Should Cesaro...

[Lockard 23]

Yeah, that's what I'm going for. If people want the Intercontinental Championship to be restored to it's former glory, then it needs to be placed on someone who has a lot of momentum like Cesaro has right now. Plus, does the old adage "The championship doesn't make the wrestler, the wrestler that makes the championship" come to mind? The IC Championship alone isn't a momentum-killer for anyone. That's an issue that all comes down to the booking and treatment that the creative team has for the strap and/or the people that hold it. The second they put the belt on someone whom the fans are invested in, and the second they start booking the championship like it means something again, people will start to look at it differently. Perception is everything in wrestling.

Paul Heyman could even cut a promo after Cesaro wins it, stating that over the past several years, there's been a lot of Intercontinental Champions that have failed to bring any sort of legitimacy to the title (which would serve as sort of a quasi-shoot comment on how far the IC Championship has fallen compared to the old days, appropriate in this era of kayfabe/shoot promos) but that Cesaro is out to change that perception by defending it regularly against any and all challengers. Heyman could also remind people of the prestige the title used to have, held by many people who will eventually go on to become world champions (Warrior, Austin, Rock, HHH, Orton, etc.)

Also, even though I'm not in favor of unifying the IC and US Championships, doing so and having Cesaro become the unified champion would be a nice feather in his cap on top of eventually breaking the record for holding the IC title the longest. I'd imagine a feud between Cesaro and Ambrose over the unification of the belts would be pleasant to watch.

 

[BrayGingguy]

I wouldn't wish a mid card title on anybody right now.

Although, If WWE organised some sort of United States and IC title unification, the championship could mean alot more and you could have some great matches for a title that had prestige like it used to.

 

[Stopspot]

I wouldn't wish a mid card title on anybody right now.

Although, If WWE organised some sort of United States and IC title unification, the championship could mean alot more and you could have some great matches for a title that had prestige like it used to.

unifying the belts magically makes it prestigious?

 

[BrayGingguy]

unifying the belts magically makes it prestigious?

Nope... But the fact that there'd be only one midcard title would mean much more competition for places and better fueds. Having two is an absolute joke. When was the US title even defended last in a match that meant something??

 

[Stopspot]

Nope... But the fact that there'd be only one midcard title would mean much more competition for places and better fueds. Having two is an absolute joke. When was the US title even defended last in a match that meant something??

Just because there is one mid card belt doesn't mean it will be more competition for it. If the creative team don't care for it then they don't care for it, the amount of belts do not change that. WWE has big enough a roster that they could easily book 2 competent mid card belts if only they wanted to.

 

[BrayGingguy]

Just because there is one mid card belt doesn't mean it will be more competition for it. If the creative team don't care for it then they don't care for it, the amount of belts do not change that. WWE has big enough a roster that they could easily book 2 competent mid card belts if only they wanted to.

Good point. Would you not think it would be better to have the World Heavyweight Championship, Intercontinental Championship, Tag Team Championships and Divas Championship? Just seems like it would be easier to book? Meaning more time would be put into each belt. I mean, surely when you have a three hour Raw and two hour Smackdown every week, you should be able to fit in time to book interesting fueds.

 

[Wacokid27]

I'm completely against the idea of unifying the midcard titles due to the sheer size of the modern WWE roster. It would be far too easy to competently book three singles titles for guys in various points in their careers. WWE (and WCW, for that matter) long had three solid singles titles in their respective companies (WWE, IC, and European in WWE; WCW, US, and TV in WCW) while each also had a fourth singles title for "specialty" wrestlers (Hardcore in WWE, Cruiserweight in WCW...actually WWE also had a Light Heavyweight Championship, but I digress). The point comes down to the need to focus on these titles becoming a driving factor in booking them.

It would be easy to have the WWEWHC as the main title, the US Championship as a true midcard title while the IC is for those guys who are in the upper part of the midcard and could credibly compete in the main event. This means having Raw and SD main events that feature an IC Title defense on occasion, not just a random tag team or six-man tag between guys who are involved in various main event level feuds. It means making sure that the IC Championship is defended at 8 - 10 PPV's a year in matches that make sense and between competitors who have some name value. It means making sure the US Championship is defended on at least 6 PPV's a year and that the US Champion actually has some interesting feuds.

If WWE doesn't have writers who can manage multiple story arcs and make them all seem somewhat important (and somewhat interesting), the WWE needs to hire better writers. Personally, I think they've got the writers to do it. It's just going to take some of the higher-ups to recognize that John Cena and Daniel Bryan don't need to touch everything to make it interesting (hell, look at the "Cesaro wins the Andre Battle Royal and Becomes a Paul Heyman Guy" scenario that played out in the last week.....no DBD, no JC.....compelling storyline nonetheless.....albeit partially because it was probably written by Dutch and Paul and it was carried off by an excellent performer...again, I digress).

By the way, I would love to see a Dean Ambrose/Cesaro feud for the Intercontinental Championship. But, let's put that US Title on somebody else first. Since that feud can't (and shouldn't) happen until the Shield breaks up and Ambrose returns to a more-heelish tweener footing, have a face vs. face mini-feud between Ambrose and Rollins where Rollins ends up as US Champion (cue all the Rollins marks screeching "he's past that shitty little title!!!!!"......these people just flat aren't smart enough to understand this). Let this be the catalyst that finally breaks up the Shield, as Rollins gets spun off into another feud for the US Title while Reigns gets pushed to the main event after a feud over the IC Title with Cesaro (where Reigns never captures the title thanks to the guile and cunning of Cesaro's new manager, but ends up looking strong). A heel (Cesaro) vs. tweener (Ambrose) feud over the IC Title would help both guys and bring more prestige to the title.

The problem (strangely enough) is that WWE tends to get into reactionary booking based on fan reaction. They get an IC Champion and he gets cheered because he's a terrific performer, so they have him drop the belt so he can move on to "bigger and better things" while an IC Champion who doesn't get overly cheered gets to keep the belt and it becomes inconsequential because he gets left out of major feuds and booked into oblivion. WWE (and the WWE Universe) needs to be far more patient. It's the situation where you can easily have three Champions, all of whom are getting name recognition and all of whom are becoming bigger and stronger forces, but you have to let it happen. Rushing guys is what leads to performers being hated.....and not in a good way.

wk

 

[Ed!]

Should he hold the IC Title? The title that is the gateway title to the Main Event belt, the title that legends have held and Y2J has a record on. I would say yes. But the title that has been passed from Big Show to Kofi to Miz to Barrett with no storyline whatsoever, the title that has lost all prestige value and is still being carried around, by Langston now and has no storyline. No, I say Swagger should beat Langston for the belt and begin a feud between the two or better yet, bring up Sami Zayn after Cesaro has the belt and becomes an established champion, don't give him the belt that WWE Ignore on storyline

 

[Brad.]

A gateway title to bigger and better things? Well, let's look at the last 5 champions: Axel, Barrett, Miz, Kofi, Christian. lol

You think they're going to give Reigns a mid-card title? Nope, he's going straight to the top, like Cesaro.

 

[Wacokid27]

You think they're going to give Reigns a mid-card title? Nope, he's going straight to the top, like Cesaro.

And this is why it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The IC Title doesn't mean anything, so we don't give it to guys we want to push so the IC Title doesn't mean anything. It's a big problem with the current product.

When guys like HBK, Razor, Austin, Rocky, Y2J, Edge, Punk, etc., carried the belt, it was to prepare them for carrying the big belt in most cases or because they knew those guys could carry the belt and make people give a damn about it. The IC Title (or US Title in WCW) and European Title (again, TV Title in WCW) gave a guy a chance to prove himself. That way, when they get the big belt and the weight of the company's on their shoulders, they know what to do.

An example: Undertaker never held the IC Title. He then went 8 years in the company without having an actual WWE Championship reign (I'm discounting his first WWE Title reign, which lasted 6 days). Now, are you willing to let Reigns or Cesaro spend 8 years in the company before they're trusted enough to be given the WWEWHC? Or would you rather them get an opportunity to prove themselves by being IC Champion first. Then the company will no what they have. I mean, they could be the next Undertaker and have a hugely successful first World Title run, or they could be the next Jack Swagger.

wk

 

[Pop Tatari]

IC title should not just be a gateway to the mainevent scene but also a way to showcase talent who are good but not quite main event level i.e. Tyson Kidd. Make sure the belt is defended at the big PPVs like Mania. If you want to give it a boost then why not have some like Orton win it. He is credible and he can engage in a feud with someone like Sheamus. Add Del Rio to the mix and hell maybe even give it a Main event spot on raw or something.