Traits Needed For A Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion
This recent video from Shane Douglas' YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ShaneDouglasOfficial) has him articulate some of the finer points needed for a professional wrestling promotion's heavyweight champion. He covers nuances to the character, making it believable for the fans, how to earn the trust of the company to become the champion, and much more.
He focuses on his time in Eastern Championship Wrestling (before ECW became "Extreme" in September 1994) including the time period right after Eddie Gilbert left the company in 1993. Shane discusses his thoughts on champions as "warriors", mentioning Terry Funk and Bruno Sammartino and Ricky Steamboat and others. He also talks about being brave and not a coward plus bringing a background of legitimacy to the championship.
He also talks about the "moral compass" of a heel character and the dichotomy of character, even mentioning actor Clint Eastwood's characters in movies. He also talks about the NFL using the "franchise player" term in 1993 as designating the most important player on the team, this preceding the legal "franchise" tag now used in contractual & NFL salary cap terminology.
I really liked how he explained what truly makes a heavyweight champion — not just strength, but also trust, character, and presence. His stories from ECW and examples of past legends made the points even stronger.