*Blog post started on July 9, 2020.
If it was not for picking up lunch, business is slow to the point that I wonder if we have lifted the lockdown in Illinois.
With my commute taking me an extra five minutes, I do not wake up with the time to watch Wrestletalk's daily YouTube video. This means that, if I had the nerve to watch it while on the clock, I would have to wait till we close the lobby for the last hour of my shift. Hence, it is very easy for me to run out of work acceptable websites to kill the time with.
When you got to pay the rent, you cannot go to Ebay or Amazon for that one item you know a local shop will not have. That is another indication that I need to spend more time in Chicago if not relocate up there. I am also jealous of my college age coworkers who do not have to worry about credit card debt or bills. Go ahead and buy those toe rings. If you already added another three months to your leave your parents' place, what will another quarter-year matter?
Anyway, my taste for rare and vintage goods leaves me in a place where shopping is just looking. The search query starts reasonable, "blank championship belts", but when that may only score me a handful of results, the next 15 minutes are devoted at looking at championship belts from the past. It pains me not to add them to my collection (currently made of toy replicas, the NGW Unrecognized Interim Light Heavyweight Championship [Thanks Jakks Pacific] and the UFC championship that was going to be converted for my Peoria-based promotion that my partners flaked on [impractical for the first, unnecessary for the one who got to book Scott County Wrestling for a blip], Legit Championship Wrestling), but it can help me kill some time. I want to know the histories of these belts, so Wikipedia ends up deserving a few bucks from me.
It is fun to catch up on the past, but it maybe more fun to determine how essential these titles were. Who can deny that despite it tendency to be wrong, judging in generally fun? I suppose as long as you are not judgmental, there is nothing wrong with it. Then again, if you are spending time focused on your internet activities, you probably are quick to conclusions.
Fortunately, since the internet encompasses everything, there are plenty of harmless results to mock. In modern wrestling where half of the promoters are clueless (WWE, Impact, lets not get started on the indies), there are bad decisions that most are quick to anger about. If it ends up involving a title, the frustration goes nuclear.
I consider myself to be a very trustworthy person (Hence my frustration for lack of support when it comes to my B-movie production "Main Event of the Dead". Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com to request a treatment for the zombies versus the indies film. I am also open to receiving suggestions on how to get this project off the ground.) and a very empathetic one at that. To end this frustration about who is worthy to call themselves a champion, here is my title history for The Disgruntled's Real Secondary Champion.
One question before we begin. Do we include the WWE Universal Championship in this list? It has yet to earn the distinction of being a World title yet. Kevin Owens and Bray "The Fiend" Wyatt both lost it to Goldberg. Roman Reigns and Finn Balor never got to truly defend it. Brock Lesnar was never around to defend it. Kofimania trumped Seth Rollin's reigns.
I suppose it is best not to because that would throw in all of Impact's Heavyweight Championship incarnations. It is best not to ask for headaches. Like the previous title histories for Disgruntled Real Championships, the start date is Starccade 1983 the first "pay-per-view".
The 1st Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
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| Tito Santana - MADHOTCOMICSPLUS.COM |
Muraco was feuding over this title with Pedro Morales, the man who was suppose to be the man after Bruno Sammartino's eight year reign. This title history shows they went to war over this title for two years. NWA's United States Champion Greg Valentine won the belt in a brutal feud with Roddy Piper, but won it due to referee stoppage for a cut. The NWA National Championship changed hands only eight months prior when Larry Zbyszko purchased it.
The 2nd Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
WWF's Tito Santana (1) - 2/11/84 to 9/24/84
The NWA United States Championship would be vacated during this reign only to be won back by the champion (Wahoo McDaniel) in a tourney to determine it.
The 3rd Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
WWF's Greg Valentine - 9/24/84 to 7/6/1985
The 4th Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
WWF's Tito Santana (2) - 7/6/85 to 2/8/1986
The 5th Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
WWF's Randy Savage - 2/8/1986 to 3/29/1987
The 6th Disgruntled's Real Intercontinental Champion:
WWF's Ricky Steamboat (1) - 3/29/87 to 6/2/87
The 7th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
NWA United States Champion Nikita Koloff - 6/2/87 to 7/11/1987
It only made sense that, while Hulk Hogan was the Heavyweight Champion, the undercard had to carry the slack for the low work rate of his reign. The Honky Tonk was more of an example of knowing that pro-wrestling actually had rules due to tendency to be disqualified or counted out. Politics may have also helped Honky into this position.
Koloff won the vacated NWA United States Championship in the classic best-of-seven series with Magnum T.A. It is difficult to let the need to reestablish the lineage leave the feud from the history of secondary champions. A month into Koloff's reign, he also unified the NWA National Championship with his U.S. Title, but that title was reinstated during this reign as well.
The 8th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
NWA's Lex Luger (1) - 7/11/87 to 11/26/87
The 9th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man - 11/26/87 to 8/29/1988
Dusty Rhodes defeated Luger for the U.S. title, and then booked the Double Championship away by vacating it. I suppose when you have a work rate World Champion in Ric Flair, you do not need to emphasis a secondary title's importance.
The 10th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior (1) - 8/29/88 to 4/2/1989
The 11th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude - 4/2/89 to 8/28/89
The 12th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior (2) - 4/2/89 to 4/1/1990
It is tempting to want to void the Warrior, but he showed the meaning of the secondary title when he challenged and defeated the World Champion. As Pro Wrestling Illustrated always implied, this belt was suppose to represent the number one contender. Bill Apter must never had played "Punch Out" to understand the nuances of why it was not. Then again, no promotion separated competition into, lets say, regional divisions to better define a title's meaning.
The 13rd Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
NWA United States Champion Lex Luger (2) - 4/1/90 to 10/27/90
This is before WWF realized (and perhaps all domestic promoters) the storyline opportunities that double champions provide. Warrior vacated the IC title which was not filled until Mr. Perfect won a tournament to claim it. Perfect ended up defeating two-time Double Champion Tito Santana in the final, so it is hard to say the belt lost any prestige during the vacation.
Lex Luger has never been considered a great worker, but he had become synonymous with the US title. He was in the midst of a 523-day long reign (longer than Honky's IC reign) and would eventually pull a Warrior when he won the World title as a secondary champ.
The 14th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
NWA United States Champion Stan Hansen - 10/27/90 to 12/16/90
It is tempting to give this title to Kerry Von Erich, but since they put the IC belt back on Mr. Perfect, and he did not have a notable feud afterwards, he ended up as a failed WWF outsider.
The 15th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect - 12/16/90 to 8/26/1991
You cannot argue Lex Luger was a better performer than Curt Hennig, regardless of their WWF feud's result. I do find it ironic that Luger became the man to represent America under Vince McMahon after becoming the best United States champion elsewhere.
I tried to make it a decade into this title reign, but justifying why I should do this seems to have taken too long. With no explanations needed, hopefully I can dive right into the next installment and perhaps come up with a better name than double championship. Respect must be shown to the current IWGP champion.
Wagging the Wednesday Night Wars & the Real Heavyweight Championship
The 10th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior (1) - 8/29/88 to 4/2/1989
The 11th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude - 4/2/89 to 8/28/89
The 12th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior (2) - 4/2/89 to 4/1/1990
It is tempting to want to void the Warrior, but he showed the meaning of the secondary title when he challenged and defeated the World Champion. As Pro Wrestling Illustrated always implied, this belt was suppose to represent the number one contender. Bill Apter must never had played "Punch Out" to understand the nuances of why it was not. Then again, no promotion separated competition into, lets say, regional divisions to better define a title's meaning.
The 13rd Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
NWA United States Champion Lex Luger (2) - 4/1/90 to 10/27/90
This is before WWF realized (and perhaps all domestic promoters) the storyline opportunities that double champions provide. Warrior vacated the IC title which was not filled until Mr. Perfect won a tournament to claim it. Perfect ended up defeating two-time Double Champion Tito Santana in the final, so it is hard to say the belt lost any prestige during the vacation.
Lex Luger has never been considered a great worker, but he had become synonymous with the US title. He was in the midst of a 523-day long reign (longer than Honky's IC reign) and would eventually pull a Warrior when he won the World title as a secondary champ.
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NWA United States Champion Stan Hansen - 10/27/90 to 12/16/90
It is tempting to give this title to Kerry Von Erich, but since they put the IC belt back on Mr. Perfect, and he did not have a notable feud afterwards, he ended up as a failed WWF outsider.
The 15th Disgruntled's Real Double Champion:
WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect - 12/16/90 to 8/26/1991
You cannot argue Lex Luger was a better performer than Curt Hennig, regardless of their WWF feud's result. I do find it ironic that Luger became the man to represent America under Vince McMahon after becoming the best United States champion elsewhere.
I tried to make it a decade into this title reign, but justifying why I should do this seems to have taken too long. With no explanations needed, hopefully I can dive right into the next installment and perhaps come up with a better name than double championship. Respect must be shown to the current IWGP champion.
Wagging the Wednesday Night Wars & the Real Heavyweight Championship
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