Prestige for Mid-Card Belts? | WrestleZone Forums

Prestige for Mid-Card Belts?

FightOwensFight

Formerly Global Conquest
Seems that in recent weeks there has been an "elevation" in how the IC and US Belts have been discussed. On one hand you have the belts being contended for more regularly, and just last night you had Cole asking Heyman about which mid-card belt had more prestige (nice to refer to them as having any prestige at all), we have seen more vignettes about the history of the belts (mostly the IC) and last night Kofi had his pre-match graphic discussing how he beat Cesaro for the US belt last year and how he would use his match against him Friday to start his journey back to the US Title (Haven't seen anyone actually come out and say they have desired either of these in that way in a while).

All that being said, do you think this is an actual trend that will continue where more import is placed on these belts (and hopefully the tag belts as well), especially considering the Main Event belts are unified. Or, do you think this is just another blip on the radar and they will go back to being the afterthought they have been through recent history?
 
I wish they'd make tournaments with monthly rankings for the mid card belts. They should be defended at most PPVs and on tv in a hyped, prime time slot at least monthly. These should be used as marquee workhorse titles. This is like the "Sports division" where wins and sense matter, opposite of the Entertainment division with supernatural events & corporate malfeasence, or Kick Out Kid Kartoonz starring John Cena.

Carrying one of the belts entitles you to choose a stipulation in any one match during the month. So at any point Sheamus could make 1 match per month a No DQ, or a 2-1 handicap, or whatever. He could save it for the next PPV, or he could use it on any random Raw, Smackdown or Main Event. It would be a fun, anticipatory surprise that is always looming, like a MitB cash-in.

If Cole-JBL sold the US/IC tournaments and title matches half as hard as they sarcastically hype a Torito/Horny match, it would always be a big deal.
 
If you were asked to name the 15 most influential wrestlers of the past 20 years... You would notice the majority of them used the IC title as a stepping stone to greatness.

Breat Hart
Intercontinental 1991, Heavyweight 1992
Diesel
Intercontinental 1994, Heavyweight 1994
Austin
Intercontinental 1997, Heavyweight 1998
The Rock
Intercontinental 1997, Heavyweight 1998
HHH
Intercontinental 1996, Heavyweight 1999
Jericho
Intercontinental 1999, Heavyweight 2001
Angle
Intercontinental 2000, Heavyweight 2000
Orton
Intercontinental 2003, WWE 2004
CM Punk
Intercontinental 2009, Heavyweight 2011

The WWE does need to select their IC champions better, they have to be established and talented stars. But more importantly once they have conquered the IC level the WWE must then 100% commit them to the Heavyweight title. The I.C. title cannot be the peak where winners get shuffled back down the deck, it has to be the launching pad for the main event. That being said... Barrett must be put into the heavyweight picture within the next 12months, so only time will tell if the WWE is truly committing to the formula and mid card titles.
 
That however is where the problem started... it created the ridiculous treadmill system, where if a worker doesn't win the World title within 2 years of losing the IC for the first time they are basically written off in favour of the next one.

The IC championship used right can create excellent feuds and stars from holding it and it is a good barometer of whether some could eventually handle "The Big Belt", however since Bret and Shawn it created a "race" to get to that point that saw the IC become an albatross round the neck of others.

Take Barrett right now... when this recent push began people immediately shouted doom and gloom, that if he didn't get over this time ra de ra de blah... They missed the point that he is barely 5 years into his WWE career and he now has his 4th IC title, that's as many as Razor Ramon...you know the one who was inducted into the HOF this year got... that's on top of already headling for a year off the bat. By giving him the IC it instantly elevated it, first cos he went through big contenders to get it, second he beat a relatively long standing champion and third because the title run itself meant more than just a clock ticking till he loses it...

I can honestly see Barrett winning MITB this year or inserting himself into the World title picture using the IC #1 contender clause that has seemingly been lost... Steph sets up a match with the idea for Trips to win the title for example... BNB comes out with his "bad news" and invokes his clause... he wouldn't need to put the IC on the line, he wouldn't need to even win the match... but a strong showing would instantly put the IC title on a par that it's not had for years. If he COULD win it... and hold 3 belts it would certainly kickstart him... and the IC belt could easily be "vacated" or more likely put on the line in some kind of Championship scramble/fall match like with Angle/Benoit and Jericho.

The US title is a tougher sell cos it is in reality the lesser belt... Sheamus holding it again won't revitalise his career in the way it seems to be for Barrett but it keeps him prominent on that Roster page, in a way it did for Ambrose. He will lose it and probably to Rusev who will make it the Russian title. In reality however you're not going to get to the stage where these two belts are the same... the IC can and must be first... if the US title becomes more of a stepping stone from NXT to the upper levels then that's fine... Rusev can win it, lose it to someone like Neville down the line. That would do a good turn for WWE to basically treat it as the old WCW TV title and European championships were... a talents first "taste" of gold, those capable of more rise... those who perhaps find their level there can repeat hold the title... Most rate Arn Anderson or Regal as World Championship should have beens but both held the TV title in WCW multiple times and it is considered a highlight of their careers. MVP, Matt Hardy, Kennedy all had runs with the US that will be remembered best in their careers... whatever they then do or have done just as people remember Stan Hansen (in the US), Magnum TA and even Meng are... they found their level and excelled at it or fate took them in other directions to the big 2 titles... but they have that time with the US title on their resume that they can say made their career a success in the US.

Many look to the US belt as the crucial stepping stone in Austin's career or that TA was definite for the World but that spell with the TV title for Austin was what broke him in the business and made people notice enough... that he then went through other divisions with relative ease proves what making the US title "that belt" can do for WWE today.
 
I don't know if all the various reports over the years are all accurate, if some are totally false, if there's some accuracy & inaccuracy in some of them, etc. but the stop & go push has become a trademark of Vince. I'm not trying to sound like a total mark for Triple H, but when you look at the overall consistency of the title pictures in NXT, you see much more solid booking as Triple H ultimately decides on something and sticks with it. Vince, on the other hand, is often reported on going back & forth with ideas or plans, which results in changes being made right smack in the middle of an angle that can throw the entire angle off. If you see that something isn't working and want to make changes, that's perfectly understandable; sometimes, however, Vince will make changes even if it only makes sense to him or what's happening isn't giving him the sort of results he wants as quickly as he wants.

The use of the mid-card titles is a perfect example of that, especially during WrestleMania season last year. Things were going fine for Barrett & Cesaro as IC & US champ, but Vince decided, for some reason, to use these guys as fodder for the bigger names to build momentum during WM season. As I've said in other posts, poor Wade Barrett is someone who MIGHT be the one person who gained the least out of being IC champion in history. They're on the right track with him now and with Sheamus as US champ. The problem is that there's no telling how long it will last because Vince is said to change his mind in the blink of an eye. I've read some reports alleging that even though Trips loves the man, stuff like that drives him up the friggin' wall.
 
I'd like to hope that more importance will be placed on the midcard and tag team belts in the long run, but I have been a fan long enough to know better. The two world titles got unified six months ago. Enough time has elapsed to where the Intercontinental Championship should now have fully replaced the big gold belt as the #2 title. It is by default the #2 title now, but it still has more importance needing to be restored. WWE is on the right path with Barrett, keep having him retain the title in matches that receive proper booking. Barrett and the belt itself both need for this reign to be a success.

Then there's the US Championship. Sheamus is a good pick for a fighting champion who can get in plenty of strong retentions, if booked as such. Ambrose ended up having a lackluster reign which is sad, he could have been one of the greatest US Champions of all time. What's done is done though, and if Sheamus' reign can be successful it could be a sign of good things to come for that title, but once again I doubt it will be the case. We can only hope. The Tag Team Championship took a step back with The Usos and New Age Outlaws, but I expect that division to improve when The Ascension get promoted. Only time will tell. At least the World Heavyweight Championship and Divas Championships are being treated well.
 
The IC used to be the stepping stone to the World title, but the lack of megastar main eventers has pushed the IC title holders down the card. I'd like to see the IC belt itself elevated so that top tier talent could win it and make it more credible as that stepping stone once again. Even if they gave guys longer runs with the belt it would help. Put the IC on a guy like Wyatt or Rollins and let him go close to a year. After losing the IC you transition the former champion into a feud with a guy higher up the card, and work from there. WWE and wrestling in general has lost the art of the slow build in favour of immediate gratification.
 

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