11:04 p.m.
by Jonathan Brown
The greatest wrestler of all time is universally heralded as the immortal, Hulk Hogan. The goosebumps that appear on our arms when he comes through the curtains kind of cements that fact. Have you ever stopped to question this fact? The greatest wrestler of all time may still be wrestling, but he may not be who you think he is.
Sixteen world championships are not enough to make you a great champion. You see thee is a difference between the greatest champion of all time and the greatest wrestler of all time. Ric Flair is a legend. Even though his current role defames his legacy, The Man has a lot of credibility to burn. Ric Flair is known both within the business by fans and by non wrestling fans as a crazy s.o.b. The Flair flop, WOOOOO, and the stylish embroidered robes are his calling cards and part of what make him great. A hall of famer, yes; the greatest wrestler of all time, no. At the time that Flair made aname for himself he did so in a way that many only dream about. He single handedly elevated NWA and then WCW into the conversation along with the then WWF. Flair accomplished what some have placed on the shoulders of A.J. Styles, create a company that rivals the McMahon empire. Even with these accomplishments under his belt, lair is not the greatest wrestler of all time.
While the choice of Flair as the greatest champion is a good decision a fan could make, it is not the greatest one to be made. Who has Flair helped make into a rival for himself and others? The uberfans out there can recall each of his title loses. But that fact that the regular fan can not recall who Flair has helped to put over speaks volumes.
Hulkamania still lives and it seems that the claims of Hulk being the greatest of all time are just as strong. The notion that Hulk is the greatest wrestler of all time is undeniable. Losing versus the Rock made him an even larger figure than he was prior to his return and that was just the beginning of the confirmations for the doubters. Stone Cold returned. No one cared. Piper has been here and gone twice and no one noticed. Hogan is the greatest wrestler of all time, hands down. But a great champion? Come on.
The obvious measuring stick of a champion’s reign is who they defeated and who they helped to put over. Ok, who has Hulk put over in a championship match? Ultimate Warrior comes to mind. What did that push lead to for him? It should have pushed his conservative ass right into an asylum but we’ll save that for another day. If you visit the best wrestling web site on the ‘net you will find that Hogan’s opponents are less than memorable and border on the line of being professional jobbers.
Hogan is definitely the greatest wrestler of all time but the greatest champion? The concept is laughable.
Goldberg. Benoit. Orton. Jericho. All of these men benefited from feuding with this man. A champion of all champions. Triple H. The greatest champion of all time has had more meaningful feuds than Flair, Austin, the Rock, Hogan, anyone. His perfection as champion is almost indescribable.
A champion has the ability to draw attention to the fights they are in. Under his reigns as champion, HHH has seen the WWE grow in ways that no one cares to openly admit. The PPV schedule has expanded from 12 annual PPVS to 14. While it can be argued that it is not a huge difference, the extra 100,000 buys that the WWE nets from these extra shows add more than 3 million dollars to the WWE coffers.
In addition to producing record breaking PPV revenue, HHH has seen another sector of the wrestling community grow under his watch, the Internet Wrestling Community. Without his prolonged and seemingly unnecessary title runs, the IWC has been built around tearing the man down. Column after column, thread after thread have been the focus of HHH and the magnitude in which he sucks. Cancer is Killing Me generated more buzz than any one columnist can handle but the vast majority of emails received in this inbox were in support if the man and the legend.
While it may be difficult to admit, maybe of the writers on the ‘net are wrong. HHH is such a great heel that he has crossed the line of reality and fiction. His actions, scripted to piss us off, have been extraordinarily successful. Not since the days of prayers and vitamins has a wrestler generated such a following. Many of my fellow columnists admit that they watch wrestling and order PPVs in spite of HHH. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe the PPVs are being ordered BECAUSE of HHH?
Is that not the mark of a champion? The main event draws the dollars and HHH is always involved in the main event. Good luck, Batista. While Hunter has an arsenal of ways to piss us off you will have to find a way to make us happy. You’ve only done that by defeating Hunter. Since you will not be facing him at the next PPV, now what?
You see, finally HHH will do what so many of us have begged and pleaded for. He has been removed from the main event picture and it is predicted (by me) that this will not be what is best for business.
Many of you out there claim to really hate HHH. He is bad for business and stunts the growth of new wrestles you claim. You don’t believe that. For if you did, you would tune your TV off. A real HHH hater does not order the PPVS or watch the last segment of Raw. But it is assured that you do. How can you watch what you hate?
You watch because he is great and demands you glue your eyes to the tube.
But not me, you see. I turned Raw off last Monday night when I saw HHH was in the main event, again. My cable company and Vince McMahon have not received a single dime of mine through PPV orders since Wrestlemania XIX when Booker T was screwed by HHH. And because of this I missed his ascension. For all of the things that mentioned previously are not what truly makes him great.
HHH is truly great because he did step aside. For what seems like the first time in ages, the better wrestler truly did win. By doing the job to Batista and eliminating himself early in the Gold Rush, HHH became the greatest champion of all time. HHH will do hat Flair and Hogan refused to do during the peaks of their careers. For this, HHH is truly the greatest champion of all time.
Hogan lost the title to Warrior and got it right back. Flair could not live without the title during his peak. Austin and rock don’t make this conversation as they both can get and stay the F out.
When HHH was defeated by Chris Benoit at 11:04 pm, I regretted turning of the TV to see the crowning of the greatest champion of all time. He has never left for greener pastures(Flair, Rock, Austin) nor publicly bitched about losing(Hogan). The man is alkl business and deserves credit.
When Raw does not get instantly better like you wish it will, remember that the IWC, built by HHH, got what it wanted and it did not want the greatest champion of all time.
The Hot List
It seems that the WWE decision makers read Mr. Brown’s Class. If you go back into the archives a lot our wishes expressed in this column have come to fruition. Since it is doubtful that there is a check in the mail addressed to Jonathan Brown, I have a better way to make money. Here are my non-expert odds on the some of the lower tier guys and their chances of winning WWE gold in the next 12 months.
Heavyweight/WWE
Championship Division
Christian 5:2
Viscera 100:1
Heidenreich 20:1
Shelton Benjamin 3:1
Edge 10:1
Muhammad Hassan 4:1
Orlando Jordan 200:1
The Booker T/ Orlando Jordan match was one of the best televised matches of 2005. Booker T has seemingly put the retirement talks to rest and enters a hot feud with Kurt Angle. WOW, what a resurrection.
Speaking of O.J. maybe he should start coming to the ring in a white Bronco and a blood soaked glove. That gimmick would gain him some real heat.
MNM look like the real deal. Two things really get a love crowd going; a cool entrance and a devastating finishing move. Melina’s entrance moves Stacy’s back to second place. I wonder how long it will be before Nitro turns on Mercury?
eviluther99@yahoo.com
