WWE Midcard Titles

[Joshua]

So at Capital Punishment, we got to see both midcard titles change hands.

Now I know the general feeling around this board is that the WWE midcard titles are worthless but none the less.

What do you think off these title changes? Will they help elevate Jackson or Ziggler to the main event?

I personally think this feud with Barrett has helped Jackson get over as a big face. I'd say he is arguably the second biggest face on SD! behind Orton. I hope he can run with the title and defend on a more regular basis (Barrett was doing the Corre angle and Nexus before that so he didn't defend much). Hopefully he takes advantage of this shot, sorta like MVP did when he won the US Title awhile back. Now he is on his way to being an international superstar.

As for Ziggler I would normally say a former World Champion should not run with a midcard title but Ziggler is a different story. I think he held the World Championship for a day I think and then lost it to Taker (I think). I'd like to see this feud with Kofi continue, these guys put on good matches night after night. Nice to see Ziggler (heel) get a somewhat clean submission victory on the PPV too. Very refreshing. I believe this title reign ends with Dolph dropping Vicki and turning face. Will be interesting to see how Ziggler operates as a face when he does turn.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I honestly don't think the midcard titles are left in the shambles that people describe it to be. Everyone longs for the days when Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, RVD, Edge, and Angle held the IC title but back then people were bitching about how it didn't mean as much as when Hart, HBK, and Mr. Perfect held the titles. And I'm sure if the internet was around people would be longing for the days of Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage.

On to the specific changes...

Dolph Ziggler - Even though Dolph is technically a world champion, he didn't even hold it for five minutes (he lost it to Edge, BTW) RAW really doesn't have that many up and comers who are established enough to hold on to it, and with Dolph we get a credible champion capable of great matches, so I'm definitely cool with the change.

Ezekial Jackson - I'm not so optimistic about. I think he's still moderately green, doesn't really have any charisma or signifigant mic presence, and his matches are kind of boring. I think the IC title would be better suited for a Daniel Bryan or a Sin Cara level guy. Smackdown is full of great workers, and it boggles my mind why the title hasn't touched any of them lately.

 

[CitiBoy7]

See that's the thing everybody doesn't have to be a main event so midcard titles should have their purpose. I fell like the US and IC titles only stand for the guys holding onto it just so they can main event where it should just be a division of its on. Everybody doesn't have what it takes or are comfortable being midcard(keep in mind wwe is just a show) so theirs no need to make every guy a main event. People seem to think someone fail just because you don't move up(KOFI) but hey like I said midcards should get respect to because they appear to go to the limit in their matches because you don't have to worry about a big star missing time with injuries. So I hate when people say "o that guy is nothing but a midcard" and im like so what for all the reasons above because it's second to best. The saying use to be "o that guy is nothing but a jobber" and thats who have the problems.

 

[ralphie9181]

The belts are worthless because they are not used like they were intended to be used. The U.S. champion traditionally in NWA was next in line for the World title shot, and the IC title was used to build young guys to prepare for the main event. They aren't used like that anymore. They put them on a guy let them sit until you forget who even has the belt, then they switch it eventually and expect us to care. Because of this practice you can no longer use the belts to prepare guys for the main event because the fans have been conditioned to not care who has them.

 

[sabataged]

Like others have said, the belt are generally worthless anymore. It used to mean something to be the IC Champion. This meant you were next in line for a future title run. You were groomed as the understudy for the main title. Now a days it seems like they just give it to people to give them something to do. Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Kofi's both runs, and Wade Barrett's title runs were ridiculous.

In a non PG WWE I would be in favor of dropping the IC and US for more gimmicky titles like Cruiserweight and Hardcore or something else.

Personally i think they just need more storylines. I would of loved for Wade Barrett (or another foreigner) to win the US title and change the name of it to the European Title claiming he doesnt want to be associated with the United States. I think this would of drawn a lot of heat.

Or for Dolph Ziggler to claim he is a fighting champion and will defend the IC title each and every week. So they run a gimmick/storyline about how long this guy can last defending every week. It will transition him to a face, showing how much heart/determination he has.

 

[TempestH]

The belts are worthless because they are not used like they were intended to be used. The U.S. champion traditionally in NWA was next in line for the World title shot, and the IC title was used to build young guys to prepare for the main event. They aren't used like that anymore. They put them on a guy let them sit until you forget who even has the belt, then they switch it eventually and expect us to care. Because of this practice you can no longer use the belts to prepare guys for the main event because the fans have been conditioned to not care who has them.

Truthfully, in the past four years, I've seen the U.S./IC Champion competing in multiman matches for the WWE/World Title or #1 contender's match (i.e. MiTB) more often on PPV than actually defending their titles.

 

[Mac Attack]

Jackson

Well my feelings at to Jackson being champion very greatly. I will be happy with him being champion if one thing happens. His feud with Christian gets renewed. If you remember correctly, Jackson took the title off of Christian in the final match of ECW. Now considering Christian will most likely from back down to midcard I would love one last match to end this considering Chrisitian never got a rematch for his ECW championship. I would also love for the match to be fought under extreme rules.

Ziggler

I see this as a temporary title run. Ziggler is main event in my eyes and I feel that giving him the U.S title was only to show him going up the ranks of the Raw. I feel that he has bigger and badder things in store for him and I truly hope we see him in the ME in the near future. Overall I feel Ziggler will have the title until Summerslam where he is beat by an up and coming midcard talent. No I am not saying it will be Ryder.

 

[Tequila Dave]

A mid card title win is just the WWE's way of saying "we want you to be relevant, we just don't know what to do with you."

Both wrestlers will now drift around aimlessly with a belt around their waist, just like Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, and Wade Barrett before them. Their respective wins in no way elevate them to the main event, no, that’s up to themselves.

Unfortunately for Ziggler, he has pretty much squandered his chances. Maybe squandered is the wrong word, but he has missed his chance to make it big. He was handed heel gold with Vickie Guerrero by his side, and his feud with Edge was his greatest chance to get over; now he’s wallowing around in a sea of midcard mediocrity with little reaction, and little fucks being given. Sure he could turn face, but then what? A feud with Vickie in which he can’t actually inflict any damage to her?

As for Ezekial Jackson…I’m sorry, all I see is a generic big guy. He’s nothing to write home about at the moment, and It’ll take a lot to convince me that after his current momentum fails he won’t fade into obscurity or a comedy tag team.

 

[TempestH]

[QUOTE="Stone Cold" John Hogan;3196572]A mid card title win is just the WWE's way of saying "we want you to be relevant, we just don't know what to do with you."

Both wrestlers will now drift around aimlessly with a belt around their waist, just like Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, and Wade Barrett before them. Their respective wins in no way elevate them to the main event, no, that’s up to themselves.

Unfortunately for Ziggler, he has pretty much squandered his chances. Maybe squandered is the wrong word, but he has missed his chance to make it big. He was handed heel gold with Vickie Guerrero by his side, and his feud with Edge was his greatest chance to get over; now he’s wallowing around in a sea of midcard mediocrity with little reaction, and little fucks being given. Sure he could turn face, but then what? A feud with Vickie in which he can’t actually inflict any damage to her?

As for Ezekial Jackson…I’m sorry, all I see is a generic big guy. He’s nothing to write home about at the moment, and It’ll take a lot to convince me that after his current momentum fails he won’t fade into obscurity or a comedy tag team.[/QUOTE]

A feud with Vickie would obviously involve another heel wrestler being elevated to Dolph's level, or at least being given TV time. Perhaps that is what Tyson Kidd's manager storyline would lead to. Or someone from NXT could return to be Vickie's new boy toy. It would benefit two people instead of just Ziggler.

Ziggler, with his tweets, and his NXT commentary has shown that he has quite the wit. Therefore I think he would make a decent face if given mic time.

 

[Joshua]

But you have to realize its not NWA where the champion is traveling from territory to territory to defend the strap. When you only go to certain territories so many times a year, yeah they are gonna have the champion defend and usually kept his title. The fans obviously wanted to see the belt defended in their territory so that kinda explains why the title was defended more back in the day. And I guess I would say the IC Title is still grooming guys for the main event. Barrett lost the title last night and I don't see him heading anywhere but the main event.