You ask any casual fan of professional wrestling who the WWE
Champion, WWE World Heavyweight Champion, or TNA World Champion is and they
would know, but most casual fans aren’t going to be able to tell you who the
WWE Intercontinental Champion or TNA Television Champion is right now. I have
been thinking lately about the titles that of course aren’t usually held by the
top superstars in their finest hour, but are either used to lift a performer to
those heights or revive someone’s career as they are coming back after an
injury or suspension. Basically these titles are used to pass the torch by
having a main eventer step aside for a new guy and still having a belt, or
making it more legitimate in the future when someone does become a World
Champion.
I don’t feel like any of these titles, with the exception of
one is being handled properly. So, let me start with the company that seems to
be doing pretty much everything wrong these days, WWE. To give you an example,
I inflict upon myself the torture that is watching RAW and SMACKDOWN every
Monday and Friday (I can’t bring myself to watch Main Event or Saturday Morning
Slam) and I still had to go to the WWE website to find out who the
Intercontinental and United States Champions are. For those of you who care the
Intercontinental Champ is Wade Barrett and the United States Champ is Antonio
Cesaro. Both of these guys have been champions for a relatively long time
(Barrett won the title Dec 29, 2012 and Cesaro won his title at the 2012 Summerslam
Pre-show), but nothing has really been done with these guys. When I realized
how long these two had been holding these titles it angered me for three
reasons.
First of all Wade Barrett was the one guy coming out of NXT
that I really thought was going to skyrocket to the top. I mean he is
physically intimidating, he is a great athlete and he isn’t awful on the
microphone (yes I know he could use some work).
But I feel bad for the guy it was almost like WWE creative teased him
with a chance at the top but now is holding him at the mid-card. Sure he is
going to get to get a chance to defend his title at the biggest professional
wrestling show of the year, but it won’t be the main event like I really had
hoped it would be for him at this point.
Antonio Cesaro on the other hand is not someone I could see
being a top tier competitor especially with the character they have him in now.
But that is why I think he was a great choice for the United States
Championship. He won it from Santino Marella who I think everyone knew was not
going to be a top tier guy but was a perfect mid card guy who they let shine
for a little while. But, it is what happened after Cesaro won the championship
that blew my mind, he has not progressed one bit. All that has changed since
winning the title is he got rid of the highly attractive Aksana, stopped
carrying the flag down to the ring and they have cut down the time he has spent
on the mic, which to me is a sign that they don’t have the confidence in him.
Well, if you don’t have the confidence in one of your guys to talk on the mic
on a regular basis, take the damn belt away from him.
Finally, I find it a little irritating that WWE creative has
these two stagnant guys holding belts that can be a stepping stone for someone
who truly does have top tier potential. Allowing a guy who is never going to be
a top tier guy to hold the belt for a while is one thing because that may be
the most impressive thing on their resume at the end of their career but these
two guys are not great candidates for that and they need to step aside while
someone more deserving takes their place.
Now for the hard part, I hate saying anything bad about TNA.
I really do think they are the superior product right now, but I don’t fully
agree with the way they are handling their mid card titles either. This is the
part where I am going to bring up the one instance where I think they are
handling a mid card title right and then I will tell you what I think they are
doing wrong. I really do agree that it is a good idea to have Devon holding the
Television title. I think it adds a little more credence to Aces & Eights
being a badass group if they are holding at least two championships. Having
said that, I hate that it the TV title is not being defended on a regular
basis. I mean, I totally understand why it’s not being utilized, it makes total
sense with the storyline that he wouldn’t wrestle, but I always hate seeing a
title not being used.
That, brings me to the second title that I don’t believe is
being used to its full potential at all. The X Division title is one of those
things that I hate calling a mid card title, but really, that is what it is.
First of all the X Division champion right now is Kenny King a guy that I
really am not all that impressed with, I know I am going to get flack for that,
but I call em’ as I see em’. I don’t think a guy like Kenny King should be
holding the belt in the first place, but the fact that it is not being pushed
is what is most disturbing about the X Division championship. The X Division is
undoubtedly one of the most important parts of the rise and fame of TNA so why
has it fallen to the side? I don’t really understand why it isn’t being
utilized the way it used to be.
So, there you have it, I think both companies could improve
when it comes to how they are using their mid card titles and their mid card
wrestlers for that matter. But I do think that TNA has a little better idea
about how it is supposed to work.
As always I would love to hear what you have to think,
please leave a comment and thanks for reading
-TFC
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