Championship Changes

[Max Headroom]

We seem to be in a rather transitional period in WWE right now. We're seeing lots of new wresters come up to the roster, new wrestlers breaking into the upper-mid/main-event scene, the World/WWE championships are now merged (time to have just one title now, I think. Enough of carrying around both.), and we have the WWE Network in full force (although I'm still waiting for it here in Canada). So why not continue changing things up/bringing things back?

It's been mentioned many times before, but now is a time to get it done. Somewhere between now and Summer Slam or Survivor series, a feud should start between whomever is the U.S & I.C champions, and this should result in the merger of the two. Some names for it could be "International Championship", or "World Championship". They're already starting to bring more interest into the two titles, and this would further that. This new title would then be the go-to for soon-to-be WWEWHC (that title really doesn't flow off the tongue). Put just as much importance into this new merger as there is on the WWEWHC, and when someone is holding it, make sure they do not lose. Now we have two big major championships, alongside the Tag-Team Championships and the Diva's Championship.

Change the word "Diva's" back to "Women's", as it makes it sound much more legitimate. That's all there is to say there.

Now, with this all said and done, it's also fun to have a title that changes hands more frequently. The four titles we have now, stemming from above, should all be ones that are held onto for long periods, no hot-shotting it. We can't bring in a Cruiserweight Championship, because then there would be no excuse having people like Daniel Bryan competing for the WWEWHC, and smaller guys are getting more chances these days.

This is where we can bring back the Hardcore Championship. Hell, name it the "Extreme Championship" if you want a different name. Put in that whole "24/7" rule, and we can have a lot of fun with it. Have it so that, at every show, a referee is constantly following the champ everywhere he goes. At any given time, someone can attack and start a match, no matter where they are. I know this has been done before, but I just feel that where we are now, this could bring some extra fun to WWE. There could be lots of backstage brawls, or ever pre-taped segments of someone finding the champ outside his house, or at the mall, and then proceeding to kick the crap out of him to try and win the title.

What do all of you think? Should the U.S/I.C merge to create a title with twice the importance? Have any better title names than the ones I suggested? A better idea for a title other than the Hardcore/Extreme one? Let's try to get some thoughts going here.

 

[J.J.]

I like having US and Intercontinental titles available. The US title in WWE nowadays is the equivalence of the European title. I miss the Hardcore title with the 24/7 rule. With Raw being 3 hours it makes for great filler going into the second hour. But I'd much rather keep it away until the tag division becomes more consistent.

 

[FightOwensFight]

While I don't think there is a need to do away with the two mid-card belts (there are more than enough guys at that level to warrant them both), bring back the Hardcore/Extreme Championship has potential. It would obviously not be a very prestigious title, but you could have the "lower" mid-card guys go for it. While I think it would get old pretty quickly, I can just imagine laughing while watching a month or so of 3MB trying and failing to capture the title

 

[Catacomb]

oh god, not the 24-7 rule again. the hardcore title is dead, 24/7 was so overplayed and all it did was bring out 20 people and have 15 title changes in 2 mins. if it is ever brought back the bitching on this forum will be enormous. 24/7 might sound good in theory but the reality would be horrible

 

[Max Headroom]

oh god, not the 24-7 rule again. the hardcore title is dead, 24/7 was so overplayed and all it did was bring out 20 people and have 15 title changes in 2 mins. if it is ever brought back the bitching on this forum will be enormous. 24/7 might sound good in theory but the reality would be horrible

Well the idea wouldn't be to go back and re-do things that didn't go over well. If it were to happen, the plan would be to just pick the ideas that worked/sound good, bring them back, & build on them. Don't have it be a big mess, use it for a couple of fun feuds involving no more than around 3 people at a time, sometimes only 2. They have plenty of hours of wrestling to fill, and lots of wrestlers that could benefit from having something worth-while to feud over whom are currently not doing very much. Why not?

It doesn't even have to be a Hardcore style Championship, but I feel it could go over well if played out properly. Especially if the idea of having only two big titles + Diva's/Tag-Team Championships also began to play out.

 

[Cena Is A Punk Rocker]

I think this concept would work if the higher ups were interested in putting more WRESTLING in the show. For now they are more content making two-thirds of the shows recaps,segments and advertisements.

I also think they have the right amount of titles. They just don't have enough wrestlers chasing these belts. You get maybe two to three people/teams that are "contenders" while everyone else seems to be just fodder.

 

[Stingersplash89]

You basically just described the way things were in the attitude era. Not that that's a bad thing, just pointing it out.

 

[Radical]

While the Hardcore title and the matches and challengers was one of my favorite things about the Attitude Era and I would love to see it come back I highly doubt it ever will.

Technically it was retired TO Mick Foley himself. And even if they started a 'new' title like the Extreme Championship it would be hard for them to justify it in their PG environment and without showing blood.

Plus, WWE has to get better at building up contenders for the titles they have already.

I like when they go to more Triple Threats and Fatal 4 Ways for the mid-card titles, it brings up their prestige.

I love when they have a #1 Contender tournament for mid-card titles like they did for the IC title not long ago.

Battle Royals are okay too, anything is better than just a bunch of randomly selected contenders to become challengers just because they attacked or looked at the Champion the wrong way.

I don't think WWE will change their title names anytime soon. They should not merge the IC and US titles because they have too big of a roster (many of which are outrageously under-used) to have only 2 singles titles. They also need to revamp the Tag Team division with more tag teams. So they have lots of room for challengers with the titles they have.

What I would LOVE to see happen with the Championships they have is redesigning them.

The Tag Team titles need it the most. They aren't even GOLD! They need to be re-designed quick.

Next up would be the WWE WHC. Needs to merge to one belt and I'm sure that would come with a re-designing. I HATE seeing the Champion have to haul around two belts for ONE championship.

The other titles are 'Okay' for a while but those two above need some changes quick.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Somewhere between now and Summer Slam or Survivor series, a feud should start between whomever is the U.S & I.C champions, and this should result in the merger of the two.

You have some interesting ideas, but I can't say that I agree with all of of what you posted in the opening post. The midcard belts should not be merged. It had made sense with every other championship tier to make there only be one title, but the midcard tier is the one exception to that issue. The roster is large enough to justify having two belts in the midcard. The World Heavyweight Championship (the big gold belt) was the secondary title when it was still around, for former world champions and upper card wrestlers not quite in the top tier. The Intercontinental Championship should get bumped up into this spot, with the US Championship being kept as the belt for true midcarders. The title structure in its current form is just fine. No further unifications are needed.

Some names for it could be "International Championship", or "World Championship".

International doesn't sound as important as Intercontinental does. World Championship makes zero sense when there already is a World Heavyweight Championship. Keep the midcard belts as they are with no name changes or unifications.

Change the word "Diva's" back to "Women's", as it makes it sound much more legitimate. That's all there is to say there.

That won't happen. The female wrestlers are referred to as Divas, so I am firmly convinced that their championship will not be changing its name anytime soon. I would not be against a change in design though. Bring back the Womens Championship design, but perhaps a red or pink strap. That would make the belt still look prettier than the titles used by the male wrestlers, but could be taken more seriously than the butterfly belt. I don't hate that thing as much as most around here do, but I'm certainly not against a change in its design.

This is where we can bring back the Hardcore Championship. Hell, name it the "Extreme Championship" if you want a different name. Put in that whole "24/7" rule, and we can have a lot of fun with it. Have it so that, at every show, a referee is constantly following the champ everywhere he goes. At any given time, someone can attack and start a match, no matter where they are.

No, absolutely not. That title should never come back. I hated the 24/7 rule and the Hardcore Championship changed hands far too often to be anything more than a joke. I would never want to see it return, especially not if the 24/7 rule was put back into effect. The "Extreme Championship" sounds more like you'd want the ECW Championship back. That won't happen either. ECW as a brand was buried by WWE when they watered down the product shortly after the third brand was launched.

What do all of you think? Should the U.S/I.C merge to create a title with twice the importance? Have any better title names than the ones I suggested? A better idea for a title other than the Hardcore/Extreme one? Let's try to get some thoughts going here.

As I stated previously, just keep the title structure as it is. No merging the midcard belts, and no addition of new belts. No Hardcore Championship return, no ECW Championship return, no European Championship return, and no Cruiserweight Championship return. NO NEW TITLES ARE NEEDED RIGHT NOW!!!! Night of Champions might benefit from having more titles, but I see no other positive from adding more belts. Not when WWE can't even make their midcard belts matter. The midcard belts they currently have will suffice and should NOT be unified. The WWE need to do everything they can in order to restore the importance of the titles that they currently have.

The Tag Team Championships are fine the way they are. The US and Intercontinental are fine in appearance, but need to continue in the direction that strong champions that we have now in Barrett and Sheamus are hopefully taking the titles in. The Divas Championship could use a change in appearance, the look of the Womens Championship with a pink or red strap. Finally, keep the WWE Championship's design for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship's design other than changing the plate behind the WWE logo from a black one to a gold one. The big gold belt would have to be retired for this, but there should not be two belts representing the world title anyhow.

 

[0987lewis]

Extreme/Hardcore champ
Mick Foley hasn't renewed his 'legend contract' so it might not happen but I would like to see him come out and pick a young talent and bestow the built on them since he still holds the title lol As much as I hate DB it would be an interesting return for him if the authority screwed him out of his rematch through some technicality and Foley came out and cut a promo saying HHH has lost sight of what being a wrestler and that wrestling has evolved but the game hasnt adapted.

Or in my wildest dreams just have Foley come out and anoounce that he needs to do all he can to save the business and a new hardcore champ is best for business and there is nothing HHH can do because here he is now.....and out walks Punk with belt. I know it wont happen but I can dream

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Personally, I agree with renaming the Divas Championship, calling it the Women's Championship and redesigning the title overall. I don't see it happening anytime soon, at least not while Vince is ultimately in charge, but it's possible it could change once he steps down as CEO.

As for the Hardcore Championship, I see no real point to it. The WWE Hardcore Championship in & of itself was meant, for the most part, as a joke more than anything else. It truly became nothing more than a joke due to the 24/7 rule, which I absolutely hated. I dunno, it's just difficult for me to think of a title as being prestigious when it changes hands well over 200 times in less than 4 years of existence. Also, considering that shots to the head are banned due to concern over concussions and other head trauma, wrestlers almost always don't blade anymore due to the potential risk of spreading disease like Hepatitis and that WWE fairly often has various no DQ/no holds barred singles & tag team matches, it'd just feel like it exists for the simple purpose of giving someone a title to carry around. Also, wrestlers in WWE get more than their share of injuries in standard matches under WWE's grueling touring schedule as it is without tossing out various hardcore matches on a regular basis. Since WWE has those sort of matches featuring anyone rather than a "Hardcore Division", it'd be like bringing back the Cruiserweight Championship despite the fact that a good 40% of the main roster is 225 lbs. or less with several such wrestlers having been a World Champion in WWE the past several years.