Allow me to present two important facts about two of the WWE’s mid-level championships. Facts only an ardent fan of wrestling would know. Not too deep and obscure, but something an outsider—the kind of long-lost childhood follower that mourned the Ultimate Warrior’s sudden passing last week—would not know, for it concerns the current product. The stuff they’ve stopped watching.
But, no matter; if you’re the kind who needs some catching up to do, consider this a primer.
First, the obvious: there’s a single-elimination eight-man tournament for the Intercontinental Championship going on. It began at last Monday’s RAW, a development that came out of almost nowhere in the hours leading to the show, officially explained by the fact that current #1 contender Christian was, again, out with an injury. Frankly, nobody seemed to know that Christian was indeed the #1 contender to Big E’s championship, but either way, a tournament is always welcome.
The brackets are littered with main event also-rans, those failed experiments of the Universe’s astrophysicists who have been pushed to superstardom too early, too fast, given style but spared substance. Guys like Sheamus, Alberto del Rio, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, and Mark Henry. Guys who have seen their faces reflected on the shiny gold plate of a world title, but are now shunted aside by December’s title unification in favor of electrifying young stars. They’re not bad, but they were flavors of the month that, for one reason or another, never lived up to be true bestsellers.
(Only one person in the brackets is untainted by that same failure, and while Cesaro seems to have nothing but the brightest of futures ahead of him, he also still faces the risk of being handled terribly, as all young stars do. But that’s a story for another day, for a time that hasn’t happened yet.)
The thing with this Intercontinental Championship tournament is, for what the title has become now, it is huge. There have been a couple of attempts to bring the title back to its old lofty prestige over the years (including the move back to the old white-strapped belt) but the initiatives have always been stop-and-go, depending on what the brass currently feels like doing with it. This might very well end up being the same thing.
But right now? This is great. This is very great for the championship.
Two birds are hit with one stone. One, the tournament shifts the spotlight over to the title, even if only for a few weeks (and that’s more than it can say it’s getting in a while), and two, the people competing are stars the title really needs right now. The Intercontinental championship was once the stepping-stone accomplishment to the WWF Championship, meaning it’s an upper-midcard title that rightfully belongs to these guys in the upper-midcard.
No matter what happens—whoever wins the shot, whether he successfully wins the title with his shot—it’s good for the championship and the champion. Either an upper-midcarder gets re-legitimized, or Big E’s stock rises even higher. The former, however, seems to be more likely to happen.
Going back now to our two facts. This second fact is a little more understated. Dean Ambrose, the current United States Champion, is about to set a new record for the longest reign since the title was brought to the WWE. If he holds on to it for a little around a week more—and he most likely will—he’ll wrest the record away from MVP (currently in TNA), whose third reign notches at 343 days. It’s a nifty accomplishment for the young Ambrose, but unfortunately, we’ll have to put an asterisk on that.
Why? Because that record is not threatened when there are no threats to Ambrose’s title. The last time Ambrose defended his championship was a little over a month ago on the March 11 episode of WWE Main Event, the last time before that on the February 10 episode of RAW, and before that, months ago in Hell in a Cell 2013. The defenses that are too few and far between betray either too much protection toward Ambrose, too little imagination on Creative’s part, or too much redundancy between the United States and Intercontinental championships.
Ambrose’s high profile may be to blame. It might be that getting him to drop a singles title takes too much capital that he’s built up with his mates more than it does to throw the tag titles from Reigns and Rollins to the Rhodes Brothers. In a tag team match, there are four men sowing a tornado of action, making the eventual fall less painful—but in a singles match, there’s only the power of one guy against another guy. However, the plan is easier to execute now that the Shield are faces; all it takes is another dirty, no-good team to out-wile the strength and numbers of the Hounds of Justice.
In the final analysis, though, the company should be moving toward the similar unification of the United States and Intercontinental titles. It’s only logical. Never mind throwing it to the dogs that litter the fringes of Creative’s imagination. Don’t give it to the Zack Ryders and Fandangos and Santinos of the world. Merge it with the white belt and force the undercard to step their game up to the Intercontinental level, and reward it meaningfully to the Kofi Kingstons and the Mizzes and the Dolph Zigglers, having them go over the Sheamuses and the Alberto del Rios and the Rob Van Dams when you think they’re ready to play for a World title, whenever that would be.
Here’s my ideal scenario: have Cesaro win the tournament and take the title from Big E at Extreme Rules. Have Cesaro go through the inevitable feud against former friend Jack Swagger at Payback; by the time that’s through, Triple H orders Ambrose to defend his championship against him at Money in the Bank. Cesaro wins through some shenanigans, et voila! The two titles are now merged. The status quo is streamlined with simplicity. Stories can be told, and more stars can be made.
Because, honestly, if we’re not returning to the glory days of the brand split, a unified Universe is the next best thing.
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