Everyone gets a ribbon

[Kliq69]

Over the last decade, there as been a growing number of people clamoring for "new people" to be world champions. While I can understand the logic behind having numerous top contenders, I can't wrap my mind around the vast amount of "new" contenders people are wanting in the top spot.

In any successful time period for wrestling, there have always been a select few on top of the business or specific territory and the rest were left for the under card. What has changed that we now have to make nearly everyone a world champion or somehow they're being wasted.

Recently, I've seen people clamoring for everyone from Rhodes, Sandow, and Barrett to guys like Kofi and Santino. The top of the roster (or near top) is as crowded as it's ever been, I just don't understand the logic behind needing every person to be seen as a top contender.

Right now, you have Cena and Sheamus on the shelf, but that does nothing to eliminate them from contention when they come back. You have Orton, Punk, Bryan. You also have ADR, Henry, Christian, Ziggler. On top of that, you have guys like Kane and Show who could be contenders simply by being placed in the appropriate storyline. Then you have the part timers like Lesnar, RVD, Jericho, Taker, and HHH who all could be legit contenders to either titles tomorrow and the average fan wouldn't have a problem with it.

During the most successful period in wrestling history, WWE had a handful of people who were considered top contenders. (Rock, Austin, HHH, Foley, and Taker) The rest of the roster were in the undercard and business improved because of the strength of the entire roster.

People complain constantly about the lack of angles involving the midcard titles and tag titles, but at the same time do nothing but advocate moving every midcard wrestler with any potential to the main event.

At one point, WWE's midcard featured Jericho, Benoit, Angle, and Eddie among others. Three of these guys had over a decade of experience, were known around the world as some of the best wrestlers of their day, and were fighting over the European and IC titles like they were the big belt. Steve Austin, The Rock, and HHH all three cut their proverbial teeth with feuds over the IC title and it wasn't seen as some sort of disrespect.

How much more enjoyable would any random card be if the entire card was stocked top to bottom with real feuds with decent wrestlers.

Why is Wade Barrett fighting over the IC title such a horrible thing? Why couldn't he, The Miz, Axel, and a couple others (pick and choose your own fill-ins) spend the next two or three years fighting tooth and nail over that one belt. No moving up to challenge for the big belt, just sole focus on the belt they were fighting for. The same thing goes for the US title. You have plenty of guys on the roster who could fill out a "division" to feud solely for the US title. Again, no quick rises, no promotions, just fighting over the belt they're assigned. Now, I understand that the cream rises to the top and if for some reason a guy pulls off an Austin 316 moment that changes his destiny, but for the most part these days, all moves to the top (save Bryan and Punk) feel forced and contrived instead of the natural progression due to the response of the crowd.

What has caused this shift? What has caused the IWC to see any placement on the roster below world title contender as some sort of punishment or insult? We complain about the prestige of certain titles (namely the IC title), yet when a solid guy gets his hands on the belt, we say he's being wasted and needs to be world champion. How is this logical? How can such a high percentage of the roster be in line for the top title without watering down its prestige?

Is it the "everyone's a winner" idealism that seems to be permeating our current culture that is causing this widespread thinking? Is that the road were heading down? I fear that it is. If we don't take a moment and reassess our ideas of what success means in the wrestling business, how long before the WWE title simply becomes the equivalent of the participation ribbon being handed out at kid's sporting events? Is that really what we want, everyone getting a ribbon?

 

[Suikervrij]

I don't get why every wrestler on the roster right now would have to be a future champion. There's a lot of talented guys in midcard now and if creative could come up with good storylines they could very well build great television.

Just as an example; Back in the day the whole Taker - Kane feud wasn't about a title. But it still is one of the most talked about era's in WWE history. Same goes for Cena and the Nexus, who had a great feud and didn't compete, or even mention, a title.

I'm not saying that titles aren't important, but how about we start thinking about feuds that are just interesting stories without all the gold attached to it all the time...

 

[George Steele's Barber]

You realize that the IWC has thousands of people? Some of them have stupid opinions. There's always going to be one monkey who says "Yoshi Tatsu deserves a chance". You also realize the period you are speaking of only had one world title and less hours to fill? A title that I would add was pursued by Kane and Show during the time you are speaking about (just to add to your list of five). Do you really think there were no idiots clamoring for Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit to get main event spots during this time? Isn't this attitude that you are speaking about part of what got Foley his chance in the first place?

I know what you are trying to say and "Yes" some parents need to do a better job preparing their children for the real world and not just tickle their hairless asses for anything they do. But that is a copout and has no connection to the main event scene in professional wrestling.

And in the end isn't having more competitors better for business or are you just deep down a sissy liberal communist?

 

[Suikervrij]

I personally just want to see good matches and not just a couple of really good and big stars with titles while the rest is filler. This is not a shot at the stars deserving one thing or the other, this is more a stab at creative seemingly not knowing what to do with their midcard- en lower card talent. When was the last time you saw a really good feud in midcard which will go in the history books eventually as being equally as important as the main titles?

Sure, it's a "sport" and the titles represent a certain credibility but I just think that titles are the way to go per se at the moment, and that's just sort of silly. The whole angle the Wyatts have now for example is a lot more interesting than let's say ADR and his WHC run. You don't always need gold for good storylines.

 

[TB77]

I agree with most everything you're saying. It feels as if the WWE is just rewarding guys with the Top belts for the fun of it. Guys like Swagger,Miz,Ziggler,ADR,and Christian to name a few. Did they have to give these guys a title reign? No not really they could have left them in the upper mid-card battling for the IC or US belt with maybe the occasional feud with a world champ.
To me Ziggler and Miz are the perfect example of this they make for great mid-card champions who you could buy get a shot at the world title but not winning and going back down to be the top of the mid-card.
Like you said everybody seems to have that guy they want to be champion and if there not than they are being wasted. Look at the Golden Era Hulk Hogan held the title for ever but they still had some great wrestler that competed for the IC and nobody thought any less of them. Guys like Tito,Rude,Steamboat, and Greg the Hammer made the IC belt cool. We're they all wasted because they didn't beat Hogan for the title? No they are all still looked at as some of the best workers in business. Not everyone needs to be a world champ to be remembered and thought of highly.

 

[Kliq69]

You realize that the IWC has thousands of people? Some of them have stupid opinions. There's always going to be one monkey who says "Yoshi Tatsu deserves a chance". You also realize the period you are speaking of only had one world title and less hours to fill? A title that I would add was pursued by Kane and Show during the time you are speaking about (just to add to your list of five). Do you really think there were no idiots clamoring for Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit to get main event spots during this time? Isn't this attitude that you are speaking about part of what got Foley his chance in the first place?

I know what you are trying to say and "Yes" some parents need to do a better job preparing their children for the real world and not just tickle their hairless asses for anything they do. But that is a copout and has no connection to the main event scene in professional wrestling.

And in the end isn't having more competitors better for business or are you just deep down a sissy liberal communist?

I think you missed my point. This wasn't meant as an attack, but as a way to open dialogue. I've been guilty quite a few times for clamoring for a certain guy to reach the top, as I'm sure you have as well. What I'm trying to accomplish is for us to possibly take a step back and realize that quite possibly we're the reason the midcard and tag titles aren't viewed as prestigious. It's not creative, it's not Vince, it's us.

Every single time someone shows something special in the midcard, you have a group of people wanting them to be champion because it's some sort of insult if they aren't.

As far as the rest of your post: I'm about as right wing as you can get, Foley got his spot due to his relationship with top stars of the day and being a very close friend of JR. You don't think Taker and Austin (with their pull) weren't instrumental in Foley's rise? On the other hand, his rise was very much organic. The reaction after the HITC match was insane, he was bringing in huge ratings that fall with the Rock/Sock connection, Mr. Socko, all the vignettes with Vince, and his title win was so popular it caused a shift in the ratings war with WCW. The idea his rise was due to feeling sorry for him diminished how great of a year he had.

The thread title might not have been the best choice, but I think it's relevant. Soon we're going to reach the point that half the roster will have "former world champ" attached to it. How prestigious will being champion be when everyone has done it? What if every single NFL player won at least one superbowl in their career? Would winning the SuperBowl matter at that point? How is giving away these titles runs to people when they're already people in the spot worthy of holding the belt doing anything to add to the prestige of the title?

 

[MCMG]

Lets compare now with everyone's beloved Attitude Era. The roster has a lot of depth which wasn't true in the late 90's/early 2000's. The mid-carders now are far more talented and all-round better superstars than their counterparts of the attitude era. Obviously, the very top during the late-90's was of a higher quality but the WWF championship went from Austin to Rock back to Austin and the odd run from Foley or Taker. As it stands there are more options for the WWE.

Now, we have two belts, 5 hours of television and an extremely large and talented roster. The gap between mid-card and main-event isn't as big as it was then meaning people can say Wade Barrett should be given a chance over Del Rio. Can you imagine someone trying to tell you Val Venus deserves a chance in the main-event over The Rock or Steve Austin. With two world titles there is a greater chance to give mid-carders a push.

 

[justinept]

What has caused this shift? What has caused the IWC to see any placement on the roster below world title contender as some sort of punishment or insult? We complain about the prestige of certain titles (namely the IC title), yet when a solid guy gets his hands on the belt, we say he's being wasted and needs to be world champion. How is this logical? How can such a high percentage of the roster be in line for the top title without watering down its prestige?

You can't compare the mid-card of 1999-2004 with the mid-card of today. There has been a shift in WWE booking for more than a decade - a shift that has seen the degradation of the mid-card through years of negligence and talent loss. This shift started with the brand split and was furthered by the addition of the World Heavyweight Championship.

The era of which you speak featured an over-crowded main event scene that had one unified show with one World Title. There simply wasn't room for guys like Jericho, Benoit or Guerrero to push through to the main event so they were stuck working with each other - and it worked because they were top-notch performers that people were invested in due to their time in ECW and WCW. Even a few years later, when the WWE had lost Foley, The Rock, Austin and Lesnar and replaced them with those three guys, there were still guys like Edge, Mysterio, RVD, Cena, Batista and Orton ready to carry the mid-card torch.

Having such credible performers in the mid-card all those years made it easy for newcomers to get over as well. Because fans were invested in Jericho, Benoit and Guerrero, it wasn't tough to make them invest in Angle because he was constantly feuding with them. When guys like Edge, Mysterio and RVD hit the mid-card, we invested in them because we'd seen them before and because they were working programs with other guys we'd already invested in. The same formula worked for Cena, Orton and Batista when they came around in 2004ish.

But there was a huge shift in the middle part of the decade when the WWE lost Guerrero, Angle, Benoit and even Bobby Lashely. Suddenly, the WWE had TWO completely unique shows with brand-specific pay-per views, and TWO World Titles to book - and because they had lost 8-10 star performers over the course of the 6-7 years, the WWE was forced to create new stars on the fly. Guys like Orton, Cena, RVD, Batista, JBL and Edge simultaneously joined a main event scene that featured Big Show, 'Taker, Kane, Booker T, Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

There was no one left in the mid-card to really care about at this point - all the stars that had previously existed at the level had gone on to compete for the WWE and WHC Titles ... and any newcomer that garnered any type of reaction immediately went on to feud for the WWE or WHC Title. Basically, the WWE was ignoring their mid-card (as they still mostly do) by fast-tracking newcomers to the main event with the hope that one of them would stick and become a star. So while guys that made immediate impacts upon their debut like Sheamus, Barrett, Umaga and Ryback could have been the foundation for another successful mid-card (at various times), they were being relied upon to revive a stagnant main event scene. So again, who was left in the mid-card that we truly cared about? What group of performers in the mid-card could you rely upon to get other mid-card performers over? The answer is no one because anyone that fit that description was immediately tried in the main event.

And that's really where we are today. We've been told for years that the mid-card doesn't matter. We've witnessed years of watching guys waste away not necessarily because they aren't in the main event, but because they don't even have a mid-card program to work. So when a fan says they want to see Ziggler in the main event ... or they think that Cesaro should be fighting for the WHC ... it's because the WWE has proven over the course of the past number of years that the only way those guys are going to be in meaningful programs if they're in the main event.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

I don't want to see them play hot potato with the belt, but I am favor of some occasional variety. It's a proven fact that belt changes usually result in a quick ratings spike, especially after ending someone's long title run. However, that doesn't mean it should be exploited as a ratings tactic or the thrill of changes will get watered down.

I look at it this way though, how often do you see the same team win the Super Bowl year after year? Not that often right? Well there's only 32 teams in the NFL, there's a lot more than 32 wrestlers in WWE. I think WWE seems to have a big problem in recent years of keeping top talent relevant without having them in the title picture. But I absolutely do think we should see more people than we currently do having a chance at it. I don't hate Cena, but I can't tell you how sick of him I am at the top either. Certain guys like Barrett certainly do deserve a chance at it I'd say, he's earned it. But even more than that, they always say "anything can happen in WWE" well if thats truly the case, I don't know why it would kill them to let someone shocking like a Zack Ryder or Santino win the title, hold it for a week and then let someone come destroy them for it. I don't advocate everyone on the roster gets a shot, but if you're career in WWE has lasted more than 5 years, you're over with the fans, have a solid work rate, and are good on the mic, and especially if you can move merchandise, than I really don't see any reason why they shouldn't be given a chance at least once in their career.