JR's Mailbag #6

Hello, and welcome to a slightly belated edition of JR's Mailbag, the bi-weekly feature here on EWA.com where I try to answer all the burning questions of the EWA Universe! Whether factual or opinion-based, no subject is out of bounds, so if you've got anything you want to ask for future installments, just remember that there are two ways to go about submitting any questions. You can either get in touch via the EWA's official Twitter account or you can send a direct message to me right here on EWA.com.

With all that out of the way, let's see what's in today's mailbag:


You're not wrong, Horatio. Brock Lesnar won his second EWA World Title at Civil War earlier this year and has been a force to be reckoned with since then. As things stand, bringing us all the way up to today's SLAM!, Brock has spent 189 days as champion this time around, which is still some ways short of his epic 273 day reign from March to December of 2015! However, that does mean he's spent more than a year of the EWA's 17 year history as World Champion with a total of 462 days and counting!

In terms of other lengthy reigns at the top of the E-Wrestling Alliance, Samuel Shaw came closest to Brock's record with 238 days spanning much of 2016 and early 2017, including successfully defending his title at Super Brawl (only the second time a World Champion has done so, after Randy Orton way back in 2004). Behind him are Masato Tanaka, who has a single reign of 168 days from December 2010 to May 2011, and Cody Rhodes, who has also held the gold just the once, doing so for the same amount of days between July and December of last year. Meanwhile, Steve Corino had two reigns at 154 days in length, which when added to a third reign of 112 days gives him a total of 420 days as World Champion, making him the only other man besides "The Beast" to hold it longer than a year. Steve Austin has spent a total of 273 days as champion over five reigns during the early days of the EWA, while it took CM Punk only two reigns to amass a total of 224 days. Chris Jericho has managed 219 days over five reigns, as René Duprée and RVD both held the gold for a total of 175 days each over 3 reigns. Looking at those statistics and how hard some of the all-time greats have struggled to maintain their time at the top, it only goes to make Brock Lesnar's dominance as champion all the more impressive!

Next question!


That's a tough call, and something which I'm sure many hardcore EWA fans will have their own opinions on. After all, how do you measure the success of a King of the Ring? Do you look at the size of the tournament itself and how many opponents the eventual winner had to overcome in order to win the coveted crown? In that case, Shane Douglas is in for a shout after winning the joint-biggest tournament in 2009 over 23 other participants. Then again, do you take into consideration what the winners achieved immediately after their King of the Ring success, which would seemingly disqualify "The Franchise" from the discussion given his failure to win the big one despite multiple opportunities.

I tend to be of the opinion that it's really a mix of the two which separates the impressive from the truly legendary. And with that in mind, my pick would be for none other than The Rock! The People's Champion surprised many when he won the only other 24 man tournament in 2010, parlaying that victory into ending CM Punk's undefeated streak and capturing the then-Triple Crown Championship. It would also indirectly lead to The Rock's downfall at Super Brawl X, which in turn gave birth to The Cure, resulted in Civil War glory, and saw him win his second Triple Crown Title from Masato Tanaka in somewhat controversial fashion, putting The Great One in rarefied air as far as post-KoTR accomplishments go. He even earned a spot in the final of the following year's King of the Ring as well, albeit he was unable to partake in that six-man Elimination Chamber Match for both the King of the Ring and the Triple Crown Title after being attacked earlier in the night by a mystery assailant...one who'd eventually be revealed as none other than CM Punk, gaining a measure of revenge for The Rock ending his reign the previous year! But that's a different story for another time...

Final question!


I can certainly see why it seems that way, Harry, that's for sure. It doesn't feel that long ago when we had teams like "The Shoney Squad," "The Tough Guys," Jay and Mark Briscoe, "The Young Bucks," and of course, "OVE" rounding out the tag ranks, not to mention some makeshift tandems like Chris Sabin and Kenny Omega, as well as Big Show and John Cena. However, all of those teams have subsequently faded into the background, meaning we only realistically have three active teams left in "The Kings of Wrestling," "The Vaudevillains," and the oddball duo of Braun Strowman and Santino Marella, obviously limiting the number of challengers for the champions to defend against.

Of course, this isn't the first time that the tag team scene has gone through a bit of a barren patch and it likely won't be the last either. Indeed, much like the women's division, tag team wrestling seems to be a cyclical aspect of the EWA where it'll have its periods of great activity and then go quiet again. Personally speaking, I'm not too worried about the lack of teams at this precise moment, especially not with Super Brawl right around the corner. "The Grand Daddy Of 'Em All" is usually a catalyst for renewed hostilities right across the board, and there's sure to be some random pairings put together on various Super Brawl teams, or perhaps even the possibility of seeing some absent pairings making their return. In short, while it might seem a little on the quiet side now, it'll no doubt pick up again before you know it!

Thanks again for all your questions, folks! Don't forget, you can ask me anything for the next edition of JR's Mailbag in two weeks time by getting in touch either here or here and I'll do my best to provide an answer!

BOOMER SOONER!