WWE Championship: Andre the Giant

Andre the Giant: February 5, 1988-February 5, 1988

After almost a year since their famous Wrestlemania III match, Andre the Giant faced off with Hulk Hogan for his WWF Championship as a hired gun for Ted DiBiase. During the match, there was controversy because Dave Hebner's evil twin brother, Earl Hebner, counted Hulk Hogan down while his shoulders were up. After winning the title, Andre sold his championship to Ted DiBiase. Jack Tunney, the WWF president, declared that the title could not be sold, so he declared that the title would be vacated and fought for in a tournament at Wrestlemania IV.

Scores:

Strength: Andre did not have a very strong title reign since he only held the title for a few minutes. 1/10

Length: He only held the title for a few minutes. 1/10

Opponents: He only faced off against Hulk Hogan, and then the title was vacated. That is still not enough to warrant a passing trade. 1/10

Matches: His only match was not very well received except for the historical significance. 1/10

Final Score: 4/40 10%=F

Survivor Series Predictions

Pre-Show: Three Man Band vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd

The one thing that bothers me about this match is that this could mean that the rumored elimination survivor series match may not take place now that Gabriel and Kidd are in this match. Maybe we will get lucky and they will just decided to put Cobro into the elimination match. 3MB has been on a roll lately so I will predict them to win. I am just glad that they have found something for Slater and McIntyre to do, but wish that they would just sack Jinder Mahal. 

United States Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth

I'm not a huge fan of either of these competitors, but I would be lying if I said that the feud has not entertained me. My favorite moment from this feud is R-Truth mocking Cesaro by saying, "You just got got!" in five different languages. I hope that Cesaro will show some more character development soon or give the title to someone else. Last month I was hoping that Gabriel would best the Swiss Superstar. For Survivor Series I will predict that Antonio Cesaro retains the championship.

Divas Champion Eve vs. Kaitlyn

How long will it take the WWE to realize that they need to completely revamp their Divas division. It has taken a big hit this year with the loss of Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, and Kharma. I know that Kelly Kelly is not the greatest women wrestler, but she at least got some sort of reaction. This feud is going on way too long with no outcome. I think that WWE will take the safe route and reveal that Eve was the attacker or they will just drop the idea. I hope that once AJ is done with her scandal she will be entered into the title hunt. I just cannot see Kaitlyn winning the title, so Eve is my pick.

Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Match)

This match has no reason to happen now that they took CM Punk and Ryback out of the match. This is actually a difficult match to choose a winner for. On one side you have the Tag Team champions, Randy Orton, the Intercontinental Champion, and possibly a face turning Miz. On the other side you have Alberto Del Boring, The Rhodes Scholars (possibly without Cody), The Barrett Barrage, and the Money in the Bank Winner. Since the whole story seems to revolving around The Miz, I think I will pick Team Mick Foley to win.

World Heavyweight Champion Big Show vs. Sheamus

I was surprised when Big Show won the title at Hell in a Cell. I was also surprised that Dolph Ziggler did not cash in his briefcase after Big Show won. I was sitting there waiting for it to happen, but Big Show made it all the way to the back. After that I thought to myself, "Ok, Dolph will trick Big Show on RAW." That did not happen either and now we are at Survivor Series. I really enjoyed their match from Hell in a Cell and I think that they can have another great match at Survivor Series. I believe that Big Show will retain and we will not see a Dolph Ziggler cash in at Survivor Series. I think that Big Show is close to retiring and the WWE are given him a thank you gift by allowing him to remain the champion.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback

I do not think that this match should be happening. We should be having Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena. Vince McMahon needs to quit getting worried and go with his gut instincts. I think that Punk and Ryback would have worked fine in the elimination match. This is another one of those hard to predict matches. All three competitors need the win, but only one will come out with it. Ryback needs to come out looking strong, so I do not think that he should take the pin. CM Punk needs to continue to look strong so all his momentum is not wasted. Finally John Cena is ultimately heading for Cena vs. Rock 2 and cannot face to lose. Here is how I see it playing out: I believe that CM Punk will get the win and I think he will end up pinning Cena for that win. Out of the three competitors, Cena is the person who can come back from the loss the quickest. 

Royal Rumble Profile: Don Muraco

All time
Number of Appearances: 1
Best Performance: 4th

Worst Performance: 4th

Highest Draw: 11

Lowest Draw: 11
Longest Time: 16:16

Shortest Time: 16:16
Total Time: 16:16
Most Eliminations: 3
Total Eliminations: 3

1988 Royal Rumble
Entry Number: 11

Time: 16:16

Performance: 4th

Eliminations: Ron Bass, Bret Hart, Harley Race
Eliminated By: Dino Bravo and One Man Gang

Muraco comes out at number 11 with Nikolai Volkoff following right behind him to cause some confusion. Shortly after Volkoff finally enters at number 12, Muraco sends Harley Race out of the match. He is also the person that eliminates Bret Hart, who set the record for longest time in a royal rumble match that year. He makes it into the final four along with Dino Bravo, One Man Gang, and the eventual winner, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Shortly after he makes it to the final four, he is eliminated by Bravo and One Man Gang.

WWE Championship: Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan: January 23, 1984-February 5, 1988

Hulkamania was born on January 23, 1984 when Hulk Hogan beat The Iron Sheik for the WWF Championship with his famous leg drop. Hulk would go on to defend that title for four years. One of Hogan's famous matches as champion was when he defended against Nikolai Volkoff during a flag match at the second ever Saturday Night's Main Event. He also teamed with Mr. T to beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at the first ever Wrestlemania. He would also defend his title against Roddy Piper at The Wrestling Classic. 

At the start of 1986, Hulk Hogan fought challengers such as Don Muraco, Terry Funk, Paul Orndorrf, Hercules Hernandez, and main evented Wrestlemania 2 against King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match. In early 1987, Hogan was given a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three year and Andre the Giant was given a smaller trophy for being undefeated for fifteen years. Andre got jealous and was hired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his mouthpiece. Andre challenged Hogan to a match at Wrestlemania III. Hogan would go on to defeat Andre the Giant and even bodyslammed the 520 pound behemoth. 

Finally, during the first ever airing of The Main Event, Andre the Giant beat Hogan for the championship. After a belly to belly suplex, Earl Hebner counted Hogan's shoulders down for a three count when clearly his left shoulder was up. The rest of that story will be explained in Andre the Giant's championship profile. 

Scores:

Strength: Hulk Hogan defeated many of the great Heels of the time and even defeated the fifteen year undefeated streak of Andre the Giant. He only loss the title after a controversy caused by the referee. 10/10

Length: He held the title for 1474 days. 10/10

Opponents: He defeated many worthy opponents including Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Nikolai Volkoff. 10/10

Matches: Now for the matches I will go to Scott and Justin's Pay Per View Reviews to get their scores on his Pay Per View Matches as Champion. I will also try to include some of their thoughts. 

Match 1: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at Wrestlemania 

Scott's Score: 3/5 This was the pinnacle of sport's entertainment at the time and Madison Square Garden exploded when Hogan got the pin on Orndorff. This match also set up three very important events: 1) Paul Orndorff's heel turn, 2)Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T at Wrestlemania 2, and 3)Many great Hulkamania moments at Wrestlemania. 

Justin's Score: 3/5 The wrestling wasn't great, but sometimes that isn't always what makes a wrestling match great. 

Match 2: Hulk Hogan defeats Roddy Piper by Disqualification when Bob Orton interferes

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 The crowd was hot and Piper didn't seem to care if he won the title. He just wanted to take out Hogan.

Justin's Score: 1.5/5 The match was just ok and a basic brawl. The main thing was that Piper kept his heat, but Hogan didn't lose the title. 

Match 3: Hulk Hogan defeats King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match at Wrestlemania II

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 This was a big win for Hogan and he first ever WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania.

Justin's Score: 2.5/5 A solid cage match with a great build up and some legit mystery over who the winner would be. 

Match 4: Hulk Hogan defeats Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 This is the biggest main event in professional wrestling history. 

Justin's Score: 3/5  Just an unbelievable match and storyline and blowoff, and its hard pressed to find anything like it throughout history

Match 5: Andre the Giant, Butch Reed, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, and Rick Rude defeat Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Paul Orndorff

Scott's Score: 2.5/5 The match was hot for the first few minutes, dead in the middle, and hot at the end. Has a crappy finish when Hogan comes out and hits Andre with the belt during his celebration of the win. 

Justin's Score: 2.5/5 The match is decent, the ending is exciting, but the end of the Pay Per View was poor with Hogan hitting Andre. 

Overall Match Scores: Hulk Hogan was never known to be a workhorse in the ring. Most of his matches were about storyline and that is why Scott and Justin rate them as high as they do. Hogan was great at getting the crowd on his side. 7/10

Final Score: 37/40=92.5% A

Royal Rumble Profile: Boris Zhukov

All time
Number of Appearances: 1
Best Performance: 18th

Worst Performance: 18th

Highest Draw: 10

Lowest Draw: 10
Longest Time: 2:33

Shortest Time: 2:33
Total Time: 2:33
Most Eliminations: 0
Total Eliminations: 0

1988 Royal Rumble
Entry Number: 10

Time: 2:33

Performance: 18th

Eliminations: None
Eliminated By: Jake Roberts and Jim Brunzell

Boris enters the match and that is about it. He is thrown over while his partner is arguing with refs about being let into the match. 

WWE Championship: The Iron Sheik

The Iron Sheik: December 26, 1983-January 23, 1984

The Iron Sheik challenged Bob Backlund to the title at Madison Square Garden on December 26, 1983. During the match, Sheik locked in his patented camel clutch on the injured back of Backlund, but he refused to submit. Arnold Skaaland, Backlund's manager, decided to throw in the towel. The referee awarded the championship to The Iron Sheik by submission. 

The Sheik would defend the title against greats such as Chief Jay Strongbow, Pat Patterson, and Tito Santana. Eventually he would drop the title to one of the greatest WWF Champions of all time, Hulk Hogan. 

Scores: 

Strength: The Sheik's reign was merely supposed to be a transitional reign between Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan. 1/10

Length: He held the title for 28 days. 1/10

Opponents: As stated above, Sheik defended his title against Pat Patterson, Tito Santana, and Chief Jay Strongbow, until eventually dropping the title to Hulk Hogan. This gets a low score because none of the opponents he defeated have held the championship before or will in the future. 1/10

Matches: He did not have any outstanding matches during his championship reign. 1/10

Final Score: 4/40=10% F

Update

I am no longer going to do a Power 25. I just got full time job and it is too time consuming. I will still be doing Pay Per View predictions and other columns every now and then. I am going to try to do the Royal Rumble and Championship profiles periodically more than I have.