The Shooting Range
The Unbearable Pointlessness of Mid-Card Titles
About a month ago, for the build up to Wrestlemania, I was all prepared to write a column about the mid-card titles in the WWE. The article was intended to be a scathing attack on the WWE creative team about how they had misused and forgotten the lesser titles in the WWE. The likes of the tag team division, the Intercontinental title scene and the US title, all of which had been swept under the rug so that WWE television could focus on the world title pictures and the excessive storylines that went with them. Then something miraculous happened, something I had not anticipated in my careful preparation for the article, something that the WWE hadn’t done in the build up to a Wrestlemania in many a year, something that totally ruined the entire concept of my column. The WWE not only had a Tag Title and Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania, but they were actually giving these matches a significant amount of television time to build up the storylines so that when Wrestlemania finally rolled around, the fans would give a damn about the matches. I don’t mind telling you, as a fan who remembers the highly entertaining contests for the mid-card titles in the early 2000’s between Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrerro, William Regal, Test and countless others; and someone who was thrilled by the Hardyz and the Dudleyz and Edge & Christian for the tag team gold, that the prospect of JBL vs. Rey Mysterio and Carlito & Primo vs. Miz and Morrison at Wrestlemania filled my heart with a warm feeling of nostalgia about seeing the supposed lesser titles competed for once again. Imagine my heartbreaking disappointment then when tuning into Wrestlemania on April 5th (technically the 6th in the UK) to watch a 21 second Intercontinental Title Match to equal the shittiness of last years ECW Title match and to realise the tag team unification match had been bumped off the card completely. As a wrestling purist I was crushed.
I know technically not a lot of time has past since the superstars mentioned competed in the WWE but the amount of change that has taken place in the company is astronomical, and as such I feel an article longing for those good (not so) old days is not only relevant, but wholly necessary.
It is also worth pointing out that I will not be discussing the Women’s or Diva’s Title in this article, I have different opinions about women’s wrestling but that is another story for another time; for now the focus of this column is on the mid-card titles on Raw and Smackdown namely the Intercontinental, United States and Tag Team Titles.
Casting an eye over WWE pay-per-view cards from the last 12 months is evidence enough to see how little the company regard their lesser titles. In the last year the Intercontinental Title has been defended 4 times in a PPV, the US Title twice (and once in a Cyber Sunday preview match shown on WWE.com) and both tag titles have been defended collectively 3 times. Baring in mind that one of the PPV’s, Night of Champions, premise is based on having every title defended on the show it is truly shocking that WWE management can’t make more time for these belts to be defended on their big shows. Vince is also running the risk of relegating the ECW to the lowly depths of these forgotten titles. The extreme title is no longer guaranteed a place in the monthly PPV’s and it is fairly clear that the company no longer regard the belt as prestigious as the WWE and Heavyweight Title’s.
It seems that the WWE has forgotten about the legacy that these titles hold. The Intercontinental Title has been a launch pad for future world champions such as The Ultimate Warrior, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Stone Cold Steve Austin;. the tag team division has spawned some of wrestlings most explosive singles competitors such as Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin; the United States Title has had some legendary figures in wrestling as its champion such as Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Booker T. There is no denying that when used properly, these titles can produce legends in the Wrestling industry. However if these belts are continually under booked and rush, not only is the legacy of the greats that have come before been tarnished but it also means that it is going to be harder to build up future champions.
The retirement of the Cruiserweight Title back in 2007 was a clear indication that WWE management was downsizing the importance of their mid-card titles. Admittedly the division had been going nowhere for years before, punctuated by the irritating Hornswoggle’s title range which served as the titles epitaph, but it didn’t have to be that way. The Cruiserweight Division had the potential, and often lived up to the potential, of being the most exciting division in the company. High flyers like Billy Kidman, Paul London and Tajiri gave Smackdown a special feel and made the show very watchable at the time. But as the Vince became more and more besotted with 300lb monsters Cruiserweight matches were given less and less TV time and was eventually forgotten about all together. It is a story that is looking all to familiar nowadays with every title outside the main event picture.
In years gone by competition for the lower titles have added fuel to the fire of some of the hottest rivalries in WWE history. One of my earliest memories in wrestling is watching the epic battle between Bret the Hitman Hart and The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Title at Summer slam ‘92 in London England, a match that was motivated by the desire of each men to hold the then esteemed title. When was the last time two superstars competed for such a title with such intensity and desire. There are many possible explanations for why these titles are getting no love from the powers that be. It is conceivable that these titles have been pushed to the sidelines in order to showcase the major titles making them seem like the top prize in the business. Indeed it seems in an age where watching a WWE show means sitting through Diva searches, talk shows, kiss-cams and comedy skits there just doesn’t seem enough time to build a suitable rivalry for the lesser titles in the company. It seems when the old WWF got ‘the F out’ it moved away from old school rivalries for the title and focused on more soap opera like storylines which deal with personal rivalries rather than professional ones, namely competition for a title. It seems hard to believe however, with WWE putting out 6 hours of television a week, including the new WWE Superstars show, and a 3 hour PPV each month that the creative team can’t find the time to push these title effectively.
The sad truth is that it is no longer the World Wrestling Federation, it’s World Wrestling Entertainment and that means that there is just less room for epic contests for the mid-card titles. It also means that the WWE Universe have more chance of seeing a segment between Santina Marella and Hornswoggle than they do of seeing two or four of the companies top youngsters, who are perhaps a bit too green for the main event just yet battle it out for the Intercontinental or Tag Team Title. If you are a relative newcomer to the world of wrestling this may not be a problem, you may enjoy the comedy skits and talent searches and talk shows taking up more TV than actual wrestling and that’s ok, your entitled to your opinion and its not surprising in a world of reality television that the WWE has gone down this road. But for a wrestling purist whose more old fashioned than he probably should be for someone in their early 20’s, it is a sad sight when Kid Rock gets more time to perform at a Wrestlemania than two well established superstars do with the Intercontinental Title on the line. But this is a sign of the times and a indication of the direction the WWE has been taking for some time now, there’s no point at getting angry about it, instead I recommend you go back and relive some of the great mid-card title matches from the last 2 decades or so when these titles actually counted for something. There may well come a time when these titles are treated with the respect their legacy deserves, but in the mean time there is an almost endless amount of classic matches to enjoy again, when these titles actually mattered.
As always thoughts, opinions and arguements are welcomed at shootingrange69@aol.com
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