Did Ambrose's U.S champ reign ruin the U.S Belt?

[MartialHorror]

Ambrose pretty much used the belt as a decoration, rarely defending it despite holding onto it for a prolonged period of time. When he turned face, he dropped it during the battle royal- which seemed incredibly anti-climactic considering the length of his reign. I remember thinking it was strange that Sheamus had won. It made him look like the bad guy, a tool of the authority.

But now it seems like it has become a decoration for Sheamus. He defending it against Cesaro, but that was almost 3 months ago. SInce then, Sheamus has tried to attain other belts, but doesn't seem to be very interested in defending the one that he has. Most of the time the belts are defended on a monthly basis, so...the hell?

Admittedly I only started watching wrestling again near the end of 2013, but they treated Ambrose's lengthy yet uneventful reign as something unusual, so I'd presume it wasn't this useless prior to him winning the belt. Admittedly Ambrose and Sheamus probably should've never been given the belt. Ambrose was part of the Shield and most of his matches were team-oriented. Sheamus seems to have only been given the belt as a consolation prize for not being in the main event scene, but will continue to be part of it whenever it requires a handful of people. If Cesaro had won it at Payback, it would probably be defended a lot more.

There was talk of uniting the IC and US belts, but that doesn't seem likely anytime soon as both Sheamus and Ziggler are faces. I personally think Rusev should win it, which would provide some hilarious heat. But anyway, has the U.S Belt been useless like this for awhile now? Or was it Ambrose's reign that brought it down because...I often forget it even exists.

 

[LSN80]

And this is different from the previous ten champions? They did with Ambrose exactly what they did with past champions. They made a big deal of him being champion at the beginning, then they discarded belt feuds with Ambrose in favor of all-Shield ones. This has been the status quo with championships not named the WWE World Heavyweight Championship- It may get some shine when a new guy wins it, but soon after, it's back to being irrelevant.

Ambrose's reign had nothing to do with that. This was happening before Ambrose when he took the belt from Kofi, and it's been happening since with Sheamus. WWE simply doesn't much care about its lower-card belts.

 

[Mudlup50]

This has been happening for a while now, definitely not a wrestlers fault. It's creative deciding the title isn't important enough to warrant a match but to be fair, SummerSlam was packed and it'll be defended at NoC(better be!) And in all seriousness, the IWC loves mentioning how great it was when main event guys went after mid card belts. So let's see what we've got right now. Sheamus, former world champion. Ziggler...former world champion. Miz just lost it, former world champion.

So yea they need a storyline for it, but that's expecting a lot. I mean you have the world title, tag titles, us, ic and divas titles. You're expecting a feud for all 5! I kid, I definitely agree. Sheamus defending it at some point would be great. But something to note is that the title hierarchy is actually: World, IC, US...so it's actually the least important to them.

What they could do is make it like when the Brand Extension meant something. Not saying do that again, I just mean with the defense of mid card titles. The big 4 would see both champs fighting, same with Night Of champions, but aside from that it would be one or the other. HiaC we see Sheamus defend the US title. Survivor Series they both do. TLC we can see Ziggler defend the IC title. That way both are doing something, and the WWE can take turns with them.

 

[OYDK]

Honestly, I would say it's more the championship than anything else. No offense to Murica or anything, but the US title doesn't MEAN anything anymore... It basically IS a prop, I mean, what's the point in wanting it or carrying it anymore? You have the World Title which is the big shiny object at the end of the rainbow. You have the IC title which has always been the first step towards superstardom in the WWE. Than you have the Tag Team and Divas belts which represent the "best" tag team and woman's wrestler/s in the world.

So... why do we need the US Title? What does it represent? What does it mean for the future of the person holding it? All of these questions have to be answered by WWE to make the US title remotely relevant again.

 

[Alabama Slam]

Sadly, the US and IC titles have both lost their meaning, and that is sad because of the legends who held those titles and the legacies and careers having either of those titles launched. It used to be that every major wrestling superstar held either of those titles as a number one contender for the top prize, but somewhere, the legacy and the legend have come to mean nothing. It is no longer relevant. One suggestion is to have a top-tier man hold either title, to give it some meaning again, and have him chase the WWEWHC, while an up and comer chases him. It would open the opportunity for a second-tier guy to get good exposure, having a meaningful feud with a top-tier guy. Either way, having either of those belts mean nothing anymore, and to let the legacy of those titles should be, and it, a slap in the face of wrestling as a whole.

 

[Alabama Slam]

Does anyone besides me remember the Magnum TA vs Nikita Koloff feuds over the US Title or the great Ultimate Warrior vs Hogan match? Those were the days when having that belt made you the top guy to get a shot at the big belt, because they made it relevant, made it valuable enough to go after it...I agree, it is the writers' fault no one cares about either of those belts...sadly, fans are sheep...they will like or hate whatever you present before them, so it is up to the WWE to make those mean something.

 

[L@RISANO]

There is some Bulgarian-Russian guy being built up like a Monster, who might be the perfect way to get attention on the US title fairly easily,lMO....too bad the US Champion is an Irish guy, whilst that Russian guy is stuck fighting for Russian supremacy over American Superstars...


There might be still hope that it could happen tho...

 

[Pedigree1]

Great point.. Ambrose reign is not that different than all the other us champions.. True enough this title used to mean something but it hasn't meant anything for quite sometime. Ambrose would have made a fine us champion,but for some reason the WWE doesn't seem to put too much value into the title..

I forget sometimes that Sheamus is the champion much like we forgot at times Dean was the US champion.. Its crucial that they unify the IC/US title as soon as possible.. The IC title has a glimmer of hope to be relevant again,while the US title is pretty much a non-existent title right now.. I would love a Sheamus/Ziggler feud it be a great one IMO.

Sheamus needs a jumpstart to his character and ziggler is pretty hot right now.. Turn Sheamus Heel or tweak his character.. When he was King Sheamus he was at his best this jolly ol irishman who loves to fight and drink but a face,just doesn't work

 

[chicagokmc]

To me the Ambrose situation was different in that the person they gave it to was primarily wrestling in 6 man squash matches. The problem is winning a belt helps add buzz, but the Shield won mid card belts while they were at the height of being main eventers. At that time no one in the Shield was wrestling primarily singles, so to me it didn't make sense to award any of them a singles title like the US belt.

The other difference is that the announcers (who get their instructions from Vince/creative) even got in on it commenting how long it was between Ambrose defenses. His reign certainly didn't help the us belt.

 

[TootsieBear]

I don't want to sound like a newb, but does anyone know of whereabouts of Dean lately? I heard he was missing. Man, I hope he's alright.

 

[MWRedskins]

i dont think so. i think what's hurting the US Title belt (i dont think it's ruined, the US title CAN be fixed) is the way that the WWE pushes the champion and his feud and the same is for the IC Champion. For example, Bo Dallas. if he were the IC or US Champion, great promos would occur from a great promo guy. if Rusev was US Champion, Lana would cut amazing promos about the title like "how two Russians captured and crushed America and took their title." basically what i am saying is if WWE pushes feuds over the titles, then the titles WILL mean something. the titles arent ruined, just arent being used right.

 

[kadroan]

And this is different from the previous ten champions? They did with Ambrose exactly what they did with past champions. They made a big deal of him being champion at the beginning, then they discarded belt feuds with Ambrose in favor of all-Shield ones. This has been the status quo with championships not named the WWE World Heavyweight Championship- It may get some shine when a new guy wins it, but soon after, it's back to being irrelevant.

Ambrose's reign had nothing to do with that. This was happening before Ambrose when he took the belt from Kofi, and it's been happening since with Sheamus. WWE simply doesn't much care about its lower-card belts.

Yeah, unfortunately they don't care about lower-card belts. They got enough TV programming and talent to showcase a US title division but for some strange reason they don't.

I know I'm not the only one tired of squash matches from Rusev, any match involving Fandango/Adam Rose.

 

[Navi]

I don't want to sound like a newb, but does anyone know of whereabouts of Dean lately? I heard he was missing. Man, I hope he's alright.

He's off filming a movie, that's why they took him out the other night. He needs the time to do whatever he has too there.

 

[MartialHorror]

He's off filming a movie, that's why they took him out the other night. He needs the time to do whatever he has too there.

This is the kind of kayfabe stuff that makes me laugh.

Dean Ambrose just gets brutalized and now he's SO FURIOUS THAT HE WILL RETALIATE BY...filming a movie? The WWE is all panicked now that he's missing, wondering where he is! Apparently they forgot to check their own film studio...erm, whoops?

 

[Mudlup50]

People don't seem to understand this US title being more prestigious by slapping a main eventer on it. Right now both of the mid card champs are former world champions. Multiple times! Miz was a former world champion. And you're seriously telling me that is gonna fix it? Or do you mean you wanna see Orton or Cena drop down to take it? Then no new person gets pushed for it :S imagine the rage the IWC would have if Cena was the US champ, it doesn't add prestige to it, it blocks a Bo Dallas or a Cesaro or Rusev from taking it.

You can fix it pretty quickly by giving him a feud. I've been invested in the IC title recently because there was a sorta feud going on. Granted it includes one of my favorite wrestlers and one of the best technical wrestlers in the company right now, but still. It was something. They don't need to unify the titles, it would be a nice idea but it's not needed.

Remember a few years back there was a feud between Matt Hardy and MVP over the US title. And I remember each week wanting to see what would happen. All it would take is someone to say, maybe Sheamus should have an opponent at some point. This isn't Sheamus' fault, or Dean's or any former US champ. This is straight on creative. You need a storyline, make it seem like people want the damn thing right now no one does. Maybe Stardust should show up next week with a weirdo belt, and it would have the same amount of prestige.

Just give it a feud, the WWE is playing stupid with it right now.

 

[Sundar]

No, Ambrose's title reign did not ruin the US title. Neither of the mid-card titles have had proper feuds in ages. Regardless of who holds the title that is what happens. If anything I think Ambrose's reign briefly elevated the title above the IC title because Axel's run wasn't very good (can't blame Axel for that either) and the Shield were very dominant and were featured in more important feuds all the time.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Dean Ambrose's reign had little to do with the US Championship losing prestige. That had already happened a long time ago. When was the last time the belt had a meaningful title reign? Seriously. If you struggle to think of one, then there's your answer. Ambrose's reign failed to live up to expectations when it could have been one of the greatest, but the fact is that the belt had already lost a ton of prestige. Look back at the champions before him. We have had 3 years worth of title reigns that were all mostly pointless. Clearly the belt was already "ruined" when Ambrose won it.

Dean took the belt from Kofi. No offense to Kofi but this absolutely useless reign did nothing for the belt and it was an awful way to end Cesaro's reign, which like Dean's also showed potential at first. Santino Marella, of all people, held the belt before Cesaro. Then there was the uneventful reign of Jack Swagger before that, and before him was the even less eventful Zack Ryder reign which was something the fans wanted, but then WWE did NOTHING with it. Go all the way back to Dolph Ziggler in summer 2011 to finally find a decent reign. Dean Ambrose's reign didn't ruin the belt, it happened gradually as a slow process starting 3 years ago.

 

[Bagpipes]

I don't want to sound like a newb, but does anyone know of whereabouts of Dean lately? I heard he was missing. Man, I hope he's alright.

He's taking some time off to shoot a WWE Studios film. I've heard he could be back in time for Night of Champions, but that's unconfirmed to this point.

 

[WBL]

Personally, I do feel that Dean Ambrose's time with the belt hurt it... but it's not his fault. He defended it so inoften that even the commentators were told to use it as a joke.

Just go ahead and merge the IC and US titles already. It's one roster now.