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theminister
Steve from Albany, NY, joined wrestlingmarks.com on 1/17/08
Punk Joins Long List of Other "Questionable" Champions
by theminister on 7/4/08 11:54 AM
There seems to be some discussion about CM Punk's Title win. Alot of the discussion is focused around whether or not the win makes him look good. As you all know he won the title from a beaten and battered Edge by cashing in the MITB contract. Many have said this makes Punk look weak but I argue that Punk is just one of many champions to have won a World Championship under questionable circumstances.
A look back in WWE/WWF history will show you that some of the greatest champions of all-time won titles questionably, this list includes both heels and faces.
Andre the Giant beat Hulk Hogan despite Hogan clearly getting his shoulder up.
Randy Savage won his first WWF Title w/interference from Hogan.
Hulk Hogan won a few Titles questionably. Tossed salt in Taker's eyes for one. Won the WWF Title at WMIX by pinning Yokozuna after Zuna had wrestled Bret Hart for 15 minutes. Hogan also won his last WWE title from Triple H w/help from Taker.
Zuna won the title from Hulk after he took a fireball in the face.
HBK + Bret Hart + Vince = Screwjob. 'Nuff said there.
HBK also beat Bret in "overtime" at WM12. Realistically, Hart defended the title in a draw but Monsoon gave HBK a few extra minutes despite Hart's complaints. So two of HBK's 4 World Title wins are questionable.
The Rock won 3 of his 7 WWF titles questionably. '98 Survivor Series "Screwjob" of Mankind, '99 Royal Rumble "Fake I Quit", Raw Ladder Match gets interference from Big Show.
Mankind needed Austin's help to pin Rock in January '99 on RAW. And used a forklift to pin Rock at Halftime Heat.
Austin was helped by McMahon at WM17 when he chair shotted Rock to death.
Of Triple H's 12 World Titles at least 3 that I can think of were "cheap wins." He was given the title once. He cheated to beat Orton back in 2004. UT and HBK gave him the Iron Man win against Rock. He probably won a few more questionably but I'm working from memory here.
Edge has won 5 World Titles and only 1 of them "clean." And even his clean win he used the WWE belt to hit Cena so he can pin RVD after Cena FU'ed him.
I'm sure I'm missing several others, but you get the point (feel free to mention any I forgot). When people think of Rock or Austin or HHH or whoever it is, no one ever mentions that they won such and such amount of titles unfairly. All that is ever mentioned is that they are a 7 or 6 or 12 or how ever many time World Champion.
Punk won his title fair and square, at least by WWE standards. It shouldn't make him look weak, it should make him look smart and it certainly makes him look like a champion. A few months from now no one will care how he won the title, we will simply call Punk, a World Champion.
Comments
(13 total)
From SirWilliam on 7/4/08 12:24 PM
People eventually forgot about how a wrestler earned his world title and it just goes down in the record book as a title win. Your right, people will eventually see Punk as a World Champion regardless. It might hurt their character for a while (Punk viewed at as maybe an undeserving title holder in some people's eyes), but it'll be forgotten about in the long run. I will say that even though heels get a lot of cheap wins, it mostly helps their character and make them a better champion because of more heat. That is just my view on it, though.
From bpapa on 7/4/08 1:21 PM
A lot of these listed were heel wins though. A heel is supposed to cheat or take the easy way out to get victory. Punk isn't a heel, he's a face. Imagine if John Cena was the MITB holder - could you have seen him getting the title the same way that Punk did?
The thing is though, WWE probably doesn't put Punk in the same light as they do their top babyfaces like Cena, Batista, or the Undertaker. So, in their minds a fluke sort of win was the only way they could justifiably put the title on Punk.
From theminister on 7/4/08 1:52 PM
Savage, Hogan (3 Times) and Mankind (Twice) were all Faces.
I'd like to focus on Hogan in particular. He was the face of the WWF in the 80's, he was the John Cena of his generation and he cheated all the time. Yet his pops were always huge and it never detracted from how his character or title reigns were viewed. Savage's questionable win had little to no effect on how he was perceived. Hogan and Savage got away with it because they screwed HEELS. Punk looks all the better in the eyes of most fans because he screwed the ultimate screwer, Edge.
The bottomline is a win is a win. If a guy like Cena or Punk or Hardy win by shady means, ultimately no one in their fan base would care.
I understand that heels do it all the time, my point is that it ultimately a questionable title win doesn't hurt the character or the legacy of the champion.
From 92tombstone92 on 7/4/08 1:59 PM
Nah i don't think Punk is weak for doing what he did i think it makes him an actual champion to do anything possible to win it, and he did.
i can name another one for you
Yokozuna vs. Taker first ever casket match Yokozuna had like 12 guys come out and beat down Taker and than Yokozuna put Taker in the casket and won. He then wheeled him up to go backstage than Taker showed up on the titron appeared to be completly injured than BAM Taker opened his eyes.
From theminister on 7/4/08 5:00 PM
Another face who won questionably was Rock when he pinned Vince in a 6 Man tag to take the WWF title from Triple H. That was as cheap a win as there ever was.
From TwistOfFate on 7/5/08 7:54 AM
Im happy that the title finally changes. And that it is Punk, makes it abit better. But i dont think he will last long...
From FLCchampRUSH on 7/5/08 11:40 AM
I like this blog. And I agree with bpapa to a degree. I also agree that what better way for Edge to lose the title, than how he has initially won it on 2 seperate occassions? Besides, when you look at the grand scheme of the MIB "contract" it's stipulated that the holder can "... cash in at ANYTIME within a 12 month span." If we're being marks about it, it was ingenius for Punk to cash in after Edge was beat. You don't expend much energy, and you get to humiliate the title holder in the process... a.k.a "The American Way"!
From FLCchampRUSH on 7/5/08 11:55 AM
Oh, and the inner nerd in me must ask, are you refering to Warrior's questionable pin on Hogan? You mentioned Andre, but I remember Andre winning "clean" and then selling the title to DiBiase...
From theminister on 7/5/08 5:59 PM
Andre didn't win clean. Hogan's shoulder came up, referee Hebner was not looking because he was in Dibiase's pocket, if I remember the angle correctly he was refereeing the match because his twin brother was tied up somewhere. The two brothers brawl at the end.
From FLCchampRUSH on 7/5/08 8:39 PM
Ah! I remember now... God, how did I for get that?
From DoubleL on 7/6/08 7:15 AM
For Savage, both of his world title wins were done by cheating, Wrestlemania 4 when Hogan hit Diabiase with the chair and at Wrestlemania 8 when he school boyed Ric Flair and held the tights in the process!
From theminister on 7/6/08 5:22 PM
Good call on the Savage tights pull.
From theminister on 7/6/08 5:24 PM
How could I forget Bob Backlund pinning Superstar Billy Graham w/Graham's foot on the rope. Another cheap win, another face benefits.