Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!
This week finally aired the previously recorded finals of the tournament to crown the WWE Speed Women’s Championship, which saw Candice LeRae beat Iyo Sky to win the inaugural title. This means there are now men’s and women’s champions for this special extra division, as Andrade is still holding the men’s title.
But what if instead of this being super quick matches airing on X with the WWE Speed idea in mind, they had decided to go with bringing back the Hardcore Championship instead? Theoretically, in this scenario, instead of the gimmick being fast matches, it would be that each match is contested in No Disqualification matches and other Extreme Rules scenarios.
My question for you today is “If WWE were to bring back the hardcore title and give a belt to one man and one woman on the roster, who would you pick to be those inaugural champions?”
Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.
As far as my answer…
I’m going to try to apply the same rules that WWE seems to be doing with Speed and play by that logic, first off. By that, I mean that it seems they’re using this as a supplemental thing for people that have nothing else going on and primarily focus it on the SmackDown brand more than anything else.
That means not only eliminating everyone from the Raw and NXT side of things out of the gate (at least within good reason), but also that anyone of particular value is not going to be chosen. WWE isn’t going with main event top-tier talent to win these titles, so no Drew McIntyre or Damian Priest winning this, nor even a guy like Dominik Mysterio who is used on a constant basis. The same applies to the women’s division. I don’t think WWE would be wanting to utilize Rhea Ripley this way, even though she’d likely be the most fun for the role.
That already narrows my list down considerably, but there are still some Superstars I think would make for great hardcore-style champions to give them something to do.
On the men’s side, I’d toss around a few names like Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Santos Escobar and Shinsuke Nakamura. Pete Dunne on Raw also crossed my mind. But there are two names that are on the red brand that I actually would focus on more than anyone else, and one already breaks another one of my rules in being too high up on the card from what WWE would likely consider. But hear me out.
Sheamus having a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook as a regular thing would be quite fun, wouldn’t it be? Plus, he’d cross another thing off his list, though I still hope he wins that Intercontinental Championship and becomes a Grand Slam Champion.
If I had to pick someone strictly on SmackDown, I would lean toward Corbin, as I think a hardcore style would give him the best chance at a career resurgence. He’s always been a fun brawler and underutilized, in my mind.
But my top top pick, if Raw talent is allowed, would be Karrion Kross. Not only does he fit the bill of someone who is not doing anything of particular value that would get in the way of this, but he also checks the box of “it could help his career” as he has struggled for SO long to find his identity, and I don’t think that this manipulator gimmick is going to pull him out of the weeds. It’s better than nothing, but he’s ultimately just a catalyst for The Miz and Xavier Woods and others to turn heel, not for himself to do anything.
Kross being a hardcore champion and showing off his brutality would possibly give him the clout he so desperately needs. The guy never wins anything and is supposed to be this force to be reckoned with. Why should anyone be threatened by him if he’s just a loser who talks a big game, but can’t get the job done? Well, maybe, if he’s holding the title that signifies he’s a bad ass who can dish out a lot of punishment and take it in return, that could up his stock.
As far as the women’s division, some of my honorable mentions would be Nikki Cross (but it’s too complicated while she’s in The Wyatt Sicks), Shayna Baszler, Sonya Deville, Zoey Stark, and Blair Davenport. When it comes to Davenport, she just has nothing going on, but with the trio of Pure Fusion Collective, I think all of them could simply just do a great job with this title. In particular, the prospect of Baszler getting back to her dominant roots from NXT sounds appealing to me.
But I’ll go with a more recency bias answer and stick to SmackDown on this one and say Michin would be my top pick for the WWE Women’s Hardcore Championship, if it ever were to come to pass at this particular moment.
She proved herself worthy of that in the dumpster match against Chelsea Green, and she’s someone else who is struggling to find her spot on the roster after so many years. It doesn’t seem like WWE is interested in pushing her toward an actual title win, nor does she even have a tag team partner that would set her up for those lesser titles. Hell, if they created women’s midcard titles tomorrow, I don’t think she’d be SmackDown’s choice for that, either, as they’d probably go with Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Naomi or, in all likelihood, Chelsea Green for that.
Michin is good, though; better than she’s been given credit for. Being a part of RETRIBUTION was a major setback that she’s never rebounded from. I think if a few things had gone down differently, she could have been a way bigger star. Winning this theoretical hardcore title isn’t much for compensation, but if I could snap my fingers and have it happen, it would at least be better than nothing, right? And maybe this would become part of her identity that would lead to her making her mark on the women’s division in a way some others wouldn’t be able to.
What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!
