BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) WCW CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
The WCW Cruiserweight title was awesome. In the mid to late 90’s, WCW unleashed a buffet of awesome cruiserweights into the world. Who’s mind wasn’t blown by Rey Jr., Juvi, Jericho, Malenko, Eddie, Psychosis, and the rest? These dudes were AWESOME and innovated a whole new style to the American scene. It was lucha, it was Canadian, it was Japan, and holy shit… it was great wrestling. These guys could pull off the high spots, but they also made them make sense. Sure bigger and higher spots would come, but this era of WCW was special. The entire division, even the guys who lived on WCW Saturday Night, were great to watch. The prize for these guys before moving even higher up the card? The WCW Cruiserweight Title. No other title left my pre-teenage mouth more open with awe.
(THREE) NWA/WCW TELEVISION TITLE
The thing about this title was the rules. The rules were initially a ten minute time limit, over the top is DQ, and it was defended every time they had a TV show. It was a lot of fun. When I first really got into WCW/NWA it was around the time DDP was rocking the scene with this belt and feuding with Johnny B. Badd. The rules were weird, but it was special none the less. The added novelty made it a cool attraction that the casual fan could depend on.
(TWO) ECW TV TITLE
The ECW TV Title was my favorite title in their company. The belt just looked cool. Rob Van Dam had the belt and wore it like a golden god. Before him TAZ, at his best and most bad ass, had a nice run. Before him was “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. The lineage of the belt is impressive and lists a who’s who that has been in ECW. I just liked what it represented. It was the symbol to represent “what’s next” in wrestling. The guys fighting and battling to get to that point was outstanding. The Bam Bam vs. RVD TV Title match stands out at the moment, but there were TONS of classic matches that went down.
(ONE) WWF INTERCONTENTIAL TITLE
This is hands down the best mid-card title ever. I know lame purists would say “Where is the US Title?!” Screw the US Title. It looked cool, but it was never EVER as cool as the IC Title. The IC Title is Savage and Steamboat, Michaels and Razor, The Rock and Triple H, Austin and Owen, and so on and so on. The IC Title has been best used when put on a workhorse wrestler. These are typically the best wrestlers on the card, guys who can easily go in the ring and get over. It serves as almost a testing ground for a wrestler. If a guy can’t get over with the IC Belt on his waist, it’ll be REALLY rare they’ll go the full monty with giving them the belt. I can honestly say if I really think about that I might have more favorite Intercontental Title matches than World Title matches. That’s crazy to ponder.
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