>>13396607>the title really felt kinda cheapened during that middle part of 02 when it was hot potatoed so muchWrong, if anything it needed to be hot potatoed more in the first part of 2002.
They had:
>Rock>Austin>Hogan>rest of nWo>Flair>HBK just coming back>HHH just coming back>Jericho at his peak>Undertaker>Angle near his peak>Booker T not peak but over>RVD at his peak>Jeff Hardy first solo run>DDP past his peak buried but still over>Brock debutingThen into late 02-03 had Steiner and Goldberg.
That's the time you hot potato like crazy, because you have all the biggest stars of the past 18 years and a host of top potential guys for the next 2-5 years all on the roster at once. The belt is a prop to provide stakes and context to matches that don't have personal feuds, and enhance stakes of ones that do. It's a narrative device. You move it round like crazy when you have a AAA roster to sell the fact that the roster is so competitive, everyone gets over and nobody looks a chump for not having the belt because nobody can hang onto it for long because of how good everyone is, so not having the belt for eternity doesnt mean youre worthless, like modern presentation says.
