stonecoldswatch
AC Slater
Austin 25:17 says I will strike down upon your ass with great vengeance and furious anger!
Posts: 147
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Post by stonecoldswatch on Jan 24, 2011 1:16:49 GMT -5
Will I be shunned for saying Honky Tonk Man? Sure there have been tons of great champions after that but is Honky anywhere near Macho Man, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels,The Rock, etc.? Honky still has the longest reign and while it fit his character the way he escaped with the belt he was not a threat to challenge Hogan as the top WWF champion.
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BHB
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,778
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Post by BHB on Jan 24, 2011 9:01:05 GMT -5
None of the titles have prestige anymore. This. I'd say the IC title lost a lot of the cool factor and prestige when it changed from arguably the best belt design of all time to the small crappy belt we've got now. Seriously, does anyone prefer the newer design?
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Post by jabronidrive on Jan 24, 2011 10:11:46 GMT -5
Like all the titles, The Attitude Era killed any prestige to me. Eh, to me all the titles had meaning back then, even the European and Hardcore titles. That could've been because I was 9-10 at the time, but I remember them being a pretty big deal. The IC title has been dead since Orton dropped it.
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Post by fortknox on Jan 24, 2011 10:58:23 GMT -5
When the IC belt stopped being defended at Wrestlemaina. I mean the last time it was defended was at 25 in a 30 second match between Bradshaw and Rey. And before that match it was years before it was defended. It makes no sense for the IC to not be defended at "The Grandest Stage Of All".
They should have so that the IC and US champ can't be in MITB so we can get some matches.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2011 11:04:38 GMT -5
I blame the European title.
Started out great, then became meaningless with joke reigns with D'Lo and Al Snow. Then they started putting the European title and the IC title on the same level.
That's what did it to me. The IC title is like the "started belt" for guys they may want to put in the world title scene. Guys like D'Lo and Al Snow are never going to be world champs.
The IC title and US title are getting more "prestigious" now I think.
Miz was US champion - now he's world champ. Ziggler was IC champion - now he's challenging for the world title.
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Post by maxheadroom on Jan 24, 2011 11:06:36 GMT -5
I think they've done a good job on Smackdown of making the IC belt prestigious lately. Dolph, Kofi, and Swagger have been killing each other for that belt.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
Posts: 46,188
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jan 24, 2011 11:35:25 GMT -5
I think a lot of it comes from the old HHH character of "I SLEEP EAT AND BREATHE THE WORLD TITLE, AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!"
The company has basically conditioned everyone (wrestling personae and fans alike) that nobody should want to lower themselves to the "minor" titles, because it makes you look complacent and if a wrestler was any good, they'd be going for their brand's major title, not the minor one.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Jan 24, 2011 12:06:04 GMT -5
When they allowed Jeff Jarrett's contract to expire whilst he was the current IC champion, that was the point you knew the belt and whoever held it meant absolutely nothing in the eyes of the WWE.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,296
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Post by agent817 on Jan 24, 2011 12:09:47 GMT -5
None of the titles have prestige anymore. This. I'd say the IC title lost a lot of the cool factor and prestige when it changed from arguably the best belt design of all time to the small crappy belt we've got now. Seriously, does anyone prefer the newer design? Basically, the same belt design has existed for nearly 13 years now. Just logo changes, with the blocky WWF logo at first, then the scratch WWF logo, and for years, it's had the WWE logo.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2011 12:18:23 GMT -5
In my opinion, Randy Orton in 2003-2004 was the last great Intercontinental Champion. His reign felt important, like it was building a future superstar, and most of his title matches were a decently big deal. Plus, the feuds and pre-match buildups also made the title itself look great. I mean, look at the belt lately: *Was won by Santino Marella, who debuted as a "plant" and needed a lot of help from Lashley to defeat Umaga (although his second reign was good, in part to Glamarella and the "Honk-O-Meter"). *Was defended in a squash match at WrestleMania XXV where Rey Mysterio vanquished his rival JBL one final time in 23 seconds. *Was held by an over-pushed Drew McIntyre, who defended it only 3 times on TV or PPV, and once to a local jobber. I'd have to say the belt started crapping when it was being treated as a WCW belt and was hotshotted between one another, and even though that ended when the Hardcore belt got its "24/7" rule, the damage was pretty much done and that meant giving the belt to people who could A) Hold it for a long time and B) Make it respectable. Easy to do one, hard to do both.
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Post by Cyno on Jan 24, 2011 12:20:44 GMT -5
Every so often you get the midcard title booked like it means something. Ziggler's IC title reign could be one of those that really launches his career as a star. Or he gets fed to Edge and disappears into midcard hell.
Although Miz's US title reign was almost immediately followed by becoming WWE Champion, I'd say the US title reign was a failure. He almost never defended it. And it was more or less just a fashion accessory for him. What really launched his career forward was MITB (which at this point has become the second most important title in WWE). THAT was a championship used the right way, even though the MITB isn't an actual championship.
The biggest problems the midcard titles face are lack of meaningful defenses and exposure. If you built up a decent feud and feature the title defended regularly on PPV, it means something. If not, then no one cares. Long reigns mean s*** if the guy holding it doesn't even bother to defend it. Exception to this is if it's a heel who uses that fact to gain heat and really build up people wanting to see him lose the title to a more respectable champion.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 24, 2011 13:36:38 GMT -5
I think a lot of it comes from the old HHH character of "I SLEEP EAT AND BREATHE THE WORLD TITLE, AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!" The company has basically conditioned everyone (wrestling personae and fans alike) that nobody should want to lower themselves to the "minor" titles, because it makes you look complacent and if a wrestler was any good, they'd be going for their brand's major title, not the minor one. Excellent point: other belts in the WWE haven't really mattered a lick in eons. Also, just check this quiz: www.sporcle.com/games/wwe_intercontinental.phpLook at how many more title changes there are over time, but even worse, look at the reigns in years like 2005: there's only two of them, but when you answer the quiz, ask yourself how much or how well you remember either reign. Were either assigned nearly anything in terms of importance? A title can change hands a bunch or not at all, what's more dangerous is when the title reigns, regardless of length, don't mean a damn thing, and nobody cares about them.
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HRH The KING
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
Posts: 15,079
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Post by HRH The KING on Jan 24, 2011 16:14:30 GMT -5
It lost prestige once they changed the belt design from the classic version
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BHB
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,778
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Post by BHB on Jan 24, 2011 16:40:21 GMT -5
I think a lot of it comes from the old HHH character of "I SLEEP EAT AND BREATHE THE WORLD TITLE, AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!" The company has basically conditioned everyone (wrestling personae and fans alike) that nobody should want to lower themselves to the "minor" titles, because it makes you look complacent and if a wrestler was any good, they'd be going for their brand's major title, not the minor one. That reminds me of JR in all of the recent SD vs Raw games, something like "any guy that isn't here to be WWE champion should just leave". What's wrong with being IC or tag champions? Not everyone can be world champion. Basically, the same belt design has existed for nearly 13 years now. Just logo changes, with the blocky WWF logo at first, then the scratch WWF logo, and for years, it's had the WWE logo. Yeah, but it still looks like crap compared to the classic belt.
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