WWE Title Status pt 2

o shortly before Wrestlemania, I put out the first blog about my thoughts of the state of the WWE’s title belts. I looked at each belt and talked about why they have gone down the drain in my opinion over the years and what I thought they needed to do for them to make them better. So far it seems that the WWE is at least doing some of the things I had suggested (wish I could take credit for it but I highly doubt that they read my blog…though if some of you do, then feel free to post and let me know so I can just let out a huge fangirl like squee and pass out from joy!) Anyways, in this blog I want to discuss some titles I think need to come back and some changes for them that I think would help them succeed. So lets dive right in and see what I think needs to come back and one brand new title I think needs to be made!

Cruiserweight Title

I used to watch wrestling a lot more in the 90’s than I do now a days, mainly because there were more shows and I had tv and cable whereas now there are less shows on the TV other than just WWE and well not everything is on Hulu+ and the Roku. Anyway, back when I was watching more wrestling the things I enjoyed most were the Luchas and the Cruiserweights. I have noticed and it has been stated in several documentaries that Vince seems to have a certain penchant for looks and he seems to want his wrestlers to look a certain way, namely buff as hell. Here’s a problem though, not everyone can be buff as hell and do the flipping, speedy twisty turny moves that the cruiserweights were famous for. There are very few Adrian Neville’s in the world. Most of your high fliers tend to be slim and not build like a powerlifter. While they do not look like your typical wrestlers the cruiserwieghts and their high flying style tends to be very exciting.

Unfortunately the cruiserweights died out not because they weren’t exciting but because they didn’t look right. So now you have some people that have become fan favorites like Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Kalisto, and Adrian Neville and except for the last name on the list they do not look like your typical wrestler and they certainly don’t wrestle like your typical wrestler. The big thing though is that you now force these smaller men to go after a title that is technically out of their weight class and it’s hard to sell that kind of match. I mean let me put it bluntly, I love both Big Show (when they aren’t doing something stupid with his character) and Daniel Bryan when they wrestle. They both have great styles for their type of wrestling but if you put them against each other the matches are almost painful to watch. The only reason they can pull it off is because they are both so good at their jobs that they can make unbelieveable looking moves look real. However, the way to make these matches look great is to have similar styles and weight classes against each other, but the WWE doesn’t have that anymore.

In my opinion, they need the cruiserweights back and their title. They don’t need to call it cruiserweight as some people like Adrian Neville might not weigh in right BUT can certainly hang with that group. So I think they need to bring the title back but call it something new. Now you have TNA who has the X-Division other places such as the WXW have the Television Title which don’t seem to have a discernible weight class. So I think you need to do a similar thing in the WWE and give the high flyers a chance to do what they are best at, swift amazing death-defying moves that make you sit on the edge of your seat and say “Did this just just defeat gravity and several other natural laws with that move?” I think the best person to spearhead such a movement would be Daniel Bryan. He can lose the IC belt to Ziggler or Ambrose, both who would be able to bring it back into prominence if they hold onto it. Bryan is exciting in the ring and has his “Yes Movement” behind him to give him the leverage needed to restart this. One of the big problems I have with Bryan right now is that against the bigger guys, his matches have become very predictable and I think that predictability could easily disappear if he was able to go against people who could keep up with him. And that would only serve to make the matches even more enjoyable and exciting!

Hardcore Championship

An interesting title with an interesting history. However like many titles this one was slowly killed by too many turnovers too soon and some of them were quite ridiculous. When you have a title, you really need a better rule set than “Anything goes and you can be forced to defend 24/7”. Unfortunately, the WWE went PG and decided that the extreme lifestyle wasn’t for them. They keep the spirit alive though through their one Pay-Per-View a year known as Extreme Rules. What the WWE has to do is look into the possibility and necessity of drawing back the crowd though. Look at the t-shirts fans are wearing and you will see vintage EC f’n W shirts, bWo shirts and more.

Just recently Rhyno who worked ECW and then WWE came into NXT and do you know what people started chanting during his match, they started chanting ECW…ECW…ECW. The fans remember Extreme and they want it. Whenever an ECW Original comes into any promotion they get that same chant. The fans remember, the WWE hates it because of how often their Story Lines just suddenly do a 180, but the fans remember, we’re just nice and try not to say anything (though some fans are a bit more vocal thats for sure). The extreme fans are so vocal that even local indie promotions like the WXW have seen fit to bring back the Hardcore Belts they had once retired.

I think the WWE would argue that the Hardcore title could not fit into their PG show, and I would argue though that with all they do outside the ring with tables and stairs and ringposts could prove that very argument wrong. I think they need to bring back the title and open it up to those that want to make a hardcore name for themselves. Some people need such a violent painful way to establish themselves in the business and it can create huge stars! After all where would Mick Foley be without ECW and the Hardcore Championship and his hardcore style? Where would Terry Funk be? Chances are they and others like Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, RVD and others would not be as well known today if it wasn’t for their having gone extreme. This title could be the way new wrestlers like Dean Ambrose, any of the Wyatt Family, GoldDust and StarDust, and many others make a name for themselves.

Internet Title

What’s an internet title you may ask? Well the WWE has a self proclaimed Internet Champion in Zack Ryder but he doesn’t have an actual title. Every week the WWE flashes up their “Did you know?” picture that says how much social media talked about them, it shows how the WWE is more active on twitter and facebook than any other sports show. The WWE tries to tell us that they listen to their fans but then they go and push storylines and wrestlers that the fans don’t want to see pushed.

So why not step up and put your money where your mouth is WWE? Lets have a championship that truly is for the people. The Rock called himself the peoples champion but truly he was someone that the WWE pushed to be a champion and he had the charisma to pull it off. So lets let the people decide through the WWE App, Facebook postings, Twitter Postings and Polls, lets finally find out who really is the peoples champ and put a belt on him for it. Then find out who the peoples challenger is the same way.

Let superstars go and use vine to make their case as to why they should hold the title, let superstars try to sway the public to vote for them. Then truly will the WWE be able to say that they are a giant and visionary in the usage of Social Media.Social media is the name of the game these days, and WWE would be wise to embrace this outlet and maximize its benefits and use it to their advantage!

So do you guys think some of these titles should come back or be made? Would that help the WWE’s product or do you think it may hurt it? Sound off in our comment section and let yourself be heard, I mean who knows, maybe someone in the WWE really does follow all of these blogs to find ideas. Only time will tell!

 

Photos Courtesy of:

WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt- prowrestling.wikia.com

Tag Team Belt- successimg.com

IC Title- jkwrestling.com

US title- wikipedia.com

Cruiserweight title- bebo.com

Hardcore title- cagesideseats.com