Strapped to a Rocket: the Fastest Journeys to the Top of the WWE!
After Sheamus’ stunning victory for the WWE Championship this past Sunday, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the other fastest ascents to the top of the mountain in WWE history. Although many are protesting that Sheamus has won the title too soon, it may come as a surprise to find out that his is not the shortest run to the title in history. Here I present the list of those men that I believe to be the top eleven quickest world champions in WWE history, although one or two of them, as you will see, are somewhat arguable. I am here counting the number of days it took each of these men, starting from their television debut, to win the championship. I’ll count down in reverse order.
11: Bob Backlund. Later to become known for antics so wild and crazy that many fans remain unsure just what is a work and what isn’t, when he made his debut on February the 8th1977, Bob Backlund was the classic all-American babyface. An accomplished amateur wrestler (he was an NCAA Division II Champion), Backlund had become known for a clean, technical wrestling style and had already found a fair amount of success, and championship belts, in various other territories. Backlund was the perfect foil for the rule-breaking champion “Superstar” Billy Graham. It was not much more than a year later, just 377 days after his debut, that Backlund defeated Graham to begin his reign as the 7th WWWF Champion. And what a reign it was! Glossing over a couple of dubious decisions that are not recognized by the WWE, Backlund was champ for almost six years and faced practically everybody who was anybody in the business at the time, including a string of “Champion vs Champion” matches that pitted him against NWA Champions Harley Race and Ric Flair, and AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel. He even found time to team with Pedro Morales and win the tag team championships! Finally, The Iron Sheik was victorious where so many had failed, defeating Backlund with his notorious Camel Clutch when Backlund’s manager, Arnold Skaaland, threw in the towel. Backlund would famously return to the company and capture a shocking second championship from Bret Hart eleven years later.
10: The Undertaker. Debuting at the 1990 Survivor Series, The Undertaker took just 370 days, barely over one calendar year, to capture the biggest prize in the company. Now, over nineteen years since his debut, it is difficult to remember the wrestling landscape without the Deadman but back then, this character was a major gamble. Although the World Wrestling Federation was the home of larger than life, outlandish characters, The Undertaker, with his supernatural trappings, represented a leap into the unknown even for them. Add to that the fact that Mark Calaway was yet to really step into main-event level wrestling and the nature of the gamble becomes clear. Of course, the gimmick was actually insanely popular right from the word go, to the extent that Pat Patterson recalled that he was actually surprised that it took as long as it did for The Undertaker to reach the top! Making all of this more impressive was the fact ‘Taker won the title from Hulk Hogan himself, something few people could boast. Sure, it was a crooked win, and Hogan took the title back six days later but the fact remained: hardly a year into his wrestling career, The Undertaker had defeated the Immortal one and reached the top of the mountain.
9: Kurt Angle. If ever a wrestler had seemed destined to be WWE Champion it had to be Kurt Angle. After he won his Olympic Gold Medal in the 1996 Atlanta games, Angle found himself pursued by the WWE. However, at that point he wanted to try other career options and, when he contacted them again a couple of years later, he found that interest had cooled somewhat. Once they got him in developmental, however, that all changed! From the moment he made his debut at the 1999 Survivor Series it was clear that Angle had it all. His sense of entitlement, due to his amateur credentials, his infuriating smugness and his winning streak made him hated heel almost instantly and, as time wore on, and Angle resorted to ever more desperate means to preserve his unbeaten run, he became ever more hated. It was at No Mercy 2000, just 343 days into his WWE career, that Angle won the Championship from The Rock, ironically, the man who had handed Angle his very first pinfall loss. Once at the top, Angle never looked back. That first title reign saw successful defences against The Undertaker and Triple H, but the high point of it had to be the six man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon, where Angle successfully held off the challenges of Rikishi, Triple H, The Undertaker, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. It really doesn’t get any bigger or better than that. Although Angle dropped the title back to The Rock at No Way Out 2001, just about four months after winning it, it hardly mattered. Kurt Angle had established himself as one of the top pro wrestlers in the business, which is what he has remained ever since.
8: The Big Show. Paul Wight came to the WWE in 1999 already a former world champion with victories over Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, thanks to his days in WCW, so it is hardly surprising that he found himself champ before the year was out, after a mere 273 days. Subbing in for the run-over Stone Cold Steve Austin in a triple threat match against Triple H and The Rock, Show could hardly have asked for a better way to become champion. However, his title reign would be somewhat anticlimactic. His only pay per view title defence came against The Big Boss Man at Armageddon the next month, in one of WWE’s more tasteless storylines. However, this match actually took place on the lower card, as the main event went to Triple H and Vince McMahon’s street fight. Show also made successful defences against The British Bulldog, Kane and Triple H, before Triple H finally got the job done on the first Raw of 2000. Still, a genuinely gigantic man, Big Show is the very definition of “over without the belt” and will remain a big star as long as he wants to be.
7: Kane. Kane’s meteoric rise to the top is somewhat arguable due to the fact that his debut was not actually his debut. Glenn Jacobs had actually signed with the WWE in 1995 and had competed as Jerry Lawler’s psychotic dentist Isaac Yankem and the fake Diesel in two very forgettable gimmicks. However, the character Kane, although teased for some time beforehand, did not make his televised debut until Badd Blood, on October the 5th 1997. Just 247 days later, at King of the Ring 1998, Kane was WWE Champion. Kane’s rapid ascent to the top was perhaps unsurprising given that, unlike most wrestlers, Kane was brought in as a main-event wrestler from the word go. His gimmick, as The Undertaker’s brother, meant that he was starting at the top. Kane, of course, would famously hold his championship for only one day, losing it back to Steve Austin the next night on Raw in what was regarded as one of the classic matches in Raw history. However, although Kane may not have reached such dizzy heights again, he has remained a serious player in the WWE. Although it is beginning to seem unlikely now, another title reign is not yet out of the question for the Big Red Monster.
6: Goldberg. Bill Goldberg differs from most of the men mentioned so far on this list because, when he reached the WWE in 2003, he was already an established main-event wrestler and former World Champion from his WCW days. Indeed, although he took only 174 days to take the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at Unforgiven, most critics argued that, if anything the WWE had waited too long to push him to the top! One can also argue that Goldberg does not belong on this list because he never won the WWE Championship; personally, I think it’s clear that the WWE themselves regard the two titles as largely interchangeable, and therefore I see it as a rather pedantic point. Regardless of that, Goldberg’s run as champ in WWE was largely regarded as a disappointment. Whether one blames him for not adapting to the WWE style, or them for not booking him correctly, this title run did not even come close to matching his WCW achievements. It was barely three months later, at Armageddon when Triple H reclaimed his belt. By Wrestlemania 20, it was known that Goldberg was leaving the WWE. The man who had once been one of the biggest draws in the wrestling business left it, to a general response of apathy.
5: Sheamus. Well, we all know this story, don’t we? Sheamus’ victory over John Cena at TLC came just 166 days after the Irishman made his WWE television debut on ECW. Sheamus’ elevation in itself was not a surprise, but its speed has been, largely because he has only been booked with mid-card talent until, suddenly, he finds himself number one contender and champion all in the space of a fortnight. Where this will lead, we cannot say. I myself have been a fan of Sheamus’ for years, so I have every confidence that he will go on to be a long-term player in the company. However, nothing is guaranteed in this business.
4: Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar burst onto the scene on the Raw immediately following Wrestlemania 18 and was booked as an unstoppable force from the get go. By the time he defeated The Rock for the championship at Summerslam 2002, he had only been appearing on TV for 160 days! In that time he had accumulated a number of victories, most notably over Hulk Hogan, who he had supposedly retired. Lesnar’s first title reign was memorable for several reasons. Firstly, it saw the beginning of the Raw and Smackdown separate championships system that has persisted to this day. Secondly, because Lesnar turned babyface simply by being so brutal and destructive that people began to like and respect him for it. When, at Survivor Series, he lost the title to The Big Show, his awesome feats of strength displayed in suplexing and throwing the giant around, before finally lifting him to his shoulders for the F5, something which, at that point, had not been done before, meant that he was firmly established as a crowd favourite. Sadly, Lesnar’s heart was not in the business, otherwise who knows what he might have achieved?
3: Yokozuna. Yokozuna’s 144 day sprint to the top represents the fastest journey from TV debut to WWE champion of anybody who was not already established as a main-event star when they joined the company. Making his first televised appearance on October the 31st, his rise was even more astonishing than that of Sheamus and Lesnar, as Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble less than three months into his WWE career! Playing the typically anti-American foreign heel, Yokozuna was billed as a Japanese sumo wrestler when he was, in fact, Samoan wrestler Rodney Anoa’i, nephew of Wild Samoans Afa and Sika and cousin of Rikishi. However, if one thinks that Kane’s title reign, at one day, was brief, Yokozuna’s was real blink and you’ll miss it stuff! At Wrestlemania 9, Yokozuna, as Royal Rumble winner, took on then-champion Bret Hart, and defeated him after Mr Fuji, managing Yokozuna, threw salt in the face of Hart. The evil duo had little time to celebrate, however, as Hulk Hogan came storming to the ring. A challenge was made and answered, a match quickly set up and, before you knew it, Hulk Hogan was champion for the 5th time! It wasn’t all bad for Yokozuna, however. He would remain a top villain for some time, regaining the title at King of the Ring and holding it for an impressive 280 days. A memorable run with Owen Hart as tag champions also came. Sadly, however, Yokozuna’s weight just kept increasing. WWE could not use him anymore he proved unable to drop the excess weight. He passed away, aged just 34, in October 2000.
2: Ric Flair. The Nature Boy Ric Flair entered the WWE in 1991 calling himself the “real world’s champion” and it wasn’t long before he could call himself WWE Champion – just 132 days, in fact. Flair, of course, was already a legendary figure and multiple time NWA Champion, so it was merely a matter of when, not if, he won the title. Nevertheless, his title reign was remarkable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Flair won the title as a result of winning the Royal Rumble match itself, the only time that this has ever happened. Secondly, Flair won the match from number three, going nearly an hour, which, at the time, was a record-setting performance. Flair did not hold the title for an especially long time, losing it to Randy Savage at Wrestlemania. He would regain the title once before returning to WCW.
1: Hulk Hogan. No surprise to find the Hulkster’s name at the top of a wrestling list. This one, however, is somewhat disputable. Hogan made his second televised debut for the WWE on December the 27th 1983 and won the championship from The Iron Sheik a mere 27 days later! However, Hogan had wrestled in the WWE before, in 1979, for around a year, albeit as a heel managed by Freddie Blassie, rather than the babyface who won the title in 1984. Even adding all that time together, however, Hogan’s rise was rapid. In the meantime, he had been a big star both in New Japan and the AWA. Indeed, legend has it that, so distraught was he to lose Hogan to Vince McMahon, Verne Gagne offered The Iron Sheik a considerable sum of money to legitimately break Hogan’s leg in their title match. Whether this is true or not is another matter entirely. Whatever the case, this was the title reign that started it all: Hulkamania, Wrestlemania, Rock ‘n’ Wrestling and so on. Hogan would hold the title for over four years on this occasion and, even when he finally lost it, he did so only be way of a screwy finish and a vacated title. I should also point out that The Iron Sheik also won the title in short order, just weeks after debuting in 1983. However, like Hogan, Sheik had worked for WWE back in 1979. Unlike Hogan, he had been using the same character and gimmick back then, which is why I excluded him from this list.
Anyone interested may also wish to check out my post on the fastest climbs to the top in WCW: https://marshalllaw2.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/the-skys-the-limit-the-fastest-journeys-to-the-top-of-wcw/
R.I.P. Eddie Fatu
There is perhaps no family so intimately connected with wrestling as the Anoa’i. Their family tree reads like a who’s who of pro wrestling and it is with sadness and sympathy that the thoughts of the wrestling world are turned to them, after the tragic passing of Eki “Eddie” Fatu, known to millions of wrestling fans as Umaga, on Friday. Aged just 36, Fatu appears to have suffered a heart attack at home, followed by a second in hospital.
If anyone can be said to have been destined for a career in wrestling, it would have been Eddie Fatu. His uncles, Afa and Sika Anoa’i, attained great success as the tag team The Wild Samoans in the 70s and 80s. They considered High Chief Peter Maivia to be their uncle, thus connecting them to Rocky Johnson and his son, The Rock. Eddie’s older brothers, Sam and Solofa Jr found fame as The Tonga Kid and Rikishi respectively, while his cousin Rodney became a WWE Champion in the mid-nineties as Yokozuna. His cousins Reno and Matt are also successful professional wrestlers, not to mention the fact that WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is also related to the family by marriage.
Eddie first came to national prominence in 2002 as one half of the tag team Three Minute Warning, under the name Jamal. His cousin Matt, wrestling under the name Rosey, was his tag partner and the pair initially acted as enforcers for then Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. When verbally berating someone, Bischoff would frequently work the words “three minutes” into his speech, at which point he would interrupt himself, saying “did I just hear myself say three minutes”, at which point Rosey and Jamal would emerge to give the hapless individual a severe beating. Frequently, this beating would conclude with Jamal delivering a splash from the top rope which, given his 350lb frame, was a highly impressive move visually.
After just under a year, Eddie was released from his contract. At the time, rumours circulated on websites such as Slash Wrestling had it that the team were frequently working very “stiff”, which is to say that they were not protecting their opponents well enough. According to the same rumours, Eddie’s attitude and commitment to the business were not all they should have been. Regardless of the truth of these rumours, Eddie stayed in wrestling and soon turned up in TNA, teaming with fellow Samoan Sonny Siaki. However, this team did not last long before Eddie had moved on again, this time to All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Eddie spent over a year in Japan, mostly wrestling in tag teams and began to gain a reputation as a good “big man”. By the end of 2005, WWE had re-signed him and, in April 2006, he returned to Raw, now repackaged as Umaga and accompanied by a manager, Armando Alejandro Estrada. Many fans and observers initially took shots at the WWE, seeing this new gimmick as a shot at/rip off of TNA’s Samoa Joe. In point of fact, Umaga was a gimmick that harked back to the earlier days of WWE and was far more old-school than the image Samoa Joe presented. Moreover, sneering comments about the new gimmick quickly vanished as it became apparent that Umaga was getting over and getting over fast with the vast majority of fans. WWE presented Umaga as an unstoppable, almost uncontrollable savage and fans, myself included, ate it up. The initial criticisms soon gave way to praise, with many internet wrestling writers commenting on how much Eddie’s stint in Japan had improved him as a wrestler.
Umaga worked a series of feuds with Ric Flair, D-Generation X and Kane, before taking on the ultimate opponent, John Cena, the WWE Champion. At New Year’s Revolution 2007, Cena handed Umaga his first pinfall loss. Nevertheless, Umaga had looked strong in defeat. He had dominated most of the match, only for Cena to surprise him with a roll-up pin. The match was not terribly well received but a re-match was inevitable. When it was signed for The Royal Rumble, it was announced that the match would be a Last Man Standing match. Umaga’s manager, Estrada, taunted Cena, saying that there was no way Cena could get Umaga to stay down for a count of ten. This match was truly outstanding and will surely be remembered as the high point of Eddie Fatu’s career. Cena won when he choked Umaga out with a loosened ring rope but the real story of the match was that the reputations of both men had been greatly enhanced.
From there, however, it seemed to me that Umaga’s career began to lose focus. For whatever reason, just as he seemed poised to take the next step to the top tier of the business, it didn’t quite happen. His role at Wrestlemania remained a high-profile one as he acted as Vince McMahon’s champion in the McMahon/Trump feud. The association with the McMahons did not work for me, as it led to Umaga’s separation from Estrada. The two had worked extremely well together and, I think, should have stayed together.
Even so, Umaga stayed with the WWE until June of this year and, while he may not have quite been at the top of the card, he was always involved in high profile spots and there is nothing to say that he might not have gone still further. His final feud in the WWE was on Smackdown with CM Punk. However, on the 8th of June, Fatu was released from the company, reportedly after refusing to go into rehab. Since then, Eddie Fatu wrestled on Hulk Hogan’s recent tour of Australia, working with the former Mr Kennedy, Ken Anderson. The tour only finished on November the 28th. No one could have imagined that, less than a week later, Eddie Fatu would have passed away.
In mourning Eddie Fatu, we as wrestling fans mourn the loss of an athletic and highly skilled big wrestler who achieved considerable success and had the ability to achieve even more, had he been spared. Nevertheless, we must not forget that the real loss lies not with us, the wrestling fans, but with his family and loved ones, most of all, his wife and children. All we can really do for them is make sure they know that he did make a difference. We will miss him.
Sadly, I must also address something else while on a subject that is, frankly, painful enough already. Hardly had the news of Fatu’s passing been announced before certain people were commenting, in the most heartless terms imaginable, on Fatu’s Wellness Policy violations. Not only is this utterly insensitive – do these people not imagine that his children might go online to see what people thought of their father? – it is rampant speculation. We do not know, what, if any, role in his death Fatu’s earlier Wellness issues played so any such speculation is premature. Moreover, what does it matter? The death of a 36 year-old man is a tragedy, regardless of what role his own actions played in it. I won’t name any names, because I don’t wish to give any of these heartless creatures publicity, but some of the things I have read make me ashamed to think that anyone might think I have something in common with these people, since we are all wrestling fans.
“No pity, no sorrow” wrote one particularly foul individual who should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. Have these people never done anything to jeopardise their own health? Got roaring drunk one night, for example. Would they want their own death to be greeted in so insensitive a manner? I understand that people wish to prevent similar tragedies by pointing out the mistakes made by the dead so that the living will not repeat them but, if there are any lessons to be drawn from this affair, they can surely be drawn in more kindly and sympathetic manner. Anway, enough of that. The bottom line is this: Eddie Fatu has died. As a fan, I will miss him. As a human being, my condolences go to his family.
Marshall Law 