Thoughts on the United States Title

[Wacokid27]

I was recently looking at some things about various promotions and their "Triple Crown" or "Grand Slam" Championships. For those unfamiliar with the concept, each promotion will generally offer several titles that can be won (either individually or in tandem) by their promotion's wrestlers and a wrestler who has won a primary (main event), secondary (upper midcard), and tag team title will be recognized as a "Triple Crown Champion" while a wrestler who is a Triple Crown Champion and has also won a tertiary title (midcard belt) will be called a "Grand Slam Champion". For example, CM Punk, who has won the WWE Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and a tag team title in the WWE is a Triple Crown Champion, while Christian, who has won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, the tag team championship, and a European Championship (now defunct, in case you were not aware) is considered a Grand Slam Champion.

Currently, WWE recognizes either the WWE Championship or the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as "main event" or primary championships, the Intercontinental Championship as a "upper midcard" or secondary championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship as a tag team title for the purposes of creating "Triple Crown Champions", but does not recognize a tertiary championship for the creation of "Grand Slam Champions", as those tertiary titles the WWE has recognized (the European and Hardcore Championships) are no longer recognized by the promotion. What this does is to make it impossible for more Grand Slam Champions to be created (except for Goldust and William Regal, either of whom could become GSC's by winning either the WWE or World Heavyweight titles, or the Undertaker, who could become a GSC by winning the Intercontinental Championship). There are currently 12 Grand Slam Champions recognized by the WWE, with only a possibility of 3 others.

What if, however, the United States Championship, which does not currently factor into any of this figuring, were to be recognized as a "midcard" or tertiary title? This would open up the possibility of wrestlers such as Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, or CM Punk becoming Grand Slam Champions (for the record, Dolph Ziggler and the Miz would become GSC's immediately, Punk would require a US Title run, and Daniel Bryan would require an IC title run...those are the ones that come immediately to mind).

So, what say you, WWE Forums? Should the US Title be recognized as a tertiary belt or do we just not have any further Grand Slam Champions in WWE?

wk

 

[Leo C]

I think something should be done about that. It feels kinda stupid not to be able to have Grand Slam champs anymore.

 

[Lockard 23]

John Cena would become a Grand Slam Champion immediately as well. And he's only one title away (Intercontinental) away from becoming a Triple Crown Champion. But does WWE even recognize that the Grand Slam Champion still exists? Couldn't find anything about it on their website, even after typing it up in their search engine.

I really don't see why the United States Championship isn't considered a tertiary title. I'd actually put it even above that and into the same category of the IC Title. They're pretty much the same on the totem pole in terms of importance nowadays. I guess it having it's origins as being a WCW title might have something to do with it. Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champions are supposed to be strictly WWF/E titles as far as their entire historical linage goes. Same reason winning the WWECW Title doesn't count (there's always the WHC, but wwe.com technically considers it part of a different linage than the old WCW World Heavyweight Title.) Seems silly considering it's still a title now officially christened as a WWE belt and defended on WWE shows, but that probably has something to do with it.

 

[Toto]

I think that we might need a Grand Slam champion, so the US should be a tertiary championship

 

[Toto]

I was recently looking at some things about various promotions and their "Triple Crown" or "Grand Slam" Championships. For those unfamiliar with the concept, each promotion will generally offer several titles that can be won (either individually or in tandem) by their promotion's wrestlers and a wrestler who has won a primary (main event), secondary (upper midcard), and tag team title will be recognized as a "Triple Crown Champion" while a wrestler who is a Triple Crown Champion and has also won a tertiary title (midcard belt) will be called a "Grand Slam Champion". For example, CM Punk, who has won the WWE Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and a tag team title in the WWE is a Triple Crown Champion, while Christian, who has won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, the tag team championship, and a European Championship (now defunct, in case you were not aware) is considered a Grand Slam Champion.

Currently, WWE recognizes either the WWE Championship or the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as "main event" or primary championships, the Intercontinental Championship as a "upper midcard" or secondary championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship as a tag team title for the purposes of creating "Triple Crown Champions", but does not recognize a tertiary championship for the creation of "Grand Slam Champions", as those tertiary titles the WWE has recognized (the European and Hardcore Championships) are no longer recognized by the promotion. What this does is to make it impossible for more Grand Slam Champions to be created (except for Goldust and William Regal, either of whom could become GSC's by winning either the WWE or World Heavyweight titles, or the Undertaker, who could become a GSC by winning the Intercontinental Championship). There are currently 12 Grand Slam Champions recognized by the WWE, with only a possibility of 3 others.

What if, however, the United States Championship, which does not currently factor into any of this figuring, were to be recognized as a "midcard" or tertiary title? This would open up the possibility of wrestlers such as Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, or CM Punk becoming Grand Slam Champions (for the record, Dolph Ziggler and the Miz would become GSC's immediately, Punk would require a US Title run, and Daniel Bryan would require an IC title run...those are the ones that come immediately to mind).

So, what say you, WWE Forums? Should the US Title be recognized as a tertiary belt or do we just not have any further Grand Slam Champions in WWE?

wk

"Rock, it`s a championship, not a belt" CM Punk

 

[RoyalRaven]

Honestly, I think they should change the belt. No idea what to, but I just don't really like it, the IC is easily the best looking belt though.

 

[Wacokid27]

Honestly, I think they should change the belt. No idea what to, but I just don't really like it, the IC is easily the best looking belt though.

As long as they don't turn it back into a spinner, I'm pretty much cool with whatever they do with it. And I don't really have a big problem with any of the titles' appearances at this point, but I do agree the IC title is the best looking, probably because the white strap is different from all of the other ones.

John Cena would become a Grand Slam Champion immediately as well. And he's only one title away (Intercontinental) away from becoming a Triple Crown Champion. But does WWE even recognize that the Grand Slam Champion still exists? Couldn't find anything about it on their website, even after typing it up in their search engine.


I really don't see why the United States Championship isn't considered a tertiary title. I'd actually put it even above that and into the same category of the IC Title. They're pretty much the same on the totem pole in terms of importance nowadays. I guess it having it's origins as being a WCW title might have something to do with it. Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champions are supposed to be strictly WWF/E titles as far as their entire historical linage goes. Same reason winning the WWECW Title doesn't count (there's always the WHC, but wwe.com technically considers it part of a different linage than the old WCW World Heavyweight Title.) Seems silly considering it's still a title now officially christened as a WWE belt and defended on WWE shows, but that probably has something to do with it.

If Cena's never been IC Champ, he couldn't be a Grand Slam Champion. He'd need the IC Championship to become a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion if they recognized the US Title for that purpose. As for the US Title being equal to the IC Title, it was treated as such during the Brand Split, when you would have one primary title on Raw and another on Smackdown, one secondary title on Raw and one on Smackdown (the secondary titles being the IC and US Titles), and one Tag title on Raw and one on Smackdown (being the WWE Tag Team Championships and the World Tag Team Championships). They also, just for comparison purposes, had two women's titles, the Women's Championship and the Divas Championship, which later became unified (in fact, the IC and US Titles were temporarily unified, if I'm remembering correctly, but the US Title was resurrected for the Brand Split just like the WHC was "resurrected" to be the Raw primary title in 2002 and was first awarded to HHH). This caused some confusion when the Brand Split ended, when it was settled that both the WWE and WH Championships were recognized as "primary titles" but only the IC Title was recognized as a "secondary title". This left the US Championship in limbo and lead me to ask the question in the OP.

As to the history of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, we all recognize that it is not the NWA/WCW/JCP World Heavyweight Championship, but they do claim the history of that title as the history of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (at least according to the "History of the World Heavyweight Championship" DVD). If I had my druthers, they would unify the WWE and WH Titles and either set the US Title as a "tertiary title" or unify it with the IC Title and resurrect the European Championship as a "tertiary title".

But that's just me.

wk

 

[DK JAMES]

I legit thought Cesaro was bringing some prestige to the belt when he won it. He always talked about how he was the real champion of the company and all that and I liked it. Ambrose took the title to NXT and said just about the same stuff which was awesome, but now I don't even think of the US Title again. It's just mixed up with the Shield and corporate storyline. I say give it to a near main eventer, someone who is known and has a recognizable name just to make it an actual title again.

 

[F.R.I.E]

The U.S. Title was best around one man's waist. Montel Vontavious Porter... M..V...P. He had great matches, either with or without the belt on the line. He was one of the best heels on Smackdown (besides Edge). He made fans hate him, yet, he was so good at it. And, he really expressed the importance of the title, along with the importance of himself, of course.

 

[Wacokid27]

The U.S. Title was best around one man's waist. Montel Vontavious Porter... M..V...P. He had great matches, either with or without the belt on the line. He was one of the best heels on Smackdown (besides Edge). He made fans hate him, yet, he was so good at it. And, he really expressed the importance of the title, along with the importance of himself, of course.

MVP was an awesome US Champ and a terrific young talent. I don't remember why they let him get away.

By the way, anyone who's got Ramsay in their sig and Ambrose as their avatar....just....awesome, brother. :hogan:

wk

 

[F.R.I.E]

MVP was an awesome US Champ and a terrific young talent. I don't remember why they let him get away.

By the way, anyone who's got Ramsay in their sig and Ambrose as their avatar....just....awesome, brother. :hogan:

wk

I try my best. My inspirations all in one forum profile. Marvelous.

 

[Action Jackson]

Best US Champs:


Dusty Rhodes
Harley Race
Ricky Steamboat
Sting
Kofi Kingston
DDP
Booker T
DEAN FUCKING AMBROSE

:

 

[F.R.I.E]

Best US Champs:


Dusty Rhodes
Harley Race
Ricky Steamboat
Sting
Kofi Kingston
DDP
Booker T
DEAN FUCKING AMBROSE

:

No MVP?

 

[Lockard 23]

If Cena's never been IC Champ, he couldn't be a Grand Slam Champion. He'd need the IC Championship to become a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion if they recognized the US Title for that purpose. As for the US Title being equal to the IC Title, it was treated as such during the Brand Split, when you would have one primary title on Raw and another on Smackdown, one secondary title on Raw and one on Smackdown (the secondary titles being the IC and US Titles), and one Tag title on Raw and one on Smackdown (being the WWE Tag Team Championships and the World Tag Team Championships). They also, just for comparison purposes, had two women's titles, the Women's Championship and the Divas Championship, which later became unified (in fact, the IC and US Titles were temporarily unified, if I'm remembering correctly, but the US Title was resurrected for the Brand Split just like the WHC was "resurrected" to be the Raw primary title in 2002 and was first awarded to HHH). This caused some confusion when the Brand Split ended, when it was settled that both the WWE and WH Championships were recognized as "primary titles" but only the IC Title was recognized as a "secondary title". This left the US Championship in limbo and lead me to ask the question in the OP.

As to the history of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, we all recognize that it is not the NWA/WCW/JCP World Heavyweight Championship, but they do claim the history of that title as the history of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (at least according to the "History of the World Heavyweight Championship" DVD). If I had my druthers, they would unify the WWE and WH Titles and either set the US Title as a "tertiary title" or unify it with the IC Title and resurrect the European Championship as a "tertiary title".

But that's just me.

wk

Yeah, I overlooked that you need the IC Title to be a Grand Slam champ as well. (Not sure why...) Either way, Cena is only one title win away and I don't think it's implausible that he could win the IC Title at some undetermined point in the future. Someone (not me) made a thread a few months ago about a storyline idea where Cena could lose a match with a stipulation that states he can no longer wrestle for either world title and so he drops down into the midcard and spends anywhere from a month to three months winning the IC Title and then dropping it back to whoever before finding a loophole back into the main event. It gives us Cena in a fresh spot on the card while propping up the Intercontinental Title a bit as well before Cena inevitably finds his way back into the main event anyway. It's a good idea, I think, and it would also make Cena a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion at once as a nice by-product.

Anyway, yeah, I'm aware of how equal the IC and US Titles were during the brand extension, but the same is pretty much true of them today, too. One doesn't really feel any more worthy than the other. (Actually, IMO, the US Title kinda does, and has for the past few years at least. But on the totem pole of importance, one isn't really looked at by fans today as being of a higher stature.)

 

[Danielson]

I always like the idea of having as few belts as possible. I think 3 + the divas would be ideal and it would make the IC title even more prestigious than it already is. I'd get rid of the WHC.

1. WWE Championship
2. IC.
3. Tag Team
4. Divas (Change it back to the Woman's Championship)

If you wanted another title, I'd go with a cruiser-weight or x division type deal to give more notoriety to those guys.