Report: POSSIBLE Future Of The Main Event Titles

[Jack-Hammer]

There's a story on the main page, originally sourced from PWInsider.com, that WWE is considering a WWE Champion vs. World Heavyweight Champion match at WrestleMania XXX. The report claims that the current plan supports the fan speculation that's gone on for a few weeks: that WWE put the WHC on John Cena to build it up between now and WrestleMania XXX.

When Cena took the title from Del Rio at Hell in a Cell, the first thing that popped into my head was that it could lead to a title unification match at WrestleMania XXX. With John Cena as the World Heavyweight Champion, of course WWE is going to put a ton of emphasis on the title, probably more so than it's had in many years. It's possible that the intention could simply be to use Cena as the first big step in putting the title's importance level with that of the WWE Championship. At the same time, unifying the titles to have only one World Championship again feels like the sort of "big happening" that one would expect to take place at the 30th anniversary of WrestleMania.

If WWE officials do go through with unifying the titles, where does that leave the winner of the 2014 Royal Rumble? Traditionally, the winner of the Rumble receives a championship match against either the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania. I suppose a possibility would be postponing the time in which the winner gets his shot, maybe as long as SummerSlam for instance. If the winner of the Rumble isn't exactly a main event guy, that'd give WWE 8 full months in which to ultimately build him up into a threat for the title.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

It's a long road to Wrestlemania and in-story, they could have some circumstance arise where the Royal Rumble winner gets "screwed" out of their match, resulting in some other feud at Wrestlemania. They can then be the defacto top contender after Wrestlemania.

 

[DexVendetta88]

I feel that the WWE and WHC titles needed to be unified for a long time now. Just remember that because of the brand extension over 10 years ago, we have 2 world titles as opposed to 1. Plus the brand extension is over anyways, so there's no need to have 2 separate world titles since the champs are featured on both shows anyways. Plus, I felt that in recent the years the WHC has become stagnant in a way. It doesn't seem to have the same prestige as it once did, and it almost feels like an upper mid-card title just right above the IC and US titles. With Cena having the WHC, and Orton with the WWE this may become a reality. Hopefully if this goes through, the mid-card titles will follow suit and unify.

 

[fenderjapan]

There are a few ways they could handle the Royal Rumble. One way would be to put one of the titles on the line IN the Royal Rumble, which seems somewhat unlikely...it would have been more likely if the vacant title angle ran close to the Royal Rumble.

They could have the Rumble winner get taken out and become unable to compete.

They could also have the Rumble winner elect to get a shot at the belt at Elimination Chamber.

 

[justinept]

Here's a possible solution. You let Brock Lesnar enter and win the Royal Rumble, but instead of challenging for the WWE Title or the WHC, he demands that his match be with The Undertaker. The issue here is that by Lesnar seeing more value in a match with The Undertaker than in a WWE/WHC Title match, you run the risk of seriously devaluing the belts. After all, as much prestige as the streak has, the prestige of being champion should be above that - right?

I'm curious if you think the potential pay-off would be worth devaluing the belts. Could the WWE use that as part of the reason to merge the belts? Perhaps, Cena says "Brock is right. These titles don't mean what they used to. There are too many people walking around with a claim to being the best, and that needs to end. There needs to be one guy with a stake in that claim - one champion..." Would acknowledging that the belts have lost value because there are two of them actually recreate the value in the belt once it's merged?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Simples, scrap the prize.

It's run it's course and no body should be getting a guaranteed main event slot at Mania in January. If you must still have a prize, for this year they go with the "Streak", especially if it is Taker's last run - you have to win the Rumble to have the final shot at ending the streak. That more than covers it.

Or they do it like they did in 2002/2003 where it's a 4 way Tourney, the Rumble just gets you in. (Jericho should be the 4th as "First Undisputed Champ")

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

As someone already mentioned, I think Brock wins the Rumble and challenges Undertaker for the Streak.

I am hoping for a title unification at Mania. Cena vs. Bryan, Cena vs. Orton. Either way, I'm good. I think HHH needs a match, and could go against whoever isn't in the title match.

Mania's shaping up nicely.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

What if The Royal Rumble winner just chose both champions?

The recent news going around is that Bryan is getting bumped from the title picture with a good chance of being re inserted early next year, what if they gave him the ultimate feel good moment of unifying the titles at WrestleMania?

If they're not sold on Bryan, there's always Punk. If there's a bigger money match than Orton vs Cena vs Punk for both heavyweight titles, I don't know it.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I hope this match doesn't happen. It takes away two possible title matches for Cena to face Orton. Does anybody really want that? I don't think they need to unify the titles either if they were going to have this match then just take one of the belts off of one and make the match for the other and the title of "face of the WWE". If this match were to happen I can't honestly picture myself being interested in it.

I was going to make a separate thread for this but it sort of fits here so whatevs. Why does everyone want Punk vs. Bryan at WrestleMania? Sure they can wrestle well but to me their past matches haven't been 5 star classics. I also hear a lot of people saying they'd want the match to be an Ironman match. I've only been entertained by a few Ironman matches and I'm not sure that one would do it for me. I honestly don't see the appeal in CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan main eventing the biggest WrestleMania in history especially because their past matches haven't really tore the house down as they should have IMO.

 

[Redrum]

I would be fine if they had one person win both and hold it for a time but no unification and imo the brand split needs to come back. But if you unified the titles then it will be really hard for some younger guys and some the IWC wants to have a major title to get. With only one title the picture will be hogged by Orton,Cena,Punk,Lesnar(at some point),YJ2(if he ever comes back for longer then a few months),Big Show,Bryan and the flavor of the season big man. Now that would leave very little room for guys like Ziggler,Cody,Cesaro.Sandow,Wyatt (at some point),and whoever else the IWC is in love with at the time. Sure some of the time they may squeak in but when it comes to holding the title the big boys will get the lions share while these guys get the scraps and used as transitional guys.

With two titles and a real brand split (bring back the draft) you have more shots for these new talent to get into the title picture which allows you to develop new stars. It also gives you a reason to watch smackdown as lets be honest 70% of the time the major events for every superstar now is on raw. The brand split makes sure that talent on smackdown have their major events in their storys happen ON smackdown thus giveing people more of a reason to tune in.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I think it's a great idea and fitting for Wrestlemania XXX.

A few points though:

Is WWE going to be willing to sacrifice a main event match, in order to have this unification match? What I mean is, if you're having the WWE champ vs. World Champ, then you're only having 1 championship match instead of two. Still, the hype for this could be big enough that it would more than make up for the lack of 2 championship matches.

As far as the Royal Rumble winner goes, this is easy - As some have suggested above, you have Brock Lesnar win the Rumble and say that he's going to challenge the streak, rather than go for the WWE or World title OR you have the Royal rumble winner win one of the two titles at the Elimination Chamber and then have him say that he still gets his world title match at Wrestlemania, per the rules of the rumble so then you have him challenge the other champion.

The one thing that's holding me back from saying I 100% believe this is that WWE just introduced a new title belt. They're not about to get rid of it. So that means they'd keep the current WWE title and call it something like the "undisputed WWE World Championship" or just the "WWE World Championship." The unification doesn't have to be permanent so they could always bring back the "Big Gold Belt" at a later time.

 

[Blade]

I don't want to see the titles unified. Not this year, anyway. It seems a shame that WWE would make the WHC seem like a big deal in the short term by giving it to Cena, only to get rid of it at Wrestlemania. Plus, if you go for a match where Cena, as World Champion, takes on Orton/Punk/Bryan as WWE champion, then everyone knows the WWE title comes out on top. Because we've been shown for years that the WWE title is THE champioship in the company. Plus, as has been touched upon already, it deprives us of two World Title matches. Which would be a shame since 1) Cena is making the World Title relevant and 2) the WWE title match has plenty of exciting match-ups that could happen at Wrestlemania, between Orton, Bryan, Punk and Triple H.

If WWE are going to make to unify the titles, it'll be much more interesting if they spend a year making the WHC look equal to the WWE title. Let Cena have a long run. Put it on Orton for a while. Put it on Punk for a while. Hell, put it on Lesnar, Triple H or Taker for a PPV cycle or two. Really make us believe that the WHC is worth having. Then, next year have the unification match and it'll be much more interesting.

 

[MCMG]

The best way to unify the belts is to have two separate World Title matches and the winners fight against each other to become Undisputed Champion. That would give us three World Title matches and a fantastic array of possibilities. Thinking ahead, they can pick from: Cena, Bryan, Orton, Punk, Sheamus, Brock, The Rock, Jericho, Sheamus and anyone else less proven who they may want to give the opportunity to.

For example, Orton is WWE Champion; Cena WHC champ; Bryan wins the Rumble and at Elimination Chamber they have a number-one contender match for the World Heavyweight Championship. That could give us Cena/Punk which everyone agrees should happen at least once at Mania and Orton/Bryan - a proper ending to a long feud which would give Bryan his moment finally winning the belt. Then Cena/Bryan to become undisputed champion. Those three matches would be a fantastic part of WM and we would get a new champion at the end of it.

If they wanted to simply have it WHC vs WWE champion, I'm ok with that as well (Cena vs Punk should be the match there) What they do with the Royal Rumble winner is interesting. The most likely and logical choice would be to have him challenge the champ at Elimination Chamber so he could go into WM as the Champion. They could also have a triple threat which would work just fine.

I strongly dislike the idea of someone winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Taker. I just think it is ruining such a great concept and winning the Royal Rumble gives the winner a shot at the World Champion which makes perfect sense.

 

[LODemolition]

If their plan really is to unify the titles, the simplest solution is to have the winner of the Rumble challenge both champions in a triple threat match at Mania.

If it's just Cena vs Orton, I doubt anyone wants to see that for the hundredth time. The fans want more. Let Punk or Bryan win the Rumble and make it a triple threat. Or possibly do it the same way they did when Jericho became the first undisputed champ by beating Rock and Austin in 2 separate matches.

Let's say Punk wins the Rumble. They flip a coin to see who he has to face first. Obviously, he'd face Orton and win the WWE Title. Later in the night, he faces Cena and...well, we know what happens from there.

With that said, I'm sure Vince will be in Cena's corner and Triple H in Orton's corner and they will make it a simple 1-on-1 with ownership of the WWE on the line. If this is the case, then I agree with letting Brock win the Rumble and challenging Taker for the streak. I don't hate this idea, but I definitely don't love it either.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Well, if we're gonna speculate about who'd be in the unifying title match, I'd much, much rather see a Triple Threat match with John Cena, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan...hell, a IWC geek can dream, can't he?

I actually think that could be one hell of a dream match, if built right. Tell me fans wouldn't go ape shit for that.

 

[Da Solo]

I'm all for title unification. No need for 2 main titles if the brand split is over. My only gripe is that this CANNOT, under any circumstances, be Cena vs. Orton again. They tried way too hard to make that the Rock/Austin of the PG era and instead ran it into the ground. To be honest, there aren't any 1v1 options on the full time roster for this position that interest me (except maybe a face Bryan vs. face Punk), yet it'd be a slap in the face for a part timer to do it and win other than Taker. There are better options out there:

Cena vs. Taker (get the WWE title on Taker somehow, whether Chamber match or pissed off GM ruling or whatever)

Cena vs. Punk (ultimate rubber match)

Punk vs. Bryan (IWC jizzfest and battle for face of the company since we all know Cena's time is coming)

Bryan vs. HHH (let HHH insert himself kayfabe as face of the company)

Hell, there are so many other lurking variables too. Henry would be interesting seeing as how he sold out his family just for a title shot at MiTB. Kane's whole MO during the Hell No! breakup was finally getting his WM moment, The Rock or Lesnar can always win one of the world titles and come put someone over for the unification, etc. Honestly, I think they should do this as a multi-man match, like a 6 Pack Challenge, Fatal 4 Way or even bring back the Armageddon Hell in a Cell!

 

[YourAverageGuy]

Here's my scenario leading up to WM30.

- Cena keeps the WHC and Orton keeps the WWE title leading up to WM30 and a match between the two is made to unify the titles at WM30.

- Bryan wins the Rumble and insists that he should be apart of the match.

- Punk wins the Elimanation Chamber to also get a spot in that match making it a Fatal 4 Way.

Undisputed WWE Championship

John Cena (c) VS Randy Orton (c) VS CM Punk VS Daniel Bryan

And with This WM being the 30th, it's the perfect oppertunity to do something of this magnitude.

#makeithappenwwe

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I doubt this(match) happens, but it truly should be Punk Vs Cena. 2/3 falls if we could.

Those are THE two guys of this era, and have given us not one, but two five star matches together. They are the antithesis of one another, as are their fan bases.

Itll probably be something fucking stupid. Brock Lesnar Vs The Rock with a celebrity refferee.

motherfuckers.

 

[YourAverageGuy]

I doubt this(match) happens, but it truly should be Punk Vs Cena. 2/3 falls if we could.

Those are THE two guys of this era, and have given us not one, but two five star matches together. They are the antithesis of one another, as are their fan bases.

Itll probably be something fucking stupid. Brock Lesnar Vs The Rock with a celebrity refferee.

motherfuckers.

That sounds pretty good but I think a Fatal 4 Way would be the best move IMO.

Having WWE's top 4 superstars (Punk, Bryan, Cena, and Orton) compete for the title at the 30th anniversary would really be something.

 

[ttdg]

In my opinion, the 2 titles should never be unified again. As someone already stated by unifying the titles you lose the ability to push a younger star to the Championship level. As for WrestleMania my prediction is for DB to finally go over Orton for his WrestleMania moment and for Sandow to go over Cena for the WHC.

 

[j2early]

Make it a fatal 4 way. Have the two champions, the winner of the rumble, and the winner of a money in the bank that starts off Wrestlemania. I think Orton(WWE Champion), Cena(World Champion), CM Punk(Rumble Winner), and Daniel Bryan(special Wrestlemania Money in the Bank winner) would be the ultimate payoff for the past couple of years in the WWE.

 

[gioacchini6]

Daniel Bryan will win the Royal Rumble. CM Punk will will win the WWE Championship from Orton between now and Wrestlemania. Triple H, furious that Daniel Bryan is the #1 contender for WrestleMania, will once again screw him out of his contendership somehow. This will finally set up Triple H vs Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. As for Punk and the World Champ Cena, Vince will step in and say that with no Rumble contender, what better time than WrestleMania 30, to decide the TRUE champion of WWE? Boom, Punk vs. Cena, Title vs. Title.

 

[RicSpade]

This isn't the first time a Rumble Winner either wouldn't be involved in the title picture or it was changed into a different match if you remember Cena took on Michaels in place of Triple H (different circumstance, but still) Orton took Mysterios spot only for it to turn into a 3 way. So there is always that possibility of the match changing, maybe they cash the title shot in early on the WWE Champion and lose, or they win making it champion vs. Champion.

 

[DDevine]

I like the Fatal Four Way idea. But I don't know how they could get the fourth person in there legitimately. I don't see them doing multiple matches at WM (a la MITB. I also don't see them using EC either, it would diminish the amount of hype they could have going into WM for the two champs.

I could, however, see a triple threat match, very easily.

If there are multiple matches, I see a title tournament. Or, at the very least the following scenario with random superstars inserted:

Punk wins Rumble, but gets "injured". Orton and Cena have a unification match. After their match, Punk returns in a surprise squash match against the winner. It asserts a form of dominance for the new champion, and sets up feuds with both former champions. Even more so if there is interference in the initial match.

(I stole the idea from WWE '12)

 

[Rooster Smith]

i WOULD hate the idea of doing this again because they already ut the belt on a part timer and vacated it this year ...

HOWEVER, they could make the winner of the Royal Rumble the new WWE champ. maybe Bryan goes full tiger on Orton and A match has to be stopped on RAW.

Rather than award the title to Bryan, HHH puts it up for grabs in the rumble and punishes Bryan by making him the first entrant.

Bryan wins the rumble because he is a wrestling ... God!

And then, unsolicited, picks John Cena as his opponent at mania.

HHH balks at that but rules are rules right? The winner of the rumble main events mania and picks the championship he wants to go for.

HHH's last shot at screwing Bryan over is the elimination chamber.

But bryan wins that too despite being the number one entrant. (suspiciously)

Cena overcomes the same predicament by beatng all HHH's goons in his own elimation chamber. (HHH didn't trust cEna to beat bryan after last time.). did that rlimantion chamber feature Brock Lesnar? yes it did, Cena made him tap.

And cry.

And shit himself.

(Hate Lesnar.)

Then at mania, match of the year. Who wins? The fans. Finally unified the belts.

Also Daniel Bryan. Sorry, Johnny Cakes.

I am high as shit, goodnight, everybody!!!! Don't forget to vote tomorrow! Whooooooooooooooooo!!!