The MITB Briefcase Has Taken The Role Of The IC Title- Is This Good Or Bad?

[PlayTheGame]

So we all know that the IC Title (and the US Title as well) has become nothing more than a lower midcard toy. Heck, even the big midcard feuds arent even based around it anymore. Its rarely even used to elevate superstars into the main event scene. which used to be its soul purpose in the early days. Now it seems like the MITB Briefcase (and the world title shot it has with it) is now the object that midcarders need to hold in order for them to launch into the main event scene. So, in a way, the MITB Briefcase has replaced the IC Title (and I guess the US Title as well to a certain extent) as the goal for most midcarders in the WWE.

Do you agree with all of this or disagree with it? If you agree with it, do you like the replacement? Do you like how important the MITB Briefcase (and the MITB match itself) has become? Or do you miss the importance and prestige of the IC Title?

Discuss.

 

[Loveless]

No I don't agree. There are almost never feuds over it, neither does it change hands (unless someone is injured). The MITB briefcase has basically replaced the KotR winners prize (also something i'd like the return of), albeit it more open dated.
As for the IC belt, it's to my eternal frustration that it's not being used properly. With all the midcard talent available it'd be easy to restore some prestige to the belt. It used to be the testing ground for seeing whether people were main event ready, Hart/Michaels, Austin/Rock, Angle/Benoit and it functioned brilliantly in that role, giving some classic matches as well.

 

[alexhmfc1]

I think if your a young kid maybe 8-9 this is a good thing but for me ( a 21 year old male) this is a bad thing as when i was growing up the ic title was held with pride and prestige and it would be held by wrestlers who deserved it such as razor ramon shaun michaels hhh the rock and so on but now its nothing more than a accesory and a title....hopefully with jbl holding it we can go back to appreciating wot the title actually stands for

 

[makeitvab]

I like it, and I think the fact that it's so far been 100% success rate is what makes it exciting. Sure it's predictable in the same sense, but during WM when you see the person grab the case, you think "wow...that person will be champ within the year" ..barring injury or sudden cold feet on creatives part that is.

Not knowing when or how the cash in will work adds to it. Though I'm a huge punk fan I'll still admit he was booked poorly after winning MITB and the belt but still, the fact he had the briefcase brought attention to him even when he wasnt doing anything. Also I think it's smart on the WWE to make it "cash in wheneverable" because now I'm almost scared to miss a PPV as I'm afraid I'll miss the shocking cash in after a lengthy fight or something.

I don't think it has to take the place of IC or US belt, creative could easily make the other belts prestigious, I don't think it has anything to do with MITB, the IC title had lost luster prior to MITB's indroduction to the WWE scene anyway.

When they do shit like for WM23 how lashley was I think..ECW champ and just so Vince's man would look credible slapped the IC belt on Umaga, that damages the IC belt *and ecw belt lol* more then MITB.

If they wanted, they could have a MITB winner cash in on IC or US belt and claim "why would I want to win a WWE championship when I'm now the IC/US champion." Of course all of us who are so damn "smart" would think of it as them not having faith in that person for "The big boys" belt and I'm sure the individual would be pissed he doesn't get what those before him did.

 

[Dave]

I like it. ONly one person can win the money in the bank so by that logic only one person can get a main event push, this leaves the other 7 people who didn't win as mid-carders. I like it because with the introduction of MITB, it leaves the IC title to be defended at Wrestlemania. I personally like to see good quality matches and the money in the bank is a good match always.

If we look at the past winners of MITB, RVD, Edge, Kennedy and CM Punk. Then we can see that the IC title is in superior as these guys really weren't main event superstars when they won, perhaps with the exception of RVD.

Bottom line is that the MITB is only once a year and whoever wins this high octane, highly athletic match deserves a title imho.

 

[TheSavageAuthor]

MITB happens once a year, and is almost a crap-shoot for creative. They can put that on a guy who maybe is getting over with the fans, but who creative never had any real intentions of pushing beyond mid-card status (i.e. CM Punk & Mr. Kennedy). That way, if the guy gets so over with the fans, that they can't ignore the fact that it would be good business to put a title on him, they can use the MITB briefcase as a way to justify the sudden change. If a guy's popularity dies off, they can just as easily have the guy cash in the briefcase and get beat. The MITB briefcase is the equivalent to WWE creative's "ace up their sleeve".

They are killing the prestige of the IC title though. And I REALLY have a problem when they debut guys like Santino and Kofi Kingston, and slap the IC strap on them to give them the creds to get over with the fans or something. I think it's fair to say, if a guy who hasn't been established elsewhere first, comes into WWE and debuts by winning a title almost immediately, if not soon after....then that is the kiss of death as far as I am concerned. Kind of like when they slapped the Hardcore title (?) on Maven, just because he won their reality show and they wanted him to get over with the fans.

 

[Jersey Wannabe]

Yes it has, and i for one do not like it.

The IC belt used to be the stepping stone to the big belt.
Now the MITb is used to bypass that step.
The IC belt has been defended in some of the greatest matches of all time and it was a valuable tool in getting talent over.
Hart\Hennig, Steamboat\Savage, HHH\Rock.
THe list goes on and on.
The MITB is a way for the writers to hot shot a wrestler to main event status.
And so far this has only worked with Edge.

 

[travistragic]

I think the MITB is a good idea in general, but after a few years of getting people over with it, look at who's in the match now. Mark Henry will never get over, Punk's already won it once and pretty much squandered the title run (though, that was more creative's fault than his), and Finlay is already leap years beyond his shitty run in WCW, but I don't think anybody's planning on giving a title run to him. And Kane's a safe bet, but who gives a sh*t.

Shelton Benjamin is becoming the standard (no pun intended, okay, maybe a bit) for the MITB guy. A guy who can make the whole match look good, but has never gotten a world title nod. With this being the weakest crowd so far for the MITB, it might finally be his time.

Christian- let's face it. This is the guy we're all keeping our fingers crossed for. They say Vinnie Mac no likey Christian, well, I think I speak for a good portion of the IWC when I say, Vince can go f*ck himself. But assuming we rarely, if ever, get what we want, that kind of leads us to...

MVP- I think, all things considered, this is probably the most likely candidate. He's come pretty far the past couple of weeks. As far as crowd support, future potential (in gimmick or otherwise), and likelihood of creative support.

Kingston is kind of the wild card here, over enough to justify having him win it, but if so, I think we can see it being associable to his "Elimination Chamber" qualification. A place-holder for somebody else to take it from him (Edge after he loses a title...see if we get sick of that **sigh**)

It's a weak crowd this year, but at least there is potential for a good match.

JiBLets vs. Mysterio is probably going to suck, and that's not the MITB's fault. The IC title isn't sucking due to lack of up-and-coming midcarders. It sucks because the WWE is glutted with titles. The US title is being feuded over by MVP and Benjamin; that's a good feud between two great competitors. But there are too many belts and you just can't make them ALL special ALL the time. They have two diva titles for Christ's sake (and there are more divas in WWE than wrestlers in ECW). At least they are smart enough to unify the tag titles. If there were just one World Title, one IC/US title, One tag title, and one women's title, I guarantee you the IC title would get it's prestige back. Since there is just too much sh*t going on in WWE, they now have the MITB, where they can put 8 guys together, and pick one to give a push too, but THAT isn't why the belt is losing it's role; it's losing it's role because they just can't focus on developing the title like they used to, especially not during times of Mania.

 

[Age of Orton]

I have a mixed opinion on the IC title and MITB,

1. I like both the MITB concept is different and the matches aren't boring they're filled with high octane spots and the winner generally gets battered around so when he finally wins you've been made to believe he deserved it, the IC Belt normally gets put on some good names (Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, JBL all main event names) the problem with the belt is when it gets defend it normally changes hands and rarely does get defended, so when it does it's going from one person to another it seems.. people hate on Santino but that guy made the most of his IC title opportunity and I'm a big William Regal mark but for Santino to job the belt that quick sucked, WWE needs to look at this draft and consider having the champions bounce between shows, that will bring some prestige back to the IC and Tag belts.

I like the money in the back for the simple reason it's one match that show cases the best mid carders and upper mid carders, and this years selection mightn't look great but take Mark Henry out and I think you have a decent match with the rest.

Rey/JBL I've never been a fan of there matches but this match is only a filler, so I don't expect much from it I hope WWE keeps the belt on JBL for a few months as him locked in some feud(s) before he passes the belt over.

One more thing, in light of HBK stating that this is his last year why doesn't WWE milk his rep for everything they can, build new stars and put over the IC title, maybe bring in DH Smith have him in Legacy and take the belt from HBK (like HBK did to Bulldog)

 

[Baller]

I love the Money in the Bank Match. It gives 8 midcarders a chance to make it to the next level. Hopefully the IC title will gain back prestige, with JBL getting a reign, and facing Mysterio. The Money in the Bank is taking over that role, but thats why WWE gave a reign to JBL to hopefully solve that problem.

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THE LEGACY BEGINS 4/5/09

 

[DhA]

I'd say the ECW Title is also getting in on the mid carders who are gonna be big scence, with the IC and US Titles kind of being like the European Title tbh.

 

[ztwhite]

I think there's some credence to what travistragic stated.

The IC title started losing credibility when the WWE brought the World Heavyweight Championship belt into play several years back.

Before, creative only had one heavyweight title to distribute between all the superstars (at least the ones they deemed credible). Now, with two heavweight titles, it allows creative a chance to play with two separate storylines involving heavyweight belts.

In this day and age of wrestling, the Ricky Steamboat / Macho Man feud over the IC title would have been centered around one of the two heavyweight belts. Any classic IC feud would be !!

One of the belts needs to go and that doesn't necessarily mean one of the heavyweight titles. If they eliminated the IC belt all together, would anyone really have a beef ?? Personally, I don't need to see JBL / Mysterio tonight and I definitely don't need to see it just because the IC title is at stake.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I think the ''Money in the Bank'' briefcase is something that more people thrive to win, as opposed to the Intercontinental and United States Championships. But, that's only a one time a year thing. The mid card titles are something that superstars can compete for all year long. Also, the MiTB ladder match is something only competed for at Wrestlemania. If I had to choose between wanting to win a mid-card title at any ppv or winning the MiTB at Wrestlemania, I'd pick Wrestlemania. So, I feel that even though more people might want to win to MiTB match because of the contract involoved, it doesn't mean that it's taken the place of the Intercontinental and United States Championships... it just means that it gives the mid carders one more thing to compete for.

 

[gd]

Totally agree with cool guy. They are two different things that mid card wrestlers have to go for. Obviously they would rather win MITB because it puts them right into the main event. However, only 1 person can win that a year, so the IC and US titles are something they can shoot for the rest of the year.

 

[Black Snow]

I'm somewhere in the middle on this topic.

First of all, the IC and U.S. titles are getting a bad rap. A lot of the guys who have held those belts recently are still high on the card and are people that the WWE genuninely wants to push. MVP is on his way up. Kennedy was as well before he shot himself in the foot. Jeff won the big one. Punk, Jericho, Benoit, JBL, etc. were all former World/WWE Champs when they won their most recent titles. Lashley jumped up the card soon after winning the U.S. title. Even Matt Hardy is slowly going towards the top.

There are definitely some flukes that make the titles seem less important. I love Santino but he had no business being IC Champ.

Yeah, the IC title isn't quite as prestigious as it once was. With as much turnover as the WWE has nowadays thanks to 14 PPVs a year and 5 (soon to be 6) hours of original TV every week it's hard to give guys nice, long, sustained title runs that lead to main event status.

I don't see the MitB as a replacement for the IC/U.S title step as much as it's an extra step that is basically there to get fans ready. It basically says, "we know this guy is good and he deserves to be at the top; within the next year it's going to happen." It's a calling card, if you will. It puts focus on the guy they want in the main event without just immediately thrusting him into the main event. It leaves fans wondering when the moment will happen. It's exciting.

Because of the WWE's massive, dee roster MitB is a way to push an extra guy to the top without having to make another title belt.