So anybody can be the WWE champion. Even your nan. It's where the fun is. That doesn't mean you can just get a free pass, though. If a promotion is going to send somebody to the top, at least come up with the story, or even an idea, just something. It's better if you do, because otherwise you are going to infuriate the IWC and nobody wants that. Anyway, what WW title reigns went a little bit off the rails? I am Simon Miller, I am bald, and I'm going to tell you.

About 8 COVID-Rour. and nobody wants that. Anyway, what WW title reigns went a little bit off the rails?

I am Simon Miller. I am bald, and I'm going to tell you. Number 8, Covey Kingston in 2019. This one hurt. It sums up how bad WW was in 2019 because there's this. The Hell in the Cell match with Seth Rollins and the Feend. Angles with dog food was a mad, mad time. It is crazy that WW did this too, because Kofi Kingston winning the title at WrestleMania 35 was awesome. Not sure anybody ever expected it, and given it wasn't the plan at one point, even better. Life willed it into existence, and really everybody backstage should have jumped on it. They did not. Now we'll get to the abysmal way that it did end, but let's be

honest, the whole run was booked to absurd levels. That was totally unfair to Kingston. He was put in that place where, well, you are the WWE champion, but you're not going to be treated as such. I mean, Kofy went to countouts with Randy Orton, fought Dolph Ziggler about 78 times when we got to October and yet WWE debuted on Fox.

Apparently we need something big,

Brock Lesnar became the W.W.E. champion. This wasn't the worst idea either because a competitive match between Kofi and Lesnar could have ruled. But no, we didn't do that. Kingston ran at Brock who grabbed him. F5, 123, done. That's right. Took eight seconds. Six months just flushed down the drain. Number seven, Ray Mysterio in 2006. It felt like Ray Mysterio was the poster boy for this. Let's make someone the champion, but not book them like one. I suppose it's amazing Ray became WW champion anyways, given how Vince McMahon booked wrestling, but still, if you're going to pull the trigger, grab on to that thing and pull it hard. Ray absolutely deserved all this, but it's not the exact reason he got to win the Royal Rumble or the title at WrestleMania 22, as we know it all tied into the very tragic passing of Eddie Guerrero. Let's make this clear, it is one of the worst moments in pro wrestling history, and there's a reason fans still chart Eddie's name. It was heartbreaking and also he is and was one of the greats, so nobody could believe it. As Mysteria was his close friend, WW wanted to sort of pay tribute to Guerrero, but yeah, a lot of this story was just a little bit too much, making Randy Orton say some horrendous things, for example. Even Orton came out after the fact and said he wasn't comfortable.

Do not forget, WW had Randy beat Ray for his Rumble Prize 2, meaning it ended up being a three-way at the show of shows, Mysterio versus Orton versus Kurt Angle. And look, at some point, WWE definitely tested the waters to see if they could leave Ray out. And that goodness, that did not work. Anyways, that is important because it just shows you how much of a slog this was.

Bruce Bridger on his podcast has said that Vince McMahon wasn't very sold on the idea. Hence why, for months and months, poor Ray just lost and lost and lost. In any victories against J. Biel and Mark Henry felt like Ray had eeked out a win, before he did finally drop the title to Booker T at the Great American Bash,

it was just a four-month run. Number six, Finn Baller and J.D. McDonner in 2024. Let us do a recent one. It also means I can bemoan the state of the raw tag team scene. Still find this crazy. You do have teams like Finn Baller and J.D. McDonnell, the War Raiders, the New Day, the Usos, and yet the belt still fucking afterthought.

It's crazy.

When McDonor and Baller won these belts,

I think people were excited too because they thought it could be a turning point. And sure, they held them for 175 days, which sounds solid. The issue being, in that time, they defended their titles twice. It kicked off on the 24th of June 2004, where the

Judgment Day did defeat the awesome truth, and for three months, Raw just forgot about them.

Finn and J.D. then did away with the New Day, and finally in November they faced the war

raiders, and they beat them too. Then randomly a month later, they took on Eric and Ivar again

and lost. It was also flipping random. Sometimes we just wouldn't talk

about these titles either. I mean, McDonough and Bella physically had them, but yeah,

didn't seem all that bothered. It's not their fault. But there's a reason even in

2006 these championships are still struggling. It was all down to mad booking like this.

Five Nikki Ash in 2021. I really do respect the fact that Nicky Cross

tried this. She saw a creative opportunity and became Nikki Ash. The Ash stood for almost a superhero

and that summed up the gimmick. She was going to try her best, but sure, sometimes it's not going

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