Making titles more meaningful instead of just props.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Kris Benwa

I agree with this man I miss the days where we'd have a world title change on TV that wasn't always with MITB and I also I agree that holding it for a year isn't that special if you've only defended maybe 15 times in that time.

I counted at least 21 defenses in 11 months not including dark matches. 21 defenses in less than a year aired globally? Go back and look at the reigns of guys like Hogan in the 80's. They weren't on TV nearly as much and would never have had that many title defenses.

I counted at least 5 defenses on television which is also the right move. The point of the company is to make money. You don't make money giving away matches on TV that people will pay for. Which is why his TV defenses have been against guys like Henry, ADR, and Ziggler (yeah he defended against ADR and Ziggler on PPV but only when they thought they had a bigger attraction like The Rock at Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble.)

I don't care an awful lot about most of the other titles, but the WWE, WHC, and Tag Team titles have been handled very well lately.

I already went through part of what's going right with Punks, but the most important factor would Punk himself. He's so fucking good at playing his character that he keeps everyone into what's going on with him.

I haven't cared about the booking of the WHC as of late, but most people are into it and the Show/Sheamus match at HIAC was awesome.

Team Hell No are the sole reason the titles are doing well. As soon as they lose them to a team like Rhodes Scholars or PTP, no one will care anymore.

Could care less about any of the other championships.

[doc2spok]

The best way to make the titles mean more is to have fewer of them. People act like you need a title to have a match. There were a lot more matches back in the day and less storyline stuff. It worked. That's one of the main reasons professional boxing has gotten so watered down. There's 4 titles for each weight class. It's a joke. Anyways, they seem to be heading in the right direction with the tag titles which is long overdue. I don't know why they feel the need to break up tag teams all the time. Not everyone needs to be a singles wrestler. Look at LOD. I don't understand the desire to have a champion defend their title at every house show, everyone knows it more than likely isn't going to change hands.

[starkmoto]

After having some time to think about the outcome of HIAC I'm actually pleased that Punk still has the title, his long run is definitely restoring some pride to the title, now if they could only take the spinner off that belt, the WCW belt ahem, I mean the World Championship Belt means way more to me just for the simple fact that they haven't changed the look of it ten million time even though it has changed companies!

[Dagger Dias]

Bigger celebrations for winning the titles would be a nice change of pace. I absolutely detest the mentality that the titles are just "props". Yes it's a show with predetermined results, but within kayfabe the titles should mean everything to the wrestlers. The whole point of being in a competition is ultimately to win it and to a WWE wrestler their reason for being a member of the roster SHOULD be to win the championships. The WWE (or World Heavyweight) Champion is meant to be held by the very best the federation has to offer, while the Tag Team Championship is meant for the very best team, the Divas Championship for the very best female, and even the two midcard belts need to be meant for talent who have the potential to make it into the top tier.

If they made it more of a big deal to win the titles, let alone to retain them, then they would not only have more prestige but they would also have more of a reason for the fans to care. They do not give the belts the attention that they deserve. Only the WWE Championship currently receives the proper attention. That's it. The World Heavyweight Championship is treated the way the Intercontinental Championship should be. Neither of the two midcard titles ever appear to be important when they are won or defended. The Tag Team Championships are giant pennies held by randomly paired "teams". I won't even start on the Divas Championship. Every single championship needs to be held in extremely high regard and the onscreen characters need to put over the belts constantly.

If a midcard champion appears, he needs to receive just as much attention as the World Heavyweight Champion does. Those belts need to matter too. Let the World Heavyweight Championship match close a PPV event or two for once. The Tag Team Champions and Divas Champions need to be 100% dominant and believable as the undisputable best in the division, given that both divisions have unified titles. If WWE made it one of their top priorities to make every single belt matter and focused on that for a couple of years, a ton of lost prestige could be brought back. It just doesn't seem to be a priority for them right now. It's depressing. The belts are NOT props. I cannot stand that mentality. Why be a pro wrestler if you're not in it to become a champion? It IS about winning titles when it all comes down to it. WWE need to do everything in their power to do away with the "our titles are props" mindset that some people seem to have.

[80centricher]

Actually, I do agree that when a title is changed, some sort of amazing celebration should take place. Look at Austin Aries' win at Destination X. Confetti everywhere, it made the title change that much sweeter and more prestigous. That is perhaps why the World Title in the WWE has lost meaning. It has been put in the midcard in ppv's and placed as the first match at Wrestlemania... I mean, seriously? When Sheamus won the World Title, he just hoisted it up and it didn't feel.... special. No fireworks, no confetti. They even had fireworks just to announce how many people attended the show, but not when you crown a NEW WORLD CHAMPION? It frustrates me so much. Great post.

[TempestH]

The fact that there are TWO World Titles makes the other titles meaningless. Even if the World Heavyweight Championship was booked better, the fact is that one of them will always be booked over the other, and one of them will main event a PPV while the other will be randomly placed somewhere on the card, even opening the PPV.

With the end of the brand split, we've seen wrestlers who've failed to capture the WWE Title decide to go after the World Heavyweight Title. Likewise we've seen Daniel Bryan lose the World Heavyweight Title only to go after the WWE Title. Also, with the end of the brand split, the World Heavyweight Champion shows up on RAW and is treated like a common midcarder. Even if Superstars cross over between brands, the World Heavyweight Champion should NEVER show up on RAW.

If there was only ONE top championship, then the champion will have a much wider pool of contenders. Another possibility is that higher profile wrestlers will pursue the Intercontinental or United States Titles and give the belts themselves a rub.

I think The Miz was doing a good job as Intercontinental Champion. Even though his stock has fallen a bit, the fact that the man who held the WWE Championship last year and defeated John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania was holding the IC Title made it seem like a really big deal. When Miz dropped the belt to Kofi, it became just another midcard title.

Scrapping the World Title and subsequently putting the IC Title on a high-tier star like Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Kane, Dolph Ziggler or Daniel Bryan would help the title out. Let them carry the belt around and treat it like a big deal. And even if they dropped it to someone lower on the ladder like Tyson Kidd or Alex Riley, play up the fact that he beat a top-level guy for the belt.