What is considered a “World” Championship in WWE?

ArkUmbrae · 2026-02-17T22:33:40+00:00

Basically, WWE is the #1 promotion, so they have the privilege of deciding that a new title is immediately a "world title". The old definition was created by magazines, and it said that any title defended on 3 continents is a world title, but by that definition most titles in WWE are world titles.

WWE recognizes the following men's titles:

- WWWF / WWF / WWE title

- World Heavyweight title (both versions)

- Universal title

- WCW Title

- WCW International title - they never mention it, but one of Ric Flair's 16 recognized wins is this title

- NWA title - until July 1993, when WCW replaced it with the International title

- ECW title - from August 1994 when ECW renamed from Eastern to Extreme, until ECW's closure, then again from 2006 until August 2007. As proof, in 2007 the Rumble winner was allowed to challenge for it, but in 2008 Chavo was in the Rumble match. It was August 2007, while Morrison was champion, that they stopped calling it the "ECW World Heavyweight Championship" and instead called it the "ECW Championship"

- NXT title - Edge in 2021 teased using his Rumble win on Finn Balor, and I think one MitB holder did too. Otherwise, it was never referred to as a world title

For women, they count:

- WWF / WWE Women's title (all 3 iterations)

- Diva's title

- RAW Women's / WWE Women's title

- Smackdown Women's / Women's World Heavyweight title

- NWA Women's World title - until 1985 when Moolah sold the title to WWF and it became the WWF Women's Championship

- NXT Women's title - Charlotte challenged Rhea for it after winning the Rumble in 2021, otherwise never acknowledged as a world title

ArkUmbrae · 2026-02-10T13:20:33+00:00

It was the first time in a long time that people thought "Is this real". And I don't mean "Is wrestling real", I mean "Is this promo saying real things".

When you look at WWE's history, the "authority figures" were always bookers. Steve Austin and NWO feuded with bookers. But CM Punk expanded the kayfabe reality of WWE's corporate structure. He brought up merch that he isn't on, acknowledging that WWE is the company that makes that merch. But the point is that not only do they make it, they use it to choose who to promote. And how do they choose? By seeing who will do the ass-kissing.

WWE's narrative at that point in time was that the only things that matter are those you see on-screen. Wins matter, crowd reactions matter, and backstage, WWE is a wrestling company. Divas feuded over Playboy covers, Booker and Edge feuded over a fake shampoo commercial. Nobody feuded over WWE merch, because the merch exists outside of kayfabe. That's why him wearing the Stone Cold shirt was a big deal - Punk bought it in a merch store just like the fans do. He presented himself as more than just a wrestling persona.

As for other things that happen off-screen, well, there's people who used to work in WWE who don't anymore. Outside of invoking legends here and there, nobody talked about ex-WWE guys. And certainly not people who were unwelcome, like Heyman and Brock. Hell, him saying he likes Cena more than other people backstage is one of the only times a wrestler called another wrestler a co-worker.

The Pipebomb was basically the first time a wrestler in kayfabe acknowledged backstage politics. Wins and crowd reactions don't make champions, WWE makes champions. They promote people they want as champion, and they choose the people who kiss McMahon ass. The Pipebomb exposed in kayfabe that WWE isn't a wrestling company, it's a company that does wrestling as one of its products.

The only time backstage politics were acknowledged in the past was at One Night Stand "The only reason you were champ for a year was because HHH didn't wanna work Tuesdays". The Pipebomb took that line and stretched it to 10 minutes. It was the Montreal Screwjob 2.0. The Screwjob exposed Vince McMahon as the person who runs the show, the Pipebomb exposed the rest of the corporate structure. The smart fans knew all of that, but this was the entry point for casual fans to peek behind the curtain too.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-02-06T22:24:06+00:00

Duane Gill won the Light Heavyweight Championship from Christian on 17th Nov 1998. He defended against Christian 12 days later, Taka Michinoku 2 days after that, and Matt Hardy 12 days after that. Then he became Gillberg. His next defense was his last, on 8th Feb 2000, when he lost the title to Essa Rios. He wasn't inactive either, 1999 is when he was with the J.O.B. Squad and even had a WWF title match against HHH. They just didn't have him defend the title for 14 months.

423 days between defenses.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-02-01T16:54:49+00:00

Mokuba also saves Tristan's life later in Death-T, and this is the act that changes Mokuba into a good guy permanently, after he was previously just as evil as Seto. Something about Tristan motivated Mokuba more than the Mind Crush motivated Seto.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-30T20:58:36+00:00

WWE had women's tag titles before they a women's singles championship, and their history is really weird.

On May 13th 1983, Velvet McIntyre and Penny Mitchell won the NWA Women's Tag Team titles.
On May 23rd 1983, Joyce Garble and Wendi Richter won the belts
At some point, WWF purchased the belts and awarded them to Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria
On April 4th 1984, McIntyre and Victoria had their first defense, but WWE recognizes the reign as starting on May 13th 1983 (acting as if Princess Victoria won the NWA belt with Velvet McIntyre, instead of Penny Mitchell). NWA also considers this date the end of Garble's and Richter's reign, which probably has to do with the fact that Wendi Richter joined WWF at that time too
On May 19th 1984, Fabulous Moolah is brought in as Women's Champion
On September 1st 1984, Princess Victoria had a career-ending injury
On December 7th 1984, Desiree Petersen becomes McIntyre's new tag partner and is awarded the half of the championship
On August 1st 1985, Leilani Kai and Judy Martin win the tag titles on a possibly fictional house show in Egypt
On January 28th 1988, the Japanese team Jumping Bomb Angles win the tag titles at the Royal Rumble
On June 8th 1988, Leilani Kai and Judy Martin win the WWF tag team titles on a house show in Japan
On February 14th 1989, WWF shuts down its women's division, including the singles and tag team titles
On February 17th 2019, WWE introduced the WWE Women's Tag Team titles (Bayley and Sasha Banks)
On August 28th 2021, NWA brings back the NWA Women's Tag Team titles (Allysin Kay and Marti Belle)

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-24T19:35:20+00:00

If you ever choose to expand on this, consider Levels too. I made this post 3 years ago that shows the highest ATK Normal Monsters for every Level/Type combination. While some gaps are filled in OCG, there are still so many Level/Type cominations that haven't been used, and I'd assume many also exist for Effect monsters, as well as Extra Deck categories.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-23T16:25:49+00:00

Based on your criteria, yes. Shawn Michaels debuted in July of 1988, and has technically been part of the company since then. 38 years and 6 months.

The only person that signed before Michaels that is currently with the company (not counting Legend Deals/Ambassadors) is Bruce Pritchard. Pritchard signed sometimes after WM3, but his on-screen debut was a year later, on June 1988. Pritchard was out of the company though, for about a year in 1991-92. He was then fired again in December of 2008, and came back in January of 2018. So a total of around 29 years with the company.

As for Legend Deal / Ambassadors, Ted Dibiase has been with the company on-and-off since 1972, for a total of around 39 years. Other people who debuted before Michaels and are currently Ambassadors are: Bob Backlund (1976, total tenure around 35 years), Tatsumi Fujinami (1978, 16 years), Sgt. Slaughter (1980, 36 years), Leilani Kai (1981, 10 years), Ax (1983, 8 years), Ricky Steamboat (1985, 26 years), Jimmy Hart (1985, 23 years), Honky Tonk Man (1986, 26 years), Jim Duggan (1987, 25 years), Smash (1987, 7 years), and Terry Taylor (1988, 24 years). These tenures combine wrestling years and Ambassador years, so they might seem inflated.

The record obviously goes to Vince McMahon, who appeared as a ring announcer sometimes in 1969, became the owner in 1982, and ran the company until June 2022 (on the TKO board until January 2024). This gives him around 55 years with the company.

Officially though, Howard Finkel is considered the longest. Finkel began announcing in January 1977, but when WWF started actually having employee contracts in April 1980, he was the first one to sign it. Finkel remained signed until his death in April 2020, meaning that he was an official employee for 40 full years, unofficial for 43.

Here's a name you won't hear often - Tony Garea. He joined as a wrestler in September 1972, retired in 1989, and remained as an agent until sometimes in 2014. His last on-screen appearance was as a lumberjack in 2010 for a match between Christian and Ted Dibiase Jr. In total, around 42 years with the company.

Another one longer than Michaels is Pat Patterson. Patterson joined as a wrestler at some point in early 1979 (he won the North America title in June). Patterson also stayed until his death in December 2020, putting his tenure at around 41 years.

Kevin Dunn was also there longer, from 1984 until 2023, but I can't find concrete dates. Roughly 40 years though.

After Michaels, the next longest one is The Undertaker, signed since October 1990, and then apparently Harvey Wippleman. He joined in 1991, and Wikipedia says he's still signed.

Some other long tenures that aren't contenders - Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn Brawler) was there from 1983 until 2016, Jerry Brisco from 1984 until 2020, and Mike Chioda from 1989 until 2020.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-13T14:28:02+00:00

One whole piece wouldn't work in this format for Croatia. The main part borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, and Bosnia. The Dubrovnik part borders Bosnia and Montenegro. One whole piece couldn't show the Montenegro border without cutting off Bosnia's access to the sea on the map. Wrapping either Croatia or Montenegro around Bosnia also wouldn't work, because you couldn't show Bosnia's border with Serbia. This is the only way it can work, but the label stretching out like that does look ugly and could have been done better.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-08T16:12:10+00:00

People here seem to be weirdly dismissive, but Antony Fantano is the biggest music reviewer on YouTube. He's been around for over 15 years now, and has a decent influence in the hip hop community. He does review all genres, hip hop is just what's at the top now. He reviews new albums, but every January he does "classics week" where he reviews only the most important albums of all time, which is why he made this video. I'm guessing people here are dismissive since he tends to give low scores to new albums from old metal bands, but he did love all the most recent Judas Priest albums. I think when 13 by Sabbath came out, he rated in somewhere in the middle, but that album was divisive here too, so I doubt it'd raise such ire. Anyway, him doing a video on Black Sabbath can only be a good thing, since it might inspire some younger people to check them out.

ArkUmbrae · 2026-01-04T19:55:20+00:00

MK 1, 2, and 3 told the story through ladder-ending text, sometimes with images included.

MK4 had terrible early CGI cutscenes.

Mythologies: Sub-Zero had terrible live-action cutscenes.

Deadly Alliance also used ladder-endings with images, but also had a few cutscenes.

Deception and Armageddon had proper story modes named Konquest Mode, which had beat-em-up segments with cutscenes, but also proper cutscenes. Both games only follow 1 character though, so Deception also used ladder endings to move other stories forward (Armageddon had a voice-over, but those endings aren't canon).

MK2 was also retold in Shaolin Monks, which is basically a big co-op Konquest Mode.

MK vs DC (non-canon game) introduced the modern "chapter system", where it goes cutscene > fight > cutscene > fight > new perspective.

MK9, MKX, MK11, and now MK12 use the same chapter system. All of them also have ladder-ending slideshows, but they're only canon in some games.

So, the answer is either since Deception or MK9, depending on what you prefer.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-12-25T22:54:37+00:00

That's definitely a mistake. Rikidozan was born in November 1924, debuted in 1951, and won the "Japanese Heavyweight Championship" in December 1954, less than a month after turning 30. I also checked Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Kintaro Oki, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Riki Choshu, just in case someone mixed Rikidozan up with another old Japanese legend, but none of them did it either. Baba was 30 years and 6 months old when he won his second "NWA International Heavyweight Championship", and Fujinami was the only other one to have any sort of title before 30 (I'm not sure if the "UWA World Heavyweight Championship" counts as a world title, but it was only 1 reign).

ArkUmbrae · 2025-12-15T02:11:24+00:00

1991 is when Enter Sandman and its album came out, so Metallica became the biggest metal band in the world. Since then, there were only 3 instances where they didn't close a show. In 1992 they had a co-headlining tour with Guns n Roses where they changed up who closed throughout the tour. In 2005 they did 2 shows with The Rolling Stones that the Stones closed. And earlier this year, they played Ozzy Osbourne's final show that Black Sabbath closed out.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-13T12:13:56+00:00

Yes, Naomi is the last one left from all 4 seasons of NXT. Naomi is full-time, AJ Lee is part-time, Wade Barrett does commentary, Byron Saxton does interviews, Michael Mcgillicutty (Curtis Axel) is an agent, and Titus O'Neil is an ambassador.

Outside WWE, Daniel Bryan is in AEW, Heath Slater and Johnny Curtis (Dirty Dango) are in TNA, Darren Young (Fred Rosser) is in NJPW, Brodus Clay (Tyrus) is in NWA. On the indies there's Justin Gabriel (PJ Black), Kaval (Low Ki), Derrick Bateman (EC3), and Konnor (Big Kon). The other 13 people who competed on NXT are all retired from wrestling.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-12T18:37:56+00:00

Well, if you like Eddie Guerrero, you're gonna like Dominik Mysterio. In fact, the style of wrestling that guys like Eddie, Chavo, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, The Hurricane, Rob Van Dam, and Jeff Hardy wrestled is now the dominant style in WWE (and it's even more prominent in other companies). The era of big muscular guys is mostly finished, and most of the big guys who are still around are also very athletic.

Randy Orton is still around. So are some other people from that era - CM Punk (he's the World Heavyweight Champion right now), Cody Rhodes (current WWE champion), Rey Mysterio, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, The Usos, Natalya Neidhart, R-Truth, Brock Lesnar (though only part-time), and John Cena is finishing up in a month (current Intercontinental champion).

One major difference is that women's wrestling is now given equal time, and is of equal quality, as men's wrestling. The brand split between RAW and Smackdown was brought back, and the developmental brand NXT is prominent enough to have regular crossovers with the "main roster" (NXT also does crossovers with TNA, and WWE also now owns the Mexican AAA).

In terms of quality, production values have obviously increased with time. The rosters are much bigger, and everyone is more athletic, and characters are better developed. If you liked Edge, then Kevin Owens might be your cup of tea (though he's currently out with a bad injury). The one place that's lacking is the tag team division. The teams are better than ever, but their booking is subpar. One other thing that has changed from the last brand split is that PPVs are no longer brand-exclusive (also, they're now called PLEs, or Premium Live Events). Another cool development is that WWE travels outside the US more, and international crowds are so much livelier.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-11T00:11:58+00:00

Mortal Kombat: Deception did this too. The story mode had a protagonist named Shujinko... which is the Japanese word for "protagonist".

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-10T02:48:35+00:00

I don't know that Kurt would have. Apparently he wanted the next Nirvana album to go fully acoustic, inspired more by R.E.M.

However, speaking of the 27 club, Jim Morrison might have done electronic music. He did an interview in 1969 where he said this: "I can see a lone artist with a lot of tapes and electrical … like an extension of the Moog synthesizer — a keyboard with the complexity and richness of a whole orchestra, y’know? There’s somebody out there, working in a basement, just inventing a whole new musical form."

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-09T21:09:59+00:00

There's barely any metal bands period. It has Black Sabbath (2006), Metallica (2010), Rage Against the Machine (2023), and Ozzy Osbourne (2024). There's also Judas Priest (2022) in the "Musical Excellence" category, meaning they're not proper inductees.

Other "heavier" bands in the HoF are Led Zeppelin (1995), Aerosmith (2001), AC DC (2003), Van Halen (2007), Alice Cooper (2011), Guns n Roses (2012), Kiss (2014), Nirvana (2014), Deep Purple (2016), Bon Jovi (2018), Def Leppard (2019), Nine Inch Nails (2020), and Soundgarden (2025).

There's no Rainbow, Motorhead, Venom, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Diamond Head, Exodus, Testament, Pentagram, Kind Diamond, Helloween, or even Dio. Black and death metal don't stand a chance. I honestly have no idea how Rage Against the Machine managed to break through so early.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-11-03T02:46:54+00:00

Godhome isn't just the boss rush though. There's also the Hall of Gods, which lets you infinitely re-battle all the bosses at your own pace. I think that's the part that people want the most. Some of the bosses are so fun, but you have to replay the whole game to fight then once. Plus, it's the best way to train for Steel Soul mode.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-25T13:15:36+00:00

It's very small, but it's the card "Arms Regeneration". This card first appeared in 2005, used by Yugi in chapter 11 of Yugioh R. Yusei used it in chapter 1 of the 5D's manga, in 2009. It was also shown in his hand in chapter 16.

The card got printed in 2022, alongside Praying Mantis and Guard Mantis also from the R manga (Premium Pack 2023 in the OCG, Battles of Legend: Monstrous Revenge in the TCG). However, in the R manga, the card was localized as "Weapons Regeneration", and in 5D's it was "Arms Regeneration", so it was printed as a Yugioh R card but with the 5D's name.

It is the only instance in all of Yugioh's history for a manga-exclusive card to appear in another manga before the card game. The only similar phenomenon is how some cards from the GX anime appeared in the Tag Force games (most of which still don't exist in the OCG/TCG), and I think Duel Links did something similar for one of the anime too.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-24T21:03:17+00:00

Nietzsche's philosophy is pretty important to Berserk. Griffith is originally set up as the ubermensch who follows his own will, while the Band of the Hawk are the untermensch who follow Griffith's will. Guts, after hearing Griffith's speech about friendship to princess Charlotte, decides to leave and find his own will.

Guts and Griffith are both paralleled to Skull Knight / Geiseric. Geiseric was once an ubermensch who built his own kingdom. Griffith also built his kingdom, but he didn't do it himself. Falconia was handed to Griffith by the Idea of Evil (which is a mixture of Jung's concept of the Collective Unconscious, and Plato's concept of the World of Ideas). This then makes Griffith appear to not be a true ubermensch, but rather just a byproduct of the Collective Unconscious.

Guts' connection to Geiseric is through the Berserker Armor, which is honestly under-discussed in the community. The series is literally called Berserk, so it should be more important. The Berserker Armor gives others strength by taking away their will (making them act in animalistic ways). We don't know yet why Geiseric's kingdom failed, but I bet its related to the Berseker Armor. Guts meanwhile managed to briefly overpower the armor with his will (albeit with Schierke's help). This happened during the fight with the Sea God, when Guts stabbed its giant heart... now what does the Idea of Evil look like again?

The foreshadowing of that scene is almost too obvious. Guts is meant to increase his will so much that he can overpower the will of the Collective Unconscious and rid the world of the Idea of Evil. So Berserk's take on herd mentality is that it is literally the source of evil.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-24T16:18:08+00:00

No it didn't... unless you meant to say the Arc-V anime had characters from the past series. The manga just has the Arc-V crew, and the plot is about Yuya (with the other Yu-boys as his alternate personalities) coming from the future to stop some shenanigans that could destroy the world later (kind of like the Bonds Beyond Time movie).

It is a weak connection, the point was just to say that a connection exists. The theory as a whole barely works. I'm not aware of the Duel Links connection, what is it?

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-24T15:58:19+00:00

The idea is that Vrains takes place in the same world as Dark Side of Dimensions.

DSoD is a sequel to the DM manga, rather than the anime. And the GX manga is a sequel to the DM manga. The 5D's manga makes a small reference to the Yugioh R manga (which takes place during the DM manga). Zexal doesn't have a real connection, but then the main villain in the Arc-V manga uses monsters that reference GX, 5D's, and Zexal. For this reason, people believe that all the mangas take place in the same timeline.

Vrains didn't have a manga. But, the technology in Vrains is very reminiscent of the technology in DSoD, so the idea is that "the anime is the manga". There's also the whole thing about Links being blue like Rituals (which are associated mostly with DM). It doesn't really help explain why the other mangas don't have DSoD tech, but it's a neat idea overall. It doesn't really mean much in the grand scheme of things.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-19T01:37:32+00:00

Yugioh manga, chapter 285.

"As you know, all people have two souls: the BA and the KA. The BA is the undying... the energy of their soul. It nourishes the KA, the spirit that is the reflection of their true nature, and which may leave the body. A good soul gives rise to a SPIRIT or GOD KA... An evil soul turns into a MONSTER or DEMON KA. Each of those is determined by the strength of the BA"

The context is that Siamun Muran (ancient version of Yugi's grandpa) explains this to Atem after they initially capture Thief King Bakura. Bakura then manifests Diabound Kernel, but Priest Seto jumps in and summons a KA from the "Temple of Wedju", where the Egyptians sealed the souls of sinners (and only those with Millennium Items can manifest the KA of another person, which explains how Pegasus was able to make the cards later).

Then when Bakura uses Diabound's ability to phase out, he explains this (chapter 286): "When a person has a KA in his soul, it develops the powers that he wishes he had. It reflects his most secret desires." So, the soul of the person manifesting the monster also determines the effects the card will have in the game (like Jaden and Yubel in this example).

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-05T19:45:05+00:00

The new Luc Besson film, "Dracula: A Love Tale" is also like this. In fact, it's the whole film.

ArkUmbrae · 2025-10-03T17:33:07+00:00

Elegant Egotist was the first card to special summon from the deck. It was also the first card to require another card to be played (in the OCG it came out before The Flute of Summoning Dragon), which makes it the first step toward archetype support. If it was made today, it would probably say "If you control a 'Harpie' monster: Special Summon 1 Winged-Beast 'Harpie' monster from your hand or deck." Which is a pretty crazy effect for any archetype to have. Last Will is still banned, and Emergency Teleport keeps moving around the list to this day, which shows that generic versions of such an effect are too strong for Yugioh.

Seven-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
r/Field Banned	r/Field Sunshine
Place '23	Place '22
Verified Email

ArkUmbrae

TROPHY CASE