The Golden Legacy: Looking At Smackdown Live Champions

Welcome to the debut edition of Golden Legacy! Here, championships are recognized for the special recognition they can bestow on the men and women of Professional Wrestling, especially the roster of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Just what does being a champion mean? That answer carries one direct answer in my honest opinion.

In theory it means the organization sees enough in a particular talent or tag team to put championships around their waists with the belief they can not only work consistently with a variety of talent with different styles, but all also capture fan interest big enough to increase television ratings, live event attendance, and WWE Network subscriptions. The formula for a successful championship reign encompasses a few factors. Talent must actually possess the above traits to carry the grind as usually even when a champion may not be prominently featured on TV, they are almost certainly working the weekly live event loop and key international tours where championship defenses carry much interest to fans overseas that only get to see them in person twice a year maximum.

Second, it really depends on how much the company has invested into making a championship and its champion valuable and credible. As we’ve seen with World Title reigns of Chris Jericho and Jack Swagger, and US Title runs by Cesaro and Dean Ambrose, endless non-title losses, infrequent title defenses, and a parade of cheap victories can turn what should have been a game changing reign into a mere footnote of what could have been.

If a talent finds themselves right where they were prior to their reign or in an even worse position then the championship itself is devalued and the audience is trained to never take it seriously or the talent contending for it. So many factors to consider!

Before we delve into the current champions, here are some very key factors utilized in analyzing their reigns to date: Length of title reign, successful title defenses on TV, PPV and all live events, quality of challengers, etc.

To be comprehensive, we merged the reigns of both the Women’s (Raw and Smackdown) and the Divas Championship. We also don’t recognize WWE’s history of The Fabulous Moolah’s run being a single reign lasting over 10,000 days. In reality, she had 8 reigns, many of which were under the NWA banner before the WWF acquired the belt. To be comprehensive, we combined the histories of the WWE Title, Universal Championship, and World Heavyweight Championship (2002-2013) and the (2002-2013) and the WWE Tag Team (2002-2010) and World Tag Team Championships before both were merged.

With all that out of the way, let us see how everyone reigning in their respective divisions have been faring.

This week, we take a look at the four reigning Smackdown Live champions.

All information is accurate as of 1/11/17

Reign: 1st
Date Won: September 11, 2016
Event: Backlash ’16
Won From: Dean Ambrose
Days Held: 123 days
Successful Defenses: 41
Current Ranking: The 45th longest reign in company history

Television and Pay-Per-View: Smackdown Live 9/26/16, d. Dean Ambrose; No Mercy 10/9/16
d. Dean Ambrose and John Cena in a Triple Threat Match; Smackdown Live 10/18/16,
L. to James Ellsworth (retained via DQ); TLC 12/18/16, d. Dean Ambrose in a TLC Match;
Smackdown Live 12/20/16, d. James Ellsworth; Smackdown Live 12/27/16, d. Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in a Triple Threat Match.

Live Events: In September through December 2016, Styles either retained against Ambrose in singles matches or Ambrose and Cena in Triple Threat Matches. In January 2017, he has retained against John Cena and Baron Corbin in Triple Threat Matches

The Phenomenal One calling himself the “Face That Runs The Place” or “The Champ That Runs The Camp” aren’t mere catchy monikers that happens to rhyme. They happen  to be absolute truth.

Since his arrival in January 2016, AJ Styles has captivated fans and pundits alike in just about everything he has been involved in. Whether it was his memorable series with the likes of Chris Jericho and John Cena or his thrilling pursuit of the WWE Championship against Roman Reigns in a pair of PPV classics, all eyes have been on him and aren’t going to be taken off any time soon.

Once the Brand Extension Draft came and went, it was readily apparent Styles was going to be a vital player for the Blue Brand.  After dethroning Cena in an all time classic at Summerslam ’16, a World Title run, a once thought to be pure fantasy, was seen as inevitable.

What is most amazing is that Styles has displayed the same attributes that defined him as a world class wrestler and World Champion in TNA, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He only has one competitive mode and that is full blast. Even multiple losses to perennial underdog James Ellsworth (who had massive assistance from Ambrose) failed to deter his momentum. Throughout his feud with the Chinless Wonder and Lunatic Fringe, Styles maintained a credible presence of a champion. Nor did an ankle injury suffered in his victory over Ambrose at TLC slow him down. His visibility is at the perfect level for a World Champion. He appears on every Smackdown Live and if he isn’t competing he’s effectively building to a major title defense.

Which brings us to the Royal Rumble on January 29.

While Styles has been the dominant force on Smackdown Live, John Cena has been away building a career outside of the squared circle; but that doesn’t mean the former 15 time World Champion no longer has lofty aspirations.

The two will collide in San Antonio at the massive Alamo Dome where “Big Match” John will attempt to claim World Title No. 16 against a man who he once thought was going to be just another vanquished  loud mouth.  Styles has had Cena’s number though time will tell if he’s able to turn him away one more time.

Regardless of the final outcome AJ Styles has proven his worth as an elite talent on WWE’s roster. This should not be his only taste of gold and I don’t expect that to be the case.

Smackdown Women’s Champion

Current Champion: Alexa Bliss

Notable Defenses:

The Breakdown:

Current Champion: Dean Ambrose
Reign: 2nd
Date Won: 1/3/17
Event: Smackdown Live
Won From: The Miz
Days held: 8
Successful defenses: 4
Current Ranking: Tied with Chyna’s third reign for the 144th longest
Previous Reign: December 1, 2015 to February 15, 2016
   Length: 64 days
   Ranking: Tied with Christian’s fourth reign for the 69th longest

Notable Defenses:

Special Dark Match: After last night’s edition of Smackdown Live concluded, Ambrose successfully defended against The Miz.

The Breakdown:

On the January 11, 2017 edition of Smackdown Live, the two engaged in a fiery confrontation that saw Ambrose get the upper hand and leave Miz in a crumbled heap courtesy of Dirty Deeds.   And as if that weren’t enough, he also retained the title against Miz after the cameras stopped rolling. Miz will be back with a vengeance however and he performs best when the bright lights are on. Ambrose expects this and welcomes it with insane glee.

Should Ambrose be able to survive that onslaught, the very fed up and equally angry Dolph Ziggler is very likely looking to augment his return to old ways with gold.  He put his career on the line in order to win the IC Title once before so definitely not one to take lightly.

Date Won: 12/27/16

Event: Smackdown Live

Won From: The Wyatt Family in a Fatal Four Way Elimination Match also involving Heath Slater & Rhyno and The Usos

Days Held: 15

Successful Defenses: 4

Current ranking: Tied with Steve Austin & The Undertaker, The Acolytes’ second reign, and Hardcore & Crash Holly for the 181st longest

Notable Defenses:

Success is no stranger to either Chad Gable or Jason Jordan, especially when it pertains to tag team wrestling.  It was like the union of peanut butter and chocolate when they came together in NXT and they really haven’t looked back since.

As they clashed with The Revival, fans salivated at the prospect of  the pair being unleashed on either Raw or Smackdown. The loud reaction when Smackdown Live GM Daniel Bryan drafted them to the latter showed many were ready to get behind them.

Surprisingly though it’s been something of a peak and valley run so far for Alpha.  Some crowds have not taken to them yet and several unforeseen setbacks cooled them off after a hot debut in July 2016.

They made it into the finals of a tournament to crown new Smackdown Tag Team Champions, only for The Usos to damage Gable’s leg and remove them from the field.  In the meantime, the unlikely success story of Heath Slater and Rhyno drew much attention away from them.

They became the #1 Contenders for a hot minute but the Wyatt Family stepped in and claimed not only their title shot but the titles themselves from Slater and Rhyno at TLC ’16.  They seemed unstoppable from that moment forward.

However these weren’t the first rodeos for Alpha when it came to overcoming frustration and setbacks.  When The Hype Bros went inactive due to an injury to Zack Ryder, they took full advantage of their first legitimate bite at the apple and came through in spades. One miscommunication between Luke Harper and Randy Orton is all it took for them to hit Grand Amplitude on the Viper and realize their dreams. Proving it wasn’t a fluke Alpha retained their gold in a return match against The Wyatts after another miscue between Orton and Harper.

So where do they go from here?   It’s an all important question to which the answer will determine just how successful they will be as champions. The one glaring obstacle is lack of steady, credible challengers.  The week after they claimed the titles, they defeated Breezango in under two minutes eliminating them as an immediate threat. The Ascension and Vaudevillians are capable tandems but below average win-loss records and lack of visibility make it difficult to invest in them as serious threats. The Usos and Alpha have unfinished business and could really light it up in the ring, but will it happen?

Another key thing is how they develop as personalities.  Gable has great charisma and Jordan has improved greatly since the pairing formed so it is imperative they be given every opportunity there is to speak and get that across to those yet to fully embrace them. A consistent television presence will also go a long way in rallying fans behind them. People tend to enjoy and support talent who they know they will likely see on any given week.

The sky’s the limit if the ceiling isn’t too low.  We’re only 15 days into their run so it will be interesting to re-visit this in a few weeks/months.