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I get a kick out of that now considering that the first draft was over 800 pages. The final product, at 594 pages, is still epically long for a generation of shorter attention spans, but some details of my analytical process to definitively name the Top 90 wrestlers since Starrcade ’83 had to be edited out. Among the deleted minutiae was a breakdown to accompany the statistical pages which largely helped make the decision for Wrestler A to be ranked ahead of Wrestler B. The bios on the wrestlers that made the cut, then, became more about paying tribute and less about the reasoning behind their rankings. Earlier this year, I was approached about expanding The WrestleMania Era into a series of books, with the sequels to the original allowing me to feature a statistical analysis of each of the five-tiers that shaped the definitive list. The categories included a formula (to bridge the gap between eras) for championships won, a scale for main-events and headlining matches to account for longevity, a compilation of television ratings and pay-per-view buy rate data for box office success, a wrestler scoring system to reflect physical attributes and microphone skills, and a film critic-like star rating scale to account for performance. I agreed to at least the first spinoff book – The Greatest Champions Of The WrestleMania Era - with one caveat: that we find a way to allow this endeavor to double as my yearly LOP WrestleMania series. This demand naturally led to some hemming and hawing for obvious reasons, but I wouldn’t have otherwise had time to write a series for WrestleMania 32 and the discussions that come out of those multi-month lists are some of my favorite wrestling-related chats every year. I have to thank the people I’ve worked with on my books for allowing me the freedom to make such choices (cheers to Corwin especially). We had to get creative to make my demand work. This was the mutually agreed upon decision: Every Wednesday from now until WrestleMania week, I will post ten entries. When the next Wednesday arrives, the previous entries will be deleted and the next ten posted so as not to infringe (too much) on the ability of the finished product (the complete book) to sell. The date of the Top 10 reveal will also be the day that the book goes on-sale, so you’ll have the option to purchase the whole thing for future enjoyment if you so choose. I appreciate all of you. I hope you enjoy this. Tangible accolades are a hallmark of any sport or entertainment avenue. The NBA has the Larry O’Brien trophy, the MVP, and the Defensive Player of the Year. Hollywood has the Oscar, the Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild award. Professional wrestling has championship belts. Generally, there is not a more important role in the wrestling industry than being the World Champion. When a wrestler reaches that pinnacle, he becomes a face of the brand. The only higher honor to achieve in wrestling is to be in the main-event at WrestleMania. So, it is an important endeavor for establishing a hierarchy among wrestlers to create a systematic formula for championship glory. In the old days, being the champion often meant wearing the gold around your waist for a year or longer. That has happened just twice in the last eighteen years. Title changes occurred more frequently beginning in the early 1990s and hit arguably ridiculous proportions during the Attitude Era. Thus, a yearlong-plus title reign from pre-1991 must be weighed against the 1992-present title reigns which have been much shorter. It is not fair for Sheamus’s three reigns as a World Champ that lasted a combined 10 months, for example, to be given more credence than the single, 10-month title reign that Ultimate Warrior had from 1990-1991. Credit must also be given where it is due to the secondary titleholders. Championships such as the Intercontinental, United States, and Tag Team titles have held various degrees of importance over the years, with the creative effort put into their respective divisions often waning from year-to-year (particularly since the Attitude Era), but they have also been stepping stones for future World Champions. Twenty-three of the top thirty stars of the WrestleMania Era held mid-card titles before becoming main-eventers. Care had to be taken for the sake of accurate historical context not to allow more credit to be given for holding multiple titles in multiple divisions. For instance, Booker T held nearly thirty titles in his career, but that should not make him a greater champion than Hulk Hogan, who held just thirteen but spent virtually his entire career as a World Champion. Thus, each division was weighted according to its importance; the World Championship received top billing, beneath it the IC and US Titles were considered as equals followed by the Tag Team Titles. Belts such as the Cruiserweight, European, and Hardcore Championships were not taken into account because they were all short-lived; the major titles have been around throughout every period of the WrestleMania Era. The “Title Formula” was created to assess the championship resumes of all relevant WWE and WCW wrestlers between November 1983 and August 2015. In addition to its aforementioned emphasis on the pecking order, the formula also accounts for the length of reigns versus the number of reigns, giving maximum credit to Hogan and Ric Flair, each of whom had single World Championship reigns of over 500 days. The formula breaks down as follows: (3 pts for being World Champion) X [(# of reigns of 119 days or fewer X 1) + (# of reigns of 120 days or greater X 2) + (# of reigns of 270 days or more X 3) + (# of reigns of 540 days or more X 4)] + (2 pts for being IC/US Champion) X [(# of reigns of 119 days or fewer X 1) + (# of reigns of 120 days or greater X 2) + (# of reigns of 210 days or more X 3) + (# of reigns of 300 days or more X 4)] + (1 pt for being Tag Team Champion) X [(# of reigns of 119 days or fewer X 1) + (# of reigns of 120 days or greater X 2) + (# of reigns of 210 days or more X 3) + (# of reigns of 300 days or more X 4)]  Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you were doing this list, would you have included European and/or Television Championship reigns? Why or why not? To follow the project moving forward, visit my column archives. Also consider purchasing the complete version in book form on March 30, 2016. Thank you!
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