All three major-league pro wrestling promotions have recently seen a surprising, unexpected challenger suddenly win their world heavyweight championship. This is known as a “hot-shot”.
TODAY’S ISSUE: The art of the hot-shot.
There are several reasons a promotion will hot-shot a championship. Before I examine these three most recent hot-shots, here are a few pros and cons of the concept:
PRO: Some positive elements of the hot-shot are that an unexpected title victory can be exciting, give the moment a very special feel, and make the occasion seem historic. A hot-shot can reinforce the sense that anything can happen in pro wrestling, especially if an underdog is surprisingly victorious.
CON: Conversely, sometimes a hot-shot means that logic takes a hit, as storyline development falls into chaos. In storyline terms, if a non-contender sneaks in the back door and wins a championship, it can seem unfair to other, perhaps more deserving, competitors. A hot-shot can also reveal a creative team’s lack of long-term plan or booking direction.
Now let’s take a look at the recent hot-shots in all three major-league promotions, TNA, WWE SmackDown!, and WWE RAW:
At the Bound for Glory pay-per-view in October of 2005, TNA’s creative department was forced to make a booking decision that was different from their original plan, due to world title contender Kevin Nash’s unforeseen health issues. They had no choice but to eliminate Nash from the NWA championship match, so rather than leave paying customers feeling disappointed at the match they wouldn’t see, TNA instead chose an exciting alternative. They pushed newcomer Rhino to the moon, having him beat incredible odds just to make it to the main event championship match. Then, when Rhino actually defeated Jeff Jarrett to become the new NWA world heavyweight champion, it seemed special and historic. This change had no long-term impact on TNA’s booking plans, since Rhino only held the title for a relatively short time, and soon the “10 pounds of gold” found it’s way back over Jarrett’s shoulder.
Since TNA’s hand was forced by Nash’s ailment, they made a good choice here. Rhino looked incredibly strong in winning the title, and because Jarrett cheated to reclaim the belt, Rhino wasn’t devalued by the short title reign. HOT-SHOT: Effective and appropriate.
On SmackDown!, the World Heavyweight Champion Dave Batista was forced to vacate his title due to legitimate injuries, and GM Theodore Long took immediate action. He booked a battle royal to determine who would next wear the gold. This is a terrible booking decision. Imagine the weeks of entertaining television and potential ppv buy rates that could have been racked up if a tournament had been booked, rather than a quick, one-match solution to the problem.
The United States championship has been disputed, so a best-of-seven series between Chris Benoit and Booker T was ordered. This “secondary” championship is apparently SO important that the tournament couldn’t be delayed while Booker T was sidelined by an injury of his own. The US title also couldn’t be awarded to Booker, who was in firm control of the tournament when he was injured; instead, Booker was forced to choose another man to compete on his behalf and continue the tournament against Chris Benoit. Why then, was the World Heavyweight Championship tossed up for grabs in a match that does not determine the best wrestler? A battle royal is a terrible tool for crowning a new champion. Even the Royal Rumble, a much more difficult match to win compared to a “standard” battle royal, only allows the winner an OPPORTUNITY at the gold at a later date.
This was a wasted opportunity on WWE’s part. A tournament culminating at the Royal Rumble would have ensured some highly competitive matches on Friday nights for the next few weeks (the tourney could have begun at the January 13th episode, with Big Dave vacating the title during the opening segment, immediately followed by Long announcing the first match of the tournament, and we’re off to the races). Also, it would have been a more appropriate method for determining the new top dog on SmackDown!, rather than the haphazard battle royal they decided to utilize. HOT-SHOT: Ineffective and foolish.
Over on RAW, another surprise title change took place at the New Year’s Revolution pay-per-view when Edge finally cashed in the Money-In-The-Bank title shot that he earned at WrestleMania 21. In storyline terms, Edge made a very intelligent decision. He bided his time until reigning champion John Cena was battered, bloody, and extremely vulnerable. Edge displayed amazing patience and discipline, choosing to strike at precisely the right moment. Immediately after Cena barely escaped his first Elimination Chamber match with his title in tact, he never saw Edge’s cunning attack coming. Edge was opportunistic, and his surgical strike proved to be precisely what he should have done, when he should have done it. Bravo to WWE’s creative department for finally booking something intelligent. I would have done the same thing if I had been in Edge’s position. HOT-SHOT: Effective and appropriate.
TNA did it out of necessity, and then went on about their business. WWE did it twice. On SmackDown!, they were forced to take action due to Batista’s injury, but they didn’t have a pay-per-view crowd to satisfy as TNA did. I believe they wasted an opportunity to make some exciting lemonade out of the lemons Batista’s injury gave them. However, I couldn’t agree more with the way they booked the title change on RAW. It made sense in continuity with the stipulations of Edge’s guaranteed title shot, and got the belt off a babyface champ who’s been waning in popularity as of late.
The title hot-shot is not always a bad thing, and sometimes, it’s the only thing a company can do.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. – Sometimes people use the expression “pretty ugly” as in, “Man, that accident was pretty ugly!” Well, which one is it?
