Column: Fools Gold, Do Titles Mean Anything Anymore?
By James Wright
Looking at the WWE this week it seems things might be on the rise, we have two major heel champs and the two major faces who have been dominating both shows seem like they might be heading into the background. Perhaps we will get some new high profile rivalries; Orton vs. Big Show or Edge vs. Jericho (unlikely since they are all heels but it would be interesting to see) or perhaps a couple of young up and comers will get a chance at the gold. But do they even need it? Looking at the bigger picture in the WWE it looks as if maybe being champion isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
First let’s look at Superstars who won their first title in the last few years, two of the most successful being Edge and Randy Orton, their title reigns, which were new and exciting at the time, lasted only a short while with the two same men they beat at Backlash taking their titles away from them before they had even had a good run. It cannot be argued that the two haven’t gone from strength to strength, gaining more title reigns and main event status, but what about the others?
Well how about CM Punk, where is he after winning the World title? About the same place he was last year, will another run really do anything to help him. Well maybe if the WWE creative team don’t just sell him as a paper champion (set to defy the odds) and then just confirm him as a filler champ by having him not even be involved in the match where he lost the title.
Then there is Rey Mysterio, he had a slightly better run as the underdog champion, but did it really advance his career? Well he is the IC champion so perhaps. Then again let’s look at how he won the title; in a pointless squash match to JBL.
Rey won the IC title without any real athletic competition and has not really defended it since. Going back to JBL, he won the title out of the blue from CM Punk, which stank of JBL just being handed the title so he could leave the WWE a Grand Slam Champion. So the title is taken away from Punk with no build up and then JBL loses it without a fight, not very honourable considering it is one of the most storied titles in the WWE.
JBL vs. Mysterio was not the only let down match involving a title at WM25, the tag unification match not being televised is further evidence for what the WWE thinks of its titles. I consider it an insult to fans and wrestling in general that in the time that there was a piss poor performance by Kid Rock we could have had this historic match shown. Unifying titles should be a big event and bumping the match from the card just to save it for the Wrestlemania DVD is terrible. Sure it might be a good business move, and I stress might be, but surely the tag titles hold enough history and respect so that this match needed to be seen on the grandest stage of them all. Not showing that match just confirms that the WWE doesn’t ever think of the wrestling world as a whole, only of themselves as a company. Those belts mean something, not just to the WWE and its superstars but to wrestlers around the world. Not only did it deny the two tag teams, who in theory were the best in the world at that point, the chance to appear at WM25 but it also robbed all the lumberjacks of their chance to appear as well.
Speaking of the lumberjacks not only was it shocking that Jack Swagger, the ECW champion at the time, didn’t get to defend his title on the grandest stage of them all, but he didn’t even get to appear! That is preposterous considering the history of the title. Plus let’s not forget that Wrestlemania is supposed to be the culmination of events in the wrestling year so not having the title defended against a major challenger is like saying it is practically worthless. I’ve always felt this way when the IC or US title are not defended on the PPV but this year was particularly bad all round. The match Swagger and Christian had at Backlash was a brilliant display of wrestling and having a match like that at WM25 could have boosted the brands notoriety amongst fans, It just doesn’t make sense to me unless the WWE see their titles as pointless props, only to be employed if they can’t think of any other storylines to follow.
The fact that it was the non-title main event that was clearly the best bout of the night kind of confirms this. It is not about the title you have on the line, but about the wrestlers who are facing off. Undertaker and Michaels didn’t need any gold at stake to steal the show; the question is could it be the same for other Superstars.
Well you could say that the lower ended wrestlers of the company need titles since it should boost their popularity, but again I ask; do they need it?
Look at MVP, given the US title just before WM. Perhaps this was a good way of giving the already charismatic and popular superstar a boost, but he seemed to be doing fine without it. Besides the last time he wore the gold he barely ever defended it. No wonder he had the longest reign with the title, the WWE creatives had it so he defended his title only a couple of times. Sure the feud with Hardy was classic heel stuff but what about once Hardy was injured? It seemed like they were just prolonging his reign until Hardy’s return and that just got stale.
Now maybe my memory is a little faulty on that so correct me if I’m wrong but I remember thinking at the time that the WWE must have just completely done away with their “a champion must defend their title at least once every 30 days” rule. Why would the WWE let MVP do this unless the title was just a prop and they didn’t think him defending it would draw any buys.
Next I’ll turn to the Cruiserweight title, sure it was a while ago that it got retired but do you remember how it got retired? Hornswaggle won it, and then it was taken away from him for his own protection by Vicky Gurrero and never heard of again. So let me get this straight; you give an important title to a ‘leprechaun’ like it is some kind of joke and then you just abandon it. Sorry fans of high flying and fast paced action; this title just isn’t good enough for the WWE anymore. Now we have cruiserweights competing for the Heavyweight title, how does that make sense?! I’ll tell you how, it’s because instead of treating the cruiserweight title like it should be, as a lighter weight alternative to the world title, the WWE treated it like it was a minor title, perhaps equal to the woman’s championship on Raw at the time. So apparently cruiserweights don’t need a title in the WWE, yet more proof that titles have become worthless.
With the woman’s division it is the opposite problem, too many titles. There is the Woman’s championship on Smackdown and the Divas championship over on Raw, not to mention that joke of a title ‘Miss Wrestlemania’. There just aren’t enough women on the two shows to warrant two titles, more often than not they aren’t even defended at PPVs so again I ask; what is the point in these titles?
But to be fair this problem does not just exist in the WWE, what about the TNA world heavyweight championship? It was said on this site a couple of weeks ago that like Sting, Mick Foley’s title reign will consist of a lighter schedule. As it was said then, the champion is the face of the company and if they are not needed in house shows or wrestling on the broadcast then what does that say about the title, and the company for that matter. Yes TNA does acknowledge the general ‘world title picture’ more than the WWE by mentioning and even featuring other promotions titles on the show, which I think counts for something even if it is all scripted, but giving the world champ a light schedule kind of undermines the whole idea of being champion don’t you think? If guys aren’t constantly challenging you and gunning for your world title then why are they in the business. World championships are supposed to symbolize that you are the best in the business and that means the champion should be getting challenges left and right from superstars who think they are more deserving.
The Bottom line is that titles aren’t treated like the draw they should be. Maybe this is our fault. Maybe we as fans lost interest in who is what champion and how, but I know that I still get ‘Edgey’ about a superstar’s number of title reigns or how long their run is and who they will be facing next for the title. To me titles mean you are the best, heel or face you won that title because the company sees you as the person that can represent them the best at this time and having belts stagnate on a wrestler dropping in popularity while other up-and-comers are on the rise or giving the championship to someone for a couple of weeks to boost their number of reigns just seems cheap.
I’ll finish by saying that to me it seems like the currency of wrestling gold has really gone down in the last few years.
[Remember you can follow us on Twitter and Youtube]
SUBSCRIBE TO WRESTLING NEWS FEED!
Categories: Columns and Editorials
Back To: Wrestling News
u are right champion must best in business
and who cares for women i watch wwe for wrestling not for porn
and wrestlmania must be serious wrestling ppv not fucking womens match and more fucked up ending .
so i think title changes must not change every week , it hurts the image of title and champion looks weak .
and wwe creative must belive in high flighers
This took a while to read but i read everything! i feel they are just throwing the titles to the same people and to b honest when they hype a match with two wrestling e.g. Triple H against orton. its not exciting and u wudnt care who wins cos eventually it will go back to the other person. I think the womens title is reaaaly a joke.. its not entertaining and not worth a PPV match.
Great column!
I agree with your general idea, the belts have begun to lose meaning. I say begun, they begun to lose meaning a long time ago now. The problem with using the belts as they used to be, is that it was more popularly considered as possibly real so champions like Bruno Sammartino (I use him as he is the longest reigning champion ever in pro-wrestling), were thought as legitimately tough guys and the fans wanted them to always win. These days we all know it’s scripted, so they have to go with what makes money and unfortunately that has sacraficed the legacies of the belts. It is nice when someone holds the title for a long time, but the companies just don’t have enough superstars who are “Championship material” to challenge them to make the reigns to last a year or longer. As we seen with John Cena his challengers just got repititive and stagnant. Without more competitors they will always struggle to keep the belt no matter which one it is on one guy for too long, where as before the champions used to face challengers from different territories which kept it all fresh and rotating.
As for the Light Heavyweight belt or Cruiserweight, I think it’s good they got rid of it, it paves the way for smaller more capable wrestlers to have to be pushed, instead of these horrible looking wrestlers such as Batista, Cena and even Scott Steiner or HHH. If they can keep pushing the smaller guys to the top it will ease out the usage of steroids as wrestlers wont feel the need to be superhuman looking anymore, people like C.M. Punk prove this fact tremendously. With guys like Shawn Michaels paving the way for the last 20 years.
I’m probably just being picky about the whole ‘World Heavyweight’ thing, but if I tell someone who isn’t into wrestling that Rey Mysterio is the Heavyweight champion and show them a picture it just looks silly to them. If it was just the ‘World’ title then fine but weight classes should mean something in athletic competition, even if it is scripted.
Plus it’s just a personal thing but I’d rather see one great cruiserweight match than a hundred ‘David vs. Goliath’ matches, which is what you get more often than not when you mix the weight classes.
punk didnt lose it to jbl…
john cena isnt championship material…he cheapens the belt…him w/ his set of 5 moves. freaking poser. i hate him…he’s ruining the wwe and the title, whether he has it or not
Mike – hate to be annoying but yes he did. He hit the Clothesline from Hell on Punk on Monday Night Raw on the 9th of March this year to win his first (and most likely only) IC title.
can people leave cena alone. im not even a fan of the guy and im sick of people saying how he devaules a title. how the fuck can one man devalue the title when he has strong and long title regins. but i guess edges 3 week regins help so fuckin match. cena works damn hard and im tired of fuckin noobs complaining about him with the same old arguments
hank you have a point about the three week reigns as opposed to Cenas long reigns. The problem with John Cena and why real wrestling fans hate him is because he hasn’t changed in years. Its the same shit week after week. He’s also a kiss ass that represents the downfall to the creativity of the art… The kids! We been into it for years yet they make it for people who will most likely ditch it in a few years. Cena is their hero. It was the same thing with Hulk Hogan. How many stars of the 80s never had a belt because Hogan had it ALL the time! Get tired of it all you want but unless Cena changes his act or heel turns he will continue to get heat from REAL wrestling fans.
THe best title run i have seen in the past 5 years is John Cena’s first title rein, He defended it to the likes of JBL, Chris Jericho, Christian, Edge. He went from rapping week to week. then winning the title a rarely speaking on the mic just match after match. I do remember Trish Stratus holding the title for a year and a half with almost a year of from injury.
It’s funny how when I finally do an article that has no mention of John Cena and still a John Cena discussion crops up. He sticks to wrestling like a bad smell.
For me John Cena was a bad champion, if for nothing else then because his title matches were always built and went down the same way. Cena would be the underdog due to lack of either size, ability, or numbers and would be against ludicrous odds. Then just as it looked like there was no way he could win he would pop up and deliver an F-U after being beaten down for ages.
It just wasn’t realistic and it lost me a lot of respect for him.
Then after being put over by guys like Jericho, Angle and Triple H the WWE let Cena be beaten by Edge, it was just annoying.
If you enjoyed him as champion that’s fine but you have to admit that Cena was painted as this kind of superman who could come back from anything. Maybe you like that, for me it just destroys the suspension of disbelief that professional wrestling works with. That’s why it’s fine for kids to like John Cena, because they believe it’s real, so he literally is their superman. I don’t think I will ever be able to understand how anyone else can stomach the guy with his cheesy promos and dated gimmick.
Great column,
I agree with you completely James. Being champion means nothing nowadays, they are won too easily and far too unbelievably. Too many of the title matches are won today via DQ, count out, interference, or because they are “married” to a GM. It is time the WWE move back to the days when a title match was infact a “match”, where both competitors put their all into it, not winning by cheating or stupid storyline endings. Take the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at WM25. Gave everything they had, put themselves on the line over and over, bringing back Attitude era feeling and effort into making the match believable and worth watching. Then compare to JBL vs Rey. Any Edge title win. Cena ALWAYS winning. Lazy wins and lazy matches.
Another point is the storylines. Too many of the storylines are similar, unbelievable and not played out fully. Take HHH and Orton, their buildup to WM25 was one of the best for quite a few years, yet the match itself fizzled out shortly after starting. Orton didn’t put in a third of the talent he has to throw the match to HHH, and HHH just put no effort in to make it look convincing. Compare this to the build up for The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at WM17. Never in the business has a build up been so epic, so electrifying, so captivating and so believable. Why? Both superstars put their all in, everytime. They built the pressure, worked the crowd, annoyed the crowd, worked the crowd some more. But most of all, come match time, they gave solid gold performances, the like of which is just not seen in todays age (bar Taker and Shawn). And there is NO sign of it changing anytime soon, which is a shame as there are some great wrestlers giving their all, but not being rewarded (jeff Hardy, Kofi, John Morrison to name a few).
Moving on to the likes of “Money in the Bank” matches. Usually these were fantastic matches, where wrestlers put all on the line as they were “desperate” for a title shot. This year, we have a terrible amount of failed moves and bar Shelton Benjamin the safest Ladder match I’ve ever witnessed. Don’t even get me started on Punk’s “victory”. You can’t even put this match in the shadow of the infamous TLC matches of the Hardy’s, Dudleys and Edge and Christian. No effort and no commitment.
One of the biggest travesties of today’s wrestling is the severe LACK of tag team wrestling. Think back to some of the best times of WWF and you think of The Wild Samoans,Hart Foundation, Legion of Doom, Demolition, Hardy’s, Dudleys, Edge and Christian to name a few. Always there was ferocious contest in tag teams. In todays age we HAD John Morrison and the Miz ( could have been very good given the chance) and the Colons ( have the potential to be good but Carlito is too lazy, sorry “cool”.). An absolute disgrace from a fan’s point of view as all we get now is different made up tag teams. We are denied the chance for a team to grow on us, develop storylines or create rivalries.
And last and certainly least is the so called “Women’s” division. I personally am disgusted with the shambolic, and darnright disrespectful way the women’s division is headed. To think of all the effort,the blood sweat and tears of previous wrestling women, (such as Jacqueline, Chyna, Lita, Trish Stratus)to create a foundation and path where women wrestlers were accepted, and respected by the fans and other wrestlers alike, just to have two defunct titles, one held by a “wrestler” who does nothing but flick her hand and her hair,has 3 moves and puts no effort in whatsoever. It has got so bad that at WM they give their so called coveted Miss WM title to a man in drag. They are not taken seriously, and it’s a shame as there are a few who could be very good (Mickie, Michelle McCool and Gail Kim to name a few) but aren’t being given the push.
The only way this will change is if the creative team strip the dead bark and concentrate on making the main storylines believable, yet keeping it about the match and the title.
Another concise and thoughtfully written column James, well done.
Totally agree with everything you have written.
I would remind our readers of when Bret Hart was WWE Champion, and how he believed in him self, and the title
“as the best there is, the best there was,and the best there every will be!”
He brought some much prestige to the WWE Championship Title, he earned it for begin the best techincial wrestler on the roster of that time. Unlike Hogan who was built as a uber marketing machine, and given the title and used it like a prop.
History has repeated it self with Cena, who is basically the Hogan of today. Who doesn’t really need the title to get him over anymore, or sell more merch.
I totally marked out when Jeff Hardy finally won the WWE Title.
I still think it is good for bussiness to put the title on some one that is has worked hard, and is totally over with the fans.
It made no sense to put the title on CM Punk, only to squash him,
as the transitional champ. I personally think Punk is a messy worker, and can’t cut a promo and will forever be a mid carder, at best an IC champ. CM Punk never drew PPV buys as WHC
I too think its laughable that Edge has won WWE/WHC Title in total 9 times is it now?
HHH’s 13 times now?
Please Title belts should hold some prestige, not just passed around like props. WWE creative should bring up the mid carders and give them the rub from the main eventers, and use the title belts as incentive.
Having said all that I still enjoy Night of Champions PPV.
With every title on the line.