Since Night of Champions was last Sunday, it made me think about all the titles in WWE and question how much they are actually worth? Do titles in WWE mean anything anymore? I’ll look at each one and try to find out.
First, you have the United States Championship. It was once the second most important title in WCW and used to elevate superstars into the World Title picture. It was brought into WWE in 2003 and was the mid-card title for Smackdown and eventually Raw during the brand split. Once the brand split ended, the title became an afterthought. The current champion is Sheamus and he rarely defends the title, and when he does, it’s in a match thrown together with little or no build. Right now, I would say the U.S. Title is basically worthless.
Next, you have the Intercontinental Championship. It was at one time the second biggest title in the WWE and wrestler’s fighting for it often stole the show. Many past holders went on to become WWE Champion. It was the mid-card title for Raw, then Smackdown during the brand split. It lost some significance after the brand split, with not many memorable champions or title reigns. Dolph Ziggler and The Miz are currently feuding and trading the title back and forth. It gives the title some exposure and a reason for them to feud. Based on that, I would say the Intercontinental Title is somewhat meaningful.
The WWE Tag Team Championship is actually the longest tenured title in the company. Tag team wrestling was bigger in the past than it is today. You had strong divisions with countless tag team creating fresh matches. Today, not so much, there aren’t many tag team in the WWE currently and the titles aren’t defended at every Pay-Per-View. The current champions are Goldust and Stardust aka The Rhodes Brothers. They are over and bring some credibility for the titles. The champions are a problem, the division just needs a boost. I would say that the tag team titles are moderately important.
You have the Divas Championship obviously for the divas to compete for. A story was broken recently that Vince doesn’t want any cast member of the reality show Total Divas to hold the champion, although I’m not sure if there’s truth to that statement. That gives the divas not on the show something to do, go after the title and be featured on television competing for it. AJ Lee is the current title holder feuding with Paige in a months long program where they have traded the title around. Seeing as only some divas can apparently compete for it, I would say the Divas Title is meaningful, well, to them anyway.
Last, but certainly not least, you have the biggest prize in the game, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. So many greats of wrestling have never even challenged for the title, yet alone held it. It’s now unified between the two most prestigious titles in the history of wrestling, the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. Title defenses main event Pay-Per-Views and rightfully so. However, today we are in a unique situation. Brock Lesnar is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but he is a part-time performer, therefore the WWE World Heavyweight Title may not be defended on every Pay-Per-View. That could be a good thing because it makes future defenses a must-see rarity, but a bad thing as well because at those events without a title defense, there isn’t much star power. Obviously, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship means more than any title no matter what. Without it, wrestling would more or less have no purpose.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04nI6RmOQHo[/youtube]
Until next time, find something meaningful,
-Nick
