Brooklyn Brawlin’ 10.22.08: One Heel of a Good Time – Chris Jericho and his Reign as World Champion

Greetings. It is good to be back. Lots to discuss this week as we approach another WWE PPV. The first thing I saw online today was the Kimbo Slice might have killed more than his MMA career when he was humiliated in 14 seconds to Seth Petruzceli. Ratings and a forthcoming investigation have likely put EliteXC out of business and while I am not advocating this, Kimbo should call Vince and inquire about a contract immediately while he still has some semblance of popularity. Kimbo, even after the loss and controversy has some freakish presence and watchability factor that could benefit the WWE even for a month or two. Maybe set up a Big Show/Kimbo match. I don’t want to see it but I think both parties would benefit. No legit MMA federation will touch Kimbo Slice now after he was exposed as nothing but a street fighter with an intimidating beard.

WWE 24/7 has been malfunctioning on my TV this last week, but returned last night where I was able to watch WCW’s Halloween Havoc 1992. This was such a weird show, with Barbarian getting a main event title match, a Coal Miner’s Glove match getting top billing and the tremendous tag team of STEVE WILLIAMS. The match of the night at that show, was a 30-minute time limit draw featuring tag champs Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes facing Dr. Death Steve Williams and Stunning Steve Austin (real name Steve Williams).

The highlight of the show was the best announcing team in wrestling in my opinion, pairing JR Jim Ross with Jesse the Body Ventura. Jesse had the unique ability to be a heel announcer without being overly heelish and calling the match totally legit. He was 100% on almost every point he made and together they made 1992 WCW incredibly easy to watch.

Also on 24/7 in the shorties section they are showing the classic Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley Hardcore IC Title match from Backlash 2004. After re-watching this, I can say without hesitation that this a better match than Triple H/Cactus at the Rumble in 2000 and I was at the Garden for the latter match. Orton just took an awesome beating by a psychopathic Foley. The bareback thumbtack spot was the first of its kind in the WWE and is still sick to watch today. My girlfriend was screaming for me to fast forward.

Coupled with that is the bump Orton takes off the stage, followed by the Cactus elbow. Orton using the barb wire bat to score the pin was also extremely graphic as Foley’s eye was bleeding badly at the end. Overall, this was just an intense 4+ star Hardcore match that should be viewed by all.

Raw night was a pretty good show, although I think Adamle outsmarted himself with that goofy overbooked under-thought main event debacle. A few short notes:

– Kelly Kelly has improved SO much to the point where some good booking can get her a legit title reign soon. Color me impressed.

– The return of tag wrestling? Another very good tag match this week which sets the stage for Cyber Sunday as we get to choose one tag match. I like how they allowed Miz and Morrison to win as they are the established tag team while Punk and Kofi are still relatively new together.

– Stone Cold Steve HAASTIN!!! I thought his impression was dead on, but I also see the crowd getting a bit restless with Haas. They need to pay off this JBL angle soon or else the crowd will just use Haas as a bathroom match. Personally I feel they are missing the boat, as they should keep the imitations going with a but more subtlety until they are ready to take the IC Title off Santino and they can have the return of the ULTIMATE HAAS WARRIOR!!! He can run down, run through Santino win the IC Title and celebrate like a mad man. It’s not like the IC Title can lose anymore worth so why not have fun with it. Getting back to the Raw match, was I the only person waiting for Austin to come out and Stun Haas and JBL.

– RAW is Jericho… No. WRESTLING is JERICHO!!! This guy is carrying the premiere show of the brand on his back all year. He has competed in the feud of the year, may have had the match of the year with HBK at No Mercy and may be on the verge of going down as the greatest heel champions of all time. Once the greatest cocky heel, then the best and most fun face to root for, Jericho has crafted a new character out of an old mold, the loathing despised heel.

Jericho’s transformation in the year 2008 has been fascinating. Let’s not forget, he started the year as a face returning to the company to save us from the boredom of Randy Orton. After a brief feud with JBL which was resolved on free TV, Jericho was featured in both the Raw Elimination Chamber at NWO and the MITB match at Wrestlemania. But it was after Wrestlemania where the genesis of Jericho’s character turned. We all knew of the association between he and Shawn Michaels. They had feuded before (even having a 4 star match at WM 19) and Jericho considered HBK an inspiration. As tension was rising between Batista and Shawn over Shawn’s career ending of Ric Flair, Jericho interjected himself in the name of the wrestling media to get the truth. His talk show, The Highlight Reel was the scene when he challenged the legitimacy of Shawn’s intentions. The results of this was Sweet Chin Music. He refereed the Batista/Michaels match at Backlash fairly and counted 3 after a Shawn superkick. Shawn won the match after feigning a knee injury, another time Jericho was quick to question Shawn’s legitimacy. Shawn committed two crimes, Jericho pointed them out and Jericho was the villain. That takes talent my friends. Shawn admitted to faking and again Superkicked Jericho leading to a fantastic match between them at Judgment Day where Michaels won with an inside cradle. The fluky nature of the win made Jericho’s intensity and hatred brew as Shawn again escaped unscathed. At One Night Stand, Batista was destroying Shawn in a stretcher match when Jericho came down to “root Shawn on.” The fans took this as mockery and Jericho was slowly becoming a full heel. Then, the barbershop moment: On Raw, Jericho introduced Michaels’ face to his Jericho-Tron 3000 screen injuring Shawn’s eye and signaling the official beginning of Jericho as a heel. Another ppv between them was stopped due to Shawn’s eye injury and nearly forced retirement. Jericho wanted credit for the retirement at Summerslam, where a confrontation led to Jericho hitting Shawn’s wife in the face! Awesome! How evil is that? Intentional or not, you do NOT hit a man’s wife!

At Unforgiven, the third ppv match between them in 08, again ended in a stoppage this time as Shawn was beating Jericho nearly to death. But glory for Shawn was taken away when an injured Jericho subbed for CM Punk and stole the Heavyweight Title later that night. This segued to the phenomenal ladder match between them at No Mercy where Jericho turned away Michaels again. This Sunday, Shawn may be infused into Jericho’s title match as the guest referee. Jericho’s current gripes about unfair treatment can (as many things he said this year) be seen as true. Obviously Shawn hates him. Stone Cold may harbor residual hatred dating back to 2001 when Jericho beat him for the Unified Title, and Randy Orton made no attempts to hide his desire to regain the belt, plus he may remember Jericho’s returning to steal his belt.

So that leaves us with a question: where does Jericho rank in terms of the great heel champions ever? Wrestling is a face-dominated business. Bruno, Backlund, and Hogan held the titles for over 15 years collectively in the WWWF and WWF. In the NWA/WCW, the heels dominated the title with Harley Race and Ric Flair dominating most the late 70’s and 80’s. Many of the top heels of my childhood never got a chance to hold the strap of World Champion. Ted Dibiase and Mr. Perfect come to mind immediately; both of whom were at times promised World Titles reigns. Macho Man was a face when he won the title at WM 4 but only turned heel in the months before WM 5 where he jobbed it back to Hogan. Up until the early 90’s when Yokozuna won the title from Hogan at the King of the Ring, most heel champs especially in WWE were transitional (Sheik to Hogan, Slaughter to Hogan, Taker to Hogan, and Flair to Macho Man). Thus lets get a list of the great heel champions in recent memory.

– Ric Flair – The end all be all of a heel champion. Flair not only was a heel in the ring (the dirtiest player in the game) willing to cheat at all costs, but outside the ring he lived to gain hatred and fuel jealousy. His lifestyle was so that it made the “common man” hate him: a jet flying, limo riding, kiss stealing wheeling dealing son of a gun. He was the cool guy we all wanted to be but knew we couldn’t. He dressed like we wished we could, got the girls we wanted, had the friends and backup we needed, and the gold we cherished. And best of all, he kept keeping the good guy down, whether it was Dusty, Lex Luger, Sting, Windham and so on. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – After being saved by Dusty Rhodes, he and the Horsemen lock Dusty in a steel cage and break his leg.

– Harley Race – A gritty, rough, tough competitor who not only could flat out, out-wrestled you but also out cheat you as well. Billed as “Handsome Harley” he would use his devastating head butts and suplexes to brutalize opponents en route to 7 reigns as NWA Champion. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – Offering bounty to anyone who beat up Flair and then capitalizing when Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater attack Ric during a title match with Race.

– Big Van Vader – The Mastodon from the Rocky Mountains, Vader entered WCW in the early 90’s and quickly became the most feared man in the industry. He annihilated Sting to win his first World Title and then lost it to and won it from Ron Simmons. He survived challenges from Sting, Davey Boy Smith and Cactus Jack and seemed at one point unbeatable. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – Like his mentor Harley Race, nearly ending the career of Ric Flair with a vicious assault before their Starrcade 1993 meeting.

– “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan – The greatest pure babyface of the 1980’s, Hogan became the most villainous and despised man in the world in July of 1996 when he turned on WCW to form the NWO with the Outsiders. For nearly the next 2 years Hogan was almost never without the World Title, on which he spray painted the letters NWO. He lost the belt for one week to Luger in mid 97, and to Sting at Starrcade 97 but would eventually get it back. Worse off, Hogan would beat down every face in WCW, convert half of them to NWO, and seemingly never defend the title on ppv. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – Although it occurred a month before he rgained the WCW Title from the Giant, Hogan’s turn at Bash at the Beach was the single most legendary heel moment in wrestling especially for me as someone who grew up in the 80’s watching All-American Hogan.

– Triple H – Where to start? Which title reign? Let’s first look at the McMahon – Helmsley era title reign starting January 3rd 2000 when he beat Big Show for the title. First he and his lovely wife fire Mick Foley, then he retires Cactus Jack at No Way Out. At Wrestlemania in a McMahon Clusterfuck main event, Triple H became the first heel to walk out of WM as Champion, surviving the Rock, a yet-again reinstated Foley and Big Show. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – After Chris Jericho seemingly shocked the world with an opening Raw title win over the Game, Triple H forces official Earl Hebner to reverse the decision, then fires him!

– Triple H – This is the Triple H post quad injury who was handed the World Title by Eric Bischoff in September of 2002. With a one-month hiccup from November to December where he lost and regained it from his good buddy Shawn Michaels, Triple H reigned unstopped until September of the following year when Goldberg finally dethroned him at Unforgiven. This Hunter reign was marked by god awful ppv matches with Scott Steiner in early 2003, his racist rant against Booker T before defeating him with the “60 second pause Pedigree” at WM 19, post WM feuds with old clique buddy Kevin Nash, and even an initial balking at giving the title to Goldberg. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – “People like YOU, don’t win World Titles.” The line that defined the cockiness and evil nature of Triple H in 2003, was said to Booker T after Booker became # 1 contender to his holinesses title at Wrestlemania.

– Jeff Jarrett – TNA’s founder was almost its destructor with his Triple H-like vice grip on the NWA Title in the early years of the promotion. Every time someone would dethrone him, he would win it back soon after and go on to hold it for a longer period of time. He put down top contender after top contender including AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Monty Brown, Raven, Rhino, etc. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – After losing the belt to new arrival to TNA, Christian Cage in February of 2006, Jarrett re-enters the title picture at Slammiverary and uses evil-ref Earl Hebner to win himself another title reign. At a point when the company could’ve turned a corner, it went totally in reverse.

– JBL – The title reign that Ted Dibiase should have had in the late 80’s instead went to JBL in 2004 when he unseated the late Eddie Guerrero to become WWE Champion at the Great American Bash. What followed were months of unmitigated torture to Smackdown watchers. JBL would cheat, use weapons, and do any and everything else to secure his title, even hiring the worst stable of wrestlers to protect him. Orlando Jordan and the Basham Brothers became JBL’s “Cabinet.” So many top SD wrestlers were jobbed to make JBL a star though no one bought him as champ and rather viewed him as the Honky Tonk Man of World Champions. Not to mention, JBL was a double threat, boring wrestling with cheap wins, and tons of interviews, celebrations, skits, and other JBL-isms. GREATEST HEEL MOMENTS – Fueling his feud with Eddie Guerrero (which earned him the WWE Title) he assaulted Eddie’s mother at a show. Priceless!

– Chris Jericho – Simply put, since Flair, the best! He has only been champion for over a month but this man is pure heel gold. He hits all the right notes and like I have previously discussed, does it while NEVER EEEEEVER lying to the fans. He became a heel out of pointing out the heelish antics of an over babyface like Shawn Michaels. GREATEST HEEL MOMENT – Regarding his title reign, the start is classic. Less than an hour after a vicious beating at the hands of his mortal enemy Shawn Michaels, he sneaks into the Raw scramble, does one move and wins the title. But overall, I think punching Shawn’s wife was still fucking Awesome!

Hope you enjoyed a trip into heel-dom. Let’s go TAMPA BAY RAYS… and as always, have fun storming the castle.