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There have been several original match types throughout WWE’s history that have become all-time great stipulations. From the most anticipated WWE yearly match, the Royal Rumble, to the ingeniously designed Elimination Chamber, to the legendary Hell in a Cell structure, and the always enjoyable Money in the Bank Ladder Match, there have been countless successful experiments over the years. However, not every new concept has been a hit, and in 2008, WWE trialled something called the “Championship Scramble”, and it went down as one of the more disappointing, confusing, and disjointed experiments for quite some time.
The Championship Scramble Had Some Great Potential In WWE
The concept of the match itself had some potential, as it was quite different to what WWE had done before. In a way, it was presented like a gauntlet match, as two people started off in the ring. After every five minutes, another wrestler would make their entrance, joining the match, until five competitors had joined in. Wrestlers could score a pinfall or submission at any time, and this would make them the interim champion. Once the final competitor had entered, there was another five-minute timer, and at the end of those five minutes, the superstar who had scored the last pinfall or submission would be crowned as champion.
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On paper, this looked to have 20 minutes full of fast-paced action, as there would have been a desperation for those involved to score wins at any cost. It should have been fun, unpredictable, and chaotic, with it being unique in the sense that it wasn’t clear whether the final or first entrant had the advantage. On one hand, the first entrant would suffer the most punishment, but they had more time throughout the match to score a win, with the final entrant being the freshest but having just five minutes to find a way to win. It looked to be an interesting night of action at the 2008 Unforgiven PPV, when three of these matches took place, but it ultimately failed.
WWE Unforgiven 2008 Had Three Underwhelming Championship Scramble Matches
The first Scramble saw Mark Henry defend the ECW Title against Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, The Miz, and Finlay. It was very slow, which contradicted the entire point of the match – rest holds and bear hugs had no place in a gimmick such as this. The final couple of minutes were fun, as it saw a completely frantic pace which the fans were into, although the whole match should have been like this.
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Next came the WWE Championship Scramble, which had such a lack of star power that didn’t feel like a WWE Title-worthy field. Triple H successfully outlasted Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin, which once again suffered from a very slow start. This also had far too many pinfalls, as due to the gimmick, the superstars unfathomably couldn’t kick out of moves which came very soon into the match, with an outrageous seven different pinfalls throughout the 20-minute run time. The only good part of this match was when Jeff Hardy and Triple H were frustrating each other by each gaining pinfalls, eventually ending with Hardy coming up short, which would be a precursor to his eventual title win.
The main event World Heavyweight Championship match had more of a structure, with less falls throughout, although it still wasn’t as fast as it should have been. The match allowed Chris Jericho to sneak a win right at the end, which was a great way to utilise this stipulationb as it would then develop into the next chapter of the great Jericho vs Shawn Michaels feud, but this was one of the very few good things about the Scramble throughout the entire show.
WWE’s Execution Of The Championship Scramble Was A Complete Mess
There were several issues with the rules of the match, which should have no doubt been changed had WWE tried to run this stipulation back. It certainly had potential, but it is understandable why WWE didn’t take the risk to do it again, especially on a PPV. 20 minutes perhaps wasn’t enough, and there should have arguably been 5 extra minutes added to the end of the match once all competitors were in, as the last superstar barely had any time to make an impact.
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Many fans were confused about the ‘interim’ champion concept too, as it wasn’t clear whether or not the likes of Brian Kendrick had officially become WWE Champion, as a graphic would show up and an announcement was made upon every pinfall. Things like this should have been smoothed out and made clearer, and there should have undoubtedly been a higher caliber of competitors, especially in the WWE Title match. WWE could always do this again on an episode of Raw or SmackDown to shake up weekly TV, but it went down far too badly for it to ever be considered for a PPV again in the future.
