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It is amazing to see the reactions to Monday Night RAW, as fans were marking out for the surprise returns of AJ Lee (Mrs. Punk won the Divas Title, too) and Chris Jericho. I'm already hearing about this show being the "Best RAW of 2014", which I could agree with if I remembered all of the shows for 2014 for comparison (RAW after Wrestlemania 30 was damn good). And while I was excited about seeing Chris Jericho return and then the possibility of Chris Jericho versus Bray Wyatt at a future Pay Per View, I couldn't help but be sad for the wrestler completely shit on during this segment. The Miz. Don't get me wrong here, Internet... I'm NOT the biggest Miz fan. If you'll recall during late 2010 and early 2011, I repeatedly stated that crowning Miz as WWE Champion was a big mistake. He was a decent midcard act but in terms of being a drawing wrestler to carry the company as World Champion, he was not. Time has proven me correct and much of the Internet, who praised Miz as their "darling" at the time, wrong. Context is everything. But with Miz, he's one of many former World Champions on the WWE roster. Don't believe me? Besides John Cena and his 15th World Championship reign (which in just 10 years is ****ing hilarious), let's list ALL of the former WWE World Champions that are on the active WWE roster right now (I'm using WWE.com as my roster guide): Alberto Del Rio Batista Big Show Booker T (announcer now) Brock Lesnar Chris Jericho Christian CM Punk (retired?) Daniel Bryan Dolph Ziggler The Rock (very part-time) The Great Khali Jack Swagger JBL (announcer now) Kane Mark Henry The Miz Vince McMahon (LOL) Randy Orton Rey Mysterio Rob Van Dam Sheamus Triple H The Undertaker (retired?) Holy cow, WWE has many former WWE World Champions on their roster right now, possibly the most in history. Of that list, who are the REAL contenders to possibly regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (or another World Title)? Batista Brock Lesnar Daniel Bryan (maybe - if fans force WWE's hand again) The Rock (if he returns) Randy Orton Triple H The Undertaker (if he returns) Let's take the Rock and Undertaker out of the picture because they are part-timers now and might get a brief stint just from Vince McMahon only wanting to honor those guys one last time. We'll remove Triple H because he's supposed to be the company executive now. REVISED LIST who will probably win another WWE Title: Batista Brock Lesnar Daniel Bryan (again, the fans must demand it) Randy Orton Ouch.... 3 out of 4 former World Champions on the active roster are 2002 Ohio Valley Wrestling "Class of 2002" WWE Developmental wrestlers. And by the way, the current champion, John Cena, is also from that developmental era. Soooooo... Of our remaining list, excluding guys who appear to be retired (Booker T, CM Punk, Vince McMahon) and excluding the part-time Chris Jericho, are guys very UNLIKELY to win another WWE World Title: Alberto Del Rio Big Show Christian (maybe retired?) Dolph Ziggler Great Khali Jack Swagger Kane Mark Henry The Miz Rey Mysterio Rob Van Dam Sheamus Let's give the benefit of the doubt to Christian, Big Show, maybe even Great Khali, Kane, Mark Henry, Rey Mysterio, and Rob Van Dam. Those guys are probably at the end of their careers, although WWE might through Big Show or even Kane a random title reign. I wouldn't doubt it, especially with Kane these days. Thus, our list finalizes to: Alberto Del Rio Dolph Ziggler Jack Swagger The Miz Sheamus Former champions with a future very uncertain in the WWE. Those 5 wrestlers have at least 1 WWE World Title belt in their careers and yet have nothing to show for it during 2014. Sure, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio were in the 8-man WWE Title Money in the Bank match, but did anyone expect either of those guys to win? And WWE management were reportedly high on both Sheamus and Del Rio. Del Rio's contract is up later this year, I think, and he might walk without winning another WWE Title. Jack Swagger experiment failed. He was just NOT ready to win the World Title and when the WWE got serious in pushing Swagger, he took it for granted and got in some legal trouble. I like his new "We the People" gimmick and enjoy Zeb Colter as his manager, but damn he's booked to lose too often. Dolph Ziggler is jobber to the stars forever. He opened his mouth and ripped John Cena and Randy Orton to various media outlets and has been in the WWE doghouse since. In my opinion, he's never been a strong candidate to main event. Sure, he's a great in-ring wrestler... But he's not a good character and lacks psychology. He's John Morrison of 2014. WWE has jobbed him enough that he can't be easily built up. And I'm curious.... What do 4 out of the 5 have in common? Oh yeah... Former Money in the Bank ladder match winners! The fact is that all 5 wrestlers are victims of BAD TIMING and being OVERPUSHED by an impatient WWE Creative Staff looking for the next WWE Superstar beyond John Cena, Randy Orton, or Batista. The Creative Team somehow came to the belief that World Titles make Superstars, which is completely backwards on how the wrestling industry works. Just log into the WWE Network and watch the many hours of film to prove how the industry truly works. Wrestler gets naturally over with the fans and THEN wins World Title. See John Cena during 2003-2004 if you don't believe me. He got naturally over and then won the WWE Title during 2005. Sadly, all 5 wrestlers are damaged goods and might take a miraculous change in their gimmick, look, or attitude to change the minds of fans. I would probably suggest that Sheamus has the best shot of overcoming the odds but the main event field might be too crowded for him to overcome. WWE appears to be very serious about Bray Wyatt and the 3 former members of the Shield, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins. Probably Cesaro and eventually Rusev. Maybe Wade Barrett if he can stay healthy. In addition to Batista, Bryan, Lesnar, Cena, and Orton, that's a large backlog of wrestlers to overcome to get another shot at a World Title for Del Rio, Ziggler, Swagger, Miz, and Sheamus. Job Squad 2014! And again, 4 out of 5 of them won the Money in the Bank briefcase. Someone like Seth Rollins should watch out... History shows that the WWE tries to make "new" superstars via the Money in the Bank briefcase and then randomly making them champion without much advance announcement to fans. As I argued in a column recently, the Shield had a good thing going... However, they split the team up prematurely and within weeks, Seth Rollins now has the potential to become an eventual WWE Champion. Is he even ready for that honor? Sure, the guy has lots of in-ring talent, but is he OVER as a singles wrestler to become champion? I would argue "no". As I keep saying, over and over again... WATCH THE VIDEO LIBRARY. Build up the wrestlers in the midcard, once they get over as midcarders, then you elevate. Don't instantly debut them as Main Event pushed wrestlers as the WWE has with Bray Wyatt and now Rusev. I actually believe that Bray Wyatt has loads of talent but the WWE overpushed him during 2013. What got him over? Once he started wrestling full matches and proving himself in the ring. All of that gimmick work and strange mind games during 2013 didn't stick but the wrestler did. Instead of having Bray Wyatt actually defeat Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble 2014, why not have a strong showing in the Rumble match or proudly win a midcard title instead? Steady growth in the midcard worked for the Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Mick Foley, Sting, and Ric Flair... Why can't it for current WWE developmental call-ups? GET OVER FIRST and THEN WIN THE WORLD TITLE! It's embarrassing to see the Miz make his WWE return from having time off and then get humiliated by a returning part-time wrestler. But then again, he shouldn't have been pushed so hard during 2010 in the first place. That's the point. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2014
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