**MERGED** All Championship Prestige Discussion

[rokuma]

If you're like me, you remember the prestigious Intercontinental Championship with champions like Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Diesel and later 90s champions such as Jericho, HHH, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The IC title was always a stepping stone on the way to the WWF Title. The same wasn't necessarily true in WCW and the US Title. It was meaningful and a step below the WCW World Heavyweight title. Champions were sometimes legit main eventers like Luger, Sting, Flair, Rick Rude, Scott Hall, Bret Hart, DDP or sometimes midcarders like One Man Gang or Konnan, but generally it was viewed as a prestigious title below the main event.

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the WWE has replaced the IC/US Title's with a new upper midcard title. No, it isn't a new belt or a new championship, but a reshuffling of current titles. They've really pulled the wool over our eyes with this one. That's right. The World Heavyweight Championship is the new "stepping stone" upper midcard title.

WWE really pulled the wool over our eyes. When there was a roster split, the World Heavyweight Title and the WWE title were viewed as "equals" even if it wasn't true. Initially it was, but over time, Smackdown became the little brother of Raw and when the World Heavyweight title transitioned there, it became less meaningful, but because of it's proud lineage and the guys who have held it, we still viewed the current champion as a "World" champion.

But now that the brand split is over, instead of simply unifying the titles, the WWE has kept both and have tricked the IWC in the process. Guys like Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler or Christian win the World Heavyweight Title and we all spaz out that they finally got their due when in reality, they've won the new Intercontinental Title. This change happened gradually since 2010 when Jack Swagger won his first WHC. Then decorated veterans got a run with it (Kane, Rey Mysterio, later on the Big Show, Christian, Mark Henry), main eventers with nothing to do ala Roddy Piper and the IC title (Randy Orton, Edge), then young guys (ADR, Ziggler, Bryan, Sheamus) as a stepping stone to make them more relevant. Does it work? Of course. So did the IC/US titles. But old school fans clamor for the prestige of the IC title to be restored when all they really did was transition it to the World Heavyweight Title.

So, do you agree? Thoughts?

 

[LSN80]

While my thoughts on the matter aren't nearly as jaded or cynical, with the end of the brand split, I think it was bound to happen. Not that the World Title became the "new IC" title, but rather, that it was only a matter of time for it to be de-emphasized.

The WWE Title just turned fifty, and as far as they're concerned, it's the big one. Look back at the Money In the Bank matches from last year and see the difference between the "Raw" brand match, and the Smackdown brand one. Raw was for former WWE champions only, while the Smackdown one was for the "up and comers." WWE was clearly delineating between the two titles, and when Rock gave his promo on the Raw following WrestleMania, he made it clear what he was after. It wasn't to become a World Champion in the generalized sense, was it? No, it was clearly that the "Rock wants to be WWE Champion again."

John Cena's promo after winning the Royal Rumble was an interesting one as well. He essentially told the audience that the WWE Championship would be the harder to obtain, so that was the one he would be going after. Consistent with Cena's character, and consistent with the idea that the WWE Title is a notch above the World Heavyweight Championship.

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the WWE has replaced the IC/US Title's with a new upper midcard title. No, it isn't a new belt or a new championship, but a reshuffling of current titles. They've really pulled the wool over our eyes with this one. That's right. The World Heavyweight Championship is the new "stepping stone" upper midcard title.

If this was truly the case, WWE would have dissolved or unified the mid-card titles, don't you think? And when Alberto Del Rio won his first two "World Championships", which did he win? How about Sheamus? The answer to both is the WWE Championship, which goes to show that in 2010 and 2011, the World Title was hardly a stepping stone. And it still isn't now.

WWE really pulled the wool over our eyes. When there was a roster split, the World Heavyweight Title and the WWE title were viewed as "equals" even if it wasn't true. Initially it was, but over time, Smackdown became the little brother of Raw and when the World Heavyweight title transitioned there, it became less meaningful, but because of it's proud lineage and the guys who have held it, we still viewed the current champion as a "World" champion.

Smackdown, being that it's not a live show, is always going to take a backseat to Raw. It's why Smackdown was always considered to be the "wrestling" show, while Raw the storyline-driven one. And for some time, the WWE championship was on Smackdown, while the World Championship was on Raw. In fact, it wasn't until 2005 that the WWE Championship came to Raw with John Cena, and the World Title went to Smackdown with Batista. And the titles switched shows once again when CM Punk cashed in MITB in 2008 to bring the WHC to Raw, and HHH was drafted to Smackdown with the WWE Title. It was during that time that John Cena, amongst others, captured the World Title.

I've always felt that it's the person holding the title, and not the title itself, that makes the importance. Where the World title on Smackdown truly took a hit was through the frequency of changes, while holding the WWE Championship meant a longer reign.

But now that the brand split is over, instead of simply unifying the titles, the WWE has kept both and have tricked the IWC in the process. Guys like Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler or Christian win the World Heavyweight Title and we all spaz out that they finally got their due when in reality, they've won the new Intercontinental Title. This change happened gradually since 2010 when Jack Swagger won his first WHC.

Wholehartedly disagree here. Edge retired with the World Title following WrestleMania 27, and while it was the opening match on the show, it was very much seen as the equal to the WWE Title held by the Miz. Again, it goes back to the person holding the title. And it was on that same PPV that Daniel Bryan won the World Title that Zach Ryder won the US Title. The push to get Ryder to that title was a huge deal, but would you suggest that put Bryan and Ziggler on a equal level? Hardly. And before Bryan(and Mark Henry) were the WHC, it was Randy Orton. No the 2013 Randy Orton that is firmly in the doghouse, but the face version of Randy Orton that had a great feud with John Cena in 2009 for the WWE Title.

So, do you agree? Thoughts?

You're oversimplifying what is a much more complex situation. The bottom line is that WWE, having done away with the brand split, simply hasn't given themselves enough time to promote the two equally. Yes, they've expanded to even more programming, so I'm contradicting myself, right? Well, not really.

Since the brand split, WWE promotes both titles close to equally on Raw. Just this Monday, there were four matches(the triple threat, Ziggler, Del Rio, and Swagger) all dedicated to the World Title. The WWE Title got the talking segments and the storyline-driven main event. It's even important to look into the build to WrestleMania. The World Championship got the Elimination Chamber Match on the Elimination Chamber PPV, while the WWE Title match got the Rock/CM Punk match. Again, it's the wrestling vs the storyline drive title.

It's Raw and Smackdown, the way it's been for years. If you gave Cena or Punk the World Title, and put the WWE Title on Ziggler, which title would be worth more then?

It's the dangers of too much programming, establishing storylines moreso for the Raw Title, and the person holding it as well. And if one were to assume the WHC was a stepping stone, to what, exactly?

Nothing that I can see.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If you're like me, you remember the prestigious Intercontinental Championship with champions like Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Diesel and later 90s champions such as Jericho, HHH, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The IC title was always a stepping stone on the way to the WWF Title. The same wasn't necessarily true in WCW and the US Title. It was meaningful and a step below the WCW World Heavyweight title. Champions were sometimes legit main eventers like Luger, Sting, Flair, Rick Rude, Scott Hall, Bret Hart, DDP or sometimes midcarders like One Man Gang or Konnan, but generally it was viewed as a prestigious title below the main event.

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the WWE has replaced the IC/US Title's with a new upper midcard title. No, it isn't a new belt or a new championship, but a reshuffling of current titles. They've really pulled the wool over our eyes with this one. That's right. The World Heavyweight Championship is the new "stepping stone" upper midcard title.

WWE really pulled the wool over our eyes. When there was a roster split, the World Heavyweight Title and the WWE title were viewed as "equals" even if it wasn't true. Initially it was, but over time, Smackdown became the little brother of Raw and when the World Heavyweight title transitioned there, it became less meaningful, but because of it's proud lineage and the guys who have held it, we still viewed the current champion as a "World" champion.

But now that the brand split is over, instead of simply unifying the titles, the WWE has kept both and have tricked the IWC in the process. Guys like Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler or Christian win the World Heavyweight Title and we all spaz out that they finally got their due when in reality, they've won the new Intercontinental Title. This change happened gradually since 2010 when Jack Swagger won his first WHC. Then decorated veterans got a run with it (Kane, Rey Mysterio, later on the Big Show, Christian, Mark Henry), main eventers with nothing to do ala Roddy Piper and the IC title (Randy Orton, Edge), then young guys (ADR, Ziggler, Bryan, Sheamus) as a stepping stone to make them more relevant. Does it work? Of course. So did the IC/US titles. But old school fans clamor for the prestige of the IC title to be restored when all they really did was transition it to the World Heavyweight Title.

So, do you agree? Thoughts?

If you want to be completely honest, it's not something that's only been happening since 2010. The thing with the IC title is that it still hasn't fully recovered from the days of the Attitude Era in which it wasn't unusual for titles to change hands on a bi-monthly basis. Between February 1997 and January 2002, the IC title changed hands a total of 46 times. That averages out to roughly 9 different runs in a year. One of those reigns included a woman, namely Chyna, who held the strap for almost 2 months in late 1999, then was co-champion with Jericho for another 20. Since 2002, there've been about 50 different IC title reigns. In 2013, the title has only changed hands twice so far. Problems with the IC title predate the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship.

I do agree that the IC & US titles have been buried for much of this year. For some reason, Vince used the mid-card champions to put over bigger stars during the build to WrestleMania. Antonio Cesaro is tied for the 7th longest US title reign in history, yet WWE didn't even attempt to treat that as if it mattered. Wade Barrett is currently on his 3rd run as IC champ and, for some reason, Vince continues to lose interest in Barrett during these runs. The prestige of the mid-card titles in WWE is something of a roller coaster and they're pretty low on the totem pole at this point in time.

As for WWE "tricking" the IWC, I don't really see that. The IWC complains about anything & everything, even when it collectively seems to get its way. The IC & US titles have simply, and unfortunately, degenerated into little more than something for a guy to carry around for a while without any sort of real career advancement.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

US TITLE

INTRODUCTION. 1975

INAUGURAL CHAMPION. Harley Race

CURRENT CHAMPION. Dean Ambrose

OVERAL NUMBER OF CHAMPIONS. 77

LONGEST REIGN. 523 days (Lex Luger)

MOST REIGNS. Chris Benoit, Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Ric Flair and Wahoo McDaniel. Five reigns each.


IC TITLE

INTRODUCTION. 1979

INAUGURAL CHAMPION. Pat Patterson

CURRENT CHAMPION. Wade Barrett

OVERAL NUMBER OF CHAMPIONS. 70

LONGEST REIGN. 454 days (The Honky Tonk Man)

MOST REIGNS. Chris Jericho. 9 reigns in total


SO WHICH IS MORE PRESTIGIOUS. THE US TITLE OR THE IC TITLE.

 

[Ryan1025]

Historically, I'd consider the IC to be more prestigious. This could just be my WWE bias though.

In today's WWE, it's the United States title though. The US title seems to get some thought, which the IC title doesn't.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Ah, the age old question of which midcard belt is more prestigious.

I've always been partisan to the intercontinental title. However, lately, it seems like they've at least placed a little more emphasis on the US Title.

Overall though, I'm going to go with the Intercontinental championship. I think it's always had a better "look" (even the oval shape) and I've enjoyed more IC title feuds than US title feuds

 

[TempestH]

Ah, the age old question of which midcard belt is more prestigious.

I've always been partisan to the intercontinental title. However, lately, it seems like they've at least placed a little more emphasis on the US Title.

Overall though, I'm going to go with the Intercontinental championship. I think it's always had a better "look" (even the oval shape) and I've enjoyed more IC title feuds than US title feuds

I think the Intercontinental Title is more prestigious, even when the champion can't get on TV.

Since the end of the brand split, The IC Title is usually on guys that WWE at least likes to pretend are important, while the U.S. Title has been the new European/TV title for the low to mid level guys. While the United States Championship is on someone getting a massive push at the moment, the fact that Ambrose is getting pushed so hard means that everyone that he's working with is too good for the belt and it will just become a non factor in his hands. Ambrose himself will be getting booked strongly. The US belt itself isn't going to matter because none of the midcarders are credible enough to face Ambrose; the only people who are any type of threat to him are main eventers, who are above the belt.

I can see the likes of Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, or other upper level guys going after the IC title, but not the U.S. Title. If the IC belt weren't already on a heel right now, Ambrose would be IC Champion and not U.S. Champion.

.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Which is more prestigious between the Intercontinental and US Championships?

At the moment I would say that the Intercontinental Championship is the more prestigious of the two. The fact that WWE brought back its classic design was a great thing. It paid tribute to the history of the belt. While it has been passed around a lot in recent years, at least it feels like WWE still cares about it. The same cannot be said about the US Championship. Cesaro had one of the longest reigns the belt has ever seen and not only did he get left off of Wrestlemania, but he lost it in some random match to Kofi without any significant build to the moment. The reign of Kofi's that resulted from that led to absolutely nothing. Things like that only makes people care less about these titles.

Before Cesaro the US belt was an absolute JOKE when Santino held it. Let's not also forget the pointless reign Swagger had that WWE did nothing with, or Ryder's reign that also had a ton of potential but ended too soon. Being up or grabs in so many pre-show matches did not do the belt any favors either. Title matches need to be on the main card while pre-shows can be filler matches no one cares about. Ziggler was the last decent reign and hopefully Dean Ambrose will do some good for the belt as the angle with The Shield continues. I don't see anything spectacular happening anytime soon with the Intercontinental Championship either, although WWE has been treating that belt with more respect than the US title and has been for the past several years. Not by much, mind you, but that is still the case.

 

[#TheSkipper]

WWE needs to move away from this whole "the belt makes the wrestler" mentality. It doesn't. The wrestler makes the belt. Savage, HBK, Austin. Rock, Bret Hart, Jericho. They made the belt mean something because it meant something to them. It meant that WWE saw that they were the best wrestler (when I was listen to The Steve Austin Show with HBK, they both said that the IC Title was for the best wrestler and the WWE Title was for the guy who was the biggest draw and had the most commercial potential). If WWE went back to rewarding the guys who deserve to be rewarded (I'll use The Shield as a perfect example) then IC Title matches will be a prominent PPV match rather than a damn pre-show match.

 

[THE Great GAMMA]

I listened to the same episode of the SAS and that also got me thinking. How can you make the mid-card titles mean something again. To quote Mark Madden in "Fake" wrestling perception is everything.

Every step forward they take the next guy makes them take 5 back. this is where having too many people involved with a product can ruin it. The way things are coming across is that the writers do not communicate to the bookers and the bookers and if they do the bookers convey their own message to the producers who then in turn convey their own message to Vince who says ok lets go with that.

For example. Cody custs a promo about bringing prestige back to the IC title brings back the old belt design +1 he has a fued which culminates at WM over the belt but loses it ti a “high profile” opponent +1 he continues to fued over the belt and wins it at the next PPV +1. He then loses it a month later and poof miscommunication again and the belt is lost in the shuffle. -5

I see the only way to bring back the prestige of the title is to book the damn thing as important. as said previously make the IC fued a focal point on TV building up to a PPV where they end the show with the IC match. IF the title is viewed as garbage by the promotion then what is the public to think?

 

[LSN80]

Established in 2002, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was 'created' by Eric Bischoff in order to give Raw a champion following the brand split. In storyline, Brock Lesnar had won the WWE Title, but refused to defend it against HHH, who was the #1 Contender. So Bischoff resurrected the title, handed it to HHH, and it became the counterpart to the WWE Title.

I say counterpart because, while it was new again in comparison to the WWE Title, it was very much portrayed as its equal. And why shouldn't it have been? Before Chris Jericho unified it with the WWE Title, it had been held by the likes of Hall of Famer's Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting, amongst others. Following it's re-introduction, HHH, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Edge, Booker T, and John Cena are just a some of the current or future Hall of Famer's to hold it as well. It main evented multiple PPV's, including HHH defending it against Batista at WrestleMania 21, and Edge against Undertaker at WrestleMania 24.

Fast forward to today, and the WHC is positioned firmly the WWE Title. When John Cena won the Royal Rumble, he gave it nary a mention in his promo regarding who he would face at WrestleMania. Before there became 'title specific' MITB matches, the cash-in's from WrestleMania 23, 24, 25 and 26 were all for the WHC. At last year's MITB PPV, the case for the WWE Title was for former champions, while the WHC case was for the "up and comers".

So what lead to the downfall of the World Title? The easy scapegoat would be Jack Swagger, whose capture of the World Title 5 days after WM 26 turned out to be disastrous, both for himself, and the title. Following Swagger's win, the only PPV it's headlined in the past three years has been Hell In A Cell 2011, with Kane defending against Undertaker. Further, in my opinion, the title since then has been held solely by a collective group of upper-mid card wrestlers.

While making Swagger champion may have been the catalyst, I believe it was the end of the Brand Split that ultimately relegated it to being the true "mid-card" title. While WWE has more then enough TV time to make the championship just as relevant as the WWE Title, they've positioned it so the 'big boys' such as Rock, CM Punk and John Cena are in the WWE Title mix, while the second tier players such as Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, and Dolph Ziggler are your players for the World Title. And it's been with consistency that they've done so as well.

When's the last time a Raw segment or match ending the show was focused surrounding the World Title? Since it's no longer exclusive to Smackdown, the argument can and should be made that it is deserving of that precious final segment, yet those for some time have been strictly reserved for WWE Title hype, grudge matches, or injury angles.

My final case in point: The 2012 TLC PPV for this past year had no WWE Title defense due to Punk's injury, so it would be seemingly natural to give that spot to the other major title. I'm not saying it was the wrong decision, but it went to Cena and Ziggler in a ladder match.

That's a situation that clearly defines the pecking order, and certainly left no questions to be asked as to if the title was any more then an upper mid-card title. But that's just my take on it.

When do you believe the once prestigious World Heavyweight Championship was relegated to the "B" title?

Should it be on the same level as the WWE Title, or is it fine where it is?

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

[YOUTUBE]rRpdVFXRshQ[/YOUTUBE]​

Good god, what a pop. See for me, the WHC hasn't lost prestige. Hell, we were having this discussion when Hunter was HANDED the title in 2002. How the Heavyweight Championship has lost its prestige, how can some just be handed this great title! It hasn't lost prestige to me. It is still a big title for me, and the fact that compared to the WWE title look-wise, it is FAR FAR superior. Damn, its the prettiest title ever for me.

People have always been hotshotted the title, but it hasn't made me think less of the title., rather it's been more about 'oh this guys on the rise' and shit.

For me, it is on-par with the WWE title. Also you can't bring Cena into this equation as A) whatever title he holds will become THE title and B) The WWE title is still blingy, kinda like the last one and still screams Cena plus, C) its a new title, as in a new title design, so Cena needs to hold it so its replica sells.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

WWE has never pushed the World Heavyweight title as far as the WWE Championship, except for a very brief window in the early 2000's. Nor should they have. It came all the way from WCW. They really only kept it around for the WCW Invasion angle, then it morphed into the Undisputed title, then split back up again when the brand split happened. So really the most importantly thing WWE ever did to it was merge it with their baby.

You know when the World title was the top title? When Triple H held it during his Evolution run, on Monday Night Raw. That's pretty much it.

When the brand split happened, Smackdown needed its own title. For awhile they had THE WWE Championship, because The Rock, Stone Cold, and all the greats were on the A-Show every Thursday night. Yeah, remember THursday night Smackdown? Now they have the big gold belt, after a few rounds of shifting titles around. I think Cena, at some point, brought the World title over and back again.

Now the brand split is all but gone, and there's no need for two World titles. The product needs a serious shakeup. There's a shared roster, having two titles to compete for is just redundant. DOes it hype up the main events of a PPV? Yeah, maybe. But it's just a giant excuse for the creative team not to book compelling storylines.

So...when did the World title lose its prestige? I would argue since leaving WCW, it never had any. Triple H gave it some during his Evolution run. There have been a few really good champions in it's WWE incarnation. I always enjoyed Chris Jericho in 2007/08 and his runs with it. And of course, Edge pretty much made a living carrying Smackdown with that title. Batista and Orton, but again, that was the whole Evolution blow-back.

The World title isn't the WWE title, and it's never going to be. The two can not both be the greatest belt in WWE. If one rises, the other falls. The greatest thing that title could do now is die, and make the WWE Championship THE greatest title in professional wrestling. Zero competition. One champion to rule them all.

 

[scottyshowman82]

Interesting thread. To answer the question point blank I think it lost it's prestige when WWE started doing the Raw Supershows a few years back. Raw superstars were for the most part exclusive to Raw and Smackdown stars were exclusive to Smackdown. The WWE Title was the only belt Raw guys could go for and the World Heavy Weight Title was the only belt Smackdown guys could go for. All of a sudden you're seeing Smackdown guys on Raw regularly, and rarely seeing Raw guys on Smackdown, it makes everything associated with Smackdown look even more "B show." In a lot of ways I don't blame WWE for these this show change, especially with Raw going 3 hours, but it is what it is.

Also, The Summer of Punk was of the very best things to come along after the Attitude Era but as CM Punk did such a great job making the WWE Title look so prestigious and how he's gonna take "Vince's belt and walk out", in being so brilliant in that storyline the WWE title looked #1 and every other belt looked secondary. It also doesn't help that the World Heavyweight Title has opened so many PPV's over the past 2 years. It really is a lingering reminence of the brand extension. WWE is so wishy washy with that whole idea it's almost like they have one foot in and one foot out. As people have pointed out on this board, one group of talent can go and tour one side of the world and another can be somewhere eles doing a Raw or PPV it's good for business but the perception and prominence of the World Heavy Title suffers in my eyes. For me TBH I'm old school I want one BE ALL END ALL BELT, like that beautiful winged WWE Title used to represent back in the day, but they need two for the some reasons stated.

 

[Alex]

I think you could argue the World Title has always been seen as secondary (more to Vince than anyone) aside from when Triple H, Batista, Edge and Undertaker had it as well as when Jeff Hardy and CM Punk were fueding over it (but that was more the story that accompanied it)

But I'd say essentially ending the brand split is what definitely showed the World Title up as the secondary title. With two separate shows you'd have to build up the fueds more or less equally. Now not so much

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I say it's when the Brand Split ended. Even if RAW was the A Show, when you were the World Champion even on Smackdown! you were THE MAN on the roster of 20+ guys. Since it was essential that the Top guy had to carry the Show The World Champ on Smackdown were guys like Batista, Booker T, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Kurt Angle, Undertaker etc.

But now that the brand split ended there is no longer a need for the World Champion to carry Smackdown! And it allowed WWE to experiment on less established maineventers to carry the title.

Now experimenting can be a good thing. I think we can all agree that Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan a pretty good World Champion. But without Top Guys to hold the title it does sink down and one could argue that these days the title is a glorified Intercontinental Championship.

 

[ABMorales787]

When the writers stopped giving a shit. Little by little, emphasis on that title has died off. I think the last time it had a genuine main event caliber angle was when Big Show and Henry were feuding. After Daniel Bryan won it, it seemed to go downhill. Probably due to the 18 second loss at Wrestlemania. Since then it was clear second tier to the WWE title and little by little found it's way to the midcard.

 

[minoru808]

With the brand split over the titles can't really be equal. They should be unified and there should be only one heavyweight champion. The World Championship Belt was from WCW so of course it will be made the second fiddle.

 

[anvilx8]

I don't think its lost its prestige. I think the WWE title has always been the most important title in wwe. That being said, I think wwe should do away with the WHC and then it would make the IC title that much more important, and it'll mean something to be IC champ once again

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Good thread.

I believe that once it was merged with the WWE title for the "Undisputed title" then split again around the time of the brand split, THAT is when it lost any and all credibility. The problem is that it was viewed by so many as the "Smackdown" belt or the Smackdown title. As Smackdown became the B show, so did that title. They could call it whatever they wanted ("World title" "world heayweight title") but once the brand split happened and the world title was the Smackdown belt, that was it. I know they tried via the draft, to have World title as the RAW title (thus increasing its prestige) but that was short lived.

At this point, I think they just need to unify the top titles now that the brand split is gone and since the brand split is gone, it makes the World title look even weaker.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

WWE has never pushed the World Heavyweight title as far as the WWE Championship, except for a very brief window in the early 2000's. Nor should they have. It came all the way from WCW. They really only kept it around for the WCW Invasion angle, then it morphed into the Undisputed title, then split back up again when the brand split happened. So really the most importantly thing WWE ever did to it was merge it with their baby.

You know when the World title was the top title? When Triple H held it during his Evolution run, on Monday Night Raw. That's pretty much it.

When the brand split happened, Smackdown needed its own title. For awhile they had THE WWE Championship, because The Rock, Stone Cold, and all the greats were on the A-Show every Thursday night. Yeah, remember THursday night Smackdown? Now they have the big gold belt, after a few rounds of shifting titles around. I think Cena, at some point, brought the World title over and back again.

Now the brand split is all but gone, and there's no need for two World titles. The product needs a serious shakeup. There's a shared roster, having two titles to compete for is just redundant. DOes it hype up the main events of a PPV? Yeah, maybe. But it's just a giant excuse for the creative team not to book compelling storylines.

So...when did the World title lose its prestige? I would argue since leaving WCW, it never had any. Triple H gave it some during his Evolution run. There have been a few really good champions in it's WWE incarnation. I always enjoyed Chris Jericho in 2007/08 and his runs with it. And of course, Edge pretty much made a living carrying Smackdown with that title. Batista and Orton, but again, that was the whole Evolution blow-back.

The World title isn't the WWE title, and it's never going to be. The two can not both be the greatest belt in WWE. If one rises, the other falls. The greatest thing that title could do now is die, and make the WWE Championship THE greatest title in professional wrestling. Zero competition. One champion to rule them all.

This.

The World Heavyweight Championship lost its prestige the day that it became apparent that WCW could not compete with the WWE any longer.

Based on that, I'd say the WHC lost its prestige the day Kevin Nash laid down to the Fingerpoke of Doom from Hulk Hogan. WCW itself was never the same since then, and I know for myself, I stopped watching and just watched WWF from thereon out. Why watch an organization that treats the fans and its title that way?

There were obviously great moments for the WHC in the WWE: Shawn Michaels winning the title in the Elimination Chamber, Batista beating Triple H, and Undertaker taking the title from Batista and Edge...but these moments have been few and far between.

It is the new Intercontinental or U.S. Title in terms of importance. It's #2 all the way, which moves the IC and US belts down to the level of the old WCW TV title now.

 

[DX Mols]

Whenever they put the belt on Great Khali. Then again since last Wrestlemania when DB lost the belt in the curain jerker to Sheamus in 18 seconds...until Dolph won in the night after this year's 'Mania (so basically the Sheamus/Big Slow/ADR year) really devalued this title because none of them had a particularly memorable reign.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Its Cena and his spinner.

Here's a look at Mania ME's before Cena's rise to the top:

After his rise:

And this year it was the WWE championship again so ye the WHC has not done so bad. As I said Cena and his spinnah! have taken the top spot because of logical reasons.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

PaperGhostopolis, I think you're getting confused about which belt we're talking about here.

Cena's spinner belt was the WWE Title, not the World Heavyweight Championship.

Are you talking about the prestige of both belts, in general?

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Nope I am stating that the WHC was involved in the ME of Mania. Thats where it matters right. But I think both belts have taken a back seat to Cena. Plus Cena's spinner belt IS the WWE championship so it ranks a little higher.


However, WHC has historically done well when it comes to the biggest show, being on the line in like 5 MEs up there.