Post by Mick Grizzly on Aug 12, 2012 18:38:06 GMT
Hey, I noticed there wasn't a thread directly addressing what people think of the WWE as it is right now, and figured every good wrestling forums needs one! For what it's worth I'm gonna give me two cents worth on each belt, how I think it's being treated and what I think WWE should do with them to make them stronger/maintain their current high standing.
I'll get to the remaining three belts shortly, but lemme know what you guys think of my calls, what you'd do differently, and what you think of the WWE as it is right now! Let's get a good discussion going on and prove how much better we are than the writers in Stamford!
US Title
How it is
I think it's really sad that a belt with such a massive history, held by some great talent in the past like Rick Rude, Steve Austin and Eddie Guerrero is now the least meaningful piece of gold on tv by a longshot. I'm not knocking Santino, he does what he does well, he's funny on the mic and all, but don't put a belt on the man. He's a novelty wrestler, and as a result any reign he has should be short and funny, not a 6 month reign and counting. The fact that he rarely if ever defends it hasn't helped the belt's image, and the way he so often jobs out makes it look even worse, to the point where this belt is so damaged I'm not even sure it can be saved right now.
How I'd fix it
Making the US title look strong is not an overnight job by any stretch, so this'll be a long one. First, getting that belt of Santino is paramount, and I think that the match they've been hinting at between him and Antonio Cesaro at Summerslam is a decent opportunity. Cesaro is a strong heel and is still a fairly hot new talent despite his loss to Christian this past week, plus the fact that he's gone over on Santino twice already means that he's basically cemented himself as champ anyway. If he holds it for a few months, with properly built up feuds (Even if they built some of it up on superstars and only recap it on Raw/SD, it'd be an improvement on these titles having little to no feuds around them), it will be good for both him and the belt, bringing him up together - In the longer term, however, I think this should be Ryback's first taste of a title. I think if Ryback were to take the belt from Cesaro at TLC in December, it would have given the former a good enough run to solidify him as a midcard heel, while it would give them time to let Ryback wrestle a few times before giving him a title to continue his push (I might get into my thoughts on Ryback in the replies). It would also free them both up to appear in the Royal Rumble, assume Ryback does not defend that night, and more big men in the Rumble is always a good idea.
Diva's Title
How it is
The only reason this is above the US title on this list is because it is at least defended more regularly and has a serious wrestler holding it. Granted, Layla is a terrible wrestler, but she isn't there for laughs like Santino. That said, laughs would be an improvement from the stony silence she's met with - It's a terribly problem when your Diva's champion is less over than Vickie Guererro, who does very little these days except announce Dolph's entrance. The Belt means very little already because the division is a joke, but Layla is not helping it at all.
How I'd fix it
This one is hard to fix because there's barely a diva's division to support it. Obviously the belt should got to someone that's actually over, AJ being an obvious pick (although now she's GM for some reason that obviously isn't an option). Beth Phoenix would be the obvious choice, since she's an exceptional wrestler and a strong former champ, but I don't think it would actually improve the belt at all. It's a shame about what happened with Kharma, or else she would be an obvious choice to dominate the division, then build up a rivalry with her and a face Beth, but as for now WWE will need to hire more talent and put more Divas matches on TV before I can really comment on how to fix it.
Tag Team Titles
How it is
I don't think it's news to anyone that the tag division is a bit of a joke and has been for years, with randomly stuck together teams competing for and winning the title far too frequently. The current holders, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth, fall pretty firmly into this category, and they're only really there because of Evan Bourne's injury, or else I've no doubt that it would still be AirBoom holding the titles after their time with Primo and Epico. Right now there are 4 active tag teams - the champions, Primo and Epico, Hunico and Camacho, and the Prime Time Players. Personally I like all 4 teams, although I'm amazed that Kofi is still in tag competitions when he could easily be dominating the midcard in singles competition, but none of them have a strong gimmick or motivation. THe closest they've came was recently with AW's involvement, which brought a feud between PTP and P&E, as well as creating tension around the belt, but now that he's been fired I can see the Prime Time Players falling by the wayside and us being left with Kofi and Truth again while WWE tries to think of a way to make the belts matter without Kobe Bryant rape jokes.
How I'd fix it
To be honest I probably wouldn't have to because I would not have fired AW. I would keep him doing his thing and getting heat on PTP, with them taking the belts from Kofi and R-Truth at Summerslam and retaining them in a rematch the following Smackdown (Not Raw, because I'd rather a longer title match than 10 minutes with a bullshit ending so they can fit another segment of D-Bry shouting "NO!"at AJ). I'd then put Truth and Kofi back into singles wrestling, maybe against Cesaro for the US title a few months down the line, and start a longer program between PTP and P&E. In that time, I'd use Superstars to build Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel, as well as put together Ezekiel Jackson and David Otunga and start to build them up over the weeks, so that there's a strong man team in the division. With 5 teams in the mix, at least 2 matches between them per week, I think the belts would immediately become more important just due to the number of people chasing them. Eventually I'd give them back to Primo and Epico probably, to give them a second run, but I think as long as there's a division, the stories would come fairly naturally.
I'll get to the remaining three belts shortly, but lemme know what you guys think of my calls, what you'd do differently, and what you think of the WWE as it is right now! Let's get a good discussion going on and prove how much better we are than the writers in Stamford!