When Will We See Another "Best of 5/7" Series For the U.S. Title?

[CM Steel]

The U.S. championship has been in the WWE for ten years now ever since the invasion angle with WCW & ECW. The U.S. title has been dubbed the WWE U.S. championship since 2003 when Smackdown held a torney for it, in which the late great Eddie Guerrero won. But to some of the WWE universe the WWE U.S. championship has been seen as the new WWF European championship. From the way it's been carried as of late.

Remember when back in WCW, when Booker T and Chris (cough**cough) Benoit had a "best of 5 series" for the U.S. strap back when the U.S. championship meant something? And in the WWE at the Summerslam of '04, the E tried to bring some of that magic back with a series over the U.S. belt with Booker T vs John Cena. Where John Cena won back the U.S. title.

And a year later the WWE brought back the feud between Booker T vs Chris (you know who) over the U.S. championship in the WWE. In where "the Crippler" won back the U.S. title. Now when will we have another "best of 5-7 series" for the U.S. title in this era? Let's take a look at the contender's for the U.S. title on RAW shall we?...

-Dolph Ziggler (current U.S. champ)
-Zack Ryder
-Mason Ryan
-Jack Swagger
-Kofi Kingston
-John Morrison
-R-Truth
-Drew McIntrye

All good suiters for a good series for the U.S. gold. But when will the WWE bring back the series? The same stip could be used for the WWE IC championship over on Smackdown!

 

[King of the Words]

They could have potential king of the ring style tornaments on each show for the USC. on RAW and the INC. on SMACKDOWN. This could push both titles and create two big pushes for midcarders who's going to stay in the midcard level for a while. With the 5-7 series, I'd personally like to see the best of 5 maybe for the WWEC. After Mania, I think it would be a good Idea to have Cena and Punk having one of these series which goes the distance in matches and have the fifth and final match at Summer Slam 2012, in an I quit match which could be a great time for Cena to finally turn heel again. I think this type of program could have worked in the Orton, Christian feud, this past spring and summer. They had a bunch of matches starting shortly after Mania anyways. They should have made it the best of 5 with Orton winning the series at Summer 2011. But, if WWE do have a 5-7 series for the USC. I would like to see Morrison vs. Ziggler for the shear classic battles they would have. For the INC. I would like to see Cody Rhodes vs. Daniel Bryan. They would have great matches too.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

The last two best of 5/7 series were a mistake IMO.

The first one was Booker T/John Cena ... problem with this was that Cena couldn't carry a Best of 5/7 Series at the time and Booker T's ring was not in top form either. Their matches were ok/sub par but never elevated themselves.

The second one was Booker T/Chris Benoit ... I like to think Best of 5/7 Series are there to elevate both stars. The one in WWE was "been there done that".

Now take The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian. Now THIS was a Best of 5 people remember (despite the winner getting squat) .. and its not just because of that Amazing Ladder Matc at No Mercy 99. It was because both teams guys showed how competative they were and made them future main event prospects.

If I was going to see a Best of 5/7 Series it has two be with two good workers that are in the mid-card waiting to break through and, since this is for the US Title, I can think it should be two guys who never held a Mid-Card title before making the win at the Best of 5/7Series even more important.

Either that or have a unification of the IC and US title but I dont want that to happen either.

Right now Iit's hard too see two Superstars that can generate interest on RAW for a Best of 5/7 Series for the US Title. Talent wise Kofi and Dolph are probably the best guys to do it but we have seen these two go before. Zack Ryder is over but I am not confident he can carry a series.

Maybe the Best Option would be the two members of Airboom go one on one. In a Best of 5/7 Series. Evan Bourne vs. Kofi Kingston? I think it could work because, for one, it wont be boring they are both high flying guys which means its going to get a lot of pops.

Since Kofi is a former US/IC Champion, Bourne should win it but this only makes sense if the WWE is serious in pushing Bourne either as a main eventer or a long term US Champion.

I actually think Smackdown!'s landscape is better suited for a Best of 5/7 Series.

and not for the IC Title.

Why not have a MITB Best of 7 Series? Wade Barrett says Daniel Bryan's win at MITB is just a fluke and thats why he's in a losing streak.

Challenges Daniel Bryan for the MITB Breifcase. Bryan agrees but Theodore Long only authrizes it if its a Best of 5/7 Series. It could work really well and can have a program accumulating to TLC (Ladder Match?).

It would be a way to give Barrett and Bryan a program to work on and something to add crediblity to Bryan should he retan the MITB Breifcase because, let's face it, he needs right now as WM looms that much closer.

I can see it now:
Night After Vengeance - Wade Barrett wins Clean (Barret Leads 1-0)
Smackdown! - Daniel Bryan def. Barrett clean by Submssion (Series Tied 1-1)
Smackdown! - Barrett def. Bryan via CO (Barrett leads 2-1)
Survivor Series - Barrett def. Bryan (Barrett leads 3-1) ... its good not to have a deciding match here since its PPV and suspense its needed
Smackdown! - Bryan def. Barrett by DQ (Barret leads 3-2)
Smackdown! - Bryan def. Barrett Some cool offesnive move no one has seen yet maybe? (Series Tied)
TLC - Ladder Match Bryan def. Barrett to retain the MITB in a **** or ***** match. Making Bryan relevant again. or Barrett def. Bryan so he gets the push as MITB Breifcase holder. Bryan turns heel. WM Main Event Could be Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Barrett - Not bad Eh? Bryan can have a match with Mysterio.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Anytime you turn pro wrestling into a more sporty form of itself it's dangerous. Sports, in general, lack drama. In pro wrestling, you rarely see a squash in a big match, however game 3 of the World Series tonight was a laugher.

It's OKAY to make it more sporty if you have guys that people buy into; or if you add story to it.

I've always liked the "best of" style that has an elevating gimmick match each time. regular, submission, no dq, falls count anywhere, cage. Or some sort of similar progression.

You'd need 2 guys who are respected as legit athletes but also have the personality (or character) that people give a shit about them or a story that people give a shit about.

straight up sporty wrestling has never gotten over in this country, people have always needed a reason to care. even Sammartino gave people a reason to care, he was a champion for the italian immigrants in New York.

I don't see why you would need a best of 5 though, it's kind of like any other feud only you say "okay but really, this time we're keeping score". How many matches did Orton and Christian have? It's better when a feud is emotionally driven and not score-driven. Even in sport, people care about stories. Rex Ryan vs Bill Bellichek, Yankees vs anyone, Lakers vs anyone, Ovechkin vs Crosby, Manchester United vs anyone, these all have a running story or are percieved as good vs evil.

 

[DeathClutch]

Hopefully not for a while.

Current storylines it wouldn't serve any purpose, maybe around May/June when storylines take a dive after the WrestleMania pre-post storylines and you've got the pre-SummerSlam storylines, but no one on the mid card scene screams they could do run with such a feud thou Bryan/Punk could be fun.

The best of series I wouldn't mind seeing is Rock/Cena maybe do a best of 3 series, Wrestlemania28, SummerSlam2012 and WrestleMania29 have some kind of 2/3 falls bout that ends in a tie 1-1 time limit draw which no one would expect and lead to a fourth bout being billed as the final encounter at say the June PPV. It could be called "FINAL CONFLICT Cena Vs Rock IV" in a cage match so we'll a have a winner regardless but allow the winner climb out the cage, so neither guy losses via pinfall.

 

[RicSpade]

I think when MCMG and Beer Money did their best of series they showed it could still be done and exciting however I don't think any gimmicks should be involved.


However I think right now in the pace of WWE its near impossible to do with the ppvs being spread so thinyou would have to do two on raw one on a ppv and either do a sweep or do it on consecutively on raw and smackdown then rubber match the ppv or carry the best of 5 into the following month.

Secondly the roster to me doesn't have 2 people I'd want to see more then 3 matches in a row against right now. Remember when we had 9 Orton/Cena matches shoved down our throats? the only way they made the last 4 relevant was by making them gimmick.

 

[shafe_41]

I'll make this super short and super sweet.
Hopefully never. Because there is absolutely no "sport" factor left in professional wrestling. Moreover, the US Title means little to nothing anymore.

Every time it would be done, you know it would go to the last match. So why bother watching the first 4 or 6 matches? It's pointless. There's no excitement in it. Especially when the prize you're going 5 or 7 matches to obtain, means nothing in the world of professional wrestling anymore anyways.

 

[wtfhappened]

I can't understand how people say this is meaningless or not entertaining. Beer Money MCMG proved that it's still an interesting concept. (although for some reason I believe they traded the belts back and forth? if they did that was really dumb). If you have two talented workers in a form of one-upmanship hopefully you'd like it to elevate the title and the performers working for that title. It could help make that title important again. Instead of having an "I don't like you let's fight for no real reason feud," they have a series based on the title, which, given the right talent, will elevate said title.

As far as it being predictable, who wants to see a 2/3 falls match were one guy beats the other clean in the first 2 falls. It could be a good match but it probably wouldn't be, however, having both win a fall so that you go to the tie breaker is were the drama comes from. It's two competitors showing that they are equals and both showing how much they care for what's at stake.

 

[realblackhart]

I think this would work and work well, if and only if you change the current look of the title so that the new reign looks and feels worthy. By keeping the same look, it reminds me of the big crap Vince took on the US title and its legacy. A vintage kinda look (not necessarily the WCW/NWA look) could make the mid card title special again.

Like I’ve said on other posts, the mid card titles have lost a lot of significance because they are not used for the purpose they were once used for in the past. If you use the mid card belts as catapults for ur big titles, they can work. A wrestler has to realistically remain at the mid card level for a while in order for the bigger titles to mean something. By slapping titles too early in a wrestler’s career, you run the risk of the wrestler becoming stale too quickly. While I love Del Rio and his character, he needed to be in the mid card level longer. Just cuz Mysterio was hurt doesn’t mean you don’t have more for him to do. Creative’s problem nowadays is that they have nothing for you. It’s a shame he is already 2 time WWE Champion. The same can be said for Swagger and the Miz. While they are both former world champs, to me their reigns mean nothing because they have since been dropped from the main event status. Someone like Orton who is dropped off is different because he has built a fan base that considers him as champion. He can also be used to build a mid card guy like he is doing with Cody. The problem in the past wasn’t that Cena, and HHH had the title. The problem was that they lost it and kept getting it back over and over and over again. When you have a guy who has little talent win the belt for the 10th time like John 5 moves Cena, it’s a little annoying. Now I don’t wanna see a Bob Backland long reign, that’s too long, but if you have the guys who worked their way to the top through the mid-card status then you could have a long reign that I'll be intrigued to keep watching. If you're at the top, coming down is a slap in the face unless you are being used for the purpose of building guys in the middle like Orton is doing now and Jericho has done in the past. There’s nothing that makes me sicker in wrestling then the titles not having the meaning they used to have in yesteryear. When you have a guy like HHH, and Cena, have the title a million times it makes them mean less. It’s quality, not quantity. Long reigns are better than multiple reigns. The stupid idea that the fans get bored when the title doesn’t change hands is an idea that the biz has given to us. Had the biz not changed the way that they crowned champs, the times they crowned them, and the length of their reigns then we as a fan base would not feel this way. Ric Flair won the title multiple times because he is Ric Frikin Flair. John Cena IS NOT in Flair's league, so what you have done is change the way we look at champions. WWE was never a company to slap the titles on a guy or a team more than 6 times to make them credible. Neither Hogan, Savage, Bret, among others, were guys that had the belt a million times yet I consider them some of WWF/E’s best champs. We are going to watch he product as long as it’s a good and worthy product. If you give the title to someone who has credibility and you make him hold it long term, you make the belt have significance, and you make the guy who FINALLY defeats him (clean) for it more credible and you make his title reign credible.
If those things are being done, then a best of 7 can work in your favor. If you don’t have the things around it working properly, then the best of 7 series loses its meaning shortly after it’s over. A best of 7 can used to elevate the meaning of the belt but you MUST have a working system in the company as a whole so that after a guy wins a best of 7, he can feud with someone long term but keep the belt. Another idea is that the “WWE Universe” gets bored of the same matches. That could not be further from the truth. Orton and Christian wrestled multiple times and had stupendous matches, all VERY entertaining. If you have 2 guys that could both work the ring and each other, than a best of 7 can work. Even the loser of the best of 7 can benefit from the series. It’s a win win for everyone involved.

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

Why not have a MITB Best of 7 Series? Wade Barrett says Daniel Bryan's win at MITB is just a fluke and thats why he's in a losing streak.

Challenges Daniel Bryan for the MITB Breifcase. Bryan agrees but Theodore Long only authrizes it if its a Best of 5/7 Series. It could work really well and can have a program accumulating to TLC (Ladder Match?).

It would be a way to give Barrett and Bryan a program to work on and something to add crediblity to Bryan should he retan the MITB Breifcase because, let's face it, he needs right now as WM looms that much closer.

I can see it now:
Night After Vengeance - Wade Barrett wins Clean (Barret Leads 1-0)
Smackdown! - Daniel Bryan def. Barrett clean by Submssion (Series Tied 1-1)
Smackdown! - Barrett def. Bryan via CO (Barrett leads 2-1)
Survivor Series - Barrett def. Bryan (Barrett leads 3-1) ... its good not to have a deciding match here since its PPV and suspense its needed
Smackdown! - Bryan def. Barrett by DQ (Barret leads 3-2)
Smackdown! - Bryan def. Barrett Some cool offesnive move no one has seen yet maybe? (Series Tied)
TLC - Ladder Match Bryan def. Barrett to retain the MITB in a **** or ***** match. Making Bryan relevant again. or Barrett def. Bryan so he gets the push as MITB Breifcase holder. Bryan turns heel. WM Main Event Could be Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Barrett - Not bad Eh? Bryan can have a match with Mysterio.

I think this is a great idea. If they're serious about pushing Bryan though, I'd have him win. Having a series between the two culminating in a ladder match would be awesome, and it would pass through Survivor Series to add suspense and prestige to the program. If done right, this could be a very simple storyline that would bring relevance to Barrett and Bryan rather quickly.

 

[rocksaviour]

Kingston/Swagger for me would be the combo out of those names in the first post that I would like to see in a best of 5/7 series. Would like to see them feud for a mid-card title sometime.

You would say that it has to be two athletes involved in the series. I mean can't see us getting and really wanting to see a Henry/Show best of series,despite them having a decent match last night. Whereas if we had an official series with Orton/Christian in the summer, I can't see that any of us would of complained and it something like this would add to that post-WM season where it all goes a bit quiet for a couple of months. So I'm thinking if we get two athletes together and make one of these series happen. Think it would be a best of 5 as that could be simply fit in 1-2 months and have a match every week, not have two matches a week or once a month (inless it was a World/WWE title feud on PPVs).

 

[brochester8]

You know this kind of match can only be done with those that can put on good matches and different matches worth watching that 7 times. You don't want the same routine in each match. I'd Like to think Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett could do this. Personally, with WWE's Roster of Wrestlers I think Daniel Bryan is a shew in for this kind of match. If not Barrett maybe Dolph or Tyson Kidd once he's more established.

These were awesome with Chris Benoit and Booker T and even the ones with Finlay. I'd like to see what DB and someone else could do with this type of match today

 

[CenaSux4Life78]

The best of 7...Benoit and Booker T is hands down a classic, that may never been witnessed again. Not to say that others couldnt pull of something to that caliber though. IF this were to happen, I think it would be good to perhaps run a program with Ziggler and Rhodes. Both these guys have tremendous ability, and have come a helluva lot farther then I thought they wood. Im not sure exactly how the program would last though. I do like the idea that a poster earlier said...Barret vs Bryan ending at TLC. But Ziggler vs Rhodes would be epic in my opinion.

 

[31GoHabsGo13]

Hadn't thought about the WCW best of 7 series in a while. Booker T and "Voldemort" was a perfect combo of great wrestling and storytelling. I was unaware they repeated the series in WWE. I sincerely like the idea of Barret and Daniel Bryan having a best of 7 though as an ROH mark I'd be sincerely upset if Bryan were to lose his MITB. IMO he could use the boost due to his lack of WWE style mic skills. The best of 7 concept fits Barrett and ma boi d bryan perfectly. And like someone said before me, it's a simple yet effective way to get these 2 some exposure!

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

No point in having a "best of xxx" in the WWE because wrestlers involved in programs with each other typically wrestle each other on air every week in some capacity for several months.

Orton and Christian have had at least 15 matches on Raw or Smackdown this year, not to mention dark matches, PPVs or house shows.

Cena has faced ADR at least 4 times in singles competition, Rhodes and Orton have faced each other 3-5 times now, Sheamus and Henry, Sheamus and Christian. Theres really no need to tag the matches as "best of x" because they face each other so many times
But Ill humor the thread, "a Best of 5/7" would work out nicely between Swagger and Ziggler due to their history and their current involvement with each other. They could continue to try and one up each other over the span of the feud and at the end one could come out as US Champ and with Vickie as their manager, possibly turning the other one face in process.