In today’s era of World Wrestling Entertainment, it took diva AJ Lee to spark a rise in the Divas division by pushing the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance to become a trend worldwide on Twitter, following a spatter between herself and the current Chief Brand Officer of the WWE, Stephanie McMahon. Following the pair of tweets, the Divas division was given noticeably lengthier matches and an entertaining bout at WrestleMania 31.
Just a few years ago, it took a now-infamous pipe bomb promo to uncover the side of CM Punk that was needed to elevate him to elite main event status, where he then went on a memorable run as the WWE Champion and even faced the Undertaker at WrestleMania 29, before calling it quits with the sport of wrestling and moving on to sign with the UFC.
In 1996, thanks in hand to Triple H losing his spot due to the Madison Square Garden incident, Stone Cold Steve Austin took to the stage during the King of the Ring PPV. Riling in his finals victory over Jake “The Snake” Roberts, the Texas Rattlesnake cut his Austin 3:16 promo, which unleashed a wave of support, merchandise, and money, en route to Austin becoming one of the biggest acts in the mid-to-late 90s.
All of these changes happened as a result of someone stepping up, grabbing the bull by the horn and forcing management to look at things a little differently. However for the longest time, the Midcard Division has suffered and with no names reaching for that brass ring, and a seemingly deep roster of talent in that respect, it was a wonder to many what could be the change that was needed.
Then, at WrestleMania 31, Daniel Bryan opened the show by defeating six other men to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Later that night, John Cena captured the United States Championship while becoming the first person to score a pinfall victory over Rusev.
The landscape suddenly changed. Severely.
The Midcard Division’s Biggest Problem
The most concerning flaw in the WWE’s current product, for the last five years, has been the lack of exposure that both the Intercontinental and United States Championships have received. A common trend became notable; the two Midcard Division championships were quickly being recognized as an accessory more so than championship gold that brought prestige to a superstar and upped their stock.
Dean Ambrose went almost a full calendar year as the US Champion, lasting 351 days, the longest run under the WWE banner. Ambrose defended the title 13 times (on television), including the night he lost it all. By those numbers, Ambrose defended the championship every 27 days, which fits him perfectly under the 30-day rule. However, the title was seldomly seen on TV besides Ambrose lugging it around on his shoulder. At times, Dean would carelessly chuck the strap into the ring or toss it to the side. The lack of title defenses was duly noted by Triple H, on an episode of Raw.
Even Rusev’s reign became stale towards the tail-end of his run. And the WWE missed an important branch to Rusev’s title run tree. There was an opportunity to temporarily replace the US title, re-branding it to the Soviet Championship, the Russian Championship or, if the WWE wanted to make things edgier, the Putin Memorial Championship. The heat it would bring in, to replace the US colors for Vladimir Putin’s mug, would be outstanding. Instead, we seldom heard references of a Russian holding the US title because no American could match him and it took a Russian to bring prestige to the gold. A missed opportunity.
Why was there so little care put towards featuring the US title in matches? The lack of creating a legitimate opponent.
What the WWE does for the main event, the only do for the main event. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the main attraction and sometimes it seems like all the focus is shifted towards that spot. Then comes the other divisions. If the Midcard Division titles need to be defended on a PPV, writers scramble to come up with a challenger, put half an effort into writing some sort of odd reason as to why they have animosity towards the champion, and a title defense is born.
At this year’s WrestleMania, seven men competed for the Intercontinental Championship. There was Wade Barrett, the champion, who won the title after coming back from a 6-month absence due to injury. Of the challengers, there was Stardust, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan. While Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler were both Intercontinental champions in 2014, the remaining four challengers were never involved in this specific title hunt until a month before WrestleMania, when writers decided they needed some substance. Their way of going about it? The other guys continued running away with Barrett’s IC title, stealing it and putting up a farce that it now belonged to them. Even R-Truth appeared from obscurity to show his talents at the commentary table before proudly strutting away with the title on his shoulder.
For the longest of times, the WWE has failed to create long-term programs between two superstars while also holding a pecking order of possible challengers later down the line. When a challenger is needed, one is plucked from the crop and tossed into the fire, while the others politely wait their turn. On five hours of programing, the company could benefit from holding 1-2 more matches featuring superstars that are looking to advance in the standings, to be able to compete for a number one contender’s position. Possibly even a tournament. Some way to create programs and feuds between two wrestlers that are trying to inch closer to earning a shot at the title.
With the seven names above, it’s possible. Add an eight name, or three more to make it to ten and then you can split the group into two, with one focusing on the IC title while the other group focuses on the US title. Give a full calendar year and you have now created a healthy source of competition and a dozen months of history between the few wrestlers, instead of just rushing through one month of build.
Main Eventers Holding Midcard Division Titles
In 2013, at SummerSlam, these two men took part in the main event for the WWE Championship. Today, they stand as the United States and Intercontinental Champions.
When Cena and Bryan captured the two titles, there was a sense of “Well, what next?” If two main eventers are heading the Midcard division, who can stop them? In reality, big names like the two mentioned above are at a different level than almost everyone in the midcard division. With Cena, Rusev is the obvious challenger and he is the biggest threat to take it away. This further extends the program between he and Cena, while creating more importance for a title that was otherwise just a prize to gloat about.
The United States title held some significance in 2006, when upper-midcard wrestlers and some striving to get to that level were in a shuffle to get a hold of the gold. While the title swapped hands more than some would have hoped, with no wrestler holding the title longer than two months up until the month of October, the names were notable; Chris Benoit (on two occasions), Booker T, John “Bradshaw” Layfield, MVP and Bobby Lashley. Finlay even got in on the action, holding the title for a month.
It’s strongest showing, in the WWE era, came in 2007 when MVP went on run that lasted for 11 months, before dropping in to Matt Hardy at Backlash, in 2008. The feud he and Hardy had going received tons of praise and TV time, and it gave the US gold value and fans viewed both the title and the program as a significant piece of the WWE.
From 2010 to the present day, the US gold became less about programs and more about establishing the next of kin, or a superstar that was caught in limbo and needed something to do during the present time while he waited for his next shot at the main event picture. While you can make that argument for Cena, the more realistic approach is what opportunity can be had for the championship at a later date, which we’ll get to shortly.
The last time the Intercontinental championship was held by a superstar of main event status was back in 2009, when Chris Jericho held on to the strap for less than a month. While his run was nothing of significance, it led to a brief program between he and Rey Mysterio, which elevated the glory of being Intercontinental champion to another level. Unfortunately, momentum failed to follow and the Intercontinental title picture was more-so a game of musical chairs. In the span of five years, Wade Barrett won the title five times, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler both four times, and a variety of other failed projects such as R-Truth, Curtis Axel and Big E Langston, whom all held the title once.
Destruction of the World Heavyweight Championship
When the company decided to go towards a new route and merge the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship, they succeeded in creating a world class title that only the top of the top should reach, but in the process they destroyed a key stepping stone from midcard to main event.
The World Heavyweight Championship, or the WCH as popularly abbreviated by the internet wrestling community, was never at the level of the WWE Championship and never pretended to be, despite sometimes getting more main event glory and better storylines. Yet, it’s most important trait was establishing a superstar as a legitimate main event player. For instance, going back to 2004, Randy Orton captured the title and was then stuck into a program with Triple H. This first step into the deep end was the catalyst to Orton becoming a bigger name and more popular with the WWE Universe.
Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Great Khali, Batista and Jack Swagger. All names that fall into the same category of wrestlers being elevated to that next level. Some succeeded greatly, others remained stagnant and a few flopped, but the most important rule here is that the company put in effort to building up names in hopes that the pay-off would be in the form of a new main event guy.
At the same time, the championship was also featured in key feuds that saw matches reaching the main event of several PPVs. Edge and John Cena, CM Punk and the Undertaker, Triple H and Jeff Hardy. All of them featured established stars and stars in the making (or stars that the company wanted to burn brighter).
With the WCH gone from the company, the only hopes for superstars with aspirations for greater things, is to go on a remarkable run with one of the two midcard division titles and hope that the fans take notice and take part in the rise to the wrestler’s popularity. Nothing beats a good ol’ pop from the crowd, merchandise sales and butts in seats.
What The Future Holds
Here’s the fun part; what the long-term goal for the US and IC titles could be.
Back in 2002, Kurt Angle stood in the ring and extended an open challenge to anybody in the back that wanted to make a name for himself. Out walked a young man in duo-colored biker trunks, a physique sculpted out of stone and a hair-style that probably should have been left in stone. The man announced himself as John Cena and the one attribute he possessed that made him believe he had a chance of beating Kurt was “Ruthless Aggression”. With those words shouted out, Cena went on the offense and gave the crowd something to cheer for. While he lost, he put up a Rocky Balboa calibre fight and in the process, made a name for himself.
13 years later, Cena now has that opportunity to do for a young wrestler what Kurt did for him. Only this time, Cena could put that superstar over by losing to them and dropping the title at the same time. It would be monumental for a young man to have a win against Cena and a title as a notch in his record book. The build will have to be there and that means Cena going on a run for a few months, as much as it may pain his biggest detractors. Whether it’s someone already on the roster like Dean Ambrose, an NXT call-up like Neville or an eventual main roster call-up like Sami Zayn or Finn Balor, the end goal is the same. Cena does the job for a name trying to elevate himself and a title victory.
With Daniel Bryan, the scenario is a little different. Currently, the title is in the picture involving three other wrestlers; Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett and Sheamus. All four of these men battling for the gold every week makes for good television and the possibilities are several in terms of who you want to book against one another. One week, we could see Bryan defending in a one-on-one match. The next week, a singles match between two men trying to inch closer to a number one contender’s spot. At the PPV? A triple threat match, fatal four-way, something to include all or most of the four.
A healthy dose of competition is what the midcard division has needed for the longest time and that day is finally here. John Cena’s open challenge every week provides the surprise of who answers the bell and whether they can overcome Cena’s tenacity. The Intercontinental title picture provides (hopefully) several months of formidable action.
For a change, the main event/WWE World Heavyweight Championship spot isn’t the only part of the WWE that eats away at the five hours of television. If the company can spread out their TV time accordingly, the possibility of equalling the importance of every other division is promising.
