Do you recognize Wikipedia or WWE for WWE title reigns?

[The Rick Jericho]

In the Roman title tracker thread, some people feel the Backlund's title run was uninterrupted, while Wikipedia said it was broken up into two reigns.

So which one do you go with, when recognizing not just WWE title reigns, but ALL pro wrestling title reigns?

[repomark]

Ultimately, if a wrestling company doesn’t acknowledge a title reign within their company then it didn’t happen - as titles are assigned by that company. So for WWE title reigns those they don’t acknowledge don’t count in my view.

However, where it gets more complicated is when wwe doesn’t acknowledge accolades attained in other companies - e.g., Ric Flair’s world title runs. Then I think it isn’t for wwe to decide which should count as they didn’t work for them when the titles were obtained.

[mcmahonfan85]

well wikipedia comes with a map, so obviously they are ultimate authority

[dangerousdanpotato]

If WWE don't acknowledge a reign within their own company then I tend to respect that. Backlund's reign is problematic as I recall that there was a time when WWE DID acknowledge that his first reign was actually THREE reigns (he lost it to Inoki and won it back, also it was held up in a match against Valentine; Bob won the rematch, winning the title again).
Those runs therefore seem more of a retconning. I'm not even sure why they no longer recognise these changes.

[Jindrak Mark]

Apr 23, 2022 18:39:09 GMT -5 repomark said:

Ultimately, if a wrestling company doesn’t acknowledge a title reign within their company then it didn’t happen - as titles are assigned by that company. So for WWE title reigns those they don’t acknowledge don’t count in my view.

However, where it gets more complicated is when wwe doesn’t acknowledge accolades attained in other companies - e.g., Ric Flair’s world title runs. Then I think it isn’t for wwe to decide which should count as they didn’t work for them when the titles were obtained.

They never really fudged Flair's numbers though. They went with the official numbers WCW used.

Watch any Nitro in the late 90s. He was always called a 14 time world champion. Then he had 2 brief reigns in 2000 so from then on he was always called a 16x champ.

[Final Countdown Jones]

WWE engages in so much fudging of wrestling history out of kayfabe that nah I don't go with their word at all. It's one thing when a comic book retcons some dates or contradicts a book from 1975 that almost nobody cares about, but they'll typically cop to it and throw in some excuse for why stuff has been changed. With WWE it's just lying.

[Sparvid]

It depends. When it comes to number of title reigns, I consider WWE to be the authority. If there was a title change at some point and they say that "nope, we don't acknowledge that" then it doesn't officially count.

However, looking at Wikipedia, there's a inexplicable number of times where WWE's title lengths make no sense. Like, if someone won a title at a PPV and then lost it on Raw eight days later, yet WWE claims that it was a nine day reign or something.

[Cvslfc123]

Wikipedia is still doing stupid things like refusing to give The Usos separate articles so I acknowledge WWE on that one.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Apr 24, 2022 4:53:07 GMT -5 Cvslfc123 said:

Wikipedia is still doing stupid things like refusing to give The Usos separate articles so I acknowledge WWE on that one.

The logic for not giving them separate articles is sound – neither one of them have accomplished anything professionally on their own.

[Ozman]

Backlund’s 1978 reign was one reign that lasted until 1983. The broken reigns is some BS that WWE itself doesn’t even recognize.

[khali]

Unrelated to title reigns, but the dumbest thing about wrestling Wikipedia is how every single article has to note that the results are predetermined in some giant paragraph.

[cjh]

Apr 24, 2022 9:34:07 GMT -5 Ozman said:

Backlund’s 1978 reign was one reign that lasted until 1983. The broken reigns is some BS that WWE itself doesn’t even recognize.

WWE has gone back and forth about the 1979 Antonio Inoki reign.  Around 1997 or so, they made a point of acknowledging it in their magazines, then started ignoring it again later.

[cornettesracket]

I picked wiki but it’s a weird one because WWE at times have recognised title reigns that NWA and WCW didn't while not acknowledging others in their own company. I mean Harley races number of NWA titles seemed to change over the years. It’s an interesting subject as is the one about what world titles do fans consider a world title which is fascinating really.

[67 more]

Apr 23, 2022 19:44:02 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Apr 23, 2022 18:39:09 GMT -5 repomark said:

Ultimately, if a wrestling company doesn’t acknowledge a title reign within their company then it didn’t happen - as titles are assigned by that company. So for WWE title reigns those they don’t acknowledge don’t count in my view.

However, where it gets more complicated is when wwe doesn’t acknowledge accolades attained in other companies - e.g., Ric Flair’s world title runs. Then I think it isn’t for wwe to decide which should count as they didn’t work for them when the titles were obtained.

They never really fudged Flair's numbers though. They went with the official numbers WCW used.

Watch any Nitro in the late 90s. He was always called a 14 time world champion. Then he had 2 brief reigns in 2000 so from then on he was always called a 16x champ.

Curiously, I don't believe WCW was recognising the two WWF title reigns but instead the two WCW International World title reigns, which aren't recognised by WWE in his 16-number total. So both companies were fudging but accidentally coming to an agreement on numbers.

[cjh]

Apr 24, 2022 12:48:40 GMT -5 67 more said:

Apr 23, 2022 19:44:02 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

They never really fudged Flair's numbers though. They went with the official numbers WCW used.

Watch any Nitro in the late 90s. He was always called a 14 time world champion. Then he had 2 brief reigns in 2000 so from then on he was always called a 16x champ.

Curiously, I don't believe WCW was recognising the two WWF title reigns but instead the two WCW International World title reigns, which aren't recognised by WWE in his 16-number total. So both companies were fudging but accidentally coming to an agreement on numbers.

WCW did recognize Flair's two WWF reigns.  When he left in 1991, he was billed as a 7-time world champion, then was called a 9-time champion as soon as he returned in 1993.

[Kalmia]

It's a weird situation. Wikipedia might be more factually correct at times, but if the details aren't recognised by the authority (WWE, not Triple H and Stephanie) then they aren't legitimate. So, unfortunately, WWE and it's retconning.

[A Platypus Rave]

I remember at one point Flair said that he came up with the 16 time number himself cause it sounded impressive and he really didn't know how many time he actually won and lost the title.