The WWE Titles

[Pepperami]

We're witnessing a generation of WWE title reigns that quite simply don't have meaning anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw a title chase where the challenger looked like he actually gave a hoot about winning the gold. The closest I've seen recently is The Miz. They just don't care anymore. We all know it's a political process, but these guys are essentially actors. If we saw some pure grit and determination once in a while, we could watch a championship match and think "hey, this guy really wants to be the top-dog" instead of thinking "god I hope Cena doesn't win". Don't even get me started on John Cena. If I ever saw Cena a genuine gratefulness for being the WWE champion, I'd pass out.

So what's wrong? Is it the wrestlers? Is it the titles? Let's have a quick look:

WWE Divas Championship
The simple problem here is lack of talent. I don't need to go into great detail as to why the Divas division sucks. With the arrival of Kharma, I think we're going to see a change. Hopefully (as much as I love the Divas) we'll see some genuine female talent step up and make it a little interesting. Maybe a name-change back to the Women's Championship would prevent the word "Diva" from making the entire female roster seem like it's about nothing but sex appeal.

WWE Tag Team Championship
I like Tag Teams, but where are they? WWE are cobbling them together like they're trying to match up a mountain of unpaired socks. WWE doesn't care much for the Tag Team roster. I wish they did. If they brought in 2 or 3 genuine Tag Teams and worked a match with precision booking and high drama, we would see a boost to this dead-in-the-water title.

US Championship + Intercontinental Championship
The main problem here is that WWE seems to be playing pass-the-parcel with these belts. Short rivalries are stapled together for a couple of weeks at a time and the pay-offs are unimaginative. I'm not sure we even see the holders as true champions anymore, just guys who are better/smarter/luckier than some of the other guys. Arguably these divisions hold the WWE's prime wrestling talent, so really, these belts (to the IWC anyway) should represent the best of the true talent. Yet it doesn't feel like that because WWE won't attach the belts to anyone for more than a month. Give a real superstar a long, clean run with real challenges. Appreciate your talent.

WWE Championship + World Heavyweight Championship
This is what I mainly wanted to talk about, and it stems from a comment I made on a separate thread. There shouldn't be two main titles. There should be one spot reserved for one guy, and that guy is the best of the best. To quote what I said in another thread, how would you feel if there were two Superbowl champions, or two Stanley Cup winners? They would not feel exclusive enough.
People may argue with me on this one, and I understand that with the brand separation, two top guys are needed, but why can't the top guy attend both brands? Surely as THE champion, he should be paraded about as the pride of the company? But no, we have two guys. It kind of takes the fun out of finding out which one superstar prevails all for the moment.
Just think about how great it would be if you could switch Raw on one night and be introduce to The Champion of the entire WWE, [insert wre... entertainer here].
WWE won't ditch or unify these titles. They are both long-serving belts and I don't wish for either of them to disappear, but I do yearn for that feeling where one guy rules the roost and all the high-card superstars are passionately battling to BE that guy. That's what's missing. Passion. The only way you can see that these days is by visiting the past.

So what do you think?
How do you view the titles of the WWE?
What are your thoughts on anything I've mentioned?

 

[stilltippin]

Two world titles are needed.. John Cena wouldn't want to show up for both raw and smackdown weekly and do house shows. and i for one, wouldn't want to see him on both shows.. atleast i can get away from him on the other show.

Im happy with both world titles.. the only thing i want is them to switch shows every year or two years.. Like randy orton or HHH or even cena haven't held the world title. in awhile.

But maybe barrett sheamus and orton can now atleast hold the world title on smackdown, It gives some diversion to the ppl who have already held the title.. and IMO, can make old feuds feel "New" again.

and i disagree about the US title and Intercontinental titles being held by by bs champs.. the guys that have held these titles lately are ALL future champs.

We have barrett with the Intercontinental currently, we had Mcintyre with the intercontinental previously and both of these guys will be world champs someday.. and we've had sheamus and miz hold the US who are both former wwe champs and are currently in the main event spot light are their respective shows.. Kofi kingston might not be a main event player but i think he is good for the US and intercontinental titles.. Jomo may never hold a world title, but he is in the main event matches and he is a previous US and intercontinental champ.

Tag teams.. Its dead.. wwe tag teams are done.. its best if everyone just moves on. its used now just to put ppl on both shows and i think its a good idea.

Womens division i agree is a bit blahh.. its really gonna blow now the michelle McCool is gone.. she was one of the best currently wrestling.. Beth Phonix is decent and i think maryse has the best mixture of fine body and wrestling skills you can get. Kharma should help shake things up some.. but its not enough to really give a care about ya know.

 

[CitiBoy7]

I can't understand why people want the titles to be unified while 2 brands exist. Each brand has a title so you can be the best of your brand plus that would be extra work for the guy that had to be in both main events. Also a lot of guys like Swagger McIntyre and Cody wouldn't amount to much without two brands. So why would you have one brand pointless without a title. I do agree that the midcard belt are used as a game of catch. Last time I remember those titles being credible was when Matt hardy had a long US reign while Y2J had a long IC reign and as of now Barrett is being booked awful by not even defending his belt while kofi reign means as much as christians.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've noticed something when it comes to title reigns as it pertains to the opinion of the IWC. The IWC has an overly inflated view of how prestigious titles used to be. As with many things regarding pro wrestling when we were kids, or life in general, we look back at it with an overly nostalgic point of view and remember it as being much better than it actually was. When it comes to how we think the WWE uses its championships, it's no different.

For instance, sometimes you'll get a few posters that pop up on the WZ forums now and again that worship the Attitude Era as if EVERYTHING about it was solid gold, including title reigns. That's simply not how it is. In fact, I don't think titles in general meant as much then as they do now. We just happened to be different people in 1998 than we are now. We didn't have the point of view then that we do now because, now, we're 13 years older and the internet has ripped away much of the mystery & mystique around wrestling.

There are some shortcomings when it comes to the way the WWE uses its titles sometimes. The Divas Championship, for instance, is probably not going to mean much to anyone no matter what WWE does. The chief reason why is because, quite frankly, the vast majority of fans don't give two shits about women's wrestling and never have. Seeing Kharma, AKA Awesome Kong, has definitely caused people to take notice of the Divas in a way that they haven't for a long time. Maybe, just maybe, it could be the beginning of an era in which Divas are relevant.

When it comes to the IC & US titles, I think the WWE is starting to get back on track with them to some degree. I don't know why they booked Kofi the way they did during his last IC title run only to put the US title on him. Wade Barrett's had a couple of good IC title defenses against Kofi and he could be a stablizing factor. When it comes to the US title, we'll just have to wait and see.

The WWE Tag Team Championship, generally speaking, probably means more at this point in time than it has in well over a year. Kane & Big Show are both respected veterans with a lot of title runs under their belts. It's no secret that Vince isn't a huge fan of tag team wrestling. He'd rather create singles stars. The WWE often uses teams as a way to gauge which member, if any, they want to push as a singles wrestler at some point. But, to be fair, it's not just WWE but it's all of wrestling in general that's really moving away from tag team wrestling. There are a few promotions scattered here and there that take it seriously but, for the vast majority these days, tag team wrestling is either on or is in the process of being placed on the backburner.

As for the two World Championships I wouldn't mind seeing the titles merged into one championship at some point. Even if it doesn't happen, however, I think that too big of a deal has been made of this. Having a single singles World Championship is, of course, very traditional but breaking that tradition by having two doesn't necessarily have to take away from anything. As long as the WWE keeps me interested in the World Title pictures, then I'm satisfied. Over the past 6 months or so, the only real mistake the WWE has mde with the WHC is that fiasco that happened with Dolph Ziggler. The Miz had a long, successful run and had people talking and interested and that's the single most important job a main eventer has in my opinion. Whether they hated Miz or loved him, he had people interested in what he was doing.

When it comes to any title in any company, they're never all going to be used "right". And when I say "right", I mean "right" as in our personal opinions of how we believe they should be used. That's nothing new and it's not something that's ever going to stop. I do think that with the WWE Draft behind us and new wrestlers & storylines beginning and starting to get into place, there's always a possibility of seeing some fun championship feuds. No matter what though, there's always gonna be someone unhappy. Either a wrestler they think should be in a title hunt isn't or a guy that they hate is or somebody has a run with a title that they think doesn't deserve it, etc.

The WWE can't please the IWC as a whole and they'd go out of business if they tried to as the IWC, at least a good size portion of it, changes its mind every 5 minutes.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Women's title should have never been renamed but that isn't the problem. And it isn't a lack of talent because they do have some very talented women there. Problem is they put the title on women who are hot as hell but can't wrestle. They are more interested in a look than in someone who can wrestle. That's why Beth Phoenix or Nattie are not champ right now.

Tag titles - I don't think Vince ever cared about them to tell the truth. And with everyone in wwe wanting to be singles stars, he isn't going to. I think they could drop the tag titles today, not mention it, and most people would not notice they were gone. and the way they treat them, they probably should.

IC/US titles are not valued like they used to be. It seems like they toss them onto people just so they can say that person is a former champ. What wwe really needs is a TV titles they can give to anyone they want, and then leave these for the guys who are up and comers and who they want to push more. Right now, they have become token titles.

What can be said about the WWE/World title that hasn't been said before - same handful of guys hold it and people are bored. Simple as that.

Ultimately for all titles, the biggest problem is wwe is entertainment and not wrestling. They will put the belt on someone not because they are a good worker but because they can get some sort of storyline out of it. The tag titles over the last 6 months or so are a great example - make santino and koslov your tag champs and then when you finally have them lose, job out the Corre and really make the titles meaningless. Unless it is the wwe title, no one in wwe cares about it anymore.

 

[theHeadliner]

This is part of the reason I can't take the WWE seriously anymore. They put titles on guys now before they are over with the hopes that it will do something for them, then they seem to fizzle out when it doesn't work. Every champ cuts the same promo with the line "......My WWE Championship." I know that might sound moot out of context, but when you hear the same promos over and over with the same lines coming from different guys it gets old. The US and IC belts aren't spotlighted like they were. Those belts should be near the top of the card and spotlight good in-ring work. It just seems like the guys don't care if they get the belt or not, and in the show it seems so cheesy and fake now. Back in the day you had guys who would hate each other and despise others because they wanted that belt and the top spot. They wanted to carry the torch and make an impact. I lost interest and I hope others do so Vince will finally realize what it was that made him successful (and I'm not talking about the attitude era).

 

[rkonextphenom]

the problem with the WWE titles is the insane amount of criticism and over analysis they get on a regular basis. When did the WWE universe decide that they were going to scrutinize and complain about what happens every week and backstage. Its one thing to explain your two cents and debate over storylines or debate who is the better champion, but now it feels like the love of wrestling has been replaced by over whelming judgement. The WWE titles will always have prestige to the people that hold them in high regards. Once you start talking about them as props, the prestige is instantly out the window. Stop complaining that John Cena is a forever champion or Randy orton screws the next up incomer, remember the reason you watched this in the first place! Right now its just starting to get interesting with all the sudden changes so please just watch and enjoy the surprises because thats one thing you can always expect in the WWE, getting surpised

 

[HamSwissman]

I've mentioned this before, but here goes again;

Keep the titles separate, and have the champions face at WrestleMania each year for the title of "Undisputed Champion" and treat it like winning the SuperBowl, maybe even having a mini off-season of a few weeks (after the post-mania Raw, of course) to let guys heal up a bit. Have the winner keep his respective brand's title afterward, while the other would be up for grabs in either a tournament or battle royal. Give some goddamn credibility to being a champion again.

 

[y2straightedge]

I've mentioned this before, but here goes again;

Keep the titles separate, and have the champions face at WrestleMania each year for the title of "Undisputed Champion" and treat it like winning the SuperBowl, maybe even having a mini off-season of a few weeks (after the post-mania Raw, of course) to let guys heal up a bit. Have the winner keep his respective brand's title afterward, while the other would be up for grabs in either a tournament or battle royal. Give some goddamn credibility to being a champion again.

I see a problem with this. What would be the purpose of winning the Royal Rumble then? but back onto the subject, I don't really care for the idea of the titles being unified, I feel the WWE is just not booking right and that is the only real problem with the titles and their prestige.

The titles are nothing more than just a prop here in the WWE, they don't mean anything but when somebody wins a title like the World, after climbing so long to get it like Christian, it means something and that brings prestige to the title, giving it some credit to be such a prize and actually make the superstar give some emotion for it. That is what prestige is partly made of, emotion.

With the titles being unified, yeah it would do that but then again, it would let the guys who deserve the title like the position before Mania, Wade Barrett and Sheamus held the mid card belts and they deserved it, Sheamus being a former main event champ, it gave a wee bit rub to whoever faced him and with Wade, he challenged for the WWE title before, it gave prestige back to the IC title, plus like somebody else said, Drew McIntyre was the Chosen one and he was pushed to the moon in the midcard scene because of the gimmick and he was developed a personality during the time as IC champ, it gave the title some prestige and developed some feuds with Hardy, Kingston and other guys who deserve the title.

Now, with that in the mid card section, say Wade Barrett holds the IC title and that is the only midcard title, well then you say Evan Bourne is more deserve because he beat Randy Orton, the World champ and is currently going above Barrett but the WWE wants to keep the title on Barrett, it may make a feud but if WWE wants Barrett to stay champ, that makes Bourne drop in his momentum and eventually leads him to the doghouse.

With the world titles, yeah it is sometimes a nice idea because the WWE tends to give the title to people who held it a million times like Cena, Orton, HHH or Taker and that would be nice for ratings but do you people like that? No, why have the titles unified when it would make more complaints register like that? You think the WWE is stupid enough to put the Unified World title on somebody like Santino Marella? No, not that stupid. Since they are, they would barely have John Cena lose the title!

I am sorry if I am going overboard here with this but you know what, thinking about it, I have decided that this can be the format for the belts:

WWE (Raw & SD)
Intercontinental (Raw or SD)
United States (Raw or SD)
Tag (Raw & SD)
Divas (Raw & SD)

 

[HamSwissman]

Well about the Rumble; I guess the winner could job out in some mid-card or opening match at Wrestlemania, as they have been in recent years. Seriously though, I'd break the mold a little here. What if the schedule were changed a little, and the Royal Rumble winner fought the opponent of his choice at SummerSlam (and actually compete in the MAIN main event)? This would bring SummerSlam up a few pegs closer to a second Wrestlemania. Make the Survivor Series the buildup PPV for Mania. Maybe have it take the place of the Elimination Chamber PPV, with the "Survivor" of each chamber match being the champion of their respective brand heading into Wrestlemania. Then, of course, the two champions would collide at Mania for the right to be called "undisputed champion". Maybe they could even title it something with the current year, like "2011 Undisputed Champion" or "2011 Wrestlemania Champion". Just a thought.

 

[Italian9979]

I posted something about this in another thread but I will cut it down for the purpose of this discussion on what I think...I would totally realign my title picture and what each one really represents....

WWE Heavyweight Champion – multi-brand...1 Unified Champion...THE MAN...
WWE Intercontinental Champion – Raw...this should replace the WWE title
WWE United States Champion – Smackdown...this should replace the World Title
WWE Tag Team Champions – multi-brand...more on the tag titles in a moment...

The IC and US titles should be the ones that your wrestlers are dying to get...they should serve the purpose of the two heavyweight belts that you have and those titles should represent a Brand Champion...The World Champion is the Face of the company that should jump back and forth but your Brand Champions should be the face of the Brand...

Pare down the roster so it looks something like this:
1 World Champ
2 Brand Champs (IC & US)
21 Singles Wrestlers
12 Tag Teams (Inc TT Champs)

Split in half between 2 shows for a total of 48 guys...by knowing how to use your talent you can have revolving feuds throughout the year without them getting stale and come draft time you can move guys over to begin new feuds keeping everything fresh...plus with only 24 guys per show it gives you more time to build guys without worrying about burying others...AND IT KEEPS THE TITLES RELEVANT!!!

 

[poppycock]

I agree and have also previously put in threads that I would like one overall ruling WWE Champion and turn the IC and US Titles into Brand belts just like the post above me states. I would personally like to see this and I am typing as a fan of WWE not sombody who thinks they can run the company or who works for the WWE..it is just something I would like to see.