Merging the US and IC Titles?

[GeTiTT]

Not really sure how to feel about this if it does roll through. There is already so much unused talent on the roster and I feel like the US title was a lower mid card title for alot of the superstars like Ryder Santino etc. this will take away from all those guys on their up in the ranks.

If this were to happen I definetly think they need to 1. Bring back the cruiserweight title and 2. Establish some good tag teams to rebuild the joke that is the tag team division at the moment

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

WTF is with these title merging threads one after another ?

The condition in which WWE is now Title merging won't do shit.

Lesser titles isn't the solution. Many people who are mid-carders will not rise above mid card if they started unifying all titles.

WWE Tag-Team titles were unified. Did it improve the Tag-division ? NO ! Tag-Team division became worse.

They retired the Cruiserweight Championship in 2007. What better did it do for WWE ? If the Cruiserweight Championship was still active maybe guys like Trent Barreta, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyson Kidd would have become Cruiserweight Champions which is better than doing nothing.

They just need to start making the titles seem important by making them defended on every PPV. Maybe have tournaments to determine the No.1 Contenders for the US and IC Titles.

World Titles will become important when WWE stops making John Cena seem bigger than the World Championships.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Merging the midcard belts will hurt more than it would help. Rather than merging these belts, they need to make them relevant again. They've done a good job of bringing relevancy back to the IC belt but the US title is a joke (as evidenced by a comedy jobber holding the title).

The midcarders need something to fight for and to help them get to the main event level and have relevant feuds. That's what these titles are good for. Merging them woulid just make even more midcarders irrelevant.


The WWE and World titles should be unified but not the midcard titles.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

Merging the midcard belts will hurt more than it would help. Rather than merging these belts, they need to make them relevant again. They've done a good job of bringing relevancy back to the IC belt but the US title is a joke (as evidenced by a comedy jobber holding the title).

The midcarders need something to fight for and to help them get to the main event level and have relevant feuds. That's what these titles are good for. Merging them woulid just make even more midcarders irrelevant.


The WWE and World titles should be unified but not the midcard titles.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Having the IC & US titles gives all the guys who aren't main eventers something to work for. It's funny though how the only titles most fans want to see unified is the WWE World titles yet the WWE refuses to do it. Having 1 world champion as apposed to 2 makes the belt more prestigious, less confusing when trying to determine which belt means more & makes it so the world champion fights a variety of different opponents instead of the same ones.

 

[rerun406]

They just need to start making the titles seem important by making them defended on every PPV.

great idea in theory, but it actually has to be done first. If the WWE, Diva, and World HW titles can be defended every PPV no reason the U.S title should be left out

and not to single guys out too much but Santino really needs a solid program. He's had OK matches with both Otunga and Miz (on pre-show for Extreme Rules) but done nada really since

I dig the idea of more mid card titles to help the Mid carders and give them something to fight for it makes sense, as look at the Intercontinental title with Rhodes & Christian

why can't they do something similar with Santino? I agree that a comedic jobber holding the title isn't a great idea ... but if that's the case .. WHY not have some kind of unification?

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

This really pisses me off! Yeah, sure, the titles are not being put to good use right now. But that's creative's fault! Both these titles have a lot of prestige (especially the IC championship), and it would be a disgrace to unify them imo. Having two titles means more opportunities for the mid-card superstars. It's a shame! Plus, We've had the same rotation of guys going for the titles for the past couple of years. Kofi, Ziggler, Swagger, Ryder, ect. It just seems these guys are trapped in the mid-card. Unifying the titles would be stupid on creative's part.

 

[dilfp]

The only reason behind this that I can come up with is that they're going to put all the "cruiser weights" onto one show when the launch the division and then put a "cruiser weight" belt on that show in its place. I seem to recall they did this on Smackdown in the past. Personally, I'm agreeing w/the consensus, unify the WWE/World titles, and keep the mid cards available (but for the love of whatever is "holy" get the U.S. Strap OFF OF Santino... if they're going to keep pushing him team him w/Clay and give them the tag titles, no one in creative seems to put any stock in those anyway...)

 

[Radical]

I don't mind the idea to merge the two mid-card belts but as long as they make it just the Intercontinental title. Have a match between the two title holders, have the IC Champ win so they keep that belt and lose the other one. IC Title makes more sense as a mid-card title anyway.

But with that merge they should then add another lower title... good one to add? Cruiserweight Championship. It would clearly be a step below the IC title but would give smaller guys a better chance to showcase their skills and be rewarded for it.

Then, if they are doing that, they might as well just merge the top title too... It, IMO, is the one that most makes sense to be singluar.

There should be only ONE top guy in the WWE at any given time and that guy should be the WWE Champion.

I will admit it has been nice having the World Heavyweight Championship because it gave guys like Kane and Mark Herny much deserved top title reigns.

But since the shows are becoming more SuperShows they might as well just merge the top titles.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The IC and US titles should be left alone, with the US title staying primarily on Smackdown and IC title primarily on RAW. Eliminating a secondary title hurts both veveran talent needing a big push as well as up and coming talent who could benefit from the raised profile of being a title holder. Both titles also have great history and lineage, Randy Savage, Brett Hart, & HBK had prominent runs as IC champ. The US title is the last active vestige of NWA/WCW, a title held by and defended in high profile feuds by Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger, Rick Rude, etc. Both

However it might make sense to unify the World & Tag Team Titles. It has long been confusing to casual fans why there are two champions for the same thing and which one was more prestigious. Unify those titles, keep the separate rosters on each show to utilize talent better with occasional talent switches, drafts etc, but have the unified World Champs work both shows.

The problem is touring, if SD & RAW Still run completely separate touring schedules running concurrently then it may be hard for the unified champions to work both circuits. This is where the IC & US titles, their champions, and subsequent feuds become more important as they would headline parts of each roster's house shows

 

[The_Irish_Warrior]

Look it could just be fiction, like many things displayed on every wrestling site. However I don't see why they can't unify the titles. Santino Marella the current United States champion is insanely over and he doesn't need the title.

I would rather they don't unify the titles but rather have Cody, or another heel win the Intercontinental championship from Christian, it could be a couple of months from now. They get angry at Santino for his antics and they have a match. The losers title becomes defunct. So the heel, Cody possibly wins. United States championship is gone. In comes the cruiserweight championship and wrestlers.

Problem?, solved.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Is it just me or are these the only titles not needing to be unified?

The Divas Division is so lackluster they needed 1 belt to make it significant. And the tag division barley has enough teams for 1 set of belts. Also almost everyone has been saying that the world title would mean alot more if there was only 1.

There is such an over-abundance of mid-card talent why unify these belts????

The ONLY reason I would be okay with it, is if they basically "replaced" the U.S. belt with a Hardcore or Cruiserweight title so that we has another mid-card title that wasn't just random mid title and actually had stipulations to it.

 

[TempestH]

Look it could just be fiction, like many things displayed on every wrestling site. However I don't see why they can't unify the titles. Santino Marella the current United States champion is insanely over and he doesn't need the title.

I would rather they don't unify the titles but rather have Cody, or another heel win the Intercontinental championship from Christian, it could be a couple of months from now. They get angry at Santino for his antics and they have a match. The losers title becomes defunct. So the heel, Cody possibly wins. United States championship is gone. In comes the cruiserweight championship and wrestlers.

Problem?, solved.

But what happens to the low card guys who AREN'T Cruiserweights? Guys like Trent Baretta and Yoshi Tatsu have something to fight for now, but guys like Alex Riley, JTG and other guys who are above the cruiserweight title's weight limit still would not.

 

[tripleddd]

No No no these can not be merged really bad idea these titles are needed for the mid card guys and guys making the step up -
FOR GODS SAKE WWE UNIFY THE WHC AND WWE title - its so bloody simple

 

[Jack-Hammer]

F4WOnline.com is reporting that WWE officials are discussing the idea of merging the two mid-card titles. The idea was first suggested a few weeks back and, allegedly, has steadily gained steam and support ever since.

There's no word on any sort of details regarding when, if and ultimately how this is going to take place. The sources also say that the WWE is going to keep the WWE & World Heavyweight Championships seperate for touring purposes. They feel that each brand should have a major title particularly for the purposes of house shows. After all, most WWE events are house shows in which the brand extension is, for all intents & purposes, still in operation.

Personally, I'd prefer one World Championship and have two mid-card titles. Whenever WWE decides to retire a title, you can get a sense of it. When they retired the Cruiserweight Championship, look how long Hornswoggle had it. Santino has had the title for a little while now and he's not exactly been a champ worth bragging about.

If this does go down, expect the United States Championship to be gone because I simply don't see the WWE retiring the IC title as it's easily the more prestigious of the titles right now and it's an original WWE creation. Also, if this does go down, I look for it to be a step towards eventually creating another championship at some point. We've all heard the rumors regarding the Cruiserweight Championship and how WWE is hiring more Cruiserweight wrestlers, so it could be making a return or WWE could create a completely different title that's a CW title in function if not name, much like the X Division title has been for most of its existence in TNA.

 

[Radical]

But what happens to the low card guys who AREN'T Cruiserweights? Guys like Trent Baretta and Yoshi Tatsu have something to fight for now, but guys like Alex Riley, JTG and other guys who are above the cruiserweight title's weight limit still would not.

Then those guys would have shape up and get in the IC title picture, Tag Title picture or (unlikely) the World Title picture or just be comfortable being meaningless NXT or Superstars performers/jobbers.

I don't know why they are doing so many SuperShows, I'm assuming it is because they really want people to watch SmackDown more but I used to like SmackDown because it was the "Cruiserweight Show", among other things, obviously but it had that draw to it. Raw is always going draw a bit more because it is live and pushes the main storylines but that doesn't mean SmackDown can't be an enjoyable second show if they just let it be its own show!

For now, they could have:

SmackDown

World Title
Crusierwight Title
Tag Titles (inter-brand)

and

Raw

WWE Title
Intercontinental Title
Tag Titles (inter-brand)
Divas Title (actually, that might as well be inter brand too, but it barely matters anyway)


But with that I think that would give both shows enough titles to work with given the Superstars they have... PROVIDED they use the belts to MEAN SOMETHING.

 

[GameOver]

Is this really news or just someone making up the same stuff every few months. Seriously this has been discussed ever since the dust of WCW's demise had settled

I see it from there point of view with keeping them seperate in the first place, same with the world titles.

1) it keeps some prestige alive of retaining WCW's titles (aka history) while WWE's title's are i guess meant to be hip and cool.

2) it gives both shows the chance to book championship matches between there own talent and not having to book cross brand matches.

3) more titles = pops to 4 talent as opposed to 2. concievably building 4 stars at a time

on the flipside it means titles don't get defended, stories for the title matches are mirrored on both shows so it's pointless.

I dream for the day that they merge the titles period. 1 world champ, 1 tag champ, 1 US/IC champ and 1 Womans champ. and bring back the classic WWF Eagle belt. the WWE titles suck, hell even the TNA title looks better. and thats coming from a life long WWF/E fan

 

[J.D Lethal]

the Us Title merged in with the IC title..my question is who are the guys to do it and who will be the fall guy...in my eyes Christian/Wade Barrett for IC reps and maybe Kofi,Swagger..i see vince having the IC title win as the final shot to wcw..if this CW comes to play it becomes a 3rd tier title below the US title because of the restrictions of CW...this does spark my interest but makes me worry that the overall product will suffer.

 

[trashboy]

Merging the midcard belts will hurt more than it would help. Rather than merging these belts, they need to make them relevant again. They've done a good job of bringing relevancy back to the IC belt but the US title is a joke (as evidenced by a comedy jobber holding the title).

The midcarders need something to fight for and to help them get to the main event level and have relevant feuds. That's what these titles are good for. Merging them woulid just make even more midcarders irrelevant.


The WWE and World titles should be unified but not the midcard titles.

I agree with this right here. The IC and US titles should stay separated. They're for all the midcarders to fight for something. The World Titles are the ones that really need to be unified. I've just never liked having two world titles in the same company, even though they called Smackdown and Raw "separate brands." It's still one company, and should have one world champ. The midcard belts should stay as is, just get the US belt off of Santino and give it to somebody better, like Heath Slater.

 

[Reflection]

I don't think thìs is a good idea. There are a lot of wrestlers in the mid card. Unifying the titles as one would put most of them out of contention for it. Let them stay the way they are now. Moreover, the advantage of the United States title over the Cruiserweight title is that you don't necessarily need to put it only around the waist of westlers weighing less than 200 lbs.

 

[King Michéal]

Vinces ego got in the way of business. Instead of 2 brands, there should have been 2 companies, WWE and WCW. Vince should have owned WWE and Ric Flair "owned" WCW. Instead of Drafts we could have had kayfabe contracts, and superstars randomly appearing on the other show as their contract was up. WWE live on Monday night. WCW live on Friday night, adding legitimacy to the kayfabe 2 companies. Split PPVs between companies, only interbrand PPV being mania. 1 night a year where anything goes

 

[Y2J_Forever]

If they were to do this, they would just make even more jobbers. They don't need to unify them, they just need to legitimize them again. I remember when they were a stepping stone. They would be held until they were worthy of the main event. Now, they have Santino holding the US Title. Not to hate on him, but someone else should hold it, because he is'nt doing anything with it.

 

[rerun406]

I've come to the same conclusion regarding Santino .. can't even remember the last time he defended the belt (was it vs The Miz @ Extreme Rules?)

anyway if all the arguments against unifying the U.S & IC title are because they need those midcard belts for the mid card talent

why not make more belts? besides Cruiserweight the WWE could also have a Television title and or/hardcore title

**heck maybe even have Johnny L make up a brand new title belt that could be won in a tournament (look how the European Belt came onto the scene)

 

[One to Remember]

There's no word on any sort of details regarding when, if and ultimately how this is going to take place. The sources also say that the WWE is going to keep the WWE & World Heavyweight Championships seperate for touring purposes. They feel that each brand should have a major title particularly for the purposes of house shows. After all, most WWE events are house shows in which the brand extension is, for all intents & purposes, still in operation.

Okay well thats probably true but a large segment of people can't comprehend that because the interbrand interactions on tv conflict with the house show set up. House shows and dark matches are rarely apart of pro wrestling canon anyway. No body references anything that happens at them except in a few rare occasions. And if its all about the house show Smackdown needs to work harder to gain popularity. Raw does not need to jump start SD all the time SD needs to be allowed to step its game up. In Knoxville SD is at the Civil Coliseum every time and Raw is at the Thompson-Bowling Arena every time..

If this does go down, expect the United States Championship to be gone because I simply don't see the WWE retiring the IC title as it's easily the more prestigious of the titles right now and it's an original WWE creation. Also, if this does go down, I look for it to be a step towards eventually creating another championship at some point. We've all heard the rumors regarding the Cruiserweight Championship and how WWE is hiring more Cruiserweight wrestlers, so it could be making a return or WWE could create a completely different title that's a CW title in function if not name, much like the X Division title has been for most of its existence in TNA.

Why does it always come down to the I-C title being a WWE creation and having the upperhand in this NEW round of I-C and U.S. title merger debate? You talk about it being a WWF original but then you cut to the Crusierweight title which is a WCW original. Did not our WCW Crusierweight title replace your WWF Light-heavyweight title? No one acknowledges that.. Our U.S. title came back before your WWF European title.. The United States heavyweight title never took any breaks in being the stepping stone to the World title in WCW or the NWA. The I-C title has had many bouts with irrelevance and downgrading. Harley Race is the titles first holder, Pat Patterson is the I-C title's.. The strongest holder the U.S. title has had is Lex Luger, the I-C title had Razor Ramon. Top names and World champions like Bret Hart, Sting, Flair, Luger, Steamboat, Vader, and Sid have fought for the U.S. title after World title reigns and fought for it like it was a World title. The I-C title has not seen that type of spot light or prominence since the days of Pedro Morales and again with Triple H holding the I-C title circa 2001. If there are crusierweights then let the title return but not in place of the top secondary title, as an alternate title.. Just like we used to have "Eurocontinental champions let some guy get both secondary titles and just defend them in tandem. Dont absorb one into the other..

 

[HBsam31]

I agree with a previous post that said they don't need to unify the title they need to make them relevant again. The IC title is a bit better than it was before, but the US title is almost non existent. I don't get why they don't have regular feuds for these titles. Some of the best matches ever were for those titles. I want those days back, and it seems a lot of other people do to.

 

[Radical]

I agree with a previous post that said they don't need to unify the title they need to make them relevant again. The IC title is a bit better than it was before, but the US title is almost non existent. I don't get why they don't have regular feuds for these titles. Some of the best matches ever were for those titles. I want those days back, and it seems a lot of other people do to.

I still personally would like to see the US title retired and the IC title stay and then the Cruiserweight title (and thus, the division) re-introduced.

But what I will say is I agree that, whatever they do, they have to make the mid-card titles relevant again!

Right now only the IC title has had any sort of meaning or relevance attached to it. The last time the US title had any relevance attached to it was when Ryder was chasing it down.

But even those meaningful pursuits of those titles are too few and far between. WWE doesn't push storylines through the mid-card titles as much as they should. Why don't they make these titles relevant again by having the title holder or the GM start a tournament for the title. Have a US title tournament (like King of the Ring or whatever). If the matches en route to finding the #1 contender are good then people will become more interested in who holds the US title.