Finally Adding Prestige and Value to Titles

[It's Damn Real!]

One of the biggest complaints from a lot of the IWC, as well as some of the more regulars among casual fans is that title belts are often swapped too often between the same major players and begin to seem meaningless over a very small course of time.

A lot of us lived through the David Arquette era and know just how far this mentality can really go, but something has really changed in TNA of late in that vein, IMO, and that's the value of the titles they own due to the fact that TNA is now forcibly creating more meaning and prestige behind it's belts by building what seem like perennial champions.

Hear me out...

AJ Styles has held the TNA World Heavyweight championship since September 20th, 2009 – a reign of 152 days (to date). In that span, he's defended the title at least six times against the likes of Sting, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and Kurt Angle and more. I think we'd all agree that the WHC is the most important title in the company, and the fact that it's laid claim to right now by the biggest young star in TNA who just so happened to knock off three or four of the biggest names in the company in title defense of is nothing to scoff at, IMO. If that isn't prestige and value, I don't know what is.

Now the same can't be said in terms of term length for the other titles and their current holders [Rob Terry (Global), Morgan/Hernandez (World Tag), Doug Williams (X Division), Tara (Knockouts) and Hamada/Kong (Womens Tag) ], but the shenanigans surrounding any of the titles (that TNA historically seemed to revolve around regularly) seem to have really dissipated in the last year or so.

Tara may have only held the Knockouts title since January 17th, but she's been a major player for the title now for months, and held it for a large stretch prior to losing it to ODB (who she won it back from) a few months ago.

Morgan/Hernandez ended up pinning The British Invasion to win the TNA World Tag Team Championships, and prior to their win The British Invasion held the titles from October 18th, 2009 through to January 17th, 2010 – a 92 day title run.

Rob Terry recently won the Global Championship from Eric Young at a live event in Cardiff, Wales, UK (which has yet to come to fruition in terms of of the story line on television), but prior to his win, Eric Young held the title from October 18th to January 27th – a 102 day title run.

And lastly, Doug Williams won the X Division title on January 28th after cashing in his briefcase to defeat Amazing Red, but prior to this Red held the belt from October 5th, 2009 – a 116 day title run.

Perhaps we don't agree, and if we don't I'd love to hear why you think otherwise, but I'm curious to know how the rest of you feel about this, and what it means moving forward for the company? Does this kind of booking even matter? Do you really care how long someone holds a title for, and why or why not?

 

[Schizophrenic]

I think that if a title becomes a damn hot potato and is passed around almost every week it becomes dull and no longer means jack squat. However both companies have been recently allowing the champions to hold onto the titles for a good extended period of time recently. For that I am thankful. I always questioned how good a champion was if they were always losing and winning back the titles.

 

[GenMe]

I think that if a title becomes a damn hot potato and is passed around almost every week it becomes dull and no longer means jack squat. However both companies have been recently allowing the champions to hold onto the titles for a good extended period of time recently. For that I am thankful. I always questioned how good a champion was if they were always losing and winning back the titles.

Yes Schizophrenic i totally agree with you.

Look when i was younger I would always be like "Fuck, when is HHH going to lose the Championship?" Trust me, he didnt know squat about adding prestige and value to the title.

Now I want the title holder to keep that title. Now they know more about the prestige and value of each title.

Now about AJ adding prestige and value to the title, I say yeah AJ is the Face of TNA. And by having Flair on his side, it adds way more value to the title. He faces a lot of contenders and by beating the contenders. The titles prestige goes up a level.

As for the Prestige and Value of the X division title, for me its going down a step. Look who is holding it, Doug Williams. I dont see doug as a major Champion. But lets wait until Destination X. From there we will know if the X division title's value goes up or down.

 

[J.Diesel]

I have to agree with you. TNA has been doing a great job on keeping the belts on people longer and the one that means the most is the Heavyweight title currently held by AJ Styles. And with AJ recieving the push he is getting and having Ric Flair by his side I think makes that title look even more important, especially with him going over the list of guys he has the past few months.

And onto the other champions like Morgan and Hernandez who are the Tag Champs and Doug Williams being the X division champ all these guys have been featured on tv alot more lately which I think is pretty important so we can all know who the champions are even if there not defending the title so very often we still need to see these guys. I hate watching a wrestling show and sometimes you won't see a certain champion for a few weeks. Kind of like Eric Young not being shown for a while and he was the Global Champion.We forget who holds that certain title or that the title itself even exists. Now that Rob Terry is Global Champion hopefully that changes and I hope the rule for defending the title only outside the U.S is no longer in use.
As for the knockouts, I think there doing ok with the prestige of that title. For a while it did seem like they were switching it around far too often. But I think if they keep it on Tara for a little while longer it will be fine. She is used on impact quite often, so even if she isn't defending her belt we still see her and know who the champion is because she is walking out with it around her waist.

 

[vaevictis]

I do think that you definitely have a point with AJ Styles as World Champion. He's clearly established himself as a fighting champion, and doesn't look weak at all. His run with the championship has been great.

However, one problem that I do have with your argument is that long title runs don't necessarily add prestige. The biggest example of this with TNA's recent titleholders is Amazing Red. On his 116 day title run, he was not doing anything with the championship. He had little TV time, he was wrestling in web matches more often than on televised ones, it seemed. Although he did win an Ultimate X match, he wasn't involved in any decent feuds, he wasn't given much time in the spotlight. If anything, Red's title run lowered the prestige of the X Division Championship, simply because he was one of the most forgettable champions in recent memory.

The point is, it's not about the length of a title run that makes prestige. It's about what a champion does with a title run, no matter how long or short it is, which builds prestige. And that is something that TNA is doing well with the World Championship, while other belts are falling to the wayside.

 

[healyz84]

Look when i was younger I would always be like "Fuck, when is HHH going to lose the Championship?" Trust me, he didnt know squat about adding prestige and value to the title.

Now I want the title holder to keep that title. Now I know about the prestige and value of each title.

While it may be true that HHH may not have added much prestige to the title while he held it, and it became dull and boring, there is no denying that it was a huge deal when someone finally dethroned the king of kings. I remember his span as champion under the Bischoff era, when he was just handed the title. I can't remember how long he held the title for, but it was too long. You had competitors like Steiner, HBK (I think, hard to recall that far back), Booker T. and many others trying to take the title, and Steiner specifically was built to be a real credible threat. I think it was the elimination chamber where HHH finally lost the title, but it was a big deal. Same when he lost the title of Benoit and Batista, there were big deals because he held the title for so long.

In the 2 years previous, you came to expect that a title would change on every ppv. It lost its suspense, and it made the title worthless. I hope the wwe and tna work harder to change this mentality. Sure its fine every once in a while to have a few quick title switches (ie. back and forth like rock and mankind did in early 1999) but its also important to have those long title reigns like the rock's in 2000, Austin's in 1998 (with the 1 small title change in the middle) and HHH for most of the mid 2000s.

 

[JackBurton]

Its not the length of the title reign that adds prestige to a belt. This seems to be a common misconception amongst fans. Its how the reign is booked - BUT - they are inextricably linked.

Why the length of the reign is important isnt simply because "you hold it for 10 months and therefore it means something". You do however need quite a bit of time to make anything mean something and that is where the length of reign comes in to play. Someone mention Amazing Reds reign, lengthy - yes; meaningless; almost. Its a formula; Length of reign multiplied by title holders character build = prestige or "steam", momentum, traction.

 

[JenksIX]

I don't think TNA is doing a good job except for maybe Aj's title.
I mean the global and x division titles have tons of problems atm.
I'd mentioned this yesterday in some thread ....

TNA should put the global title (may'be rename it ONCE again?)

on Desmond Wolfe and let that guy become the best global champion TNA has ever seen. The only way to make the global title look like the IC title is by putting it on a guy who could be World Champion. Ultimate Warrior, Piper, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, HBK, Razor Ramon ... these were all guys who were IC champs and/or guys remembered for their IC title matches.

Look at Eric Young, everyone seems to think this guy is some big deal ... his global title reign was/is a sham. Half the time he was wrestling tag team matches with Nash, nvm all those stipulations. It's almost as if TNA wanted to put the global title into some type of purgatory until they could figure out what to do with it.

Anyway, as for the X Division title ... I think you should put the strap on either Shelley or The Pope. I mean Shelley is a funny guy and use to be used ALOT better in TNA.

 

[ronthony717]

I do see prestige being built again.. I feel like titles in TNA and WWE are both building more then they have been for awhile.. With tna it feels like their main focus is to build the world champ right now which is unfortunetly losin focus on the rest of the titles.. Aj styles with his amazing matches with the title on the line, the constant title deffences and big fueds help the title holder a lot because it makes the title seem the most important.. Imo the legends title was built with more prestige then the global title.. The knockout title has a lot but the division itself is goin through alittle funk and the knockout tag titles never really got there yet.. The x title deffinetly has it but there hasn't been any build on it in such a long time the title just seems defunct.. And the tag title has built so much with team 3D, Beer Money Inc, AMW?, homicide and hernendez (sry if I had forgotten their tag names.. Ill prob remember when I'm done lol) and so on.. Tna knew what they were doin WWE is now learning.. And btw I'm not biased cause I'm a die hard WWE fan..

 

[a0161613]

I think that is one thing of many to come out of this regime. A strongly booked champion, who has been given credibility week in and week out, making himself, the company and even the challengers look strong. All this while creating great matches, an intriguing storyline and what has become entertaining must-see TV. I really can't wait to Impact now and it's great.

But about the X Division etc, I think they are building towards something with Beer Money and the tag team and hopefully Destination X will be the start of something for the X Division.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA doesn't really play hot potato a whole lot with most of its titles, though it has to some degree. It's biggest problem is that it puts the belts on champions and does nothing with them sometimes for literally weeks or months at a time. Either that, or they wind up making their reigning champions look weak. Take Homicide's run with the X Division title for example. During his roughly 1 month run, he defended the title a couple of times. His first defense against Samoa Joe made him look completely weak. During the match, you were given the impression that Joe could beat Homicide at will and that's exactly what happened the second time around when they wrestled at a ppv. Joe dropped the title to Amazing Red in a brief 2 or 3 minute match in which he dominated Red the entire time and lost only due to interference from Bobby Lashley. Red's run with the title got off to a lousy start and didn't really improve as it went along. He'd go sometimes a month at a time without even appearing on iMPACT! and worked primarily dark matches. He only had maybe 2 promos in which he barely even said a word and all the talking was done for him by Don West. More often than not, they'd sometimes slap an X Division title match onto a ppv even if Red hasn't been seen or heard from in weeks and with no build up whatsoever.

As far as the Global title goes, it's been pretty much the same thing. Young held the championship for just over 100 days and he literally did nothing with it. The whole anti-American thing didn't make a bit of sense and would only serve to devalue the title in the long run, which is what happened. The anti-American stance of World Elite was further muddied by Eric Young's alliance with Kevin Nash. His only televised defense of the championship was against Hamada and he was made to look like a weak champion and wrestler as he had to cheat to retain the title. For quite a while Eric Young has been MIA for a while and he drops the title to Rob Terry, arguably the worst talent currently on the TNA roster.

As for the Knockout title, there's definitely been some hot potato being played with it and the Knockout Division has lost a lot of steam over the last 6 months. Awesome Kong is suspended and seems to want to leave, Alyssa Flash is gone, Hamada is MIA. It's just kind of a low point for the Women's division in TNA.

As for the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship, it's sort of the same with the X Division and Global titles. During Sarita & Taylor Wilde's run, they'd generally appear on iMPACT! around once a month, maybe wrestle at a ppv on occassion, beat the Beautiful People and then the cycle would start all over again. The Knockout tag titles are arguably the most useless titles TNA has right now. Kong and Hamada are the new Knockout tag title holders and, as I said, Kong is suspended and Hamada is nowhere to be seen. There are really no viable tag teams in the Knockout Division right now.

Now, in my opinion, the tag team scene in TNA has been going steadily downhill for a while. Throughout much of last summer and going into the fall, we saw the same four teams feuding for the title over and over again in match after match. And, once you got past The British Invasion, Team 3D, Steiner & Booker T and Beer Money, there really wasn't any other viable team in TNA. Putting the titles on Matt Morgan and Hernandez just seems like an "it's just to give them something to do" kind of move. However, the real focus of Morgan and Hernandez was in the 8 Card Stud Tournament and the team looks like it's going to be split soon. To my knowledge, they defended the titles once against the British Invasion in a return match just after winning the titles. I don't really buy Morgan and Hernandez as a team because nothing has been put into them to make them a team.

For the most part, TNA's biggest problems regarding their championships is that they put the titles onto wrestlers and then often don't do anything with them once they are champions. TNA has nearly the same number of wrestlers on its roster as the WWE has despite having only a third of the airtime. I can understand that TNA doesn't have enough time to feature all its wrestlers as much as they'd like, but time should be made for champions. Without air time, without matches, without promos, for wrestlers carrying company titles, the titles lose prestige.

With the exception of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, TNA isn't focusing all that much on its title scene. TNA has become very main event oriented over the past few months and I think that just about every other title and division within the company has suffered and declined all the more.

 

[Pedro08]

TNA doesn't really play hot potato a whole lot with most of its titles, though it has to some degree. It's biggest problem is that it puts the belts on champions and does nothing with them sometimes for literally weeks or months at a time. Either that, or they wind up making their reigning champions look weak. Take Homicide's run with the X Division title for example. During his roughly 1 month run, he defended the title a couple of times. His first defense against Samoa Joe made him look completely weak. During the match, you were given the impression that Joe could beat Homicide at will and that's exactly what happened the second time around when they wrestled at a ppv. Joe dropped the title to Amazing Red in a brief 2 or 3 minute match in which he dominated Red the entire time and lost only due to interference from Bobby Lashley. Red's run with the title got off to a lousy start and didn't really improve as it went along. He'd go sometimes a month at a time without even appearing on iMPACT! and worked primarily dark matches. He only had maybe 2 promos in which he barely even said a word and all the talking was done for him by Don West. More often than not, they'd sometimes slap an X Division title match onto a ppv even if Red hasn't been seen or heard from in weeks and with no build up whatsoever.

As far as the Global title goes, it's been pretty much the same thing. Young held the championship for just over 100 days and he literally did nothing with it. The whole anti-American thing didn't make a bit of sense and would only serve to devalue the title in the long run, which is what happened. The anti-American stance of World Elite was further muddied by Eric Young's alliance with Kevin Nash. His only televised defense of the championship was against Hamada and he was made to look like a weak champion and wrestler as he had to cheat to retain the title. For quite a while Eric Young has been MIA for a while and he drops the title to Rob Terry, arguably the worst talent currently on the TNA roster.

As for the Knockout title, there's definitely been some hot potato being played with it and the Knockout Division has lost a lot of steam over the last 6 months. Awesome Kong is suspended and seems to want to leave, Alyssa Flash is gone, Hamada is MIA. It's just kind of a low point for the Women's division in TNA.

As for the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship, it's sort of the same with the X Division and Global titles. During Sarita & Taylor Wilde's run, they'd generally appear on iMPACT! around once a month, maybe wrestle at a ppv on occassion, beat the Beautiful People and then the cycle would start all over again. The Knockout tag titles are arguably the most useless titles TNA has right now. Kong and Hamada are the new Knockout tag title holders and, as I said, Kong is suspended and Hamada is nowhere to be seen. There are really no viable tag teams in the Knockout Division right now.

Now, in my opinion, the tag team scene in TNA has been going steadily downhill for a while. Throughout much of last summer and going into the fall, we saw the same four teams feuding for the title over and over again in match after match. And, once you got past The British Invasion, Team 3D, Steiner & Booker T and Beer Money, there really wasn't any other viable team in TNA. Putting the titles on Matt Morgan and Hernandez just seems like an "it's just to give them something to do" kind of move. However, the real focus of Morgan and Hernandez was in the 8 Card Stud Tournament and the team looks like it's going to be split soon. To my knowledge, they defended the titles once against the British Invasion in a return match just after winning the titles. I don't really buy Morgan and Hernandez as a team because nothing has been put into them to make them a team.

For the most part, TNA's biggest problems regarding their championships is that they put the titles onto wrestlers and then often don't do anything with them once they are champions. TNA has nearly the same number of wrestlers on its roster as the WWE has despite having only a third of the airtime. I can understand that TNA doesn't have enough time to feature all its wrestlers as much as they'd like, but time should be made for champions. Without air time, without matches, without promos, for wrestlers carrying company titles, the titles lose prestige.

With the exception of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, TNA isn't focusing all that much on its title scene. TNA has become very main event oriented over the past few months and I think that just about every other title and division within the company has suffered and declined all the more.

I couldn't agree more. It's not how long someone holds the title, but how the title run is booked. I think you have to actively defend the title to add prestige to the belt.

I don't think anyone can dispute that TNA has booked AJ's title run pretty well. He has actively defended the belt against Angle, Sting, Daniels, Tomko, Joe and will be defending against The Pope. That's a good amount of defenses against some of TNA's top guys.

Now contrast that with the booking of TNA's other titles in which EY's Global Title was defended once, against Hamada. Amazing Red hardly had any title defenses and before Morgan/ Hernandez, The British Invasion rarely defended the Tag Titles.

When titles just sit on wrestler's waist without being actively defended, people stop caring. It looks like the titles don't mean much because it appears that nobody wants to challenge for them.