Should WWE Unify/Remove some titles?

[Mantard]

I saw a thread somewhere asking the question if they should have three world champions, or just one. Personally, I think one, but that's in another thread.

This got me to thinking, however... Night of Champions had I think 9 matches, all for titles. 3 brands, with at the time 9 titles. On average that's three champions per brand, but since ECW had only one at the time, that's about four per Smackdown and Raw. Doesn't that seem a little much?

My idea would be to simply unify the World Championships, the Tag-Team Championships, the Women's/Diva's Championships (which is still kinda stupid since the Diva's just came out and still doesn't have a holder), The Intercontinental/US Championships, and bring back the Cruiserweight (maybe).

That'd bring us to a grand total of Four (or five) championships for all three brands. While some say this might limit the opportunities for younger, more unknown talent, I think this actually might not be that bad. You could have more build up in some cases and the titles could hop around the shows, providing some opportunities for the smaller talent to challenge and feud with the older talent.

For example: There are two tag-team championships, and they're rarely defended. Why? Because there are only about three real tag teams right now - DiBiase/Rhodes, Cryme Tyme, and M&M. Not a lot of opportunity for defending if your brand doesn't even have a tag team to defend against.

This move could maybe help the Women's division. If Mickie had the unified belt now, then that could open up a feud between her and Natalya from Smackdown. Fresh feud, with some brand supremacy thrown in. I'm not sure if ECW even has any Divas left, but that might not be so bad.

Just an idea. Cutting down or unifying several belts, I think, would be an interesting idea.

Anyone have any thoughts, agree, or disagree?

 

[Greg Grimes]

I have to agree. I was thinking about this yesterday actually. I was gonna say have 3 mid card belts. Something like the Best of the Brands belts. A RAW belt, A Smackdown Belt, and a ECW belt. Then have the all glory WWE belt. Unify the Tag Team belts, and let tag teams go between brands and just have 1 belt set. Thats five belts right there, ad the RAW, SMACKDOWN, & ECW belt would be like the US. Intercontenital & ECW are now, but by saying your the best in the brand gives them a whole new credibility and would allow many good title defenses. Womens belt have only 1 cause lets face it people, no one really cares about the women in WWE. Its just not a big thing, thats all. Then maybe bring back the Crusierweight belt and that way you would have 1 belt that stays on each brand with worth. A good tag team belt divison through all brands, the womans belt for the women, The all powerful WWE belt, which should jump from brand to brand more often. and maybe the cruiserweight just for some good smaller guy matches. Now thats still 7 belts but at least they all have a purpose. Then maybe even give the belts some power, like 3 title defense of the Brand belt gives you a title shot or something of the sort. I just have to agree that the WWE needs to get rid of some of the belts, and give them some worth. This is just my way of getting that down.

 

[Colamania]

I think there should be some unification, but not on the scale you're suggesting. Here's what I'd do if I were Vince McMahon (apart from die once every year... he's turning into the Undertaker)

First off, finalise the unification of the SmackDown and ECW brands. Unify the ECW and WWE Championships, and leave it with two world titles, one for Raw, one for SD/ECW. Then I'd bring back the Crusierweight championship for that brand.

The only other championships I'd unify are the tag ones. I think having two seperate brands is important, with the size of WWE's roster at current, and as such, there shouldn't be too many inter-branded championships. So, the only title I'd have which went across the board instead of being brand exclusive would be the WWE World Tag Team Championships. The only reason for this would be that there are hardly any tag teams right now. There are Cryme Tyme, who haven't had a match in ages, DiBiase/Rhodes and M&M. The unification of SmackDown and ECW would also re-untie the Hardys. But that would be it. 2 teams on either show. So, either I'd unify the tag team championships, or I'd try to get some new teams going, maybe put the Highlanders back on the map, could even bring UT back to Raw and re-birth the Brothers of Destruction. I'd also make Kennedy and MVP a tag team again, they were a good combination. You know, this all gives me an idea for a new thread.

But for now, there it is. I'd simply unify two sets of titles and leave it at that, because the size of the singles roster.

 

[DeadmanInc.]

Yes, they definitely need to do this. There are way too many titles and all of them are meaningless except for the WWE Title and World Heavyweight Title.

If I were WWE, I would:

-Unify the WWE and World Title again (and for god sakes get rid of the spinner belt)
-Unify the ECW and IC title (and make the IC title the 2nd most prestigious belt again)
-Unify the Tag Titles
-Unify the Women's title and Diva's title
-Keep the US Title as a secondary mid-card title, kinda like how the European title was
-Bring back the Cruiserweight Title so that the Cruiserweights actually have something to compete for.


Though my ideas require that the brand split end, which I don't see happening anytime soon, unfortunately.

IMO, having 2 World Titles is lame. Before when you had the WWE belt, you could say that you were the best. Now it's more like you share the limelight with the World Heavyweight Champion. Back in the day, being a 5 time champion was huge. Today it's much easier to be a 5 time "world champion" because there are 2 belts to compete for. Not to discredit Edge, but is he honestly on the same level as Hogan, The Rock, Stone Cold, and Bret Hart (5 time WWE Champions)?

The IC title used to be the second most prestigious title in WWE. Back in the days of the Two Man Powertrip it was treated as almost equal to the WWE belt. There are many greats that have held this belt, especially when Bret Hart used to main event shows defending the IC belt. What about those legendary ladder matches for the IC title: Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels or Triple H vs The Rock? Today the IC title is barely defended on PPVs and there hasn't been a feud based on the belt in ages. The ECW belt needs to go. It's quite clear that WWE doesn't even care about ECW.

The Tag Team division used to be amazing. The great Table, Ladder, and TLC matches were all for the Tag Titles. Nowadays the belts are hardly defended at all and there are barely any credible tag teams.

The Cruiserweight Belt would give Cruiserweights something to compete for. If they're not in a match with each other, they're usually jobbing to the bigger superstars, which is really a waste since the cruiserweight division is really entertaining.

 

[slickman123]

i think they should unify all the world titles, sure alot main event wrestlers would complain as they would be in less main events but it would make the p.p.v card stronger we could have 1 main champion and all the other stars would battle in high upper mid card feuds and no1 contender matches we would get quailty feuds with high profile stars without the belt being involved as there would only be 1 champion possible

 

[TheOneBigWill]

No.

Plain and simple, the W.W.E. shouldn't logically unify any Championships. As it stands, they already have selective brands who don't have the proper Championships to support their rosters. The way it stands now, each of the main two brands have the same amount of Championships to support their roster, and E.C.W. is left in the dark more or less with only having a Heavyweight title and sharing a midcard and tag team title with Smackdown.

If you were going to unify any Championship, I'd definately say it needed to start with the Tag Team Championships. The fact is, the W.W.E. doesn't have a Tag Team division thats strong enough to support two tag titles. The only reason it is, is due to the fact that each bigger brand truly needs its own, seemingly.

However I think a lot of people would agree that the W.W.E. as a whole isn't stable enough in that division, to have two mini versions. So obviously bringing together both Tag Team titles would be the answer. It'll be the answer that'll never happen, however, because the W.W.E. makes too much money off of having more Championships. People love seeing titles and title changes.

Does anyone remember the era on Raw from late 2002-early 03? Raw unified all its midcard titles, including the Intercontinental Championship, with the Heavyweight title. When everything was over, Raw had a Heavyweight title, Tag Team titles, and the Women's title. Leaving all its midcarders to more or less wrestle in meaningless matches.

 

[Sparky]

Im agreeing with Will here. THe WWE should NOT Unify any title. If they was to Unify the titles you would be stuck with Useless match after useless match. The only thing the WWE needs to do with the title situation is what they have done. Move another title to ECW so its even out. I agree in one part. They shouldnt be making any more titles. Except maybe bring the CW championship back. They shouldnt be bringing out more useless titles like the divas championship. But no they shouldnt unify the titles as it will make a decline in ratings as nobody will want to go to a PPV that only has one match with meaning.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

All in all, the reason that the midcard and tag team divisions are suffering is because of a number problem. When they book nearly all of their superstars that aren't main-event worthy as jobbers (and really, from Stevie Richards to Santino to Haas and Venis and Super Crazy and London/Kendrick and Yang/Moore and...) then how are you supposed to care?

Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho were two recent IC champions, and for what? They never feuded with anybody because they were main event talent. Now, we have Kofi, which makes perfect sense, as he has Burchill and potentially Cade to feud with. Then what? Revert back to jobber Charlie Haas?

Cryme Tyme, DiBiase/Rhodes, Jesse/Festus, Hawkins/Ryder, and Morrison/Miz (who should be moved up higher on the scales). That's all we have for a tag team division on ALL THREE SHOWS. And no, I don't count Finlay/Hornswoggle as a legitimate team, and nobody else should. You simply cannot build two tag team divisions around four teams (two of which job out a lot), one team that should be doing better things, and one team consisting of a midget and his father.

If you were to get rid of ECW, you'd force people to be demoted (ie, Matt Hardy and Finlay are pretty much top dogs on ECW, but they'd work much better as midcarders on Raw/Smackdown). That would solve your problem right there, as you'd only have two rosters to worry about and not three.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Yes I think they should consolidate some title. No, they won't do it. It doesn't make sense for them to get rid of titles right now as they most likely make too much money from it. I also think they should recombine the roster, but that's another story (and another thing they won't do).

So we have:
WWE Title
World Heavyweight Title
IC Title
Tag Champs 1
Tag Champs 2
Womens Title
Divas Title
ECW Title

So we have 8 titles there. I think we all pretty much agree that the tag title should be combined. I think it's stupid to have 2 womens titles but they are obviously not going to get rid of that. I hate ECW but if they are their own show they obviously need a title. I think they should reorganize it the title picture like this:

WWE title (one top title)
RAW championship
SmackDown championship
ECW Champtionship (I think this should be the "wrestling" show though with guys like London, Kendrick, Sydal and other pure wrestlers)
TV Title (defended on all brands)
Tag Team Championship
Women's Championship

So that's six titles (7 if you count the Diva's title) that I think fits pretty well. I think it would make for a better product. The only problem is having the WWE champ appear on all shows, they he would most likely just stay on one show the majority of the time while feuding with someone there. If they insist on having 2 womens championship they should just make one for RAW and one for SmackDown ad call it that.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

No.

It gives young superstars the chance to shine when they otherwise wouldn't. That is why I am so high on the roster split. If they take the titles and combine them, it fucks over most of the younger superstars. The only title I even would remotely think of unifying would be the Tag Titles. WWE does not have a strong Tag Team scene anyways. This might actually help out their cause. If they screw around with the other titles though, they will be screwing over younger talent who might otherwise never be given a chance.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I think all the titles should be unified. Next year, Night of Champions should be all title vs. title matches. It would end the brandsplit. There was plaent of opportunity in the 80's. If Undertaker doesn't have a title, some upstart could go over him and gain just as much as if he one one of the midcard titles over Kofi Kingston.

If you say the title picture is fine now, then you are saying that beating Kofi Kingston is greater than beating John Cena. That is asinine.

In TNA the AJ/Kurt non title match is a bigger deal (top storyline) than any title match.

 

[Rusty]

No. There is enough titles in the company which gives superstars more opportunities to become a champion. I wouldn't unify any titles at the present moment but however, I would get rid of the new Divas Championship and being back the Cruiserweight Championship.

Even though there are not enough tag teams for 2 Tag Titles, Raw and Smackdown both need Tag titles as they are separate brands. Both brands need a midcard title and both brands need a World Title for superstars to compete for. Smackdown should have a Cruiserweight Title and Raw should have a Womens title.

As for ECW, I think its fine with just the one title. But it needs to be more prestigious, because at the moment its worth nothing. The titles need to be defended more often especially the United States and the Intercontinential Title. Titles are rarely ever defended of free t.v but yet some titles like the IC title or the World Tag Team Titles aren't even defended on ppv so they barely get defended at all. The WWE should work on this problem if they want the titles to actually mean something.

The only titles that are actually worth something at the moment is the WWE Title and the World Heavyweight Title. Thats pretty poor considering there are 9 titles in the company. So therefore the WWE has to work on improving the value of their titles, instead of removing them.

 

[Joaquim Akaem]

It comes around every so often, the idea of unifying titles and introducing new ones.
I thaught it was a good thing for that seven or 8 months when there was the undisputed championship, and the champion was free to appear on any show.
I am a fan of matches where two or more "equals" battle to unify their titles. I'm thinking back to the Invasion period, when WCW and WWF combined most of their titles.

I personally would like to see one champion in each division for the entire WWE, instead of two top guys in each show.
So ideally the title picture would look like this;
Undisputed WWE Champion, - The #1 wrestler in the company, takes on all comers from a all three brands.
Tg team Champs, - same deal, ditto for Women and Cruiserweights.
IC, US and ECW championships, - or some sort of other high profile brand exclusive titles. Making these the only exclusive titles would make them very credible, mostly given to the upper mid-carders main eventers.

I'm thinking maybe some sort of gimmick title aswell, like a Hardcore or TV belt, could be different and or interesting, don't actually feel too passionate about that thou.

Not expecting every champion to be on every show every week. I'd get sick of looking at some people if that was the case. Have a title on one show for a feud or two, then switch it round every couple of months to keep it fresh with some new contenders and what not. All it would take is for Mickie James to go to Smackdown a few times to fight Natalya or Victoria, Maybe she would lose her Title and then the other could defend it on Smackdown for a while then turn up on Raw at some point to defend against Melina or somebody. Miz and Morrison are on Smackdown most weeks anyway, why not turn up on Raw occasionaly to have a couple of matches.

Thats what I think anyway, I know theres a downside being; lack of titles means the lesser talent would be less likley to recieve a rub from holding one, even if it is worthless.
The stars that suck at promos would be screwed, because they cannot hold up their end in a good feud which is not centred around hungry challenger for whichever title. However, the titles that they do have would be held in higher regard, and it would be less confusing to know which titles which and who's got what. Eric Bischoff put it simply "one show, one champion". Or i would rather put, "one company, one champion (in each division)"

 

[John87]

I saw a thread somewhere asking the question if they should have three world champions, or just one. Personally, I think one, but that's in another thread.

This got me to thinking, however... Night of Champions had I think 9 matches, all for titles. 3 brands, with at the time 9 titles. On average that's three champions per brand, but since ECW had only one at the time, that's about four per Smackdown and Raw. Doesn't that seem a little much?

My idea would be to simply unify the World Championships, the Tag-Team Championships, the Women's/Diva's Championships (which is still kinda stupid since the Diva's just came out and still doesn't have a holder), The Intercontinental/US Championships, and bring back the Cruiserweight (maybe).

That'd bring us to a grand total of Four (or five) championships for all three brands. While some say this might limit the opportunities for younger, more unknown talent, I think this actually might not be that bad. You could have more build up in some cases and the titles could hop around the shows, providing some opportunities for the smaller talent to challenge and feud with the older talent.

For example: There are two tag-team championships, and they're rarely defended. Why? Because there are only about three real tag teams right now - DiBiase/Rhodes, Cryme Tyme, and M&M. Not a lot of opportunity for defending if your brand doesn't even have a tag team to defend against.

This move could maybe help the Women's division. If Mickie had the unified belt now, then that could open up a feud between her and Natalya from Smackdown. Fresh feud, with some brand supremacy thrown in. I'm not sure if ECW even has any Divas left, but that might not be so bad.

Just an idea. Cutting down or unifying several belts, I think, would be an interesting idea.

Anyone have any thoughts, agree, or disagree?

YES! this has to be the most excellent idea ive heard all day in the world of WWE. Im sitting here reading this ya know, and i was thinking well seeing as how SD and ECW already had that merger where the titles jumped i mean, why cant RAW participate? It would definately bring lots of competition between the brands and yes Supremacy is definately a factor in this and instead of having 3 rosters on the site, just cluster-f*ck the rosters together, keep the three shows and have everyone on everyone elses shows giving all of the other superstars chances to compete rather than the main guys and gals that are on tv every week.

 

[Davi323]

I voted yes, a few of the titles should be unified, but, with a few conditions. While I would prefer a roster unification to occur first, my post is going to assume that the roster split is maintained.

First, lets be honest...the ECW title is not a real World Heavyweight level belt. It simply isn't. So, with that being said, Combine the WWE and Heavyweight titles, merge them into the WWE World Heavyweight title, throw away the spinner, and keep the big gold belt. It simply looks like a valuable legitimate title, the spinner belt looks tacky next to it. Next, make a rule that whoever holds that belt is able to go from show to show to defend it. So, basically if you are the champion, you defend it on RAW, Smackdown, and ECW as needed, instead of being limited to a single show. Basically, like the unified title was originally intended to be.

Combine the WWE and World Tag team titles. Champions eligible to go to all 3 shows as well. Same deal as with the Singles title.

Assuming we maintain the roster split, I would also keep both the IC and US titles, as well as the ECW title. (with a roster unification, the US and IC belts should be merged into one) Basically, each show needs to have a singles champion, upper mid-card level, of their own, and then have company-wide world heavyweight champions that can go show to show.

 

[Danmen001]

Generally speaking, most of the belts should stay. Although there are a few I really want to be unified. Typically, there should be a major belt for every brand.

All the major belts should stay, so that includes the World, WWE and ECW championship belt. They have their place and give everyone something to fight for.

The IC and US title should stay the same, they are he Mid-Card for both brands. ECW does not need one because it's a small brand anyway.

Tag Team and Women's. These are the two belts, that at some point should be unified. There are not enough Tag Teams in the company to properly support 2 belts. I think that the Tag belts should go on the RAW/ECW slot, while those 2 shows travel together. THe women's belt should be on SD! but should allow for RAW stars to head over to SD! and fight for the belt as well. Although thinking about it a bit more, there may just be enough of a women division to hold a belt on both brands.

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

There should be one world title. period. and there should be one set of tag titles. the cruiser weight championship should not come back it was useless and besides weightlimits in wrestling are dumb. each show can have its own respective mid card title. ECW should get one more title as well, make a tv title or bring back the euro. maybe even bring back the hardcore belt so ECW can be "extreme" somewhat.......lol.....

 

[sladetwc]

There should be one world title. period. and there should be one set of tag titles. the cruiser weight championship should not come back it was useless and besides weightlimits in wrestling are dumb. each show can have its own respective mid card title. ECW should get one more title as well, make a tv title or bring back the euro. maybe even bring back the hardcore belt so ECW can be "extreme" somewhat.......lol.....

Okay. Here's the basic problem with that line of thinking.

You cannot have only one world title. They tried it, and people who, as the top dog on their respective shows, were not getting the respect due to them, complained.

So the "Big Gold Belt" comes back into play. And all of a sudden, both shows H/W title pictures are relevant again.

Then, we have the afterbirth that is Vince's ECW. He took what Paul E. crafted into an extreme show, highlighting only the things he could control (wrestling, violence, and playing to a rabid fan base), bastardized it, took the Extreme out of Extreme Championship Wrestling, and it became ECW in name only. Now, we have more ECW talent wrestling on SmackDown than on ECW. So I stopped watching it.

It's time for all those who remember the old ECW, with Paul E. at the helm, to give up the ghost (if you haven't already) and just stop watching that pile of shite that is Tuesday nights on Sci-Fi at 10 pm EST.

Sorry. Went off on a rant there.

Anyways, back to the original item.

The tag division is the weakest I've ever seen in WWE, so I do agree that the tag belts should become one. But that's it. Without the I/C and US belts, or the Women's titles, you'd literally have nothing to go for on each brand for 2/3 of the roster.

So unless you're combining tag titles, then no, keep the belts separate.

Oh, and for the love of God, will someone shoot Mike Adamle in the face? Please?

 

[GW Emperor]

WWE most definately needs to axe one of the women's championships. Two titles for a female division which features useless wrestlers, boring and crap matches, and none of the fans care about the division, is just bonkers.
Its even more bonkers when you consider the fact there are two titles for a crap female division yet not one for an exciting Cruiserwight division.
WWE need to unify the female's title's desperately by WrestleMania, and they need to bring back the Cruiserweight title and put this on ECW, where many talented Cruiserweights are currently based yet bizarrely have no title to fight for.
Every wrestling company in the World should have a Cruiserweight Champioship, and no wrestling company in the world should have two bloody Women's Championships. That of course being unless the female competitors can actually wrestle and wrestle very well, for instance like those in TNA.

 

[S.B. Anderson]

Personally, if it was me (Which it isnt and never will be obviously) i would merge the Raw & Smackdown shows (Stop the piss poor ECW altogether) and i would then develop some of the mid carders and lower card into tag teams to re-juvinate the tag league.

Id use the IC title to elevate potential future WWe champions, i would also intorduce a T.V. title that would be used to build new potential IC champions.

Have a mix across all the sections of established stars at the top, veterans in the mid card and tag ranks to build the stars of the future.

Titles id have would be

WWE World Champion
WWE Tag Champions
WWE Intercontinental Champion
WWE Television Champion
WWE Womens champion

 

[The Earl]

The Divas championship was a mistake. With only a few female performers who can actually work, they have had a hard time keeping the womens title viable. Now with the extra title, and Neidhart/Victoria/McCool the only ones on Smackdown who can work, I see this as just a waste. Womens titles definately need to be unified.

The tag titles have long needed to be unified. The brand extension is meaningless anyway for most of the undercarders anyway, appearing on all 3 brands on a regular basis. With so few established tag teams, unification would definately help the division.

I would like to see the cruiserweight title brought back, but only if it is going to be somewhat featured. Put it on someone who can get over like Noble or the Bourne kid.

The ECW, US, and IC titles have a long history or tradition and need to be kept around. With 5 hours of programming a week, I have no problem with these.

The debate can be raised about unifying the two world titles, but this would never happen. On one hand, having a clear unified champion to carry the WWE banner is a good thing. However, WWE sets up its brands as almost two seperate promotions, and each brand having a world title is almost necessary for this format.

 

[Davi323]

I would maybe add a company wide World title, if the roster split must be maintained. RAW and Smackdown are more like Conferences, rather than separate companies. As such, I would introduce a World title, in addition to having top level belts on both RAW and Smackdown, where the holder goes between them. The RAW and Smackdown belts can be like Conference championships or something, and maybe the unified title (or whatever you want to call it) is like the Super Bowl Trophy. So, instead of unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight belts, I would actually introduce a 3rd major title. Make the World Heavyweight belt (the big gold belt) the company wide belt, and then turn the WWE title into one of the promotional belts, maybe one is the spinner belt, and the other the design before that? This way, RAW and Smackdown each have a major level title to fight for, but, we also have a global champion, who can feud with anyone on either show. You wouldn't know which show the title would be defended on, so you would have added incentive to watch both shows. Perhaps, this effect could be accomplished by just having the two promotional champions fight each other occasionally, with the winning show getting bragging rights, a trophy, or something like that. Either way, if they are going to maintain the roster split, they have to do a better job developing competition between them. Maybe whichever show has the trophy gets to be the main event at PPVs or something. Make an incentive for wrestlers to fight for it.

 

[Johan]

I would agree with unifying the two world titles and making it available for all the brands (even though ecw wouldn't really ever get a match). I think it would make the title seem more prestigious and could be a better draw. It would also clear up a few matches on a ppv card, so there could be more major feuds to push new talent.

I would personally like to see the Euro-Continental title brought back.

 

[proweeks]

look at it this way, you all know vince, hes always out to bring in new fans more so than he is to satisfy long term fans, take a look at it from someones perspective who was a fan of another sport and just started watching wrestling, he'd probably think to himself "with all those titles and 3 world heavyweight champs, how can the titleholders even feel important or like a true champion when theres another or 2 others holding the same championship in the same company"


im a long term fan and i will love wrestling no matter what, and I think the title picture is watered down, so imagine how it is to someone who has no idea what the hell is going on and has just started watching

 

[klunderbunker]

I think one or two of them could be unified, with the main one being the women's and divas titles. The diva's belt is just a way to put an equal amount of belts on both shows. If these two were unified with the champion bouncing from show to show you'd have one champion over several divas, making it into a real division. The tag belts I'm unsure on as it's fairly obvious there's not enough teams to make a real division, but the teams seem to be doing ok now. With Priceless and the Edgeheads holding the belts you had two real teams with the belts instead of two guys just being thrown together and being given the belts. Those two belts are good for the time being I'd say, but the Diva's title just seems to be there as a placeholder.