Folks, its the man who's driven himself mad trying to rationalize Mideon's European Championship reign, James E. Couture

In trying to come up with this weeks entry, I decided to look at what it meant to be a champion. My trusty Oxford Dictionary defines champion as "a small edible mushroom".  Wait, that's "champignon", never mind. Anyhoo, a  champion is "a person who has surpassed all irivals in a sporting contest or other competition".  Throughout its illustrious history, one company redefined what it meant to be a champion.  That company was WCW. 

While some point to Ric Flair of the 80's forcing any and all challengers to raise their game to "compilation DVD-worthy", I point to its dying years, when WCW truly redefined what a champion could be.  I will now venture where only every other internet wrestling writer has gone before, WCW, and I will give perhaps the most deserving World Champion of all time, Vince Russo.

The word "genius" isn't just bestowed upon anyone in wrestling.  Vince McMahon was a genius because he took a successful Northeast company based on big chested, technically unrefined brutes and turned it into a global powerhouse, complete with big chested, technically unrefined divas. Lanny Poffo was a genius because he wore a mortarboard and read poetry. And then there's the genius named Vince of our generation, Vince Russo.  Russo cracked what was later called "Da Vinni's Code", somehow figuring out that people liked, of all things, sex.  Using this startling information, Russo created stars WWE would use to build on for years to come, such as Val Venis, The Godfather, and Prince Albert.  Still, Russo wanted more.  He wanted to be the top Vince and not have to worry about lectures regarding "gaping logic holes" and "needlessly stupid ideas".  And so, when the 72nd time came for WCW to appoint a new creative director, the choice was clear:  Vince F'n Russo.

"When I heard WCW hired Vince Russo, I was concerned my steam engine to superstardom was derailed.  Wait...was I still working there?"
-Villano III (or posibly V, definitely not IV), "So You Think You're a
Villano", 2000

So began the whirlwind year for the man once thought to be Blossom's long lost brother.  Creative boons like "Big T" Tony (Ahmed Johnson) Norriss and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea may or may not have been his ideas, believe it or not, they're not the point.  The point, if there is one, is that Vince Russo allowed WCW to become a haven for off-the-wall creativity, not bound by petty concerns like "ratings" or "ticket sales".  Vinny Ru dared to dream of a company with a C-list actor as champion: Jeff Jarrett.

"Hey now, my acting coach said I could play a villian from Tennessee,
Georgia, or even Texas!"
-Jeff Jarrett, Gran Ole Opry's New Years Rockin' Eve, 2005

Indeed, critics had long hailed Vince Russo as champion of WCW for his nearly endless supply of fantastic double entendres and orchestrating the epic Billy Kidman-Hulk Hogan feud.  So it was only fitting, on September 25, 2000, for Vince Russo to step into a cage with then two time, two time, WCW Champion and future dreadlock aficianado Booker T for a title match, using the "why the hell not" rule, a longtime WCW favorite.

"Why the hell else would I be on TV?"
-Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, "Why Am I on TV Guide", November 2000

After some in-ring antics called "a definitive Nitro main event", Goldberg mosied into the cage and, in a moment as memorable as the other 20 WCW World title changes that year, speared Russo the hell out of the cage and into history. Vince Russo was WCW Champion.  Ric Flair must have turned over in his grave.

Russo proved to be seven times as powerful as Kane, lasting a whole week as champion, before an accumulation of injuries forced him to deprive the world of a Vnice Russo title defense, and he surrendered it, setting up the classic 49ers Box on a Pole match between J-Squared (Jarrett) and Booker Earl Grey (Tea).

"I really wished I could have gotten a title shot.  I probably could have
beat up that bean pole!"
-Charles Robinson, former WCW referee and, for a few seconds, #1 contender.

Vince's title reign was short lived, however he broke the boundaries that said wrestling champions needed to be "wrestlers".  So, I feel it fitting that I bestow upon Vince Russo the first ever Pete Gas Memorial Award, for daring to do on national TV what other wrestling geeks only do on their best friends trampolines in their backyards, namely, play wrestling.

Until Hulk Hogan defeats John Cena for the ECW title, I am in fact James E. Couture.

Viva WCW!