WWE Teasing Unifying US & IC Titles?

[Jack-Hammer]

There's an article on WWE.com in which the current Intercontinental & United States Champions, Big E. Langston & Dean Ambrose, talk about the possibility of unifying their titles. Both were open to the idea with Big E. believing that the US title could be absorbed into the IC title and Ambrose stating that a new title should be created altogether.

One of Big E.'s comments included, "If it strengthens the legitimacy of both titles, then I'm all for it." Dean Ambrose, brimming with heel confidence, said "It'd be a good thing as long as they made one good looking championship for me to haul around, because I'd definitely be the one holding it."

The fact that WWE even has this article going, which sort of reminds me of view points often discussed in the forum, suggests at least some remote possibility of this going down. Check out the whole article, it's a pretty decent little read. http://www.wwe.com/inside/should-wwe-unify-intercontinental-and-united-states-titles-26170268

Should there be one mid-card championship?

If so, which title would you absorb into the other?

Should WWE create a brand new championship, thereby retiring both the IC & US titles?

If they do go ahead with this at some point in the relatively near future, I see Langston ultimately being the one to capture both straps. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a "best of" series of matches culminating with a match at WrestleMania.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Whoever holds the IC title will win the match. If it takes place. That has the WWE lineage.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. WWE has a lot of TV to fill and still doesn't promote the belts properly. I'm not naive enough to think that the IC title will become important again just because it's the #2 title in the company. However, if it was promoted in a similar way to the WHC then nobody could have any real complaints.

 

[CM Steel]

If the WWE does unify the IC & U.S. title's, they need to bring back a defunct championship or create a new one. Like they can bring back the WWE crusierweight title or debut a WWE TV title. I understand that there are too many title's in the WWE right now. But what about the lower mid-card guys who have nothing going on with good feuds to get into? It would be sad to see the U.S. championship defunct again. But the E has to do what's "best for business" I guess.

 

[fizzdaboi]

I thought they would have done this already with the WWE/WHC being last to unify. Seeing that the Tag Titles were unified 4 years ago, but I'd like to see the last of the title unification's being done soon.

But it'll probably be one both Langston & Ambrose are the longest reigning champions of their respective titles for the last 10-15 years most likely, so the winner has something else to claim, like CM Punk can claim he was the longest WWE Champ for the last 25 years or so.

 

[Ubermensch]

Good point. They do have a great amount of TV to fill. You have to have some sort of midcard action going on. With one Heavyweight, and one midcard title (the IC), there would be some holes.

In the past to fill the midcard promotions have tried women's wrestling, hardcore wrestling, tag teams, X-Division, and light weight wrestlers.

Obviously the WWE wouldn't try and directly emulate the X Divsion. They have Tag team, and the Divas are barely interesting. The WWE doesn't seem to have many crusier or light weight wrestlers on the roster. Certainly not enough to warrant a belt. I think the only other title option is a hardcore championship, IF they are going to bring another belt.

The only other title I could see happening would be bringing back the old 3v3 tag team championship. While I don't think it's a good idea, it's been awhile since fans have seen it, and it would fill up tv time. Other than that you will just see more of the same with another midcard title that you aren't sure is on par, like when the WWF had European, Intercontinental, and NWA Heavyweight championship briefly, whilst the tag team, light heavyweight, and hardcore were still on the midcard.

As an aside, this business of unifying, and ununifying belts has gotten old.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I hate to sound like one of the typical marks around here, but I don't want them to essentially get rid of one of the mid card belts. By unifying the World Titles they limited the shots that mid carders and upper mid carders would've gotten. By taking away a mid card belt as well, you'd essentially limit the amount pushes for others as well.

I guess my ideal situation for mid singles belts would be something along the lines of:

WWEWHC - Obviously for top main eventers.
IC Title - Upper mid card with potential future main eventer written all over them.
US Title - Mid card belt for strictly mid carders or people they want to test the waters with. This also provides them that championship belt they can put on someone and forget about. Basically where it's been for years now. They seem to need to do that.

It's a big roster, and while you don't need a belt to have a good feud, it can add something if properly done.

 

[Aquaman6686]

WWE should NOT unify the titles. They already have fewer titles than they need, WWE needs to be creating more championships, not eliminating the few they have left. If they unify the titles, they might as well release half their roster, because there's already not enough for the roster to do as is.

 

[Ubermensch]

That's a valid point, but have you considered there's nothing really to distinguish the IC title and the US title from your average mark? For instance the lines between upper mid card and mid card guys are extremely blurry. What separates upper mid card guys from main eventers?

Go back to the European Championship, in theory it was more midcard than the Intercontinental Championship. Yet former heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels held after his title run, and Triple H holding the European belt when against The Rock with Intercontinental title.

I think it leads to too much conjecture. WCW could pull off the TV belt somewhat because it had 3 hours of show to fill up, and did not have the lengthy promo times you see now. They also didn't have women's wrestling at the time of the TV title, and a bigger roster with their deal with New Japan and the luchadores. There were alot of spillover competitors for the TV title and the Crusierweight, which made them both lower midcard titles. WCW also had a larger roster and more shows with Thunder, Nitro, and Saturday Night. WWE doesn't fit those billets, and doesn't really necessitate another pure midcard title with no other stipulations on it such as weight class or hardcore.

It was easier to define the TV title's place on the card, even though occasionally the TV title got a push such as when Scott Steiner held it.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I'm all for it. Remember the good old days, like the 80s and the 90s when you actually gave a rats ass who was the IC champion? Back when becoming the Intercontinental Champion actually meant something? When it was this important milestone in a wrestler's career, rather than something you might achieve in your first four months, if not in your first televised match ever?

The Intercontinental title used to mean something. Now, with the WHC gone, it can become meaningful again. And unifying it with the US belt would be a crucial step in getting that meaning back!

Yes, WWE, please do it. Please. Please. Please.

(And noooo, no Cruiserweight title. That would only undermine the whole thing again.)

And to those who are already crying because now so much fewer people will win belts - THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT! If everyone is a champion, no one is! It needs to be something special that only a select few ever achieve, otherwise there is just no point. Why should I care if a wrestler accomplishes something that EVERY wrestler accomplishes sooner or later? That's been the WWE's problem for years and now they're finally, FINALLY fixing it. The WWE is doing so many things wrong lately, but this isn't one of those things.

 

[Pedigree1]

Absolutely I am all for it. If it will make the IC title actually mean something,like caring who the champ is then yes do it at the Royal Rumble if you can. I would want this done ASAP,with the WHC and WWE title being unified it makes sense that these titles will be unified if it happens.

The US title,really in retrospect means nothing next to the IC title. The IC title has history and a lot of HOF'ers have held that prestigious title.. Plus maybe they could bring back a TV title or Cruiserweight title for the Lower-tier guys,who have nothing to do at this moment. It will make for better viewing,and its a win win for eveyone IMO

 

[CyberPunk]

I would definitely want this. Unifying IC and US title would mean that it would become more difficult to become champion. One reason people stopped caring about an IC or US champion was because stories were written mostly for your two main event belts, and IC and US belts would be thrown on anyone without any story. Creative would now actually have to be creative and chose the right guy to win the title. These titles wouldn't be handed to someone for just the sake of it.

For me IC championship has a lot of history and should absorb the US title. Instead of introducing a new title and belt, carrying on with IC title would further its legacy as the second biggest title in the company. None of the other midcard titles come even close to the legacy of the IC title.

Also, no title should be reactivated, neither should a new title be created. Our lower cards weren't doing anything with both of these titles present, so I doubt they'll do much with a new/reactivated title. Let them have multiple contenders for the IC title. This would just freshen up the midcard scene and also allow for more personal feuds without the title. The IC title would mean something again.

 

[Chococat]

Retire the bastard US title, keep only the IC title, don't bring anything back.
FUCK THE CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION! THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WANT THEM BACK ARE THE ONES WHO ARE MAD ABOUT THE SMALLER WRESTLERS NOT BEING ON TV BECAUSE THEY FUCKING SUCK ARE NOTHING BUT ENHANCEMENT/JOBBERS

They should leave it to one mid card, one main, one tag team, one diva.

Why the fuck do we need anymore belts. Everyone has some odd mindframe that EVERYONE MUST HOLD A TITLE to be important. Hasn't Daniel Bryan proved this wrong? Nope, you guys still bitch about him not having the main belt or will cry saying bring back the CW for daniel. such a dumb idea.

I don't know how you guys' mind works but if I was one of the smaller guys in wwe, I'd rather have no title than the shitty excuse of wwe's cruisierweight belt that was tossed around like a toy and cared so little about, that it was retired by a non active member of the roster in Hornswoggle

 

[#tamale]

Yes, there should be just one mid-card championship. The US title should be absorbed into the Intercontinental title. With them unifying the titles you are limiting the pushes to guys who you know will rise to the occasion and be stars. I was against the WWE/WHC unification but know looking at it, at least they will go with a proper champion at that level. Someone who is an established star.

The established mid-card guys who do have potential to reach the top will fight for that only mid-card title. The guys who were getting charity world championships are out of the the main event picture because they aren't the top stars. They will be back in the mid-card helping the guys with potential reach their goal of being the next top stars of the company.

The main thing I do take away from this is that there won't be anymore "okay, well we want to push this guy, give him the US/Intercontinental title" booking. With less titles, these wrestlers will now have to showcase much more of their abilities to entertain a crowd because of their character, not because they have a championship around their waist. The most recent example of that was Curtis Axel.

The Million Dollar Man didn't need the title to be remembered and revered as a great wrestler in history.

 

[Softcore Holly]

I would definitely want this. Unifying IC and US title would mean that it would become more difficult to become champion. One reason people stopped caring about an IC or US champion was because stories were written mostly for your two main event belts, and IC and US belts would be thrown on anyone without any story. Creative would now actually have to be creative and chose the right guy to win the title. These titles wouldn't be handed to someone for just the sake of it.

For me IC championship has a lot of history and should absorb the US title. Instead of introducing a new title and belt, carrying on with IC title would further its legacy as the second biggest title in the company. None of the other midcard titles come even close to the legacy of the IC title.

Also, no title should be reactivated, neither should a new title be created. Our lower cards weren't doing anything with both of these titles present, so I doubt they'll do much with a new/reactivated title. Let them have multiple contenders for the IC title. This would just freshen up the midcard scene and also allow for more personal feuds without the title. The IC title would mean something again.

Your mistake is assuming that unifying the IC/US would force creative to do anything significant. OK sure they'll make up a neat little thing for the process, but there's absolutely nothing to stop them from totally ignoring the mid-card again. Like say if Ambrose won it, oh great now the new title gets to be ignored while he keeps on doing 3on3 matches. Or lets put it on Big E, oh great he's back to squashing heels like Fandango in meaningless matches.

I get that people want the mid-card title(s) to have meaning again, but reducing the number isn't the answer. The reason those titles are meaningless isn't because there's other titles around, it's because they're being ignored by creative. Lets say for Ambrose's US title reign he was involved in actual feuds with great opponents where both men got mic time to hype up their match, that would've made the title important. Lets say instead of using Axel as a meat shield against Punk Heyman using his great mic skills to hype up the IC title against actual decent opponents, that would've made the IC title look important.

But instead the 2 belts got totally ignored for other reasons when if creative was I don't know, creative, they could've thought of much better uses for them. But obviously they didn't, and that's because they don't care about those titles. If they did then they can easily make those titles seem important again. Unifying the titles won't suddenly make creative care about something they haven't gave a crap about, unless something major changes the whatever unified mid-card title will soon end up the same garbage the IC/US titles are now, only difference will be 1 less belt.

 

[Redrum]

Your mistake is assuming that unifying the IC/US would force creative to do anything significant. OK sure they'll make up a neat little thing for the process, but there's absolutely nothing to stop them from totally ignoring the mid-card again. Like say if Ambrose won it, oh great now the new title gets to be ignored while he keeps on doing 3on3 matches. Or lets put it on Big E, oh great he's back to squashing heels like Fandango in meaningless matches.

I get that people want the mid-card title(s) to have meaning again, but reducing the number isn't the answer. The reason those titles are meaningless isn't because there's other titles around, it's because they're being ignored by creative. Lets say for Ambrose's US title reign he was involved in actual feuds with great opponents where both men got mic time to hype up their match, that would've made the title important. Lets say instead of using Axel as a meat shield against Punk Heyman using his great mic skills to hype up the IC title against actual decent opponents, that would've made the IC title look important.

But instead the 2 belts got totally ignored for other reasons when if creative was I don't know, creative, they could've thought of much better uses for them. But obviously they didn't, and that's because they don't care about those titles. If they did then they can easily make those titles seem important again. Unifying the titles won't suddenly make creative care about something they haven't gave a crap about, unless something major changes the whatever unified mid-card title will soon end up the same garbage the IC/US titles are now, only difference will be 1 less belt.

I agree 100% with what you just said. It isn't the fact there are two mid card titles that is the issue but that creative is lazy and doesn't write anything interesting for them. I remember in the attitude era when they had very interesting storyline for the WWF Title,IC Title,Euro Title,Hardcore Title and Tag Titles.

Them going to only two singles titles with a roster bigger then the attitude era to me is very short sighted. They would be better served in keeping two lower in end titles but make it clear WWE WHC>>>IC Title>>>> US/whatever they have title. Oh and of course write some good story's and feud instead of just throwing throwing together a pre show match at a ppv that had fifteen minutes of build time total in the past month of which thirteen of which was two matches where wins were traded.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I am against it for now. The roster is large enough to warrant three singles championship tiers. The best of the best (kayfabe) contending for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a world title tier, the upper midcarders contending for the Intercontinental Championship in a secondary tier, and the true midcarders or some of the lower card guys contending for the US Championship in a lower tier. If they only have one secondary title then the title scene might get a bit crowded. That's just me though.

I would retire the US Championship upon unification with the Intercontinental Championship if I had to make a choice of keeping one. The Intercontinental Championship has WWE history going back several decades whereas the US Championship came from WCW and has been far less important since its return in WWE. If Ambrose is still the United States Champion and Langston is still the Intercontinental Champion, I would have Ambrose win the unification match. No new titles are needed. The Intercontinental Championship's name and design is fine.

 

[Mr.Fortuna]

I would keep it as it is at the moment. But with that being said as we move into the future and the roster becomes absorbed with more and more NXT talent I think there should only be one midcard title for the fact that there needs to be more legitimacy being brought back into being a champion. Not everyone needs a championship to be over. Look at Jake Roberts for example he was always titleless but was a legend and totally over with the crowd.

Secondly during The wCw and ECW merger there was such a huge influx of talent that all these titles were needed to incorporate all the excess talent. Now WWE is back to a one world champion tier and I think in the next year in a half to two years the us title should be unified into the ic championship. Guys like Neville, Rusev, Dallas, Graves, zayn ect.. will be coming up the ranks and guys like Big Show, Mark Henry, Del Rio, Kane, Mysterio and Christian will be retiring and such

 

[Reflection]

In my opinion, they should not unify the titles, because they already have too many wrestlers without a story or feud and just having random matches against each other; taking one of the titles away would mean at least one less potential angle. Also, the presence of two titles aren't doing any harm to the division, so why unify?

 

[FiveTymeWCWChamp]

Absolutely I am all for it. If it will make the IC title actually mean something,like caring who the champ is then yes do it at the Royal Rumble if you can. I would want this done ASAP,with the WHC and WWE title being unified it makes sense that these titles will be unified if it happens.

The US title,really in retrospect means nothing next to the IC title. The IC title has history and a lot of HOF'ers have held that prestigious title.. Plus maybe they could bring back a TV title or Cruiserweight title for the Lower-tier guys,who have nothing to do at this moment. It will make for better viewing,and its a win win for eveyone IMO

The US title has been held by many HOF'ers Like Most of the Horsemen! Sting, Luger, Steamboat, Dusty, etc, etc!

 

[CrazyMatt88]

Just brainstorming here, but we have a large number of foreign wrestlers on the roster now, why don't we have an Internationals belt or something? Only the foreign wrestlers would be able to compete for it, and keep the US title on for the American wrestlers? Like I said, just brainstorming here.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I would keep it as it is at the moment. But with that being said as we move into the future and the roster becomes absorbed with more and more NXT talent I think there should only be one midcard title for the fact that there needs to be more legitimacy being brought back into being a champion. Not everyone needs a championship to be over. Look at Jake Roberts for example he was always titleless but was a legend and totally over with the crowd.

Secondly during The wCw and ECW merger there was such a huge influx of talent that all these titles were needed to incorporate all the excess talent. Now WWE is back to a one world champion tier and I think in the next year in a half to two years the us title should be unified into the ic championship. Guys like Neville, Rusev, Dallas, Graves, zayn ect.. will be coming up the ranks and guys like Big Show, Mark Henry, Del Rio, Kane, Mysterio and Christian will be retiring and such

Jake COULD have had a title, so could Bossman but their gimmick precluded it. Jake had to carry around the snake, unleash it at the end on the opponent, Bossman had his cuffs and nightstick to show off to the crowd, Brutus the shears/haircutting... Add a belt having to be carried/shown off into those equations and their gimmick suffers or the belt does so they stayed beltless... it's no reflection on their abilities just practicality that if you had a prop based gimmick back then a belt was too much on top.

As for unifying the titles it's not the way forward - both should be kept with the IC title moving up the card slightly and the US being the equivalent of the old WCW TV title.

The only valid reason I can see for them unifying is if another title is coming in to the main show either the NXT title or the Cruiserweight belt (Adrian Neville, Hun Cara, Zayn and Calihan are all likely to feud over it) to replace it. In that case the IC title has to stay, it has the heritage within the WWE.

I get the US title's value, it just has run it's course as a 2nd tier title - if it's the 3rd tier, defended weekly/every fortnight then it's a good thing for younger talent to have.

But let's face it if they unify it'll be Reigns who does it... It's so predictable it's unfunny.

 

[RicSpade]

The problem with the titles now is no one is watchin most of them being defended. When was the last time Ambrose defended the belt on Raw? I don't remember like 2 months ago maybe? A match on Smackdown or Superstars or Main Event? Hell I think the last time the belt was defended on PPV was in October. So really we don't need the belt, I would like to see a lower championship be relegated to Superstars or Main Event, but lets face it, the now 3rd title is meaningless, and whoever wins it won't be the one with the IC belt, it will be the one with the bigger push, and in heel fashion I can see Ambrose throwing away one title, or I can see them building a new one, or whatever, but IC title would be the one which stays only because I cannot see Vince giving up his baby for the one from NWA/WCW whether or not they made it look WWE style or not.

 

[Mr.Fortuna]

In my opinion, they should not unify the titles, because they already have too many wrestlers without a story or feud and just having random matches against each other; taking one of the titles away would mean at least one less potential angle. Also, the presence of two titles aren't doing any harm to the division, so why unify?

But thats exactly the point, there wouldn't be random matches against eachother. The matches and fueds would actually have a compelling story behind it. Dean Ambrose never defends the title anyways it is actually just a prop for him at this time. You don't need championships floating around to make matches and fueds memorable.

 

[JoVilla21]

All WWE needs to do is unify the mid-card tittles and then start having non-title feuds with the mid-card guys who aren't the number 1 contender. It's simple. Have a storyline and let these guys talk so they could develop their character and each one of em could stand out.

We need characters and not Generic "superstars." Looking back in the early 2000's and mid 2000's, a lot of these mid-card guys had a feud and story going without the title. Some examples are MVP feuding with Kane in late '06 and it wasn't for a title, Masters feuded with HBK and it wasn't for the title, Jericho feuded with JBL and it wasn't for the title (upper mid-carders), you also had a young Batista feud with Kane. All you need to do to fill the time is put guys together and give them a decent storyline, build up some promos and then it'll generate interest. This way you can see the different characters.

I HATE when WWE just has a one on one match with a random mid-card and the mid-card champion on Raw and the champ loses and the winner gets a shot at the title at the next PPV. Give them a story, or at least have a #1 contender's match.

Example of WWE's booking, IC Champ Kofi vs Ziggler on RAW 2 weeks before next ppv. Ziggler wins. Next week on Raw, a tag match involving Ziggler and someone else taking on Kofi and someone else. PPV night; IC title match with Kofi vs Ziggler.

 

[Radical]

All WWE needs to do is unify the mid-card tittles and then start having non-title feuds with the mid-card guys who aren't the number 1 contender. It's simple. Have a storyline and let these guys talk so they could develop their character and each one of em could stand out.

We need characters and not Generic "superstars." Looking back in the early 2000's and mid 2000's, a lot of these mid-card guys had a feud and story going without the title. Some examples are MVP feuding with Kane in late '06 and it wasn't for a title, Masters feuded with HBK and it wasn't for the title, Jericho feuded with JBL and it wasn't for the title (upper mid-carders), you also had a young Batista feud with Kane. All you need to do to fill the time is put guys together and give them a decent storyline, build up some promos and then it'll generate interest. This way you can see the different characters.

I HATE when WWE just has a one on one match with a random mid-card and the mid-card champion on Raw and the champ loses and the winner gets a shot at the title at the next PPV. Give them a story, or at least have a #1 contender's match.

Example of WWE's booking, IC Champ Kofi vs Ziggler on RAW 2 weeks before next ppv. Ziggler wins. Next week on Raw, a tag match involving Ziggler and someone else taking on Kofi and someone else. PPV night; IC title match with Kofi vs Ziggler.

You raise a lot of very good points here! I agree with most of it but that is also why I believe the US Title should be kept.

The problem isn't that there are too many titles. Not anymore. IMO there is just the perfect amount of titles.

One top-level title
One mid-upper level title
One mid-card level title
One tag team title
One women's title

The problem isn't the number of titles, it is HOW they are being promoted.

That's where you are very right. I also hate when WWE just books a random match where on guy beats the Champ and then is given a title match at the next PPV.

Where the hell did all the #1 Contender matches go?

I have this feeling Vince is terrified of having many #1 Contender matches for US or IC titles because he thinks it will make the top title feel insignficant or worse, people might care more about the US or IC title matches than the WWE title match. But ... even if that happens, who cares? At least the fans care about something!

And the way is should be set up is that the US title SHOULD BE a 'trial' belt that is put on guys (mostly) who have not won any titles yet but have very good potential and the WWE can see how the crowd reacts. Guys like Tyson Kidd, Fandango, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Brodus Clay, Xavier Woods, etc.

And to make those matches more legit they need to have a #1 Contender match. Have a battle royal or have a triple threat or fatal 4 way match. Within that match you can build stories and feuds that will go a long way, if done right.

Same can be done for the IC title just have some bigger names involved like members of The Shield, Sandow, Ryback, Barrett, even Ziggler and Kingston because you know they are going to help make a match better.

Then you have your true top stars available for the WWE title picture and then a bunch of Tag Teams vying for the Tag Team titles.