What Has Happened To The WWE Title Lately?

[IT Factor]

While I'm sure there will be alot of people who disagree with me here, I'm wondering what WWE is thinking in reguards to the WWE Title lately? I do understand that champions cannot have long title reigns these days without fans being in an uproar. However, the WWE Championship has been passed around too much in the last 5 or 6 months. You have the title switching at an alarmingly consistent rate and sometimes as often as every few weeks or a month. Look at Del Rio's first WWE title reign. It was what? 2 or 3 weeks? A month at most? Then Cena won again and then lost it back to Del Rio. Don't get me wrong here. I enjoy title switches and surprizes as much as the next fan. Doing that every so often does alot to really enhance the "anything can happen in the WWE" type of feel to their product.

The point being is that WWE is beginning to become worse than TNA for switching the title too often without a very good storyline reason to do so. How can people get meaningful title reigns and cement their legacies if the title is so meaningless that it switches every PPV?

 

[Straight-Edge]

IMO, the WWE Title is taking the IC road. It's just becoming meaningless. They've had 7 changes in the past 6 months, I think, and it's just de-grading the value of it. Hopefully they (WWE) see this and give some one a solid 5-7 month reign, but if they don't see it I have a feeling that it will be the IC title before Cody Rhodes gained posetion of it.

 

[mankind72]

The only reason that Cena won it two weeks ago was so that he didnt lose 4 ppv's in a row. He lost the twice to Punk, then to lose a one on one and then a triple threat hell in a cell would have damaged the Super Cena image. So they put it on him only to lose it quickly by not being involved in the decision. its smart for their guy but crap for the fans

 

[WTK]

Miz and Kane have had the longest World Heavyweight/WWE Championship title reigns in the past couple years now, its ridiculous, not there reigns, but that its been nearly 2 years since we've had a title reign 5+ months long. The WWE title switching is getting as bad as it was in the Attitude Era, I wouldn't be surprised if the belt is put on Punk or back on Cena at Vengeance in a few weeks.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

he WWE title should have never been rushed back onto Raw after CM Punk "left" the company with it

Rey Mysterio should have never been given that 45 minute title run, and Cena should never have beaten him for the title the same night he won it.

That tournament to determine the New WWE Champion that took place after CM Punk ran off with the title should have lasted a couple of weeks, rather than taking place over the span of two Raw broadcasts.

The build up could have lead to Miz vs Mysterio at Summerslam with the winner becoming the New WWE Champion

then Mysterio could have been made to defend the title the following night on Raw vs Cena due to Cena never receiving a rematch for the title since Punk ran away with it

After Cena won the title from Mysterio, Punk should have reappeared on Raw with the Real WWE Title

This would have pushed every storyline back a month and allowing for a better and longer program between Punk and Cena with Punk vs Cena to determine the real WWE Champion taking place at NOC. Punk could have walked out of NOC as champ

Completely avoiding the use of Nash in any capacity

Del Rio could have still cashed in MITB to beat CM Punk after Punk vs Cena in a HIAC match

Del Rio could now be champion and all this Triple H is a shitty COO crap could be starting to take off now

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

The only reason that Cena won it two weeks ago was so that he didnt lose 4 ppv's in a row. He lost the twice to Punk, then to lose a one on one and then a triple threat hell in a cell would have damaged the Super Cena image. So they put it on him only to lose it quickly by not being involved in the decision. its smart for their guy but crap for the fans

You just explained why the WWE Title is starting to lose it's prestige and overall credibility. They'd rather keep giving the belt to Cena for quick reigns than actually make long term plans for it. I don't particularly agree with the decision of making Del Rio the WWE Champion, but if they were gonna go that route, then establish him. Don't give him the belt for a month, only for Cena to win it and then lose it right back to him two weeks later. How does that benefit anyone? It certainly does nothing to help WWE or guys like Punk and Del Rio. All it does is protect the Super Cena image and keep him in the title picture. A move which in this instance hurts RAW a whole lot more than it helped them. The only thing this current pattern of switching the title every PPV does is destroy any interest the fans have in the current WWE title picture. Not exactly a smart move since Punk created alot of controversy over that belt when he "left WWE" after the MITB PPV. Fans should be interested still in the title, considering a few months ago fans waited eagerly to see what would happen next. Now, most probably could care less and rightfully so.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I agree with everyone in here. It seems like the WWE title is becoming "gimmicky." The look of the belt really does not help either. As sad as this is, it's really becoming just a prop. The title changes hands so often now and Cena has it so much that no one really cares anymore.

I think a facelift of the actual belt itself and semi-long runs with good feuds and stories, will restore the credibility. While it may be "shocking" with the belt changing hands at every PPV, it makes it seem like winning it is easy and is "no big deal."

 

[boywithbluehanger]

Rey Mysterio should have never been given that 45 minute title run, and Cena should never have beaten him for the title the same night he won it.

I honestly agree with everything you said. Heres a theory about this though, I think that Rey dropped the belt because the writers knew that they were going to have ADR win the title soon and they didn't think it would be fair for ADR to become the Mexican champ before Rey who has been working loyally for years.

 

[4realpeoples]

The problem with the WWE Championship recently is that WWE has no idea where they are going with any storyline right now. At first it was reported that John Cena was going to be the WWE Champion at Survivor Series then its reported that they decided against that and made Alberto champion again. I'm one of those people that enjoy longer reigns in WWE. And I'll even say a good WWE-style reign can be 2 and a half months. But that WWE Championship has to be "defended" at every event and switched among the trio constantly. Wrong. Let Alberto hold onto that title until, let's say, the Royal Rumble. That would build his credibility and provide security for the title. Of course, that's not likely to happen.

 

[mrpops]

I think WWE just wants to make alot more multitime champs in a short period of time. That way it sounds better when they come out.

Recently we have 12 time john cena and whatever orton has(8?). Edge/HHH retired with 10-13 world titles each.

So whos left? Taker is dead at 6 or 7.

That leaves Kane, CM punk, Alberto del loser, christian and big show as 2-4 time champs. Doesnt sound as impressive as cenas millions right?

Now WWE can brag ADR is a 2 time champ. Sounds alot better than 1. And heres the thing, 90% of the fans wont remember or care a couple months from now that the title switched so many times. It wont matter. The show will go on. Only the IWC cares so much.

 

[The Idiot]

While I'm sure there will be alot of people who disagree with me here, I'm wondering what WWE is thinking in reguards to the WWE Title lately? I do understand that champions cannot have long title reigns these days without fans being in an uproar. However, the WWE Championship has been passed around too much in the last 5 or 6 months. You have the title switching at an alarmingly consistent rate and sometimes as often as every few weeks or a month. Look at Del Rio's first WWE title reign. It was what? 2 or 3 weeks? A month at most? Then Cena won again and then lost it back to Del Rio. Don't get me wrong here. I enjoy title switches and surprizes as much as the next fan. Doing that every so often does alot to really enhance the "anything can happen in the WWE" type of feel to their product.

The point being is that WWE is beginning to become worse than TNA for switching the title too often without a very good storyline reason to do so. How can people get meaningful title reigns and cement their legacies if the title is so meaningless that it switches every PPV?

It's what I've been saying for years. Ever since the Rock/Mankind feud when the titles switched hands multiple times PER NIGHT...it's been ridiculous.

Until they unify Raw and Smackdown and unify the world titles it won't mean anything. I understand it's entertainment, but I can only speak for myself when I say that I appreciate them at least attempting to make it look like a sport and that wrestlers (superstars) should have to work their way up and EARN a title shot against the champion. Winning the title was breaking news back in the day, now winning the title is like finding a toy in a happy meal.

I guarantee you the main event for Wrestlemania won't be for the WWE title. We all know the Rock and John Cena will face off, and to make the card better they'll have a co-main event that will be for the title. The WWE championship has been put on the back burner and is no longer significant which is sad because it holds so much history.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've been enjoying what's happened with the title throughout most of this year, with the overall exception of the past couple of weeks. I agree that it ultimately looks like Vince has been changing his mind at the last minute and hasn't been sure what road to go down. Del Rio held the title and Raw pulled a few bad ratings, so Vince flew into panic mode and decided to put the title on Cena. Over the next few weeks, Vince seemed to see that it was just Raw going up against extremely tough compeition.

It's been said for a while that Vince has wanted to go into their tour of Mexico, which will include tapeings of Raw & SmackDown! for the first time in Mexico, with Alberto Del Rio as champion. Vince McMahon is something of a control freak that thinks he has to micromanage every single aspect of what's going on, otherwise it'll just fall apart. I enjoyed Miz's title run and I enjoyed the feud that happened with Cena & Punk. I just think it was a mistake to give Cena a worthless 2 week title run just because Vince had a slight case of ratings jitters.

 

[HorsemenNo4]

The amount of title changes was starting to get under my skin recently but last night really made me reconsider its current role. Del Rio is the champion yet he isn't the one speaking on behalf of the 'scared' locker room. Christian and Wade Barrett are speaking about their fear instead of the Champion. Del Rio is just a supporter of the movement instead of leading it. When was the last time the Champion wasn't leading the charge. He is one of the 1st guys to step up and argue the point that Triple H isn't good as COO but he should remain there.
It doesn't speak well of the title, or at least the current Champion when they're in the shadows of guys like Christian, Barrett and a referee during a big movement like this.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

We're never going to see another 3 year title reign; it's just not going to happen. With the lack of depth in any of the characters I can't imagine I'd really want to see anybody hang onto the belt that long. But I wouldn't mind seeing somebody hold on to the Intercontinental Championship for over a year. I wouldn't mind consistent 7-8 month WWE title reigns. The Miz and Kane held their belts for quite some time, and did very well with them. You may disagree, but I'm hoping Mark Henry actually holds the title until WrestleMania. You need to build a dominant heel that stays on top for long enough for EVERYONE to hate him. THink JBL right before the huge John Cena push. Nowadays, some heel holds the belt and we could care less when Cena finally beats him for it. It's actually more exciting when a face loses the title...

Build Henry as a champion for the next 6 months and have Sheamus finally take it from him at WrestleMania 28. Don't have him win it and flop it back and forth 10 times... One person holds it until Mania, and then one person finally dethrones them. It is the most basis, time-honored way to build a new face.I don't want to hear that Orton "needs" to hold the title to bring in rating for Smackdown or make the belt look good. He could be working with other people or involved in the title picture without winning it. He could be wresting on Raw and still bringing in the same ratings. At WrestleMania he doesn't NEED to be fighting for a title. Personally, I'd love to see Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes for the INtercontinental title. Bring some main event charisma to that scene, and have Rhodes go over Orton to really cement him as a main event level talent. That would also mean Rhodes would have a decently long title reign, and a "main event' guy would be holding it.

 

[keehlnate]

With this constant changing of title reigns, WWE should NOT mention anymore how many reigns does a superstar have, e.g. John Cena is a 12 time world champion. I believe JBL have said this before, being a champion for the nth time means that you also lost the title n times. It doesn't matter how many times you've win it but it's how long you've held it and how many times you've successfully defended it.

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

The amount of title changes was starting to get under my skin recently but last night really made me reconsider its current role. Del Rio is the champion yet he isn't the one speaking on behalf of the 'scared' locker room. Christian and Wade Barrett are speaking about their fear instead of the Champion. Del Rio is just a supporter of the movement instead of leading it. When was the last time the Champion wasn't leading the charge. He is one of the 1st guys to step up and argue the point that Triple H isn't good as COO but he should remain there.
It doesn't speak well of the title, or at least the current Champion when they're in the shadows of guys like Christian, Barrett and a referee during a big movement like this.

The reason for that is Del Rio hasn't really earned his spot as WWE Champion IMO. He's a guy who happened to have family in wrestling to fall back on once his MMA stuff didn't pan out. And now they are pushing him without really having tested him. His character hasn't advanced much either in the ring or on the mic, thus the reason he can't lead the charge for the locker room. If you can't understand him and he can't speak well, then it's not a good idea for him to disgrace the company. Doesn't exactly reflect positively on the WWE choosing him to be the current champion. Nor does it make that belt look good with such a weak champion.

What's he gonna say? It's my destiny to get HHH fired as COO? Not a very convincing argument or compelling TV. A shame guys like Barrett and Christian have to carry the mic work for the WWE's "impeachment" of HHH as COO. And Barrett isn't even that great on the mic, as he sounds like a congested pirate. But at least he stepped up and attempted to own the moment. Something our current WWE Champion isn't capable of doing at this point. A very bad way of starting your 2 reign as champion. That's what you get for taking a random guy from obscurity and attempting to force him on the fans.

 

[RoughKut]

Funny, the title changed hands in the ENTIRE 1980s a total of 5 times (I believe). The year isn't even over yet and we've seen it change hands what 6-7 times? And I think we have a good 2-3 more changes before the year is out.

Times sure are different. If you ask me, some things should remain the same, like a champion that can hold on to the title for more than 2 weeks.

 

[SD619]

The title changing hand almost every PPV is getting quite annoying. It feels as though the creative does not have any long term plans for any of the title-holders.

I wouldn't get very worried about though, as they did the same with the US and IC title for a considerable time in the past few years. But now they seemed to have a plan for these two titles and the current champions have had decently long title reigns. I feel that in the coming few months, the will settle down on one guy who will have a reasonably long reign.

 

[workhorse]

With this constant changing of title reigns, WWE should NOT mention anymore how many reigns does a superstar have, e.g. John Cena is a 12 time world champion. I believe JBL have said this before, being a champion for the nth time means that you also lost the title n times. It doesn't matter how many times you've win it but it's how long you've held it and how many times you've successfully defended it.

Exactly. I know this is a little of topic but: When talking World Championships, the best way to measure success is quality not quantity. Sure Cena may (will) surpass Ric Flair's 16 World Title reigns but really, who cares? Someone has to pass it eventually. Just because Cena may end his career with 20+ World Title reigns, doesn't make him the greatest ever. IMO Shawn Michaels is the greatest superstar ever to step into the ring yet he only won 4 World Titles.Some say The Rock is the greatest, he's only had 9 WC's, Stone Cold had only 6.

My point is that while this whole situation with Cena continually winning the WWE Championship and the WWE Championship being tossed around is quite annoying, it doesn't mean jack-shit when you look back and see John Cena has 12 world title reigns. The quality of the majority of those reigns (especially lately) is poor.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I hate it too when the title switches between PPV's like that, it was even worse in 2009 during the fall when Cena and Orton traded the belt back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. I prefer longer reigns and Miz's may be the last we see for a while. If it switches between multiple people it is not as bad as trading back and forth on the same two. I hope that Del Rio will hold onto it for a while, then someone like Punk can be the one to end it and get a decent reign of his own. The short reigns are hardly making the belt worthless, that's taking it a bit too far, but it does hurt the prestige a little in my opinion due to the difficulty of ending a reign needing to be higher for the top belt.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

I hate it too when the title switches between PPV's like that, it was even worse in 2009 during the fall when Cena and Orton traded the belt back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. I prefer longer reigns and Miz's may be the last we see for a while. If it switches between multiple people it is not as bad as trading back and forth on the same two. I hope that Del Rio will hold onto it for a while, then someone like Punk can be the one to end it and get a decent reign of his own. The short reigns are hardly making the belt worthless, that's taking it a bit too far, but it does hurt the prestige a little in my opinion due to the difficulty of ending a reign needing to be higher for the top belt.

Edge and Cena traded the title back and forth several times during the first feud in 2006/2007. Without each other and without the constant trade of neither would have grown into the stars they are now. Maybe the WWE thinks it can recreate some of that magic to help get Del Rio over.

We all know that Cena doesn't need the title, because hes going to be over with or without it.

Punk doesn't need the title either at this point in time, because the fans are eating up his shit like its cotton candy at a fair.

However Del Rio needs the title, he needs the high profile feud with Punk or Cena to get over. He needs to go up against a fan favorite and beat them to get heat, he needs the fans to hate him. By being champion and beating both Cena and Orton he should be in a position to get booed out the building. Hopefully this feud with Punk thats suppose to take place for the rest of 2011 will get him where he needs to be.

 

[IT Factor]

The WWF[E] Championship has a rich history and should be treated like the prestigious belt that it is. Back in the old days, the WWF title was kept as high as a year or better by long reigning champions and that added credibility to the belt. Even as recently as JBL on Smackdown having the title for a year before losing was a great reign. They could even let a WWE Champion retain for as high as 6 months before losing and that would seem more preferable to having the title switch every couple of weeks or every month.


While some of the storylines may make sense with the title switches, it does nothing to boost credibility or prestiege to the title. When TNA has champions longer than WWE, you know something is really wrong with WWE.