So, have they FINALLY decided to restore prestige to the IC and US titles?

[Creepy Old Man]

SummerSlam 1992 and World War 3 1998. Major pay-per-views, closed by IC and US matches, respectively. Seems like not just a lifetime ago, but another dimension.

To say the secondary belts in WWE are a joke would be an understatement. For the last few years they've almost been career-killers, with the logic seemingly being, "Oh, the title makes him look good so we can afford to job the hell out of him". Wrong. The title makes him look pathetic, and then he's jobbed out on top of that. Ugh.

At Fast Lane, John Cena challenged for the US belt - the first time he's gone for a secondary title since late 2004. It seems a lock that Daniel Bryan, arguably WWE's most popular superstar, will be challenging for the IC title at WrestleMania. I'm gobsmacked, to be honest. For years these titles were barely even defended, and now they're being sought out by the company's elite performers.

So, is this it? Are they finally restoring the prestige of these titles?

 

[zhaff2004]

If Lesnar is in fact leaving after Mania, they should have Lesnar win at Mania. Have Cena win the US strap (urgh) and have bryan win the IC title.

The next night on Raw, have Cena open the show proclaiming his great feat of downing the monster Rusev, only to have Daniel Bryan come out as IC champ. Have the two have a friendly stare down and shake hands, as that happens, have Brock lesnar come out with Heyman and go on about how Cena can be America's champion and Bryan can be the IC champion but there is only 1 World champion… Then book a champion v champion v champion match as the main event. No title on the line, just pure bragging rights.

Have Lesnar go over after a HUGE match only to have Seth run out and cash in on Lesnar and walk away the new World Champion.

That would truly elevate the secondary titles and push rollins to the moon.

 

[Seosa]

Hopefully. Forget talk of unification, having Bryan & Cena holding the Intercontinental & US titles respectively instantly brings them up a notch.

 

[TheMaskedNewton]

While John Cena chasing United States title raises the prestige of the US title, I don't think Daniel Bryan chasing Intercontinental Championship does anything for anybody. Because, it is a multi man match. John Cena has developed a rivalry against Rusev. Bryan is just one of the challengers for the Intercontinental Championship.

 

[Softcore Holly]

Cena has done a wonderful job at hyping up the US title, I can't see it being on Cena for long but this feud alone has been great in making the title look important

IC on the other hand....not so much. Barrett went back to jobbing since regaining it, losing to lower carders such as Sin Cara and R-truth. It was in a pretty good spot with Ziggler(although they overdid it with the hot potatoing) but with BNB it has definitely gone south. The only good news(pun intended) is that Ambrose has a pretty high chance at winning it at WM and since they're much less willing to have him job out compared to BNB that should only rise the title up from the sad place it is now. Not seeing DB vs BNB at the moment, I'm thinking his match on SD isn't going to lead to anything especially since Barrett still has his thing with R-Truth and Dean is clearly still in the mix. Not that I would oppose to it since DB has nothing else going for him going into WM

edit: And that was posted before I saw that it's apparently going to be a in multiman ladder match. Oops.

 

[TheDaneTrain]

I think there is a bigger picture here.

I think the bigger picture is that for the first time in almost ten years the roster is finally deep enough to have multiple main event stars gunning for multiple titles. Those titles have suffered because there was never legit competition for them... Wwe has been forced to rush people to the top due to the lack of star power. Now that the roster is deep enough to have multiple main event options. And the ability to build proper feuds. That frees up a lot of big talent to feud for other titles. The really exciting news is I think this is just the beginning of it all. NXT will do wonders for the on going product of WWE and Raw.

 

[Papa Pillman]

While John Cena chasing United States title raises the prestige of the US title, I don't think Daniel Bryan chasing Intercontinental Championship does anything for anybody. Because, it is a multi man match. John Cena has developed a rivalry against Rusev. Bryan is just one of the challengers for the Intercontinental Championship.

But assuming Bryan wins an IC title match at Mania, the championship is automatically prestigious by association.

It's exactly what is happening in New Japan, the IWGP Intercontinental Title was created to be more of an upper-midcard singles title for fulltime NJPW roster members. But since the title has spent the majority of its existence around the waste of Shinsuke Nakamura, it has basically been raised to a level where some see it as an almost alternative equal to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. That is strictly because Nakamura is holding the belt. Once someone besides Nakamura wins the title(unless that someone is Okada or Tanahashi) it will lose that instant luster and that person will have to fight to maintain the belt's perception.

If Cena holds the US Championship, the US Championship matters and its a big deal. If Bryan holds the IC title, the IC title matters and its a big deal.


Now with all of this said, this is the perfect recipe for WWE re-signing Lesnar and keeping him as World Champion. If Bryan and Cena hold the other two belts than the TV shows and especially the PPVs don't suffer from not having the WWE Champion around for weeks at a time, because either midcard title can believably main event any show due to having a true and established main eventer holding the belt.

Now if Reigns wins the WWE title and Bryan and Cena walk out with the secondary belts, then you have a potential problem, because you have the illogical scenario where both your midcard champions are clearly more talented, more over, more established, more credible, and just flat out better than your World champion, which isn't going to make a lot of sense.

 

[Duality777]

I wouldn't say it's that they are actively seeking out these titles, but more that they are clearing some room at the top for a new main event babyface.