Save the United States Championship

[Troy]

​

Think back to June 19, 2011. It was a sunny Sunday in Washington and it was the day when Dolph Ziggler won the US title by beating Kofi Kingston. For the next 182 days he held the United States Championship and brought back some legitimacy to the championship. He defended the title regularly on RAW and on PPV, he would often wrestle twice in the one night on PPV showcasing the fact that he was an active champion that could do it all. He took the title to levels that it hadn't seen for a very long time during that six month reign and it looked to be a turning corner for that title (and also for Ziggler). Then on the 18th of December he dropped the title to Zack Ryder who had risen a huge wave of internet support to the title. He did as well as you could have expected with the title and then less than a month later he dropped the title to Jack Swagger.

This is when things started to really go south for the championship. Swagger wasn't over as a heel when he won the title and he was never pushed as champion during that title reign. He was still just another midcarder on RAW and lost more matches than a US champion should lose. In a surprise twist Santino Marella ended that title reign on the 5th of March. Santino himself had had an incredible face run on Smackdown which lead to him being the last wrestler eliminated in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match on PPV. He received a pretty big pop when he won the title because it was so unexpected and fans liked seeing the underdog win. The problem was that WWE continued the underdog run for way too long. He had many fluke wins in the following months and he has also had many big loses including a one minute squash to Alberto Del Rio.

The United States Championship currently does not mean much at all. You could argue that the Tag Team Championships actually have more prestige at the moment because they are defended in quality matches on RAW and PPV. Something desperately needs to be done with the title to save it from being thrown on the scrapheap. With RAW heading to three hours in a couple of months time they are going to need a strong midcard to make the show watchable and so the United States title is integral to the success of the three hour RAW experiment.

How would you save the US title?

 

[The Cork]

Thing is, all the titles are in the same boat.

- Nobody cares about teh tag team division and those belts have been a hot potato for a decade.
- I honestly don't know who the IC champ is.
- Punk's WWE Title reign has been very forgettable, the belt is secondary to his actual feud at the time, almost a non title match it seems.
- Sheamus' is still very young but doesn't show much promise or much of anything, period.

I know titles are somewhat of a cornerstone of the wrestling business but it might be time to scrap them altogether. Peopke are more wise and savvy to wrestling nowadays, so it's not like anyone still thinks the World champion is 'the best wrestler'. Make a King of the Ring or something to show who the 'top guy' is.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

I said this before and I'll say it again I think Santino makes a credible champion because he earned the belt. I swear directly from his Elimination Chamber performance is why WWE gave him the belt. One of the smartest undercard ideas they had in a while... but they didn't capitalize on it or even mention how good he was in the Chamber match. So at this point in time I stopped looking at this reign in how WWE pushes Santino and more on Santino deserving to be champion because of his skill level. I wish they would let him have a real feud that has a series of meaningful matches but that is just hoping for too much.

So how would I save it? Just putting Santino in weekly matches that go over 5 minutes at least. It's not like he can't work.

 

[Cwalker]

Santino doesn't get enough credit for being the good worker that he is. Everyone sees the gimmick and labels him a joke, but truth be told, the dude is good. He desereves to be Champion, simply based on how over he is and the run he had earlier this year.

You want the US title to go back to being as prestigious as it was when Ziggler held it? The WWE would have to do the same thing with Santino that they did with Ziggler. Have him defend he title every now and again. Put him in a feud with someone like Otunga, similar to Ziggler's feud with Ryder. Don't squash him. Don't have him feuding with Ricardo Rodrigeuz. Problem solved.

 

[Prodigy]

Agree, a feud with Otunga would actually be good. I like Otunga, but I think he's got a long way to come in terms of in ring work, Santino is a good worker and would help Otunga out of they had a good feud. Not only that but Otunga would get a good rub of Heel heat due to the fact he's facing a really over face.

 

[Dale]

How to save it? Give it to Antonio Cesaro.

They need something for him to get him over as a heel and they've shown him and Aksana ridicule Teddy already, so best case scenario would be for Santino to stick up for Teddy given their history, but he ultimately loses the title to Cesaro.

Failing to do that, do something as simple as throwing it on Tensai for a few months before losing it back to a midcarder in fluke fashion so he can move into the main event looking strong.

 

[Prodigy]

I know it is of little significance anymore, but 3 guys that are foreign in character (Santino half ooc and Cesaro full), holding the title in a row would be kinda funny.

 

[Defiant]

How to save [insert any mid-under card title]?

Drop the mindset that putting a title on someone will immediately make them relevant or get them over, it just doesn't work as simply as that. The reason Dolph Ziggler's U.S. Title reign is generally considered the last good one is because he defended it regularly and put on some of the best performances of hi career doing. He also had an opponent in Kofi Kingston who wanted the title just as bad and the two battled on many occassions just to have it.

THAT is all you need. Hell, you don't even need a storyline most of the time, its such a genuine enough motivation for a rivalry that the story writes itself. Two guys who will repeatedly go to war with each other for the sake of being champion. This alone brings prestige to said title. You don't need no bogus tournaments, redesigns or whatever to make a title important. Just acknowledge the damn thing more and have people competing for it a lot.

With all the time on each show and all these up and comers chomping at the bit for their opportunity, there's no reason the US/IC Champions shouldn't have a constantly moving, revolving door of contenders that all have said champion in the sights.

 

[Troy]

I mention in my intial post that I was fine with Santino winning it because he had had a great run including the Elimination Chamber but he has done nothing with the belt and it has devalued the title. I don't know why WWE can't simply look at their roster and split the guys into divisions, pick half a dozen to go after the US title and start creating some storylines involving those guys and the title. I would take the title away from Santino as soon as possible as it just doesn't work with him as champion anymore.

If WWE are a bit down on Tensai then I wouldn't mind him taking the title on RAW. Chuck him into a feud with Brodus Clay over the title and then they can actually book a feud for the title. In the meantime create a division out of guys like Swagger, Otunga, Ryder, Miz, Riley etc. They don't have to all be top names there just needs to be quite a few of them to create a proper division and to create interest in the title. I wouldn't mind if they switched the title quite often in the coming 12 months, would be an easy way to create interest if the title changes hands every 6 weeks or so.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I think they should honestly have a foreigner who is extremely anti-American, get them over as a heel by having the belt, and have an American challenge for it, and lose almost all the time. American fans love to hate the foreigners who hate America.

 

[Defiant]

For once I'd like to see a wrestler from outside the US/Canada where they DON'T play the race card. Off the top of my head, Rikishi is the only one who kinda escaped that.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I don't quite remember the last time we had someone like that. I always enjoyed the guys who hated on the American's, or any country really, it's always fun.

 

[Defiant]

I'm talking about when they make a foreign wrestler's nationality their number one character trait, almost their gimmick. Like Kofi Kingston, The Usos, Sheamus, Drew, etc.

I mean, if I were a wrestler, I'd want people to remember me for being something a bit more than "that Australian guy".

 

[Hoss]

Luger the hell out of the title. Have Abraham Washington come forward and push Mason Ryan strong as a foreign menace. Eventually, he can dethrone Santino in convincing fashion and go on to squash such superstars as Curt Hawkins, Alex Riley, and Zack Ryder all in the good names of his homeland of Wales! You can even incorporate Epico and Primo who can interfere and help him return against more legitimate challengers, most notably, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (though, he's not American). Then just when it seems like there's no one out there able to stop the Welsh monster, a newly face Miz emerges out of the blue to accept an open challenge and defeats Mason in a well-matched contest, before hopping in the crowd and finding the nearest American flag to sway around.

It's hard to imagine now, but I think it'd work. It solves several issues also. The first is enhancing the midcard heel scene by injecting Ryan as a vicious foreigner. Furthermore, you get to integrate the tag title feud between Epico and Primo/Truth and Kofi to add more depth to the feud. Also, Miz has his long awaited face turn, putting him back on the map after a long time of flopping around! The eventful title change is forever embedded in fans' minds so they not only can remember who the champion is, but they know how he won it. This opens up the flood gates for Miz to defend his title against such challengers as Mason Ryan, Jack Swagger, and Otunga, assisting in making the champion look dangerous once more.

 

[Troy]

^I like the concept but I would change one thing. Instead of The Miz why not use Jack Swagger in that role, after all he is the All American American. Would be a great way to reinvent Swagger and it would get the fans interested in him again.