WWE vs. TNA vs. ROH - Round One: <i>World Champions</i>

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WWE vs. TNA vs. ROH - Round One: World Champions
By Adam Barnowski
Jan 23, 2006, 14:02

(JG Note: Welcome to the first installment of Adam Barnowski's "WWE vs TNA vs RoH. Adam has taken a different approach to comparing the companies by focusing specifically on one particular category. In this debut, he's looking at the World Champions. You may remember Adam from his time as Velocity reviewer on the Wrestling Observer site. We're very happy to have him on board. Feel free to stop by the Insanity Message Boards and offer your opinion on his Insanity debut.)

WWE : Raw - Edge

I have always been a fan of Adam Copeland. From his Brood days, to Team EC, and even when it was revealed that he was "feces." He has been a key player in the WWE (on both Raw and Smackdown) for years. I for one, was perpetually frustrated by the fact that it seemed like the WWE was never going to give him a chance to run with the ball. All that changed at New Year's Revolution when he beat a weakened John Cena to capture his first World Championship.

However, Edge's title reign has been anything but impressive so far.

Instead of capturing the title in a hard fought (no doubt cheaply won) match, Edge won the belt in what was virtually a non-match, at the end of a terrible pay per view. He beat a bloodied John Cena in roughly a minute, in a match that featured all of three moves. Some people thought it was a cool surprise to close the show. I thought it made Edge look incredibly weak in what should have been the biggest moment of his career.

His R-rated superstar gimmick does seem to be getting over, however his first appearance with the title on Raw was marred by the terrible "live sex" storyline that was boring and totally pointless. Adam did turn it up a bit for his TLC defense with Ric Flair. However so far Edge as champion feels like a desperate attempt by the WWE to bribe the fans into cheering for John Cena. The dumb spinning belt thingy just looks silly on him which further perpetuates the idea that it is inevitable that he will lose that belt back to Cena (who will move on to feud with Triple God.) While Adam returns to his status as a perpetual mid carder.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if he holds the belt for more than thirty days.

Current rating - 5 (out of ten)

WWE : Smackdown - Kurt Angle

It's hard to argue against the idea of Kurt Angle as World Champion. Angle is the man, and one of the best wrestlers alive today, no doubt. However the jury is still very much out on his current run as Smackdown Champion.

Like with Edge, his title victory wasn't exactly an awesome, or even impressive, accomplishment. He jumped over to Smackdown with no warning or build up, and beat a random collection of mid carders and curtain jerkers, in a measly over the top rope battle royal to claim the vacant title. His only possible competition, Benoit & Orton, were not even in the match.

His confusing heel/face status compromises him as a champion as well. Just two weeks ago he was saying nasty thing about American troops, cavorting with a man who was once portrayed as a terrorist sympathizer, and calling the fans (who clearly wanted to cheer for him) morons for not knowing enough to boo him. Now he seems to be courting cheers from those same fans that he claimed to despise, which makes him look kind of pathetic.

His recent series of matches with Shawn Michaels have been impressive to be sure, however his last series of title matches against John Cena were mediocre affairs at best. While a lot of people blame Cena for that, it takes two to tango. If Angle is as good as he says he is, he should have been able to carry Cena to good matches (as Jericho did).

Also hurting Kurt is the lack of depth on the Smackdown roster. Who does he have to feud with now that he is the champion? Mark Henry? Davari? Booker T? Randy Orton? None of these names are exciting or believable as challengers. Unless they can work Chris Benoit into the title picture, I expect that the next few months of Kurt's title reign will be dreadfully boring and filled with mediocre matches.

I hate to say it, but this current version of Kurt Angle seems to be shell of his former self.

Current rating - 6 (out of ten)

TNA - Jeff Jarrett

What can be said about Jeff Jarrett that hasn't already been said ad nauseam? The loyal fans of his fledgling promotion absolutely despise him, and not in the "good way." The fans are not excited about getting to see him drop the belt anymore, because they just don't believe that he is ever going to let it go. He may have been an effective heel champion at one point in time, but TNA has clearly pushed him too far.

His image is confusing. He is totally unbelievable as a bad ass, and he's not good enough in the ring to come across as a technical wrestling master. However he tries to portray himself, there are other people in TNA who do it better than him. Joe is a much bigger bad ass. Styles, Daniels, Christian and a plethora of other guys, are better wrestlers.

His matches are consistently awful. They are filled with lame ref bumps and that stupid overused Honky Tonk guitar spot that he had done to death before TNA even got started.

He has recently surrounded himself with a series of mid card heels drawing on the old Four Horsemen/Evolution idea of strength in numbers. It's not a bad idea, but hardly innovative. No one cares about his war against TNA and when he comes out to talk, you can feel the fans falling asleep in droves.

The new breed TNA fan is tuning in to see Joe, Styles, Daniels, and the RoH guys. They want to see great wrestling matches and fast paced action. Jarrett hasn't been able to deliver either one of those things in years.

Stale doesn't begin to describe "Planet Jarrett." He's been in the same spot for so long that he is practically fossilized. It's way past time for him to step down (permanently) from the World title picture. If he wants TNA to succeed (and I believe that he does) than he has to put aside his own ego and let TNA try something new on top.

Current rating - 3 (out of ten)

Ring of Honor - "The American Dragon" Brian Danielson

I'm not going to lie. I have been a huge RoH fan since I discovered them a few years ago, but I will do my best to remain objective in this analysis.

Brian Danielson has been the Ring of Honor Champion since he returned earlier this year and defeated Velocity bound James Gibson (who defeated OVW bound CM Punk) to capture the title in a fantastic match.

Danielson is not the most colorful or charismatic wrestler, in fact he's not colorful or charismatic at all. However in RoH color and charisma are not what's most important. What is most important is the ability to get it done in the ring, and Danielson has got that in spades.

Danielson is an RoH legend and since winning the title, he has delivered nothing but fantastic matches at the top of RoH cards with opponents like Roderick Strong, Chris Sabin, Austin Aries, Steve Corino, Rocky Romero and more.

You can make the argument that the main reason that Danielson is RoH champion is because he is one of the few wrestlers that they have that is not affiliated in some way with TNA or WWE. This is probably true, but it does not change the fact that Danielson is one of the best wrestlers alive. He deserves to be champion, and he proves it every time he gets into the ring.

Dragon currently holds a kind of tweener status in RoH. He has always been hugely popular with the fan base, yet often wrestles as a heel, and recently has had some not so flattering words for some of the RoH fans. While this vague status might confuse things in a standard wrestling environment, in RoH (where the focus is on the wrestling) it doesn't hurt him at all. The fans who want to cheer him do so, and the fans who want to boo him do so.

Danielson could use a little more specific character development, he desperately needs new intro music, and they need to get him in the ring with the big RoH names (Joe, Styles, Daniels, Ki) but all in all, Brian Danielson is nearly the perfect man to be wearing the Ring of Honor championship at this time.

Current rating - 8 (out of ten)

Round one advantage to Ring of Honor.

Thanks to all for reading, and thanks to James Guttman for the opportunity to communicate with the fans of World Wrestling Insanity, the best wrestling related web site out there, bar none.

I will return in the near future for Round 2 : Secondary Championships. Where I will look at the Intercontinental, United States, X Division, and Pure Champions.

WorldWrestlingInsanity.com is not affiliated with any wrestling promotion.