The Boss
'The Boss' Of Pro Wrestling
Here is my latest blog where I conceive of how a WWE Legends championship would fit into today's world. Please feel free to subscribe to my blog at my personal website:
Stuff of Legend
Stuff of Legend
4/15/2020
Fantasizing a WWE Legends Championship
The WWE Legends Championship (as conceived by me)
As an old school fan who has been watching professional wrestling longer than I'm willing to admit that I've been alive, I have always held a special appreciation for the old school wrestlers. Even in my childhood I enjoyed seeing Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Perdro Moralas, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel and others continue long after others would say they were "too old". So it was only natural that when the guys whom I grew up watching also reached what some would consider an advanced age for sports I would continue to support their participation in the greatest sport in the world.
Sadly, the legends of the past don't seem to get as much appreciation from today's fans as they would have in my day. Too often I hear "so and so needs to retire" or "they're just taking spots from younger guys" as if age was a deciding factor in determining who gets pushed. I can't say that I agree with the elitist mindset of today's fans who believe that everyone is somehow guaranteed a "turn" to be champion but, if they truly don't want to see the greats of the past competing on the main roster anymore, you can't argue with the fans. They are after all the bread and butter of the business.
Still, I believe that the older stars still have much to offer. Especially considering that there is a severe lack of big name talent these days. The last wrestling boom occurred in the mid 90s. That was nearly a quarter of a century ago. Since then there has been no big wave of wrestling popularity that would make household names of the stars in the business. More people still recognize the names of the 80s and 90s then the men and women who have been destroying their bodies to entertain the fans over the last 10-15 years. Today's stars deserve to be seen by a wider audience and bringing back older names has been proven to be a reliable way to spike the ratings. In order to give more of the old timers a purpose in today's product I would like to see WWE create a Legends Championship complete with 24/7 rule.
WWE of course already has a 24/7 championship. The concept was originally used for the WWE Hardcore championship back in the 90s. It allowed a championship to change hands without the need of having to actually wrestle a match (a concept that I didn't originally approve of). Using the element of surprise to emphasize entertainment over athletics, the concept proved to be even more popular than the "hardcore" aspect. So much so that when WWE brought the concept back, they disregarded the hardcore aspect all together. Unfortunately the 24/7 concept didn't gel with fans as it had in the past. The title belt itself was deemed extremely ugly and the wrestlers who held the belt were looked at as jokes as WWE focused too much on comedy. With so many titles in WWE right now, the 24/7 championship is clearly seen as the bottom of the barrel.
It was during an episode WWE's Old School Monday Night Raw programs that I saw the potential of the 24/7 concept being better suited to a Legends Championship. Ted Dibiase, Alundra Blaze and Pat Patterson all briefly won the 24/7 championship without having to take a single bump. Suddenly I saw value in a concept which I had previously rejected as cheating the fans out of wrestling matches.
If it were up to me, I would retire the 24/7 title completely and in it's place inaugurate the WWE Legend's Championship complete with 24/7 rules. I envision prospective champions being no younger than 50 years of age and not currently on the WWE roster. This would bring in a new factor of nostalgia as fans could now see their favorite stars of the past pop up out of nowhere and win one more championship without having to take a bump and without having to go over any of today's stars. Of course, any legends who are still in shape and capable of having a short match for the sake of nostalgia would be welcome to do so as well in order to make the title that much more nostalgic.
The design of the belt would be obvious. I would simply follow the current "logo" design used on all of WWE's major singles belts. The major change, aside from the word "Legends" of course, would be in using the old school block logo ("WWE" version) on the main plate. Since the belt would likely change hands a lot I wouldn't even bother with the interchangeable side places and instead have permanent plates featuring the WWE Legends logo shield.
I could really see this concept being a big help in the AEW vs NXT Wednesday Night ratings war as well. While AEW doen't have a lot of name power, it does none the less have significantly nore than NXT. Adding the anticipation of big name legends popping up for a quick spot would give an added reason to watch NXT over AEW as fans love nostalgia.
Unfortunately, I am not on the WWE creative team so my concept isn't likely to be picked up any time soon. Still I would love to see wrestlers of the past be given another avenue to still be reverent to the product of today. Every day someone else turns 50 so there will be no shortage of talent for the belt and the fans have proven time and time again that age is not a factor when showing their appreciation for their favorite wrestlers.
'Till Next Time My Friends,
The Boss
Stuff of Legend
Stuff of Legend
4/15/2020
Fantasizing a WWE Legends Championship
The WWE Legends Championship (as conceived by me)
As an old school fan who has been watching professional wrestling longer than I'm willing to admit that I've been alive, I have always held a special appreciation for the old school wrestlers. Even in my childhood I enjoyed seeing Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Perdro Moralas, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel and others continue long after others would say they were "too old". So it was only natural that when the guys whom I grew up watching also reached what some would consider an advanced age for sports I would continue to support their participation in the greatest sport in the world.
Sadly, the legends of the past don't seem to get as much appreciation from today's fans as they would have in my day. Too often I hear "so and so needs to retire" or "they're just taking spots from younger guys" as if age was a deciding factor in determining who gets pushed. I can't say that I agree with the elitist mindset of today's fans who believe that everyone is somehow guaranteed a "turn" to be champion but, if they truly don't want to see the greats of the past competing on the main roster anymore, you can't argue with the fans. They are after all the bread and butter of the business.
Still, I believe that the older stars still have much to offer. Especially considering that there is a severe lack of big name talent these days. The last wrestling boom occurred in the mid 90s. That was nearly a quarter of a century ago. Since then there has been no big wave of wrestling popularity that would make household names of the stars in the business. More people still recognize the names of the 80s and 90s then the men and women who have been destroying their bodies to entertain the fans over the last 10-15 years. Today's stars deserve to be seen by a wider audience and bringing back older names has been proven to be a reliable way to spike the ratings. In order to give more of the old timers a purpose in today's product I would like to see WWE create a Legends Championship complete with 24/7 rule.
WWE of course already has a 24/7 championship. The concept was originally used for the WWE Hardcore championship back in the 90s. It allowed a championship to change hands without the need of having to actually wrestle a match (a concept that I didn't originally approve of). Using the element of surprise to emphasize entertainment over athletics, the concept proved to be even more popular than the "hardcore" aspect. So much so that when WWE brought the concept back, they disregarded the hardcore aspect all together. Unfortunately the 24/7 concept didn't gel with fans as it had in the past. The title belt itself was deemed extremely ugly and the wrestlers who held the belt were looked at as jokes as WWE focused too much on comedy. With so many titles in WWE right now, the 24/7 championship is clearly seen as the bottom of the barrel.
It was during an episode WWE's Old School Monday Night Raw programs that I saw the potential of the 24/7 concept being better suited to a Legends Championship. Ted Dibiase, Alundra Blaze and Pat Patterson all briefly won the 24/7 championship without having to take a single bump. Suddenly I saw value in a concept which I had previously rejected as cheating the fans out of wrestling matches.
If it were up to me, I would retire the 24/7 title completely and in it's place inaugurate the WWE Legend's Championship complete with 24/7 rules. I envision prospective champions being no younger than 50 years of age and not currently on the WWE roster. This would bring in a new factor of nostalgia as fans could now see their favorite stars of the past pop up out of nowhere and win one more championship without having to take a bump and without having to go over any of today's stars. Of course, any legends who are still in shape and capable of having a short match for the sake of nostalgia would be welcome to do so as well in order to make the title that much more nostalgic.
The design of the belt would be obvious. I would simply follow the current "logo" design used on all of WWE's major singles belts. The major change, aside from the word "Legends" of course, would be in using the old school block logo ("WWE" version) on the main plate. Since the belt would likely change hands a lot I wouldn't even bother with the interchangeable side places and instead have permanent plates featuring the WWE Legends logo shield.
I could really see this concept being a big help in the AEW vs NXT Wednesday Night ratings war as well. While AEW doen't have a lot of name power, it does none the less have significantly nore than NXT. Adding the anticipation of big name legends popping up for a quick spot would give an added reason to watch NXT over AEW as fans love nostalgia.
Unfortunately, I am not on the WWE creative team so my concept isn't likely to be picked up any time soon. Still I would love to see wrestlers of the past be given another avenue to still be reverent to the product of today. Every day someone else turns 50 so there will be no shortage of talent for the belt and the fans have proven time and time again that age is not a factor when showing their appreciation for their favorite wrestlers.
'Till Next Time My Friends,
The Boss
