Short Reign, Long Legacy

This idea came as a result of recent events. Colt Cabana's NWA World title reign was ended just a couple of months after he won it. This lead me to think about previous champions who have had short reigns but ultimately went on to become much bigger. So Here's 6 guys who have not had the best of luck with the big titles but were still big stars.

Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat had one reign as NWA World champion lasting just about 3 months. He defeated Ric Flair to become champion and would lose it too Flair as well, he would also seem to revolve around Flair during that time as he seemed to never defend the belt against anyone else. But in a sense that was a blessing. The series between the two for the belt has gone done as one of the greatest in wrestling history just making it look like Steamboat was a great champion. Why he never got it again is beyond me, he is know as one of the best workers ever and has had some of the greatest matches of all time. Maybe his lack of promo skills harmed him or the move to a new style and moving away from the NWA (the company became WCW) meant that Steamboat would only be a high mid-card and not main event. Regardless of that he is still on of the biggest legends going today and is in the Hall of Fame, which he truly deserves.

Kerry Von Erich
The story behind the match where he won the belt is legendary. Kerry's brother David had died in Japan, many believed David was going to be NWA world champion. The match took place in the biggest crowd the WCCW pulled and was for David's Memorial show. Kerry defeated Ric Flair and became champion. Many have said that it wasn't a surprise and it was done for the wrong reasons. Kerry's reign lasted less than 3 weeks. Sadly Kerry was a victim of the NWA curse (as I call it), while there have been many men to hold the belt multiple times and for a long time there are many guys who get a short reign and are forgotten (Tommy Rich & Ron Garvin). So how does this prove my point of this blog, simple. Who is the Von Erich you remember more? It's Kerry. While we may know of David and Kevin we think of Kerry first. Kerry would have a huge draw all over America and even became Intercontinental champion in WWE. Kerry was the biggest star in the Von Erich family, would David have been bigger probably but it was Kerry who went on to big things after his death and not any of the other 4 brothers.

Mankind
Mick Foley put it best "I'm the greatest transitional champion in WWE history". Mick had 3 reigns as WWE champion and in total it lasted all of 3 months at best. Mick was a victim of the Russo booking when he first gained the belt, him and The Rock traded it back and fourth through January to March of 1999. His third reign lasted all of a day, Mick beat Steve Austin at Summerslam 1999 and lost it to Triple H on Raw the next day, many have stated this was done because Austin refused to lose the title to Triple H who he didn't see as a big enough star at the time. While Mick's reigns as WWE champion came and went quickly we still remember him as a champion and to more of a point we still see him as a big superstar and not a flash in the pan champion.

Big Show
Show has the only honour on this list of not having great World title reigns in two companies. Show debuted as the Giant in WCW and in his first official match won the World title, that reign was quickly overturned as he won it by DQ. He would get a longer reign later on but it wouldn't be that much longer. Many forgot about these reigns as Show would become nothing of meaning in the company, sadly that's what WCW was like. He would debut as the Big Show in WWE in 1999, he became WWE champion in November of that year ending Triple H's reign. That reign lasted 2 months and he lost it back to Triple H, I think this was done because Triple was involved in a story with the McMahon's and they wanted the title to not be included in it. It was 3 years later that he won the title again, at Survivor Series again, this time beating Brock Lesnar. This reign lasted even shorted, just one month, and he lost it to Kurt Angle. I think this was done so that Kurt would be champion in the Kurt-Brock match they wanted at Mania and they didn't want that match to happen before the show. No matter which way you look at it Show has not had good luck with the big belts but that hasn't mattered, he is still seen as one of the biggest stars the company has ever had and that won't likely change.

Diamond Dallas Page
DDP is just one of the prime examples at how bad WCW was in 1999 and beyond. DDP had 3 reigns as WCW world champion lasting a total of just over a month. He won the title in a 4 way at Spring Stampede and would then go on to take part in one of the stupid bookings I've ever seen. In one episode of Nitro he lost the title to Sting and would later on go on to win it back in a 4 Way match. That reign ended at the next PPVArquette just days later in awful booking. With all this being said DDP is still one of the biggest stars that WCW ever had and is still a big name to this day, could he go in the Hall of Fame? I think so you just have to over look his WWE run.

Dusty Rhodes
This is the main guy I thought of when this subject popped up in my head. Dusty is a 3 time NWA World champion and one of the biggest legends ever in this business. He is regarded as one of the biggest stars of all time but when you look at his title reign when it came to the NWA World title that was not the case. What's funny is that WWE's DVD story about these reigns made it look like Rhodes was a fantastic champion!
Anyways Rhodes won the title from Harley Race and less than a week later lost it back to him. Race would have a long run and Rhodes would chase him finally beating him to regain the belt. He held it for just a few months and then lost it to Ric Flair. The two had a really long feud a few years later which saw Rhodes win his 3rd in a steel cage match but just like his 1st it lasted a little over a week. Rhodes wasn't as great as a champion as many would have you believe, when you consider many held it for years at a time back then. But that hasn't hurt his legacy and he is still one of the biggest legends ever.

What I'm trying to get at here is that the wrestling business is full of this crap, not giving guys a chance to truly show how good they are when they have the main belt (just look at Jack Swagger last year). However if you're any good you can move from it and make it look like it was greater than it actually was. Many have called Steamboat's reign as World champion a flop but he's still one of the greatest of all time. I guess time ultimately shows how we'll remember them and their reigns.