Love for the other belts

[schma]

I think it's been mentioned in passing in various threads but I'm enjoying the sudden love for belts that are often treated as afterthoughts.  The IC title got a tournament and a beat the clock night.  The Divas belt has the start of a program which is more than it's had in months (though the battle royal for #1 contender last month should have at least been on Smackdown).  The U.S. title has Sheamus.  Granted some might consider that bad but you figure with as hard as he's been pushed, as dominant as he comes off against most opponents, sticking him on the U.S. title might give it a bit of its former glory.  If they can turn the match with Cesaro into an actual feud people might be interested in the U.S. title for the first time in...hmm a long time.

Yeah it's only been a couple months.  Once Bryan is back and healthy these belts might suddenly going back to non-entities but for the moment it's promising and intriguing to see the belts shown as something worth fighting for.  It's just a shame that the Tag belts are back to being the red headed stepchild but hey, 3/4 ain't bad.

[somsta]

First of all - they aren't belts. Belts hold your pants up.
They are championships.

Second - the championships are just props.

[Sephiroth]

I said in a previous thread that I think there is some hope for the titles after some pretty poor booking for the last year or so. The IC title is definitely being well hyped and made to actually look like a prize to be sought after. Not everyone is hot in the idea of Sheamus as US champ, but I think it is a welcome change after a relatively uneventful title reign by Dean Ambrose (would have been better if he defended the belt more often), and a program with Cesaro could be a great way to elevate both men and, subsequently, the belt. And the divas title seems to finally be getting a feud, which could do wonders if it is booked properly and could be a nice warm up for AJ's eventual return. I still feel like the Uso's tag title run has fizzled, for all the potential it had when they won the belts, and Bryan's run with the top belt has been under-booked and is now subject to problems outside anyone's control.

[mizerable]

It'll be short lived.

The very idea that they need tournaments to build to title defenses is ridiculous. One every so often is fine, but do they not feel they'll get people's attention with simple storylines?

[Blindkarevik]

I just wish they'd tier the titles like they did back in the old days.... like you'd go for the US Title, have a run with that.... then if you had a good reign, you can then challenge for the IC Championship.. if you have a good run with that, you can then challenge for the World Title....

You could still have people skipping divisions due to feuds or someone just being red hot at the time... but what we're running into now is people who hold titles and absolutely nothing is done with them for months. I completely forgot Dean Ambrose was the US Champion for months because there was never a time where he had to defend it.... the IC Tournament just seemed like they said, "Wait a second, Big E has a title, doesn't he?" Just keeping the tiers would allow for matches to happen based on trying to move up the card and create reputations for oneself rather than having to create storylines all the time.... for example: Right now... Cesaro could challenge Sheamus for the US Title..... Cesaro wants it to create his legacy and move up the card... Sheamus wants to keep it to preserve his reign and make it so once he DOES lose the title, he's first in line for an IC shot. Then if he beats Barrett, but Barrett wins the rematch... Sheamus stays at the IC level and can't challenge for a World Title until he has a solid IC title reign.... Barrett wants to win the re-match for the title, both to prove he can beat Sheamus, and because he wants to prove he can hold a championship and that'll give him first dibs on a World Title shot once he does lose the IC title.

[grantdegroot]

Anytime the IC Championship gets some love I'm interested. Most of my favourites feuds were based around that title.

[champviadq]

I remember when the Championships were defended weekly. Look at last night's RAW. Sheamus gets pinned by Cesaro. I mean didn't Sheamus just win that title like, 2 weeks ago? Also last night on RAW, Paige lost to Alicia Fox. Both Sheamus and Paige lost in non-title matches, but what a way to make your champions look strong. Not really.

[Deleted]

And they still got love for the IC title


It's the WWE

[Pushed to the Moon]

May 20, 2014 9:11:12 GMT -5 champviadq said:

I remember when the Championships were defended weekly. Look at last night's RAW. Sheamus gets pinned by Cesaro. I mean didn't Sheamus just win that title like, 2 weeks ago? Also last night on RAW, Paige lost to Alicia Fox. Both Sheamus and Paige lost in non-title matches, but what a way to make your champions look strong. Not really.

It's funny how Sheamus pretty much never loses but as soon as he becomes a champion he's instantly beatable. WWE frickin LOVE champions losing non title matches.

[schma]

I'm hoping the tournament was more of a kickoff thing. An unannounced revamp. If they did a tournament every couple of months that would definitely be overkill but it sent a clear message to people that the IC title is worth fighting over.

I too despise non-title matches, particularly ones where the champ loses (99.9%) of the time. I really do think that if you have a belt you should have to win to keep it. Even cowardly heels would win to keep their belt or at least get themselves dq'd. They'd twist the rules in their favour. That said, there's potential here. Maybe in six months we'll all once again be lamenting the lack of importance placed on any title that isn't the top one but maybe not.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

I feel like Sheamus and Barrett should have each other's titles.

[Hit Girl]

Nobody should have the US title.

[JCBaggee]

May 20, 2014 23:51:05 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

I feel like Sheamus and Barrett should have each other's titles.

I'm okay with who has what title, but I feel like Cesaro should have gotten the rub of winning a tournament for the IC title, not just tossed haphazardly into a feud with Sheamus. I certainly don't care to see current era RVD take on Wade Barrett.