The Crystal Ball 3.18.06: Curse Of The OVW Title
Posted by Steve Sullivan on 03.18.2006
Does being a champion in OVW mean instant success in the WWE?
Just a note, I've decided just to cancel the Wrestlemania Watch as all but one match has been set in stone for the big card, and that's the Smackdown Representives for the Money In The Bank Ladder Match. My expectations for this match are Finlay, Lashley, and Paul Birchall, and I think that would make a lot of WWE fans happy.
I'm suffering from March Madness. I've got a headache. A fever. And a smile now that my Kentucky Wildcats got revenge over UAB from two years ago and now have earned the right to get creamed by UCONN.
This week's Crystal Ball, we look at the Prestige...or maybe lack there of, of an OVW Championship.
In the WWE, most success is defined by how much gold is around his waist. The WWE and World Heavyweight Title are the most prestigious in the industry. Even the Intercontinental Title, the U.S. Title, and both sets of Tag Titles have tons of history behind them. A wrestler's success in the common fan's eyes is always figured by how many of these titles a wrestler has held.
That's the WWE. In a separate but related wrestling division, a title reign takes on a total different view. A reign that may mean not being as successful as the jobber you just beat to defend your title. That division, is Ohio Valley Wrestling, home of the possibly cursed OVW Heavyweight Title.
If I told you one man in Ohio Valley Wrestling had 20 separate title reigns as a World Champion and a Tag Team Champion, you may think we are talking about a future hall of famer. You may think winning 20 separate titles is hitting 20 homeruns for a minor league baseball team, and may be a great potential to hit 20 homeruns in the major leagues. Well just like baseball, a minor leaguers success does not necessarily mean they will hit it big in the big leagues. Point in case as a Reds fan, Brandon Larson, former third baseman for the Reds, I've no clue where he is now. The man drilled 40 something homeruns as a Triple A Minor Leaguer in Louisville. When he was called up to Cincinnati, the man could barely touch the ball.
Ohio Valley Wrestling's Past Champions are very similar to minor league success. Sometimes the most unheralded name becomes one of the most popular superstars on WWE TV. Today, we look at some of OVW Past Heavyweight Champions, OVW Jobbers, and their success in the WWE and the job they were given when they got there.
In case you haven't figured out which wrestler won 20 titles in OVW, it was Nick Dinsmore. Nick Dinsmore, known to most WWE fans as the mentally handicapped jobber Eugene, won 9, count them 9! OVW Heavyweight Titles in his stint in OVW. Nick Dinsmore was the hometown favorite. Being from Louisville, Dinsmore started in OVW from it's very start in 1997. On June 3, 1998, Nick Dinsmore won his first ever OVW Heavyweight Title. This was just part of the Dinsmore Dynasty.
Dinsmore won his 9th OVW Heavyweight TItle on January 7, 2004, nearly 6 years after winning his first. Nine World Title Reigns in 6 years is Triple H caliber in my opinion. Dinsmore, much like Triple H's rivalry with Mick Foley, The Rock, and Stone Cold, had a rival or two as well. Much of his career was spent feuding with other OVW greats gone WWE jobbers, Rob Conway, The Damaga (Danny Basham), and Doug Basham.
To go along with their rivalries, these four men often shared as tag team champions as well. Nick Dinsmore shared 11 stints as OVW Southern Tag Team Champion. Most of which, came with one of his rivals as a tag team partner.
The team of Flash Flanagan and Nick Dinsmore were the first ever OVW Southern Tag Team Champions. The first reign coming in the Fall of 1997 with the birth of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Within two years, Dinsmore had already become a 9 time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion. Dinsmore's final reign as OVW Southern Tag Team Champion came to end in 2002.
Dinsmore's final 10 Tag Champion reigns came with his rival Rob Conway. That means there was another familiar name in OVW who was winning several titles. He now wears see through tights and sings his own intro on Heat.
Rob Conway won 13 titles in his extended stay with OVW, which included 3 OVW Heavyweight Title Reigns. Together, Conway and Dinsmore each own a combined 33 OVW Title Reigns in OVW. And together in the WWE, they only have a combined 3 Title Reigns, all 3 Tag Team Champion runs. That's nearly alarming when compared to some of the WWE's greats that came out of Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Let's put some of OVW's greats in perspective for all to see.
Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore
OVW Career:
9-Time OVW Heavyweight Champion
10-Time OVW Heavyweight Champion
20-Time OVW Champion
WWE Career:
1-Time WWE Tag Team Champion
1-Time WWE Champion
WWE Gimmick- Mentally Handicapped Nephew of Eric Bischoff
Wow.
Rob Conway
3-Time OVW Heavyweight Champion
10-Time OVW Tag Team Champion
13-Time OVW Champion
WWE Career:
2-Time WWE Tag Team Champion
2-Time WWE Champion
Gimmicks: French Symphthizer; Con-Man
Here's another one.
Doug Basham
4-Time OVW Heavyweight Champion
2-Time OVW Tag Team Champion
6-Time OVW Champion
WWE Career:
1-Time WWE Tag Team Champion
1-Time WWE Champion
Gimmicks: Submissive Twin, JBL's Cabinet
It just goes to show that some of the OVW's best go on to have not so great careers in the WWE. This becomes alarming when shown in comparisson to some of the WWE's best today. Just take a look at these 2.
Randy Orton
2-Time OVW Hardcore Champion (Hardcore Championship has been defunct for 6 years in OVW)
2-Time OVW Champion
WWE Career:
1-Time WWE Tag Team Champion
1-Time WWE Intercontinetntal Champion
1-Time World Heavyweight Champion
3-Time WWE Champion
Gimmick: Legend Killer, Member of Evolution, Youngest World Champ Ever
Randy Orton was hardly known in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He has gone on from his days in OVW to become one of the top heels in the WWE. Here's another one.
Prototype (John Cena)
1-Time OVW Heavyweight Champion
1-Time OVW Champion
WWE Career:
2-Time WWE U.S. Champion
2-Time WWE Champion
4-Time WWE Champion
Gimmick: Rapper
Cena spent a very short stint in OVW as a member of Bolin Services, winning the Heavyweight Title and then moving up to his career in the WWE to become one the hardest pushed Champions in WWE history.
Some the WWE's top talent today hardly one a single title, if any, during their stints in OVW. Some of these wrestlers have gone on to become extremely successful in the WWE Today. Some of these wrestlers are as follows:
Carlito
OVW Titles Held: 0
WWE Titles Held: 2
Carlito looks to be a future WWE Champion within the next year or two and will likely grab his 3rd WWE Championship at Wrestlemania this year.
Chris Masters
OVW Titles Held: 1 (Tag Team Champion)
WWE Titles Held: 0
Masters has yet to grab a title in the WWE but has been pushed as one of the top heels on Raw. He's wrestled for the WWE Title twice, once in a Triple Threat Match with John Cena and Edge, and has wrestled in the Elimination Champion at New Year's Revolution this past January. At a young 23, Masters is expected to be pushed into a World Title picture at some point in his career. He too will likely win his first WWE Title at Wrestlemania.
Ken Doane
OVW Titles Held: 1 (TV Champion)
WWE Titles Held: 0
Doane is expected to be the next phenom in the WWE. He and the rest of The Spirit Squad recently debuted about a month ago. Doane has already impressed some WWE fans. In his first match, he shot off a trampoline to nail Shawn Michaels with a flying lariot. He also owns a pinfall victory over 20 Time OVW Champion Eugene.
MNM has been one of the most successful Tag Teams in recent WWE history. 3 Seperate Reigns from 2005 going into 2006 has been very impressive. They have found themselves in matches against WWE greats Batista, Rey Mysterio, and the late Eddie Guerrero.
And here's one to grow on from a guy who's no longer with the WWE.
Brock Lesner
OVW Titles Held: 3 (Tag Champions)
WWE Titles Held: 3 (WWE Champion)
Brock Lesner was truly the next big thing from OVW up to the WWE. He's the current NJPW Heavyweight Champion. In OVW, he was solely a tag team wrestler and formed the Minnesota Stretching Crew with fellow Minnesota Wresling Standout:
Shelton Benjamin
OVW Titles Held: 4 (Tag Champions)
WWE Titles Held: 4 (Tag Champions, Intercontinental Champion)
One theory I supposed I could come up with from all this is, the more time you spend in Ohio Valley Wrestling, the less of a prodigy you are going to be. That's not always going to be true. But when it's put in perspective, the quicker you get called up, the more talented you must be. That's no offense to any of the current OVW greats. Let's take a look at some of the big guys in OVW right now and their success here in OVW.
Aaron "The Idol" Stevens
OVW Titles Held: 2 (Tag Champion, TV Champion)
Chris Cage
OVW Titles Held: 2 (Tag Champion, Heavyweight Champion)
Seth Skyfire
OVW Titles Held: 4 (Tag Champion, TV Champion)
And thus is the curse of being an OVW Champion. A lot of greats have held titles in Ohio Valley Wrestling and I don't want to take away anything from anyone whose ever held a title in OVW. But if you really want to prove yourself as a wrestling success, always make sure you push yourself on the big stage and make sure you work hard not only to impress the WWE scouts while you're in OVW, but never let up and give it all you got in the WWE.
Thanks for reading! Don't miss next week's issue of the OVW Crystal Ball! I'm going to go have a wrestling and basketball overdose weekend! If I survive, I'll check ya then!
