the new light heavyweight title. Or they would have just nixed the title altogether. So Shawn Michaels winning it at one night stand somehow ended up being good for the title, even if in December he just laid down for Triple H so he could have it. They granted Bulldog his release before his contract was up, so they could have had him drop the title to Trips on the way out. Ah ok, then I rescind what I said, hell could've had Bulldog basically do what Neidhart did, join DX then later in the night DX beats him up then the next week could've had him drop the belt. |
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Post by nickcave on Oct 28, 2021 12:29:34 GMT -5
At least the match between Owen and Bulldog to decide the champion is a great match so it has that going for it.
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Post by Hit Girl on Oct 28, 2021 12:36:37 GMT -5
Never should have created it.
It was utterly absurd they allowed Shawn Michaels to mock it openly.
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Post by I'm A Pop Sensation on Nov 1, 2021 20:40:03 GMT -5
I was happy as hell when D'Lo Brown beat Triple F**k for the belt. I don't care what people say, Triple H was a shitty champion and buried Owen Hart when he should have had two wins of the dumb f**k Triple f*** made me giggle, not going to lie. You're Welcome |
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