10 Stages Of The WWE Championship’s Devolution: From Prize To Prop
3. Restoration And Ruination
As the company itself entered into an identity crisis following the culturally entrenched but passé Attitude Era, so too did the flagship prize enter a state of flux.
Returning prodigal son Hulk Hogan provided a short-term blast of nostalgia in 2002 - but it was an artistic regression and a financial recession. Through a series of transitional champions, it found its way into Brock Lesnar's hands - designated onscreen and off as The Next Big Thing. His runs elevated the strap into the realm of the authentic, and his loss to Eddie Guerrero was a beautiful moment of both fan service and meritocracy - but, as he is wont to do, Vince McMahon reverted to type and suddenly installed John 'Bradshaw' Layfield into the role as his company unravelled both in terms of personnel and artistry.
It was one agitated scramble to find the guy - and find him, they did; John Cena was the NextGen Hulk Hogan - a colourful, kid-friendly comeback kid dynasty of a WWE champion. His massive appeal and success afforded WWE several luxuries, and one damning dilemma. He shifted tonnes of merch, marched his company seamlessly into the lucrative, corporate-friendly PG era, and on his best days fused the legacies of both the star (Hogan) and the match (Hart Vs. Virtually Anybody) - but Cena Mania consumed the company to such an extent that his peers floundered in comparison - even Randy Orton, Batista and CM Punk, at least two of which have publicly bemoaned the inordinate focus placed on his rippling shoulders. It also, eventually, subsumed the secondary World Heavyweight Championship - the mere existence of which diluted the power of its elder statesman equivalent. Almost imperceptibly, being over - once the minimum qualification - was no longer desired. Sheamus became WWE Heavyweight champion in late 2009, at which point WWE's western world monopoly had drained the talent pool and welcomed WWE out of their corner and into a roomy pad of inconsequential, careless luxury.
We were firmly in the-title-makes-the-man territory by now - backwards thinking that, consequently, reversed the legacy of the gold from organic achievement to cynical experiment.