Lion's Sacrifice
Occasional Pre-Show
I just read an interesting piece by Justin LaBar in the Wrestling Press Magazine. He was talking about the IC and U.S. titles and how they use to be used. With the IC being used as a platform for midcard guys to rise to the World Title scene. This idea has been lost over the past ten years. With these two belts simply being used as mid-card belts to fill in time. To give the younger guys something to feud over, but not really move them up.
I completely agree with LaBar on this. These belts have really lost their luster. With the two world titles you have the U.S. and IC belts looked upon as the 3rd and 4th prestigious belts in the company. Something that I contribute to the brand extension. While at first the extension was a good way to keep feuds going over a longer period of time, and not rush them. Now we've reached a point where the belts aren't as big as they use to be, and are not being used correctly.
What belt made wrestlers into the stars that they that we know them as today? Now days you would say a world title does. Look at Sheamus. He completely by pasted these belts and went to the M.E. You don't have stars making their way up through the ranks. Shawn Michaels is known for his famous match with a ladder. What title was this for? The I.C. Title. It was from his run as IC champion that he gain his stardom, and moved into the World title picture. Same can be said with Bret Hart, Stone Cold, The Rock, and Triple h.
Same can be said for the U.S championship. I look at one specific example from WCW. When Goldberg was on his run, he went through lesser names building himself up as a strong figure that the fans got behind. What belt did he win before going on to face Hogan? The Untied States championship. This gave him a platform. (I know that he was on a tear and nothing was going to stop his push.) Though he went through the ranks the correct way. Moving from one title to the bigger one. He was not just thrown into the M.E. scene like Sheamus.
The last guy that I see really using the U.S. or IC belt this way was John Cena. He was with the U.S. title and feuded around it for about a year and half, before he began his push to the M.E. Once he was given a platform he took it and ran with it. To a lesser extent Miz did. Though his reigns were less than memorable. I do not count Jeff Hardy in this category because he was around the IC belt for some 5 years before he really began to move into the M.E.
I could go on with more, but you see my point.
The real problem I see with the belts is it all revolves around the belts. Yes, becoming champion is important, and great. Seeing a feud develop for the title is fun to watch. However, you do not have great mid-card feuds that don't rely on the belt anymore. You do not see the grudge matches between mid-carders that create a rivalry between to developing stars. In my opinion this is what made some of the great Main Event feuds of the 90s so great. You had these men that hated each other and then they threw the title on top of that. Then when they were both elevated to the M.E. scene you had this history of the rivalry between them. Not just "I want the belt, and you have it. I'm a heel and your a face. Let's make this a rivalry." type matches. You actually had a story, and history between the two.
The only way I see this being fixed is the by unifying the belts once again. Have a single World Title and have a single Mid-card belt. That way you can get back to having matches and feuds that don't rely on the belts, and when they do there is that much more on the line. It will actually mean something when they win THE World Title, or IC title. You aren't just one of two champions you are THE champion.
Let me know what you think.
I completely agree with LaBar on this. These belts have really lost their luster. With the two world titles you have the U.S. and IC belts looked upon as the 3rd and 4th prestigious belts in the company. Something that I contribute to the brand extension. While at first the extension was a good way to keep feuds going over a longer period of time, and not rush them. Now we've reached a point where the belts aren't as big as they use to be, and are not being used correctly.
What belt made wrestlers into the stars that they that we know them as today? Now days you would say a world title does. Look at Sheamus. He completely by pasted these belts and went to the M.E. You don't have stars making their way up through the ranks. Shawn Michaels is known for his famous match with a ladder. What title was this for? The I.C. Title. It was from his run as IC champion that he gain his stardom, and moved into the World title picture. Same can be said with Bret Hart, Stone Cold, The Rock, and Triple h.
Same can be said for the U.S championship. I look at one specific example from WCW. When Goldberg was on his run, he went through lesser names building himself up as a strong figure that the fans got behind. What belt did he win before going on to face Hogan? The Untied States championship. This gave him a platform. (I know that he was on a tear and nothing was going to stop his push.) Though he went through the ranks the correct way. Moving from one title to the bigger one. He was not just thrown into the M.E. scene like Sheamus.
The last guy that I see really using the U.S. or IC belt this way was John Cena. He was with the U.S. title and feuded around it for about a year and half, before he began his push to the M.E. Once he was given a platform he took it and ran with it. To a lesser extent Miz did. Though his reigns were less than memorable. I do not count Jeff Hardy in this category because he was around the IC belt for some 5 years before he really began to move into the M.E.
I could go on with more, but you see my point.
The real problem I see with the belts is it all revolves around the belts. Yes, becoming champion is important, and great. Seeing a feud develop for the title is fun to watch. However, you do not have great mid-card feuds that don't rely on the belt anymore. You do not see the grudge matches between mid-carders that create a rivalry between to developing stars. In my opinion this is what made some of the great Main Event feuds of the 90s so great. You had these men that hated each other and then they threw the title on top of that. Then when they were both elevated to the M.E. scene you had this history of the rivalry between them. Not just "I want the belt, and you have it. I'm a heel and your a face. Let's make this a rivalry." type matches. You actually had a story, and history between the two.
The only way I see this being fixed is the by unifying the belts once again. Have a single World Title and have a single Mid-card belt. That way you can get back to having matches and feuds that don't rely on the belts, and when they do there is that much more on the line. It will actually mean something when they win THE World Title, or IC title. You aren't just one of two champions you are THE champion.
Let me know what you think.
