In an interesting turn of events since my blog about WWE having too many Titles, it looks like WWE will in fact be introducing more. While there were rumors of a Women's Tag Team Championship, it's partially true, in that there will be another set of Tag Team Titles. Only this time, they will be for the Cruiserweight Division on 205 Live. Also, and this is somewhat of a spoiler, NXT will be introducing a new Title. I don't want to ruin anything so I'll leave it at that. My question is; why? Why more titles? There are way too many as it is. I already said this is like having a participation trophy for everyone. Titles are supposed to be important and prestigious, and only so many people can attain them.
I'll start with the new Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles. This was a concept developed by WCW during their last few months. To be fair, by that time, there were even more Cruiserweights than ever before. I believe the first Champions were the tandem of Rey Misterio and Billy Kidman. It's hard to judge how it will be this time around because WCW happened to go out of business not long after the introduction of those Titles. Since the Cruiserweight Title has its own show in 205 Live, I can somewhat understand this move. I may not like it, but I understand it.
As much as I liked the Cruiserweight Division in WCW, I don't like it as much in WWE. The heyday of the Cruiserweights in WCW was in the mid-late 90's. Chris Jericho, Rey Misterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko were the building blocks of Cruiserweight wrestling. Along with them were people like Ultimo Dragon, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, and many others. These days, and I hate to say it, but the star power just isn't the same. Not many of today's Cruiserweights have much personality. Also, guys like AJ Styles can do all the things the Cruiserweights do, so what makes them stand out? Jericho, Misterio, and Guerrero eventually broke out and won World Titles in their careers but nine times out of ten, the Cruiserweights will be stuck in their respective division.
I feel like being a Cruiserweight is almost like being typecast in a movie. I feel for guys like Cedric Alexander, who's talent I believe exceeds the Cruiseweight Division. Since there are a lot of Cruiserweights that seem to be a dime a dozen, I think that's why Tag Team Titles are being created for this division. I don't even like the idea of a Cruiserweight Champion anymore, let alone 205 Live. I'm pretty sure they'll take any combination of the current Luchadores and put them together. I suppose they could team whatever is left of the dismantled "Zo Train." Frankly, I just can't take it seriously and it's just one more title they'll have when they can't even handle the other two Tag Team divisions they already have.
As I mentioned, NXT will be adding another Title to their brand. Without giving out the name or the competitors involved, let's just say it will likely be used as a mid-card Title for NXT. That's something I've seen some fans clamor for. The main reason is because not everyone can ascend to the thrown of the NXT Championship. In hindsight, it would have been nice for a talent like Tyler Breeze or Apollo Crews to go for during their time in NXT. It seems there will only be a select few to make it to the NXT Title. However, I thought they were using the UK Title almost like a mid-card Title for NXT, since Champion Pete Dunne has no brand to call home specifically. Again, for me, it's a case of having participation trophies. I was never good at sports as a child but I understood that I wasn't good enough and therefore, why should I win a trophy I didn't earn?
This also raises another question. Will NXT's format change or will the amount of time for the show increase? With just an hour, it's hard enough getting programs in for the NXT Title, the Women's Title, and the Tag Team Titles, as well as other non-title issues. I like the way NXT is presented. They get a lot done in one hour's time and in order to get everyone involved, sometimes the same wrestler isn't always on every single show, allowing other talents to shine. If it increases at all, it should only be by a half hour. We already have a two-hour Smackdown and a 3-hour Raw, which is way too long.
Also, the PPV's, although more so Specials since the birth of the WWE Network, are not as special if the same things for the most part can be found on free TV. If you already saw the same wrestlers have a match on Raw or Smackdown several times, why would you care anymore if they fight on PPV? Since there are more Championships being added and no sign of any being taken away or unified, I may have a solution. If they truly want to make people care about the brand split and take it seriously, I say do whatever it takes to make these brands stand out. In fact, try to make it look like none of the shows except for Raw, are even affiliated with WWE. Make it look like the Territory system during the days of the NWA's prominence. WWE can be the new NWA.
Here's how I would start. Trade the WWE Title back to Raw and put the Universal Title on Smackdown, since the WWE Title is the original. Rename the Universal Title and place Smackdown under a banner other than WWE, even though in real life everything will be under it. They own WCW, AWA, World Class, Mid-South, and many other names that Smackdown could be under. NXT is almost its own thing as well, so just keep the NXT brand going. That way, the prestige of the Universal Title, which has none in my opinion, could move up. We could have WCW Smackdown or rename Smackdown to Nitro, and the Universal Title could be re-branded as the WCW World Title. The Smackdown Tag Team Titles could be the WCW Tag Team Titles, and now WCW would have a Women's Title, as well as their US Title back. It doesn't have to be WCW necessarily, but I'm just spit balling here.
If the Universal Title was renamed the WCW World Title and resembled the big gold belt, its credibility would go up. They have multiple territories, brands, and logos at their disposal. Since there's a UK Title, why not finally create a UK Territory? Guys like Finn Balor, Sheamus, Neville, and several others can go between all of these territories at certain points. They could create unique rosters and not do drafts. NXT can be looked at as a brand, rather than the next batch of WWE call-ups. If they're creating a mid-card Title for NXT, they could give the NXT Championship the status of a World Title. That's the only way a brand split works, in my opinion. Everything will be under the WWE umbrella but it couldn't hurt to make it look like these brands are separate entities. Then they can make a big deal when contracts are up and someone unexpected makes their debut or return to one of the brands.
Therefore, my opinion is either lower the amount of Championships to make them special or create a much better illusion of separate brands if you're going to add more Titles. Otherwise, it's just more useless gold for superstars to attain and no one will care anymore. My problem mainly is they have a hard enough time maintaining prestige of their more original Titles and the more they add, the less prestigious they become. I'd like to think less is more but if they're going for more, do it right and create a better interpretation of separate brands.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/
As I mentioned, NXT will be adding another Title to their brand. Without giving out the name or the competitors involved, let's just say it will likely be used as a mid-card Title for NXT. That's something I've seen some fans clamor for. The main reason is because not everyone can ascend to the thrown of the NXT Championship. In hindsight, it would have been nice for a talent like Tyler Breeze or Apollo Crews to go for during their time in NXT. It seems there will only be a select few to make it to the NXT Title. However, I thought they were using the UK Title almost like a mid-card Title for NXT, since Champion Pete Dunne has no brand to call home specifically. Again, for me, it's a case of having participation trophies. I was never good at sports as a child but I understood that I wasn't good enough and therefore, why should I win a trophy I didn't earn?
This also raises another question. Will NXT's format change or will the amount of time for the show increase? With just an hour, it's hard enough getting programs in for the NXT Title, the Women's Title, and the Tag Team Titles, as well as other non-title issues. I like the way NXT is presented. They get a lot done in one hour's time and in order to get everyone involved, sometimes the same wrestler isn't always on every single show, allowing other talents to shine. If it increases at all, it should only be by a half hour. We already have a two-hour Smackdown and a 3-hour Raw, which is way too long.
Also, the PPV's, although more so Specials since the birth of the WWE Network, are not as special if the same things for the most part can be found on free TV. If you already saw the same wrestlers have a match on Raw or Smackdown several times, why would you care anymore if they fight on PPV? Since there are more Championships being added and no sign of any being taken away or unified, I may have a solution. If they truly want to make people care about the brand split and take it seriously, I say do whatever it takes to make these brands stand out. In fact, try to make it look like none of the shows except for Raw, are even affiliated with WWE. Make it look like the Territory system during the days of the NWA's prominence. WWE can be the new NWA.
Here's how I would start. Trade the WWE Title back to Raw and put the Universal Title on Smackdown, since the WWE Title is the original. Rename the Universal Title and place Smackdown under a banner other than WWE, even though in real life everything will be under it. They own WCW, AWA, World Class, Mid-South, and many other names that Smackdown could be under. NXT is almost its own thing as well, so just keep the NXT brand going. That way, the prestige of the Universal Title, which has none in my opinion, could move up. We could have WCW Smackdown or rename Smackdown to Nitro, and the Universal Title could be re-branded as the WCW World Title. The Smackdown Tag Team Titles could be the WCW Tag Team Titles, and now WCW would have a Women's Title, as well as their US Title back. It doesn't have to be WCW necessarily, but I'm just spit balling here.
If the Universal Title was renamed the WCW World Title and resembled the big gold belt, its credibility would go up. They have multiple territories, brands, and logos at their disposal. Since there's a UK Title, why not finally create a UK Territory? Guys like Finn Balor, Sheamus, Neville, and several others can go between all of these territories at certain points. They could create unique rosters and not do drafts. NXT can be looked at as a brand, rather than the next batch of WWE call-ups. If they're creating a mid-card Title for NXT, they could give the NXT Championship the status of a World Title. That's the only way a brand split works, in my opinion. Everything will be under the WWE umbrella but it couldn't hurt to make it look like these brands are separate entities. Then they can make a big deal when contracts are up and someone unexpected makes their debut or return to one of the brands.
Therefore, my opinion is either lower the amount of Championships to make them special or create a much better illusion of separate brands if you're going to add more Titles. Otherwise, it's just more useless gold for superstars to attain and no one will care anymore. My problem mainly is they have a hard enough time maintaining prestige of their more original Titles and the more they add, the less prestigious they become. I'd like to think less is more but if they're going for more, do it right and create a better interpretation of separate brands.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/
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