Would The I.C. Title Benefit From A Short Retirement?

[PlayTheGame]

I was just thinking about this possibility after I remembered that the title was once retired in 2002 after it was unified with the WHW Title when HHH beat Kane. Maybe a short retirement (app. a year or so) would be good for the title/the title division, as alot of people are complaining about its lack of prestige/true purpose as of late... So, what better way to give it back some popularity by taking it away for awhile- its sort of the same reasoning for when a WWE superstar gets injured- when he or she comes back they are usually wayyy over and get a decent push. So why can't the IC title do the same thing? Maybe the titleholder (whether it be Punk, or any other superstar in the near-future) could feud with Raw's top champion in the near-future and have a unifying match at a PPV- I think that would be awesome, and then about a year later you pull a Stone Cold Steve Austin and ressurrect the IC title, maybe even hold a tournament around it (and maybe even have a top guy win it, like HBK), and keep it in the spotlight and center a few good feuds around it. I think this would really work, especially since the ECW Title (since ECW is a part of Raw now) could be used as Raw's make-shift secondary title during the short duration of the IC Title's absence.

What do you think?

 

[DD84]

Great thread. I think so. Maybe for a year. A heel GM would have to take it away and a babyface GM would have to bring it back. It might knock its prestige down a little bit though b/c if the US title stays, why did the IC belt go? But I think they are working on fixing its prestige, at least for the next couple of months.

 

[Christian Battlez]

This isn't a bad idea. Retiring the title and then bringing it back after a long absence could bring back some of the championships prestige. Think about this CM Punk could feud with Orton for a little while after he wins the WWE title at Mania. Orton could win the IC belt from Punk and retire the title unifying it with the WWE Championship. The WWE has too many titles anyway. After a little Stephanie could bring back the belt Orton retired to get under his skin and hold a tournament to crown a new IC champion. It would bring attention back to the title as right now the focus is on CM Punk and his quest to be MITB not the belt.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Unfortunately, that might be the one thing to bring it back. Retire it for a year-year and a half or so. Then hype up it's return with clips of classic IC title matches and IC title history titbits for a few weeks; basically what they do with Wrestlemania each year, but with the IC title.

Have a HUGE tournament during that time with the winner being decided at a big ppv (Summerslam, Survivor Series, WM. Maybe even Night of Champions). Then, hopefully, get some good fueds going for it.

If they did retire it, expect alot of bitching from fans including me. I was pissed when it was retired the first time, and even in it's weakest state I don't want to see it gone, even temporarily. I'm sure a retirement would do the belt good, but still......it's the IC title, man

Guess it's like that toy you used to love that you don't play with anymore. You ignore it all the time, but when someone tries to get rid of it, you're like "WTF THAT'S MINE, I NEED IT!"

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

No, the Intercontinental Championship should enjoy some longer reigns around the waists of some great up and comers in the sport and should be seen as the top singles title that isn't a World Title. The prestige of the IC title is supposed to be higher than the U.S as the U.S Champion only signifies the United States and the InterContinental Champion signifies the US, Africa, Canada, Brazil and Europe I believe, so getting rid of it would not be beneficial as it's the most important title other than a World's Championship.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Bad Idea.

Just because the title isn't as important as it once was, doesn't mean retiring it will solve all the problems. That's similar to saying, if you break something and sweep it under the rug.. when you come back a week or two later, it'll be fixed as if nothing ever happened. Not possible.

The best thing for this title, is to simply NOT be jobbed onto jobbers. (ie. Santino) While he had more passion and care for the title, that doesn't mean he was good for it. Giving his a children's title would've benefitted just the same.

Punk has the possibility of making the title mean something, or at least turn it in the right direction. Only issue here is, I can see him repeating in MITB which would make him out to be like every other worthless mid-card Champion.. merely assuming that because he's holding that title, it makes him a worthy Heavyweight.

Apparently this is creatives Master Plan.

 

[MattMoses]

Just how exactly would retiring the title benefit it or make it more prestigous? That would mean the title had been retired twice in a seven year period. Yeah, that doesn't scream prestige to me. Even having a tournament which would most likely be made up of jobbers, mid-carders and a few upper-midcarders wouldn't bring any prestige back to it. It would make it even more pointless and lesser in prestige to what people think it's at now.

Now that Punk has the belt and is heading towards the MITB match, wouldn't that make the belt more prestigous because the IC champion is chasing after the world heavyweight championship, having earned the right to do so?

 

[Christian Battlez]

Bad Idea.

Just because the title isn't as important as it once was, doesn't mean retiring it will solve all the problems. That's similar to saying, if you break something and sweep it under the rug.. when you come back a week or two later, it'll be fixed as if nothing ever happened. Not possible.

The best thing for this title, is to simply NOT be jobbed onto jobbers. (ie. Santino) While he had more passion and care for the title, that doesn't mean he was good for it. Giving his a children's title would've benefitted just the same.

Punk has the possibility of making the title mean something, or at least turn it in the right direction. Only issue here is, I can see him repeating in MITB which would make him out to be like every other worthless mid-card Champion.. merely assuming that because he's holding that title, it makes him a worthy Heavyweight.

Apparently this is creatives Master Plan.

I'm not so sure Punk will repeat as Mr. MITB. I still think its gonna be MVP and hes gonna wait till WM 26 to cash it in so he can be properly built up. I heard Punk and Kane are slated to have a feud over the IC belt after WM. This is good because Kane is a former IC champion and a feud with Punk over the belt will help the title out a little. But I still stand by that noone really cares about the title right now and if it goes away for a while then when it comes back we'll be happy because we missed it. It's like when a cousin comes to visit and you don't really care that they're there. But then they leave and you miss them because you took advantage of them being there and now you wanna see them. Same concept.

 

[dsfedor]

absolutely not. taking it away and bringing it back again would only play into the idea that the belts are "props" and only used when it's convenient for storylines.

they just did a tournament a few months ago. remember? cm punk won the tourney and went on to beat regal for the belt. sure... the tourney was just a gimmick to sell the 'best of' dvd, but it did (if ever so briefly) bring back honor and prestige to the belt.

the way to bring prestige back to the belt is by having great matches with strong up-and-comers defending the belt, like cm punk, morrison, rhodes, etc. keep the title around the waist of an ATHLETE and have the matches competitive, let the wwe and world titles be for the best ENTERTAINER. keep the IC belt about WRESTLING.

 

[Showtime]

Because the title returned with so much glory after its last retirement. No, retiring the title would be just silly. We don't retire the world heavyweight title's if it ever loses any sort of stature, so why the middle card belt. All you'd be doing is leaving the people between main event and jobber status with nothing at all to contend for.

I think the biggest problem lately isn't the IC title, but people's perception of it. It's not the great middle card title that it's used to because, one, there's 2, not 1, world title belts that get way more attention and are contested for more, and two, there's way more main events than there were in the 90's and the 80's, even with there being two belts, also there is still a far great ratio of main eventers:world titles than there was with one belt. In today's wrestling, the IC/US titles will never mean anything again. Think of them as a step above the European belt, but below the 90's IC belt, it's used as a prop/gimmick/something to defend for the middle carders, but means little at the moment. The people who hold the belt now aren't supposed to be stars yet, WWE's got 8-10 other guys already there and others who don't have the IC belt that are fighting for one of the big two.

The IC title is supposed to be your training ground, your chance from the company to see what you can do as champion, the good champions will inevitably move on to bigger things, like Jeff Hardy, the ones with poor reigns will continue to stay at this plateau, like Benjamin or Nitro. The champions of today will never pull an Austin, an Ultimate Warrior, a Diesel, an Orton or a Cena (and that last one's only 4 years ago) where the middle card champ will make the jump to main event soon after they lose the belt or as the champ. It's not going to happen, the main event is too deep and the middle card is thin ice. You want to know a way to see if the title's actually doing good and benefiting others, wait two years and see how the champions in the last year and the ones still to come this year do. If they've moved up and are main eventers, the title did its job. If they're still fighting for it, lost in the shuffle, or released, then it does need fixing.

With all this said, Punk has a legitimate shot at being the best IC champion since Benjamin's one, if the WWE plays they're cards right. How they could do that would be, lots of successful title matches and defenses, attention to the story lines and feuds that surround the belt (make them mean something and make the wrestlers act like they actually want the belt), and yes have Punk eventually challenge a world champion and have him beat them. I wished to hell that WWE had the balls to let Cena keep the US belt as well as win the WWE belt, imagine what it could've done for the middle card titles in general. I imagine the WWE would think their champion would be soft to lose the middle card belt after winning the world title. I fail to see how, especially if they defend both regularly. It could add fuel to a feud, having the challenger screw the world champ by costing him the middle card title in another match with another wrestler. Imagine Punk vs Orton, Punk finally getting retribution for Orton costing him the opportunity to even defend his belt in the scrammble match. That could be huge.

The fan favourite middle card champion beating the heel world champion. Sounds like it would do wonders for the middle card in general to me. Retirement, definitely no, taking it to the top, hell yes.

 

[figocantos]

if the ic title will be fought for by good technical wrestlers, that alone would give it the prestige it deserves.

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think it was very well said on mr. perfect's dvd that the world (wwe) title are placed on the wrestlers that draw the crowd and the ic title are for those the peers can respect because of his technical ability.

 

[The Original Tuggernut]

The Intercontinental Title is prestigious. The WWE just doesn't focus on how important it really is. I'd like to see CM Punk drop the belt...to someone who won't be in the MITB. A few possibilities include Mike Knox, JBL, or even someone who needs that extra push. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head that would deserve the belt, but JBL somehow beating Punk for the belt and vying to defend it at Wrestlemania would be great. Who would he face? Christian comes to mind. Maybe KENNEDY....Kennedy? If he's not in the MITB, Kennedy would be a terrific candidate to hold the IC title.

All I know is that this belt MUST be defended at Wrestlemania. What I'd do is put the belt on the line in the MITB. Win the briefcase AND the IC title? Nice.

 

[Mr. Serotonin]

Three words: Honky Tonk Man

 

[supergav67]

No.I dont think another retirement would benefit IC.I think what would benefit IC is a few PPV appearances ,a worthy champ & a perennial number one contender feud bubbling under as it should be.The fact their place in PPVs have been taken by the ECW title ShouldnT happen & ShoulD be irrelevant. (Im saying ShoulD not IS)..
Having said that,if it were to disappear,at least 14 of the Raw roster would suddenly realise they havent held an existing World title yet.Arent in the running for one,just yet,& at present,have nothing left to aim for,unless they find a tag partner!.
Axe the IC & every midcarders interview will have a catchphrase. "Yeah,Ive talked to TNA AnD,,,"

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

The attitude era definatly killed the belt's prestige. It went from having solid reigns of 4-6 months to having reigns that would last a few weeks to a month and a half, and then everyone began holding the title and it became hard to point at anyone in the roster and say, "Well, he has never been Intercontinental Champion.", everyone seemed to hold it at one point.

What the belt needs is an air of elusivness and to have some long, heathly reigns, around the waist of someone who can bring the title back to where it once was or at least get the ball rolling in the right direction. Punk could definatly be that man, but he needs a challenger who is worthy of the challenge of his nemesis over the strap.

 

[Lee]

If you had of proposed this in the Summer when Kofi Kingston had it then yeah, I'd agree with you.

Since then we've had a guy who cared about the belt in Marella, a number one tournament, a former world champion winning it, who in turn says he wants to bring prestige back to the belt. Things are moving forward with it, it would be a rather bad time to retire the belt now with things looking the way they are.

 

[MisterRob]

No, I don't think retiring the Intercontinental championship would help its prestige at all. I think it would take away from it even further. Retiring or getting rid of it in any way is a terrible idea, in my opinion. What the WWE needs to do to make it more prestigious is to start unifying certain titles; tag team championships, women's championships, and the World titles. One World title between the brands would allow them to have one mid card title on each brand, the Intercontinental title on RAW and the US title on Smackdown, and would therefore put more emphasis on those titles as only so many can be involved in the main event at any time and the remaining would naturally be able to be developed in feuds based around the mid card titles, either with those who could be viewed as main event stars right now or those being built towards the main event. I think it would be beneficial all around that way, personally. Certainly the only way to make the Intercontinental championship more prestigious is to put more emphasis on it, not to take away focus from it.

 

[Mark0820]

Right now, my gut is telling me Punk is going to with the MITB and go on to have promo spots leading up until Summerslam with the IC belt. Orton interferes with a Punk match costing him the title(again) around July to Kane(God knows Kane deserves some sort of singles championship run for being one of their most consistently over performers), HBK, or Mysterio and Punk cashes in his MITB match for Summerslam stating he doesn't want to use the shot after Orton's already had a match. He wants to prove he can win straight up against him. Punk wins the world title at Summerslam. Something like this does:

1. Gives us a few months of build up to Punk to that top level against one of the top promo guys right now.

2. Gets the crowd behind Punk even more.

3. Having Orton screw Punk out of the IC title gives Punk and the IC title some credibility. If the world champ is paying attention, the crowd will take notice.

4. Puts the IC title under the spotlight. It could get the IC title to the uppercard/main event matches of Raw via tag team matches having him score some wins over Orton that way. If getting busted up by Shane doesn't hurt his credibility, putting Punk over in tag matches won't.

5. Allows Punk to drop the title without looking weak in the process and there would be no shame in losing it to an HBK, Kane, or Mysterio.

There are easy ways to fix both the IC and US titles' credibility. Same with the tag titles. The problem is there are too many titles. Have a tag title unification match and let Morrison and the Miz defend it on both shows(they do anyway). Unify the IC and US titles at a major PPV with a good bit of build up for it. Or simply don't have the lower card crap on the PPVs(Like women's title matches... both of them) and instead have the IC and US titles defended on PPVs.

 

[Phoenix]

I the original retirement took the prestige away from it original as this creative being lazy not wanting to do anything with the title. It's bad enough that the IC title has not been defended at WM for over 6 years, I mean that is bad, that is showing no creditability to the title! The US Title hasn't been given much in terms of WM time either. I mean there were time periods in Royal Rumbles and other PPVS where the IC Title was defended alot more often than ever and produced some great matches. In short, Creative needs to get off their asses and get something done about it!

 

[Chill]

A short retirement is the last thing the IC title needs...what it needs is for the WWE to actually recognize it as the title it once was. I like that CM Punk is holding it atm, hopefully he can bring it some credibility.

Though this year the belt needs to get around the waists of people like Kane, HBK, Mysterio..hell even Cena in order to give it that recognition again.
Then when an up and comer wins the belt, it will actually mean something for their career.

I like the idea of the belt being on the line during the MITB at 'Mania as this would give both the title some recognition not to mention allowing it to be competed for at the biggest show of the year, as well as giving the MITB a much needed kick up the arse...cos for me its getting kind of stale with the same format every year.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Retiring it will do nothing. When they bring it back it will still be one of 9 sets of belts (including womens belts), 2 of those being tag titles. That means that 11 people will be walking around with gold, that's basically the entire ECW roster. The problem is too many belts and the lack of quality feuds to go with them. Retiring the belt and bringing it back would be interesting for about 2-4 weeks, since they'd make a big deal about it, but then it'll fall by the wayside again.

It'd work much better with:
1 world champion
1 midcard champion
1 tag champion
1 misc. champion (a TV champ would make title happy people happy since it'd be defended each week and wouldn't need to be on PPVs)
1womans champion

On another note, you could really argue that MITB is really the prestige of the IC belt these days. Whomever had MITB in the 90s would have MITB now.

 

[TakeAdooKie]

There is a lot of things WWE could do to bring back some prestige to the Intercontinental Championship but in my humble opinion retiring the title is not one of them. If it were, after it was retired with the HHH/Kane match, upon coming back it would have gained prestige...but it didn't. What makes you think that it would be any different this time around?

Also someone above me said something about a Tournament, which in theory is a good idea but it is way over done. As a matter of fact, there was just a tournament for the #1 Contention to the Title a couple months ago that CM Punk won before defeating Regal. Did that help?

The best way to bring prestige back to the Title would be to have it defended by a deserving Champion against a deserving Challenger. They could also do what they should have never stopped doing and have it defended at every, or at least most, Pay per views.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

With as much disrespect as they treat the IC and US Titles, they mine as well retire both of them. Vince essentially tells his audience that neither of them mean a damn thing anymore, anyway. Instead, Vince has trained his audience in the WCW philosophy that only the Main Event means something, anymore ... and thus only the Heavyweight Titles have any meaning to them.

With the rate Vince is going, he mine as well retire both sets of Tag Titles, as well, since clearly Tag Team Wrestling doesn't mean anything to him, either.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I actually don't like the concept of taking titles away, even if it's for a short period of time. Even though, the title is losing a lot of it's credibility and prestige, I'm sure that WWE will find a way to add more prestige in the title, somewhere in the near future. They are obviously working on it, with C.M. Punk as the champion and all. But if WWE did retire the Intercontinental Championship, and bring the ECW Championship as the mid-card title for RAW... where would that leave ECW? The U.S. Championship isn't being defended much, but atleast you have the champ being targeted a bit by M.V.P. and Chavo. The Intercontinental Championship doesn't need to retire again, WWE should be smart enough to come up with an easy way of bring more credibility and prestige to the title, the champion, and its challengers.

 

[Louie Lips]

I remember when Austin brought the belt back, because it was around the same time when I started watching wrestling. Then Stephanie brought back the US title to keep up with Raw, and at that time the belts had more prestige.