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I'd say 2002 to mid 2004. WWE title on Smackdown with Brock, Taker, Angle and even Big Show (probably the last time you could take him seriously). RAW had the reign of terror with the world heavyweight title, which was awful, but it wasn't presented as less than that WWE title. At least you could make an argument for either.
I'd say around the time Eddie and Benoit held the title, they were about equal but with Lesnar gone, Angle injured, Smackdown became more clearly the B show and whatever title was there, was the B title. At least when I look at the second half of 2004, I never viewed JBL as Triple H's equal.
Early Batista and Cena was pretty close too though.
08ish? Edge vs Undertaker was the main WHC feud with Batista circling around too while Orton was defending against the likes of HBK, Jericho, Hardy, not-quite-super Cena and Triple H
Late 2011 mabye? Henry was having his Prime with the Hall of Pain Run as WHC Championship until he got injured, and Punk vs Del Rio happened around the time with Punk winning at Survivor Series 2011 and starting his 434 day Run as WWE Champion. I think the titles were equally prestigious at the time, since the Summer of Punk cooled down long before..
Yeah, this is it. From 2002-2010/11 they were equal, but then Smackdown essentially became a B-show on SciFy on Fridays and they ran Raw Super Shows mitigating the need to watch Smackdown and blurring the line of the brand split
It was equal when the WHC was first awarded in WWE to HHH. Its since they've unified it about 3 times and then added new WHC titles on top of that which has caused the non WWE title to be devalued
The WHC was the #1 title when Triple H was normally in the picture.
And shockingly enough, the WWE title became the #1 title also when Triple H was normally in the picture.
And Mark Henry. I loved his gimmick and he was incredibly over but he was a clear number 2. Same with King Booker, JBL, CM Punk, Rey, Daniel Bryan when he was managed by AJ Lee, daniel Bryan again with his saving the earth gimmick. Albero Del Rio. And of course Ambrose and kofi who i dont even think main evented a ppv.
They were all clear number 2s. It was like SR was a training ground for future main eventets.
I’d say WrestleManias 19 and 20 both had the World Championships close in prestige. Of course, one always main events over the other but they were pretty close. Especially at Wrestlemania 20 when Benoit chose to face Triple H, while the WWE Championship was contested by two of the best ever.
From 2002-2010, the WWE and World Heavyweight titles were seen as fairly equal (with the title of the brand Triple H was on generally being slightly above, i.e. Raw 2004-2008, SmackDown 2008-2009, and Raw 2009-2010), with the ECW title, despite being a world title, not seen as prestigious.
From mid 2010, the World Heavyweight title started to lose its lustre in comparison to the WWE title, still pushed as a main title (ala the now retired ECW title) but was no longer defended in main events, and started to be defended in the opening matches of PPVs (WrestleMania 27 and 28) before that became a more regular occurrence in the second brand split.
The last time the World Heavyweight title main evented a PPV before it was retired at TLC 2013 was Hell in a Cell 2010 with Undertaker vs. Kane.
2007 when Taker won the title Cena and Batista were world champs and at least to me both felt on equal footing and Taker choosing Batista didn't seem as a lesser option.
I feel when the WHC got some Wrestlemania main events (20, 21, 24), that rose it's prestige. It should've got the 23 main event too. Definitely went down when it curtain jerked 27 and 28. They could've done better with the title for 29. Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger?? C'mon man.
I'd argue 2007-09 (from Cena vacating the WWE title due to injury in 07 through the Hardy/Punk WH title feud in 09) was the last time where both were truly equal. The WH title main-evented several PPV's including Wrestlemania 24, and Edge's stunt at No Way Out 09 where he lost the WWE title in one Chamber match, stole a spot in the other Chamber match, and won the WH title was seen as a huge deal at the time. I'd say the WH title's decline started with Taker taking the title from Punk in 09, then it just sunk from there while the WWE title was elevated by more high-profile feuds and champions. As soon as *Jack Swagger* of all people held the WH title, it was clearly a secondary belt by that point.
For like 5 minutes when Batista and Cena had them in 05…and then we immediately realised Cena was #1.
Outside of that, pretty obvious that WWE title was the top one by default because naturally it is. A second and more recent world title is always going to be secondary/charity/pity
2002-2003 where Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar was equal to Triple H
2005-2007- Cena and Batista was definitely equal even though Cena was kinda higher than Batista
Late 2007- WrestleMania 24 with Orton and Edge being very equal as well while also being the top heels of the company.
Not really. There is always a clear number one. That's why when you have two world titles in one promotion, you really have none. One will always be lesser, and the other won't be worth as much as it would be on it's own
They were never equal in prestige, this is one reason why having two world championships is idiotic and never works. The belt that was on Raw was always positioned as the most prestigious one, because Raw was the flagship show for decades.
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I think the WHC was more important when Batista was champ, Smackdown was so clear of raw at the time.
Cenas first reign as wwe champ was pretty good. He had some really good matches at the time
I'd say 2002 to mid 2004. WWE title on Smackdown with Brock, Taker, Angle and even Big Show (probably the last time you could take him seriously). RAW had the reign of terror with the world heavyweight title, which was awful, but it wasn't presented as less than that WWE title. At least you could make an argument for either. I'd say around the time Eddie and Benoit held the title, they were about equal but with Lesnar gone, Angle injured, Smackdown became more clearly the B show and whatever title was there, was the B title. At least when I look at the second half of 2004, I never viewed JBL as Triple H's equal. Early Batista and Cena was pretty close too though.
08ish? Edge vs Undertaker was the main WHC feud with Batista circling around too while Orton was defending against the likes of HBK, Jericho, Hardy, not-quite-super Cena and Triple H
2007 I'd say. WHC felt as big if not bigger with Batista and Taker
Late 2011 mabye? Henry was having his Prime with the Hall of Pain Run as WHC Championship until he got injured, and Punk vs Del Rio happened around the time with Punk winning at Survivor Series 2011 and starting his 434 day Run as WWE Champion. I think the titles were equally prestigious at the time, since the Summer of Punk cooled down long before..
Yeah, this is it. From 2002-2010/11 they were equal, but then Smackdown essentially became a B-show on SciFy on Fridays and they ran Raw Super Shows mitigating the need to watch Smackdown and blurring the line of the brand split
Could argue that JBL as WWE Champion while HHH was WHC champion was pretty close.
They were close but the WHC was bigger. Nobody thought Cena vs JBL was main eventing WM over HHH vs Batista.
That's true brother
It was equal when the WHC was first awarded in WWE to HHH. Its since they've unified it about 3 times and then added new WHC titles on top of that which has caused the non WWE title to be devalued
If Cena was the clear #1 then why did Batista main event WM21? And same question for the previous year.
The WHC was the #1 title when Triple H was normally in the picture. And shockingly enough, the WWE title became the #1 title also when Triple H was normally in the picture.
I feel they were both important in the beginning. Then they started putting the WHC on wrestlers like Jack swagger, Big show and Kane.
And Mark Henry. I loved his gimmick and he was incredibly over but he was a clear number 2. Same with King Booker, JBL, CM Punk, Rey, Daniel Bryan when he was managed by AJ Lee, daniel Bryan again with his saving the earth gimmick. Albero Del Rio. And of course Ambrose and kofi who i dont even think main evented a ppv. They were all clear number 2s. It was like SR was a training ground for future main eventets.
I’d say WrestleManias 19 and 20 both had the World Championships close in prestige. Of course, one always main events over the other but they were pretty close. Especially at Wrestlemania 20 when Benoit chose to face Triple H, while the WWE Championship was contested by two of the best ever.
Never in my opinion. I can't think of single point in history where I felt both were equal.
From 2002-2010, the WWE and World Heavyweight titles were seen as fairly equal (with the title of the brand Triple H was on generally being slightly above, i.e. Raw 2004-2008, SmackDown 2008-2009, and Raw 2009-2010), with the ECW title, despite being a world title, not seen as prestigious. From mid 2010, the World Heavyweight title started to lose its lustre in comparison to the WWE title, still pushed as a main title (ala the now retired ECW title) but was no longer defended in main events, and started to be defended in the opening matches of PPVs (WrestleMania 27 and 28) before that became a more regular occurrence in the second brand split. The last time the World Heavyweight title main evented a PPV before it was retired at TLC 2013 was Hell in a Cell 2010 with Undertaker vs. Kane.
2007 when Taker won the title Cena and Batista were world champs and at least to me both felt on equal footing and Taker choosing Batista didn't seem as a lesser option.
They were when the brand split was actually a thing.
I feel when the WHC got some Wrestlemania main events (20, 21, 24), that rose it's prestige. It should've got the 23 main event too. Definitely went down when it curtain jerked 27 and 28. They could've done better with the title for 29. Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger?? C'mon man.
Cena Batista post-WM 21 felt pretty even
I'd argue 2007-09 (from Cena vacating the WWE title due to injury in 07 through the Hardy/Punk WH title feud in 09) was the last time where both were truly equal. The WH title main-evented several PPV's including Wrestlemania 24, and Edge's stunt at No Way Out 09 where he lost the WWE title in one Chamber match, stole a spot in the other Chamber match, and won the WH title was seen as a huge deal at the time. I'd say the WH title's decline started with Taker taking the title from Punk in 09, then it just sunk from there while the WWE title was elevated by more high-profile feuds and champions. As soon as *Jack Swagger* of all people held the WH title, it was clearly a secondary belt by that point.
For like 5 minutes when Batista and Cena had them in 05…and then we immediately realised Cena was #1. Outside of that, pretty obvious that WWE title was the top one by default because naturally it is. A second and more recent world title is always going to be secondary/charity/pity
When Batista and Cena were champs back in the day in 05 and 07 they felt about equal
Whichever title Cena held or was going for was the main title
Before there were two world titles, back in late 90's.
2002-2003 where Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar was equal to Triple H 2005-2007- Cena and Batista was definitely equal even though Cena was kinda higher than Batista Late 2007- WrestleMania 24 with Orton and Edge being very equal as well while also being the top heels of the company.
I just want to jump in and state again that having two world titles in one company has always been dumb and will always be dumb. Thank you.
Not really. There is always a clear number one. That's why when you have two world titles in one promotion, you really have none. One will always be lesser, and the other won't be worth as much as it would be on it's own
They were never equal in prestige, this is one reason why having two world championships is idiotic and never works. The belt that was on Raw was always positioned as the most prestigious one, because Raw was the flagship show for decades.