If WWE were smart....

[MisterRob]

They would start changing and evolving the wrestling formula. Some traditions are great, some things shouldn't be done or altered when it comes to wrestling, but that doesn't mean things should always remain the same and never evolve. That's why the Attitude Era and the Monday Night wars were so good, and so revolutionary for the business.

And no, the WWE should not go back to the Attitude Era. The WWE is fine PG, despite so many people complaining and jumping on the bandwagon of wanting the Attitude Era back. It was great for business in some aspects, but it also had long term negative effects on the business as well.

So to get to my point:

With the rise and success of UFC, the WWE should take notice and actually adapt a business plan similar to the UFC. What I mean by that is this: The UFC has a list of weight classes, and each one of those weight classes has a champion who is seen as the BEST in the world. The Heavyweight champion in UFC isn't always the main event, but they build up EVERY weight class and EVERY champion as possible main eventers for any given PPV.

I believe that's what the WWE should do. They should have ONE Heavyweight champion, along with other divisions, and each division should be built up and developed so that every champion is capable of being main eventers and being viewed by the WWE as the best in the world for what they are. Every division should be viewed as only the Heavyweight division is right now in the WWE.

I think that's one of the key problems not just with the WWE, but with wrestling as a whole right now. The middle titles are either useless or non existent. There is no Light heavyweight or Cruiserweight division, which could be totally different and exciting compared to other divisions like the Heavyweight. The tag team division is entirely lackluster and irrelevant, which could be changed easily by this plan, and especially if there were TRUE TEAMS, and they meant something. Even the Women's division could be beneficial, compared to what it is right now.


Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[owenmandias]

i thought about them doing something like this but decided that in the end, if people want to watch something like that, then they would just watch UFC. I also dont think wwe has the star power to be able to do something like this. but completely agree they need to start doing new things. I dont watch wwe at the moment, its just not interesting to me, and it isnt like i have not tried to watch it, it just does not entertain me anymore which is sad

 

[SRSB]

With the rise and success of UFC, the WWE should take notice and actually adapt a business plan similar to the UFC. What I mean by that is this: The UFC has a list of weight classes, and each one of those weight classes has a champion who is seen as the BEST in the world. The Heavyweight champion in UFC isn't always the main event, but they build up EVERY weight class and EVERY champion as possible main eventers for any given PPV.

I believe that's what the WWE should do. They should have ONE Heavyweight champion, along with other divisions, and each division should be built up and developed so that every champion is capable of being main eventers and being viewed by the WWE as the best in the world for what they are. Every division should be viewed as only the Heavyweight division is right now in the WWE.

I think that's one of the key problems not just with the WWE, but with wrestling as a whole right now. The middle titles are either useless or non existent. There is no Light heavyweight or Cruiserweight division, which could be totally different and exciting compared to other divisions like the Heavyweight. The tag team division is entirely lackluster and irrelevant, which could be changed easily by this plan, and especially if there were TRUE TEAMS, and they meant something. Even the Women's division could be beneficial, compared to what it is right now.

Thoughts? Opinions?

This isn't something revolutionary or anything, but this is what I call simple but very effect. I also call it common sense, yet the WWE doesn't want to do this.

I'm more of a fan using this more towards the Women's and Tag Team divisions. Both are special divisions because they only consist of one as their division is named. There's only ONE women's division for the women, and only ONE tag team for tag teams, as if that wasn't obvious. These two unique and special divisions should be treated like how the World Title is treated. There is no higher title in these divisions than the Diva's (I seriously hate that term) and Tag Team Championship.

The tag team division has a lot of potential given the tag teams that are in the WWE right now (including NXT, on and off TV). When you have tag teams forming and coordinating themselves, they become a legit tag team, in my opinion. They should rid these makeshift tag teams (i.e.: Kofi and Truth) and focus on the legit tag teams they already have (or just created). You've got the Prime Time Players, Usos, Colóns, International Airstrike (Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd), Ascension, Hollywood Express (Mike Dalton & Xavier Woods), and Hunico & Camacho. The latter would be a toss up since I view Hunico more as a singles competitor (and Camacho, aka Donny Marlow, should go on his own). That tag team division has potential to be a great one, IF the WWE chooses to go that route. Dirt sheets "reporting" that once Triple H gains more power or something, he'll focus on the tag team division (and certain women wrestlers).

As for the women's division. They do have their talents in the division. WWE just needs to give them way more time and focus much like the tag team division does. All depends on how the WWE wants to do this. I'm almost positive they're not going to do the tag team and women's division will not be treated like a World Title, but I'm still hopeful they're able to push both divisions and put more work into them.

 

[Ryberg]

If they would stop shoving Cena down everyone's throats every week. The need to freshen up the product A LOT. The reason viewership is down is BECAUSE of the stale product. Most fans know who are over the age of 12 that know Cena will win after getting beat up for 90% of the match then Super Cena's 5 moves will kick in for the win OR he'll lose but not cleanly.

Also start bringing prestige back to the belts. The tag belts have been a joke for YEARS, the US and Intercontinental belts have been nothing more than attire to some mid-leveler for a long time. People say Cody brought prestige to the belt, COME ON! He had what 3 matches the entire time he held the belt. At least in the past it was considered to be a big deal to hold the belts. Now holding the belt at one point seems to lead to the jobbing spot after a loss.

Look at the last five US Champs, all but Ziggler are jobbers:
Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder,Jack Swagger , Santino Marella, and Antonio Cesaro

And the Intercontinental Champs last five:
Cody Rhodes (2), Big Show,Christian, and The Miz

Also don't even get me started on the Women's Division. All because some one wants to take focus off of them.

The WWE needs most to get with the times and stop living in the past. Hogan/Cena worked in the past as a cardboard boring story line face of the company. Fans don't want that anymore.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Or they can just create storylines and give us a reason to care about the midcard champions and whoever they fight instead of silly weight classes or something similar. Quit having your champions lose all the time and expect me to actually give a damn when they actually win. I've noticed a lot of that junk this year. Also, not every midcard wrestler is going to be a main eventer. You don't have to be that to have success. There isn't anything wrong with being a career midcarder who is solid and dependable. The WWE sure needs some at this point.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

If WWE were smart they wouldn't bother coming to a wrestling MB for info on how to change the product.

Viewership is not down. The MNW was an aberration. It was a one time thing and wrestling will never be popular like that again. The ratings the WWE are getting right now are pretty damned good if you look past the MNW.

I agree that they need to bring prestige back to the mid card titles and that things are stale. What they need most of all is for Vince to finally give up his power to(I can't believe I am saying this) Triple H. I think Vince is just past his prime and has sort of lost touch with what people want.

Cena is the top guy so he will always get the top TV time and he should. He brings in the most $$$ and love him or hate him people respond to him. You don't start jobbing out your top guy because some people don't like him.

 

[#tamale]

By separating into weight classes, you are limiting your ability to produce more main event stars. I'm sorry, but this is not UFC. In the WWE, the WWE Title is the top prize, and the current holder of said title is technically a cruiserweight. Under your business model, he would never even touch the WWE Title.

Which brings me to bringing back the cruiserweight division. While the cruiserweight division did have good matches back in the WCW days, it was never hot. They had no storylines. No angles. It was just match after match. The division was hot when Chris Jericho was champion because he created storylines. With Malenko, with collecting trophies from his opponents, with Rey, with Juventud, etc. After he moved on, the division once again became good matches, but no emotional investment from the fans and no interesting storylines.

The answer is simple, just create interesting storylines and angles. You are not always going to have a 100% success rate with all storylines, but as long as you have more interesting angles then bad ones, then you are going in the right direction.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't see weight divisions working in American pro wrestling. Could it work? Possibly but traditionally, American fans have generally just wanted to see guys put into the ring, regardless of size difference, and see who the better man is.

I think the problem is simple. As LJL pointed out, what WWE needs is a stronger mid-card division. There are lots of guys on the WWE roster that can bring a lot and do a lot in the mid-card scenes. I think some of the responses that I see a lot in these forums regarding mid-carders sometimes says a lot. For instance, how many times have you heard fans talk about being a mid-carder as if it's some kind of infections disease or like it's something to be ashamed of? Everyone always talks about so & so should be elevated to the main event or what's his name deserves a World Championship shot or they're dropping the ball by not putting this guy in the title scene. Whenever someone promising is in the mid-card division, droves of internet fans clamor for him to be pushed as a main eventer yesterday.

Right now, WWE has guys like Miz, Sandow, Christian, Cesaro, Kofi, Truth, Mysterio, Sin Cara, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Zack Ryder, Alex Riley, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel and some others that could make up a damn strong mid-card picture. From an overall perspective, there's a LOT of talent in those combined names. Some more so than others, naturally, but there's a LOT there to work with. Miz could be a damn good IC champ is WWE stops playing yo-yo with him. Sandow can be a damn good US champ if they decide to put him in a worthy feud. Damien Sandow is loaded with potential, I think you'd have to be blind to not see it, Kane is a versatile veteran that almost always finds a way to be useful, Daniel Bryan is among the most consistently entertaining guys in all of wrestling right now. Some of those guys are currently involved in the tag team scene right now, but you get my drift. You've got guys that're heavily underused like Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Zack Ryder. Guys waiting in the wings on NXT that've been creating positive buzz forever it seems like Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins.

Anyhow, the point is, the talent is more than there but WWE is doing too little with most of it at this time. Now that they've got Raw for 3 hours, use that extra time constructively in showcasing some of these guys instead of giving us 2 minute Ryback squash matches. With a new show debuting on ION next month, use that time wisely instead of having it just become a place where the lower & mid-carders seemingly go to die like Superstars.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Wrong on the divisions but on single titles yes, I am with you.

There should be one World Champion, One Mid-Card and One Tag Team title and rankings/top 10's for each. You aren't on either, then you need to improve.

The only realistic way they can change things up would be a 2nd, autonomous company. The brand extension is dead, but they could just about get away with launching a 2nd company if it was truly autonomous other than Wrestlemania. The biggest mistake Vince made was not keeping WCW as the seperate entity.

By having 2 seperate companies, you not only shake up the business but get back that legit competiton. Sure they are owned by the same body, but with a network to fill, seed cash, Heyman and maybe Shane... it could work, it'd be more likely to succeed than divisions.

 

[richunclescrooge]

I don't see different weight divisions working. I do see arguments for more belts, but I could also argue for less.

There should be ONE heavyweight champion. Having a WWE champ and a World champ is just too much. Those belts should be combined into the ultimate prize of the WWE.

The IC and US titles are fine but (like every championship) need to be given more value. They can't be hot potatoed every couple of weeks. They also need to be showcased more and defended more often.

The tag titles and divas championship are fine, but like all the others need more prestige. Tag is getting there, still a long way to go but good baby steps.

As far as weight classes, they could bring back the cruiserweight title for people under, what is it, 215? 220? Idk but it would showcase the high flying style and give the midcard more to do. This should be the only belt that has a weight restriction.

If they needed one more title, it should have some kind of niche. The hardcore title used to be that, every one of those matches was no dq, anyone with a ref could win it at any time, it didnt have much prestige but it was definitely entertaining, remember the segment there I think the Headbangers were chasing Crash through a chuck e cheese type of place? lol, that was funny. They obviously won't use hardcore with the PG product today so maybe something like Zack Ryder's Internet championship? The stipulation being it can only be defended through matches on the WWE site or it's youtube channel? When they do the pre-show for ppvs it could be defended during the live youtube stream, or even on a tuesday before a smackdown taping, or at a house show and be streamed live.

To sum it all up, 1 main belt would be best, and the others just need more prestige and things will work out better

 

[keehlnate]

There is no need to separate the divisions, just have rankings for each title like those in the video games. They should have a ranking system posted on wwe.com for everyone to view. As for booking WWE like UFC is a no-no. Don't be a copycat, create your own unique format.

 

[Wolf Pac]

If they were to ever bring divisions into wrestling, I've always thought it should be divisions based on the type of style the superstars' wrestle, not weight divisions. What I mean is, you'd have 5 World Title divisions...

World Heavyweight Championship
World Pure Championship
World Hardcore Championship
World X-Division Championship
World Tag Team Championship

In the WHC division, only your basic standard wrestlers compete here.

In the World Pure division, only Technical/Puro wrestlers compete here.

In the World Hardcore division, only Hardcore wrestlers compete here.

In the World X-Division, only High Flyers compete here.

In the World Tag Team, only Tag Teams compete here.

I think a concept like this would work much better & be more interesting to fans cause you'd have a lot of variety in just one show. It would kinda be like the WCW Nitro's of 97 & 98. I don't think this would work in WWE however, maybe TNA or ROH or some other indy company.

 

[MisterRob]

I was using the UFC as an example, not saying the WWE necessarily needs to follow WEIGHT classes. But I do think they should have DISTINCT divisions of some sort, and build each division up with the same effort and focus as they do JUST the Heavyweight division right now.

If they combined titles right now and had ONE Heayweight division, ONE mid-card division, ONE cruiserweight/X-Division, and so on with the Tag Team division and Women's, then I feel that would be much more effective.

My main point was not so much the weight class idea but the idea that the UFC focuses attention and builds EVERY one of their weight classes so that the champion is a star, a draw, a main event and NOT just the Heavyweight class fighters. That's what WWE needs to do. And WWE has the talent to DO that.

Someone mentioned in an earlier post, using the WCW Cruiserweight division as an example. When that division was hot, those matches were an essential part of WCW's shows. That division was on fire, and champions like Chris Jericho became stars, had great feuds, and made the championship mean something. But then those stars moved on. Just like in TNA with the X Division: Stars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels made that Division mean as much as the Heavyweight division, and that championship and those feuds were main event caliber and the most exciting things in TNA. But then those stars moved on to the World title and the Division fell and became irrelevant. But why do they NEED to move up to the World title picture if EVERY title, including the division they're in, is main event caliber? If its viewed as that champion being the best in the world for THAT class?

Imagine if wrestlers like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and so on weren't World Heavyweight champions but still were the same stars as they are now, with feuds and storylines revolving around their own division? They would still be the stars they are now. They would still be putting on matches and having great feuds like they are now, if not more so. Imagine, better yet, if stars like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, etc weren't stuck in limbo in a convoluted and overstacked World Heayweight division in TNA... but were still competing for the X Division title and having meaningful feuds for it, and continuing to make that title mean as much as the WORLD title?

That's my point. That's what wrestling is dropping the ball at doing, and companies like TNA and WWE have the talent and roster to DO this.

 

[Outsider-Jim]

They should just throw everyone else thats not in the main picture into the IC and US divisons... I mean what the hell are they doing not using Swagger, McIntyre, Ryder, Ryback, Dibiase, Kidd, Brodus Clay, Sandow, Otunga... they should atleast put them into one whole division as the IC, US picture to boost the competition within the mid-card titles, i mean if they arent in any storylines they are just useless...

The WWE arent using those resources and they are just being lazy and throwing random title matches up last minute... Night of Champions you could of easily established a good story line with Rhodes, Mysterio and Miz instead of pulling this last second bullshit they did on raw leaving no time to establish a good set-up for what could of easily been a good 10-15+ minute match for the IC title.

 

[Wald]

Honestly I think TNA have caught something great with the Bound For Glory series, imagine WWE robbing the idea and improving it by doing this by running it from Wrestlemania to Survivor Series, the winner of the series at the PPV before Survivor Series gets a WWE Title shot.

I'm all in favour of wrestling taking in sport aspects, making a leaderboard and counting every win/loss/draw is a great idea I think, makes every match feel more important, focuses a major event on Survivor Series and builds up the PPV beforehand as important too

 

[whoopin' ass]

as much as i like the idea of weight divisions, i don`t think it would work. think of it this way - we had a roster split and it fell apart because wwe wanted to do things and wouldn`t wait for the big 4 ppvs. what happens when they want a Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus match for a title yet they are in different divisions and there is no way Bryan will gain enough weight or Sheamus will lose enough weight to get them to the same division? you could have matches between divisions without a title being at stake but you know they will want a title match somewhere and wwe will end up doing it anyways making the divisions meaningless. plus Vince likes the big guys so the Heavyweight title will always be the focus.

 

[bonesaw]

The CRUISERWEIGHT matches in wcw were highly entertaining. It was one of the best parts of Monday Nitro. It launched the careers of Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Jericho. They were able to go win titles such as TV, US, Intercontinental, and 2 of them World Titles. Also the luchadors (Ultimo Dragon, Villanos III-???, La Parka, Juventud, Psychosis, etc.) put on phenomenal performances to get the crowds fired up. There is a place for cruiserweights to be separate. But I wouldn't go as far as having multiple weight divisions in the WWE. A cruiserweight title would be enough. Watch Rey vs Dean Malenko in about 1996, hard to match their abilities.

As far as the US, Intercontinental titles.....
These should be carried with prestige as they used to be. Go look at past intercontinental and US champions. US (Sting, Flair, Lex, Windham, DDP, Goldberg) Intercontinental (Savage, Warrior, Bret, HBK, Rude, Henning, Steamboat). I certainly do not think of these men as "low card" or even "mid card performers". Actually in the 90's these title holders were sometimes referred to as "#1 contender" to the World Heavyweight title in their respective companies. So why put titles on Marella, and why put it on newcomers who aren't over yet? Are some of the WWE "stars" too good for the US or Intercontinental titles? Sting and Ric Flair had US Title reigns in the 1990's after they had previously been world champions. Then, they went on to win another world title later. Why not have a guy like ADR or Big Show carry these belts? It would give more credibility, and they're sure not going to win the world title anytime soon.

Since there is only one main company, and they have so many wrestlers, why not bring back the TV title? It has some great history behind it. Well, that is until dumbass Vince Russo had Hacksaw Jim Duggan pick it up out of a dumpster and defend it only on WCW Saturday Night. What a disgrace.