The Magnificent 7 7.30.13: The Best Midcard Champions

Welcome to the latest edition of The Magnificent Seven. We’ll be discussing the best mid-card champions in recent history. The term “mid-card” has been used as a negative term in many outlets but the mid-card scene is vital and arguably the glue of most shows. Whether the best wrestlers or hosting the next big star, it provides the spotlight….before “the” spotlight. We’re going from around 1994 to today, as I can’t clearly compare anything from before I was old enough to be aware of what I was watching. Sure, I’ve seen enough of those wrestlers since then but video doesn’t tell the whole story and not being able to recall the relevance of the time frame, therefore I choose to leave it out. I also wanted to make sure the wrestlers chosen who went on to become World Champion or a higher level of achievement on the card were known more for their mid-card title reigns or have left a bigger impact on me.

7. TIE Chris Benoit and Booker T
Widely regarded as one of the best in ring series of matches in wrestling history, Chris Benoit and Booker T had a best of seven series for a title shot at the TV title. In 1998 when the wrestling purists were getting tired of WCW (and WWF at that), Benoit and Booker delivered some fantastic and memorable matches that fed them with the wrestling they craved. Benoit was in the WCW mid-card title picture for most of his career delivering many great performances in midst of winning multiple US, TV and later on WWE midcard titles. Booker T was known more for his tag team work with Stevie Ray in Harlem Heat but his singles career took off after the best of seven vs. Benoit. He won the series in seven and went on to become the TV champ for one of his six TV title reigns. He also won the US title a few times and the Intercontinental title much like Benoit. The series showcased two gladiators, at the time, fighting just for A SHOT at a title. The WWE tried to recreate the magic between these two almost a decade later in a best of seven series for the US title but it didn’t work out as well as it did in WCW.

6. Owen Hart
Not as many total mid-card title reigns as Benoit and Booker but his impact was left. Owen didn’t win the Intercontinental title until the late 1990s and only won it twice but he was the first big feud in what would eventually become the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Part of the allure of the IC title was creating a moment when a wrestler on the verge of being the next big star defeats someone credible as his first taste of singles gold. Owen played the latter in that scenario. Even without the title, he would have a few great matches as challenger, namely vs. Shawn Michaels. Another memorable mid-card title loss was in the finals of a tournament to crown the first ever European champion that British Bulldog defeated Owen to win. Once again, a loss but the match being stellar made that title important in the start of the short stint that title had. Owen had one European title reign a year later. More important than the length or number of title runs, Owen Hart put the titles over in a way only a special talent could excel at.

5. Rey Mysterio Jr.
When making this list, I wanted to leave out the niche titles. The female wrestling titles always seemed like “extra” on WWE and WCW shows and never really a flowing or vital part of the program. The cruiserweight/light heavyweight titles were on the bubble but thinking back, the WCW Cruiserweight title was a stunning display of wrestling that made WCW unique and was arguably one of the top reasons WCW achieved the success it did in the early time period of the Monday Night Wars. Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Rey Mysterio Jr. are the three I think of when considering the best of that division and they would all go on to hold other US and TV titles in WCW. Rey was the face (or mask) of the division so I decided to go with him. He also made the WWE version of the Cruiserweight title matter for a short time period during his feuds with Matt Hardy and Chavo Guerrero. The power of a division battling for a title makes it matter more than anything and the names all mentioned made the legacy of the Cruiserweight title a very rich one, led by Rey Mysterio Jr.

4. AJ Styles
So far we’ve discussed variations of ways to add to the luster of a title but AJ flat out made a title. With TNA starting, there wasn’t much to get excited for in the first year or two but the X Division created a buzz in the wrestling world. I checked out a few of the early weekly PPVs and it was nothing special at all. That was until you saw AJ Styles and the X Division. I fell in love with AJ’s style (that is wordplay) instantly and would try to check out as much as I could just to see him. By the time TNA was on Fox Sports, AJ was starting the peak of his career and the X Division in general. With awe inspiring performances and a connection with the Impact Zone, he carried the show. I was still a close minded fan only caring for those I’ve on television in WWF/WCW past but AJ broke that mold and made me a TNA fan. The Ultimate X match shown above vs. Petey Williams and Chris Sabin represents what TNA used to bring and AJ was the reason for that. A six time X Division champ, AJ gets a high rank for making a new title and genre matter from becoming first person to hold this title and making it matter to the jaw dropping matches that gave TNA some of its better times.

3. Razor Ramon
I consider Razor to be the best Intercontinental champion of all time. His four title runs over the course of a few years in the mid 90s were very memorable. Similar to what was explained in the introduction, Ramon would round out cards for the WWF and made the Intercontinental title always feel like an important match. I attended almost all WWF house shows at Madison Square Garden during that time frame and I remember picking up on Razor being in the pre intermission match many times. That spot is usually reserved for a match management thinks won’t be followed easily so they go to the break after it. Basically a secondary main event as opposed to the semi main event spot which he would also regularly appear in often, if not in the pre intermission match. While never WWF champion, he built up a Hall of Fame WWF career mainly part to his work as IC champion, namely the fantastic matches with Shawn Michaels and some smaller feuds with guys like Jeff Jarrett, Goldust and others. He also went to hold the TV and US titles in WCW but his position on this list is due to representing what the ideal Intercontinental champion would bring to the table.

2. Chris Jericho
A few of the names I mentioned did not have an abundance of title runs over their career. Chris Jericho did. A decorated pro wrestler, Jericho topped sixteen total mid-card titles over the span of his WWE and WCW career. Keep in mind that’s not even counting the numerous tag title reigns. For most of his career, he was the glue of consistency to add to whatever show he was on. In WCW, he had fantastic matches with just about everyone he feuded with from Rey Mysterio Jr. to Eddie Guerrero to Raven and helped keep whatever title picture he was in relevant despite WCW having more titles than needed which would at times cheapen the TV/US titles if not something or someone significant involved. When moving to WWE, he did the same for the Intercontinental title. Nine IC title reigns, Jericho and Chris Benoit had a classic series of matches for it that I considered the start of Jericho’s WWE legacy building. Even when many in his position would be deemed “too big” for the IC title, Jericho had a fantastic feud with Rey Mysterio a few years ago with the IC title on the line and after that ended, Jericho dropped it to Kofi Kingston in a very good match. For all his career is known for, these matches and moments are what makes Chris Jericho as great as he is to me.

1. Rob Van Dam
Before I get to my reasoning, I have to point out RVD was a fantastic Intercontinental champion in WWE, winning it a total of six times. Aside from that, he was the final European champion and Hardcore champion in WWE before they retired those titles. One of the best WWE midcard champions ever, the main reason for his placement isn’t even that. His legendary ECW TV title reign is one of the most compelling title reigns in pro wrestling history. RVD took a midcard title and made it MORE important than the heavyweight championship. Sometimes his TV title defenses would main event the live shows or PPVs but 99% of the time, it would be the main reason people were there. It created a polar opposite juxtaposition of the title climate in a company. It wasn’t even an instance of the world title being butchered as somewhat new faces to the promotion like Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, Rhino and Steve Corino would be in the world title picture similar to the way a traditional midcard title would be and it delivered them stardom in the ECW world because of it. RVD then would go on to be “the man” in what I concern to be the only time in wrestling, someone was “THE champ” without ever winning the heavyweight title.

Can you think of another instance when a midcard champ made his title bigger than the world title? Feel free to leave your answer in the comments OR you can contact me any of these ways. I try to reply to all the emails. I accidentally deleted one after reading it and was unable to reply so I’d like to say thanks to GoldbergFan97 for the feedback. It was appreciated. Anyway, here is how you find me.
My email is: [email protected]
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Thanks for reading and have a great week!