WWE should unify titles but which ones?

[jg_awesome1]

Before I get started I just want to say that this is my first thread so forgive me if this isn't correct.

Most fans would agree that the singles titles in the WWE are next to meaningless, we can go weeks without seeing the IC champion and the same could be said for the US title before Dean Ambrose won it. Which brings me to the "second" most valuable title in WWE the World Championship, which to me is nothing more than a third mid-card title that WWE plays roulette with.

I've heard people say that the IC and US titles should be unified but I personally am in favor of the WWE and World titles being unified. There simply isn't enough "credible" talent on the roster for the company to have two World titles. I feel this would also help bring more value to the mid-card titles having the younger less established wrestlers taking on seasoned vets that are no longer in the WWE title picture (i.e Y2J,Orton,Del Rio,and Kane to name a few).

So tell me which titles you think should be unified the mid-card titles or the "Main Event" titles.

 

[zee4u2nv]

why not both titles! give some credibility to both again.

unify the wwe/world champ titles
&
unify ic/us titles

make winning the titles mean something.

 

[WWE4EVA!]

I would like to see both

The World Heavyweight Championship and The WWE Championship unified and all superstars fight for one title, it would make it more meaningful.

and I would like to see

The United States Championship and the Intercontinental Championship unified as they dont reallly need two mid card championships since they both fight on both brands

 

[TheStraightEdgeSociety]

I'm not sure they should, unify a title right at this moment. Only because of the current champions.

WWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship: As of right now, who in the world wants to see Alberto Del Rio v. John Cena? First off, I can't believe Del Rio won it, but they are doing it to make Ziggler a face. If one wants to unify the titles, it should be the #1 guy v. the # 2 guy. As of right now, I'm not really sure of the top two guys. Obviously, in Vince's eyes, it's Cena for #1. But who's #2? Certainly not Del Rio. Then who? Punk? Bryan? Orton? Sheamus? Maybe Ziggler? I honestly don't think there is a #2 guy right now. The closest would be Daniel Bryan, and first he's got to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

United States/Intercontinental Championship: First off, thank you WWE. Many people may not realize this yet, but some prestige may come back to these titles. First off, people say that Dean Ambrose is a good thing for the United States Championship. I dare say they are absolutely correct. The Shield gets a ton of air time, therefore so does the US title. Something Cesaro couldn't do. The same exact with Curtis Axel.

People are saying that winning the Intercontinental Championship is a HUGE step back for Curtis Axel. Is it? Yeah, he has beat the likes of John Cena, Triple H, and Chris Jericho. But, should he really be pushed all the way yet? I do not think so. Being a Paul Heyman guy (Full-time), he is going to get air-time. I still think he will be rolling with the top guys. So what harm does that do to the IC title and Curtis Axel? The IC will benefit a load from Curtis Axel w/Paul Heyman. Airtime. Where was Wade Barrett half of the time? Even when you saw Barrett, he was jobbing. Axel will not be jobbing, he will be on almost every Raw and Smackdown, which makes the IC title relevant, and it will gain prestige. Same with Axel, he will most likely have good programs with mid-card faces, and probably Triple H in the future. If the IC title means something, so will Curtis Axel.

So back to unifying the IC/US title, not with Ambrose, and not with Axel. With the time invested into these guys, they are going to have long reigns, which is fantastic because I'm tired of the WWE hot potato title scene.

Since WrestleMania, we have seen 1 new WWE Champion (Cena), 2 new World Heavyweight Champions (Ziggler, Del Rio), 2 new United States Champions (Kingston, Ambrose), 3 new Intercontinental Champions (Miz, Barrett, Axel), 1 new Tag Team Champions (Shield), 1 new Diva's Champion (Aj Lee). Hot potato!!!

The only championships that are in danger of being taken in the next two to three months are the WWE Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship. Maybe even the Diva's Championship. I think we will have some long reigning champions starting now.

 

[The Gribbler]

I changed my tune on this when the brand split ended. If there are not two shows, having two world champions is absolutely ridiculous. Same can be said with the midcard straps. It made sense when you had two brands that were competing to claim they had the better stars. But now it is just bizarre.

Two world champions makes business sense I suppose... means you can always have one show up at house shows and send the crowd home happy. But as it stands, I don't feel that the main event picture is all that special and having two straps really dilutes it further.

This is an old idea that has to be given new consideration given the death of the brand split (a concept I actually miss to be honest, but I understand the talent pool just doesn't run that deep right now). So WWE, unify your belts, we only need Tag, Midcard, Main event and if you must, Womens.

Oh and for the love of god, cut about four hours a week off your program. You have watered it down to the point of absurdity. What was wrong with RAW and Smackdown!? Anyway, that's a rant for another topic.

Just My Opinion.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It would make more sense right now to unify just the two world titles. The World Heavyweight Championship, as much respect as I have for that belt (can't say the same for WWE), has outlived its usefulness. Without the brand split WWE does not need a second world title anymore. The Intercontinental Championship should be the #2 title again. It would do wonders for its prestige if the pushes and storylines that have surrounded the World Heavyweight Championship suddenly found themselves around the Intercontinental Championship instead.

If all of the guys further up the card who still aren't truly main eventing or just aren't currently in the WWE Championship mix are chasing the Intercontinental Championship as opposed to the World Heavyweight Championship, that leads us to the US Championship. It would be the title for the guys lower on the card. They still deserve to have a belt to fight for if they don't have a tag team partner or are not going to get further up the card anytime soon. The US Championship can then receive all of the attention that both midcard belts currently get. Unifying both of the midcard belts seems a bit much at the moment. The roster is big enough to warrant having two, but as for the world titles they only need one now. They've only treated one as a "true" world title for almost 3 years anyhow.

 

[King Patrick Star]

There are many ways the WWE can go about this. I’ll list them in the order of least favorite to most favorite.

Option A – 3 Singles Titles – Unify the Intercontinental Title and the United States Title
I just don’t like this one. Having one Mid-Card Title and two World Titles is just wrong, but I just had to put the option out there.

Option B – 2 Singles Titles – Unify the WWE Title and the World Title and unify the Intercontinental Title and the United States Title
This is the way it was prior to the WCW / ECW Invasion, technically. I say technically, because I’m not including the European, Hardcore, and Light Heavyweight Championships in this conversation. I think bringing it back to the way it was, with only having the WWE Title and the Intercontinental Title, is not a good idea.

Option C – 2 Singles Titles – Unify the WWE Title and the Intercontinental Title and unify the World Title and United States Title
This is the way it was from October 2002 to May 2003. This is an interesting idea. By essentially having 2 World Titles and no Mid-Card Titles, this option could make it seem like the World Title is equivalent to the WWE Title, though we know it’s ½ a step below. If we were to get rid of the World Title in favor of the Intercontinental Title, it would clearly be a full step below. It’s just an idea.

Option D – 4 Singles Titles
This is the way it is now. Leaving the Championship as is doesn’t help or harm anything. Yes, I can see why some would say there is redundant redundancy with 2 World Titles and 2 Mid-Card Titles, but it’s not like we have 2 WWE Championships and 2 Intercontinental Championships. We have 4 different Championships with 4 different Title histories.

Option E – 3 Singles Titles – Unify the WWE Title and World Title
Now, having one World Title and two Mid-Card Titles is just right, and I just had to leave the best option, in my opinion for last. By being the “Best” in the company, I think the WWE World Champion should stand out more. The way I would do this is by having the Undisputed WWE World Champion carry both the WWE Championship Title Belt and the World Championship Title Belt. (I’m King Patrick and I’m a Jericho-holic) This portrays the Mid-Card Champions having one Belt each and the single Best Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainer having two Belts. I think it would just make John Cena (or Alberto Del Rio, you pick) look that much more “prestigious” than Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. Think about it.

So there you have it. I think leaving the Mid-Card Titles alone and unifying the WWE Championship and the World Championship is the best way to go, but with the WWE World Champion carrying both the WWE Title Belt and World Title Belt, like Jericho did from December 2001 to March 2002.

 

[lowandmighty]

It would make more sense right now to unify just the two world titles. The World Heavyweight Championship, as much respect as I have for that belt (can't say the same for WWE), has outlived its usefulness. Without the brand split WWE does not need a second world title anymore. The Intercontinental Championship should be the #2 title again. It would do wonders for its prestige if the pushes and storylines that have surrounded the World Heavyweight Championship suddenly found themselves around the Intercontinental Championship instead.

If all of the guys further up the card who still aren't truly main eventing or just aren't currently in the WWE Championship mix are chasing the Intercontinental Championship as opposed to the World Heavyweight Championship, that leads us to the US Championship. It would be the title for the guys lower on the card. They still deserve to have a belt to fight for if they don't have a tag team partner or are not going to get further up the card anytime soon. The US Championship can then receive all of the attention that both midcard belts currently get. Unifying both of the midcard belts seems a bit much at the moment. The roster is big enough to warrant having two, but as for the world titles they only need one now. They've only treated one as a "true" world title for almost 3 years anyhow.

Pretty much exactly what he said are the comments I would've made, but to answer the question myself, I think the world titles should be unified.

Just go with the WWE championship, there's no need for two belts unless there is a proper brand split just as Dagger Dias implied and wrestlers just free ball between raw and smackdown etc now so having two world titles is just weird.

Theres no need to unify the midcard titles like the U.S title and Intercontinental because they're not the same, I mean the Intercontinental champion is clearly the higher ranked wrestler. The justification is in the name of the belt.

I will add what I would love to see and thats for the the world heavyweight championship to be absorbed into the WWE champion and for either the light heavyweight championship, cruiserweight championship or hardcore championship to be brought back.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I don't understand how there's still a World Title right now, to be honest. The brand split is basically non-existent so why have two main event level title belts? I kinda go back on forth on whether or not they should unify the midcard belts but on the two top titles, my opinion is clear: Just do it. No matter how hard WWE tries (or doesn't) the World title is viewed as a "lesser" title than the WWE title. I get why they're keeping it. If they don't want to put a guy over into the WWE title picture, they can give him a run with the World title, and still say he was a "champion." They used to give the world title to guys like Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, Undertaker but now they're giving it to the fringe main eventers. So, I guess it is serving a purpose.

That said, they could build MAJOR hype leading up to the unification match (which presumably would be at one of the "big 4" PPVs). When was the last time we had a legitimate Champion vs. Champion feud? WWE should do it now and run with it. They can always split the titles off again if need be.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I'm all for the title unifications under the right circumstances, i.e. have a feud between the champions that settles in a blow off at Survivor Series or SummerSlam.

Go back to the old days on this one: One World title, The Intercontinental title, and the World Tag Team Titles. Done and done.

I can understand having another singles title in there...a TV title, a Light Heavyweight Title, a Hardcore title...but none of these either fit the current style of the WWE, or have been done well by the WWE in the past to justify it.

I could argue for the history of both the World Heavyweight Title and the United States Title. I think the WWE gave them both a good run, but the problem is when you get right down to it, this is a single wrestling promotion, not two. Further, to the victor goes the spoils. The United States Title may have a longer history, but it's the WWE that won out, and knowing McMahon, there's no way he's going to promote the U.S. belt over the IC belt.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

This old chestnut huh? It's been a little while since we had one of these, so I'll play.

I think that the straps most want to see merged are the WWE & World Heavyweight Championships. As long as I've been posting in these forums, a week doesn't go by in which someone doesn't mention in some post in some thread that WWE should go back to having a single World Championship. I'm pretty sure it'll happen at some point and it wouldn't surprise me if WWE did it at WrestleMania XXX. If you wanna merge the two World Championships, then the 30th anniversary of what many feel is the biggest ppv event in any genre of the year is a opportune time to do it.

I had an idea floating around in my head, have had it for a little while. It's one that I don't think will happen and maybe it shouldn't happen, but it's something that would generate a tremendous amount of buzz. The little idea floating around in my noggin would be to merge the WWE & World Championships into a single, brand spanking new championship with a separate lineage. The result would be the WWE & World Heavyweight Championships being retired with the brand new WWE World Championship taking its place. What initially had me thinking about it is when my dad asked me when I thought Triple H will ultimately take over. With this current angle going on with Vince & Trips, it makes me wonder if they MIGHT, just MIGHT, be planning on turning Vince legitimately stepping down at some point in the next 6 to 10 month into a on-screen storyline. With Triple H gaining control, his vision could be a little different and wants to start his era as CEO off with a completely fresh slate, including a new World Championship of his own creation.

As I said, I don't think it'll happen and some probably think that it shouldn't happen, which I can see that aspect of it. If it were to go down, however, and I was in charge, I'd ultimately start things, depending upon when Trips took over, by setting up a feud between the WWE & World Champion by putting them in a best of 5 or 7 series that would be spread out over the coming months with the final match in the series to take place at WrestleMania XXX. Most of the matches would be featured at ppvs but I'd have a couple take place on Raw and SD! The first match would be a standard 1 on 1 bout in which the winner would name the stipulation of the 2nd match and so on & so forth. I'd have 1 or 2 matches, certainly no more, end in a no contest as a result of the champ pushing each other to the limit and just simply not able to continue. At WM, they'd be tied and several weeks before WM, they'd both announced that they'd come together to decide on a final match in which it'd be a no count out, no disqualification Iron Man match. The reason being that they've taken each other to the limit in standard matches and various gimmick matches and an Iron Man match that has no count outs & no DQ could be billed as no excuse with the winner simply being the guy who wanted it more.

As for the WWE's mid-card titles, I'm perfectly fine with the IC & US titles existing. If they were to be merge, however, I'd keep the IC title and, maybe a little later down the road, create a 2nd mid-card title, maybe the WWE Television Championship. The title would be defended at ppvs every so often but would be defended at least once a month, no more than twice a month, on WWE television. The first couple of defenses could be on Raw, then defenses could also take place on SD! and Main Event sometimes. I know that some are gung ho on WWE bringing back the Cruiserweight Championship but, in my opinion, limiting wrestler to certain opponents based on their bodyweight only suggests to many fans that they're inferior to the rest of the roster.

 

[MCMG]

I like the two world titles. Remember, it is easier to build a feud around the World Heavyweight Championship (presuming that is the belt to disappear). There is prestige with the WHC making the desire to win that belt larger. Feuds and storylines therefore become better and more realistic.

Not many kids dream of being the US champion; whereas, being the WHC, and holding that belt, seems far more realistic which is why it should stay as a separate entity. There is no need to unift the world and WWE championships simply because of shitty writing and booking. If the writers could do a better job of building the World Title it would be a no-brainer.

The United States championship and the Intercontinental Championship is the problem in my eyes. I don't think having two mid-card titles is working so one should be eliminated - the US title being my prefered choice. I think having one world title makes it more prestigious, it increases the choice for writers meaning the feuds become better. Moreover, it frees several wrestlers that may be held back to hold a mid-card title.

 

[bizonatch]

My dream WrestleMania XXX card would involve two title unification matches and the reintroduction of 2 older titles.

I'd have

WWE title vs WHC title Unification:
CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan in an Iron Man Match

United States title vs Intercontinental title Unification:
Dean Ambrose vs Cody Rhodes (after a much needed face turn)

Reintroduction of the Cruiserweight Title, 4 Way Ladder Match:
Sin Cara vs Evan Bourne vs Tyson Kidd vs Justin Gabriel

Reintroduction of ECW title (a title only defended under Extreme Rules), Championship Scramble
Antonio Cesaro vs RVD vs Dolph Ziggler vs Randy Orton vs Damien Sandow vs Kofi Kingston

That way you'd have 2 new titles for the midcard while still drawing prestige and interest to the two sets of older titles. I'd round out the card with Rock vs Brock & Cena vs Undertaker as the semi main events, have the Shield fight and retain the tag titles, and do a clash of the monsters w/ Big Show, Mark Henry & Ryback vs Sheamus, Big E. Langston & Snooki? I'm sorry to go slightly off topic, I just love the idea of a WrestleMania where there are 5 title matches and the titles were treated like they meant something.

 

[newwaveknight]

I say unify the WWE and the WHC, then also unify the IC and US. If you're going to combine brands, then there is no need for each show to have a main title and secondary title. I do, however, think that they should bring in a Cruiserweight or Light Heavyweight title since it's good to have a stipulation title.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

I don't see the world titles being unified. We can say there's not enough credible talent to have two world titles, we can say that the two world titles are becoming less credible because there's not enough talent for both. But at the end of the day world titles make matches look important, a PPV with two world titles looks a lot more worth paying for than just having one world title match to the casual fan. So if any titles are unified I see it being the US and IC titles.

 

[Goomba]

I think the WWE Championship and the WHC should be unified as The Undisputed Championship just due the fact that the talent roster draft separation is over and there fore should be only one world champion. as for the mid card titles the U.S. Championship should be replaced by the Cruiserweight Championship to give the lower card something to fight over instead of just being used as jobbers.

 

[Robbo89]

Personally speaking, i would say unify the IC and US title's. Use that as the mid-card title, Have the WHC as the Upper Mid-card title and the WWE title as the main championship.

If we look at the people who have recently held the WHC (Ziggler, Del Rio, Bryan) in my opinion are not massive players yet (unlike Cena, Orton, Punk etc)

maybe use the WHC as the title for those who's reputation will be "damaged" by holding the US/IC title but are not ready to hold the prestige of the company.

So based on todays roster as it stands...These are my opinions by the way

Lets look at who the possible WWE title contenders could be..

Cena, Orton, Punk, Ryback, Sheamus, Jericho, Show

Now lets look at who could potentially push for the "Upper Mid card" WHC title...

Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz, Bryan, Christian, Kane, Henry

And finally the mid-card IC/US title contenders...

Ambrose, Axel, Sandow, Kingston, Rhodes, Cesaro, Langston, Fandango, Barrett

There are plenty of superstars who could benefit from the titles being used in this way. Instead of pushing somebody for a few months from IC title status to WWE title status without a middle ground.

 

[TempestH]

Personally speaking, i would say unify the IC and US title's. Use that as the mid-card title, Have the WHC as the Upper Mid-card title and the WWE title as the main championship.

If we look at the people who have recently held the WHC (Ziggler, Del Rio, Bryan) in my opinion are not massive players yet (unlike Cena, Orton, Punk etc)

maybe use the WHC as the title for those who's reputation will be "damaged" by holding the US/IC title but are not ready to hold the prestige of the company.

So based on todays roster as it stands...These are my opinions by the way

Lets look at who the possible WWE title contenders could be..

Cena, Orton, Punk, Ryback, Sheamus, Jericho, Show

Now lets look at who could potentially push for the "Upper Mid card" WHC title...

Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz, Bryan, Christian, Kane, Henry

And finally the mid-card IC/US title contenders...

Ambrose, Axel, Sandow, Kingston, Rhodes, Cesaro, Langston, Fandango, Barrett

There are plenty of superstars who could benefit from the titles being used in this way. Instead of pushing somebody for a few months from IC title status to WWE title status without a middle ground.

Imo there's no point in having two world titles and one midcard title.

The idea that holding the IC TItle will "damage" someone's reputation is exactly why it has lost its luster. Keeping two World Titles around will only further enforce the idea that being a midcarder is something to be ashamed of. If a wrestler needs to a secondary world title to inflate their importance, then they honestly shouldn't be in the main event at all. There's no shame in being a midcarder. There are too many "main eventers" on the roster, and WWE needs to decide who is a main eventer and who is a midcarder. No more going halfsies on it.

I think that instead of putting those upper midcard guys in their own "division", it would be better to have them float up and down between WWE Title and IC Title level whenever they're needed.

Imo, the IC Title will look better just by one of those bigger names having it. Beating Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, or the Miz for the Intercontinental Title will be a much bigger rub than beating Kofi Kingston for it.

Those guys should be the ones holding the Intercontinental Title and making it look as important as it was in the 80s and early 90s. The likes of Axel, Fandango, and Big E. should be competing for a Television Title or something of roughly that level.

 

[TSG]

I'd say it's about time to merge both these titles together.

Really, there is no brand split. There is only ONE roster. It's time for one main championship, and one to serve the mid-card. Merge the World and WWE Titles into the single WWE Championship, and the IC and US titles into the single WWE Intercontinental Championship. Four solo titles on a single roster is just de-valuing the prestige of championships and redundant in it's own right.

Some people were arguing that the US Title should be kept for the lower card fellows, kind of how the European Championship was used. However, the US Championship, at this point, is just seen as a IC Title counterpart. It wouldn't fit. Bring back the European Title or create a new one if that vacancy really needs filled. But the US Title isn't meant for it. Merge it with the IC Title.

 

[Legendd]

I agree with many people here. I think both mid card and top level titles should be combined. It feels like there isn't enough wrestlers to cover the 3 hr shows, and since the E has stopped caring about smackdown, might as well have only 1 major and 1 minor title. Who knows maybe they will get more wrestlers, and be able to increase the prestige of heavyweight title.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Just a few weeks ago, I said I didn’t like the following Championship combinations:
Option A – 3 Titles – WWE, World, United-Continental (unifying the Mid-Card Titles)
Option B – 2 Titles – WWE (unifying the World Titles), Intercontinental (unifying the Mid-Card Titles)

Just a few weeks ago, I said I didn’t mind the following Championship combinations:
Option C – 2 Titles – WWE (unifying the WWE original Titles), World (unifying the WCW original Titles)
Option D – 4 Titles – WWE, World, Intercontinental, United States

Just a few weeks ago, I said I liked this Championship combination:
Option E – 3 Titles – Undisputed WWE World (unifying the World Titles), Intercontinental, United States

Now, after WWE Payback, I’m thinking Option D, leaving the Championships the way they are, isn’t such a bad idea. The reason why I say this, is because the WWE managed to have a “Night Of Champions” PPV in June, without even billing it as such, and look at the outcome. We all loved it. We even loved what they did with Raw the following night. We are all excited about what’s in store for tonight. The reason, okay, fine, one of the reasons why I think this is happening, is because the WWE gave the current Champions and Championships importance, without giving it importance. The only non-Title match at Payback was a match between the “Best In The World At What He Does” / the first Undisputed WWE / WCW Champion vs. the “Best Wrestler In The World” / the longest reigning WWE Champion in decades.

So as of right now, I say, either unify only the WWE and World Titles (but have the WWE World Champion carry both Belts, to really portray the difference between the Top Champion and the Mid-Card Champions), or leave the Championships the way they are, and have them all defended at every PPV going forward, thus not needing the “Night Of Champions” theme.