Should the World Heavyweight Championship be reintroduced with the brand split?

[GD]

Hey folks! I've noticed that the overwhelming majority is against a second world title. A lot of people are worried that the belt will become second fiddle to the championship being defended on RAW or water down the concept of what a world championship signifies.

In my opinion, when the brand extension rules were not relaxed, we saw a healthy amount of pay-per-view main events with the championship on Smackdown being up for grabs. If it weren't for the WWE Championship being exclusive to Smackdown, superstars such as Eddie Guerrero, JBL etc. would've never had the chance to become world champion. Jeff Hardy's three reigns (1-time WWE Champion and 2-time World Heavyweight Champion) and Kurt Angle's later reigns came when they were a part of the Smackdown roster.

If it weren't for the creation of the current WWE Tag Team titles and its exclusivity to the Smackdown brand, the Smackdown Six would've never come to fruition. The longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions (331 days), Paul London and Brian Kendrick would've never had the chance if there were only a single set of tag team titles being defended on both the shows. After being drafted to Monday Night RAW, the only time they got a chance to hold the World Tag Team Championship (3 days) was during their tour of South Africa.

People constantly complain about how the talent is being misused on the main roster. The brand split will only give the superstars a chance to enhance their personas and in-ring capabilities. If it weren't for exclusive rosters, John Cena would've never become the franchise that he is today. I have a lot more to add but I am ridiculously lazy to articulate my thoughts.

Feel free to share your opinions on the topic :wave:

[Ruien]

No. 1 title. Everyone and their mother help a WWE or World title. We judt got over saying everyone was a champ and we don't need to do that again.

[Theo Dious]

Elevate the IC title to become the crown of smackdown.

[Simple Fan]

I don't think so. I feel like being the WWE WHC should mean something. Being on both show allows the champion to be seen as the top guy. Also allows him to have more merchandise and make more money being the champion.

I like the Big Gold Belt but just don't like the idea of a company having 2 World heavyweight champions. One of them is always going to be looked at as the lesser.

[Big Vic]

Nope.

[Exyle]

Early reports seem to indicate separate titles. I love the idea of elevating the IC title, but if they absolutely must have two "world champions," I wouldn't bring back the "big gold" belt. As pretty as it is, it'll be extremely challenging for people to view it anything but "second best."

If SmackDown has its own world title, I feel like they should make it visually identical to the current WWE World Heavyweight championship with one exception: the slash underlining the logo and anything else that's red is blue instead. That's it. Everything else the same.

Here's my amateurish edit--
http://i.imgur.com/67a5v2Q.jpg

[Big Vic]

They will bring back this one:

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/psychoandy/images/6/67/Wwe_ecwbelt.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090928044915

[Rammsteinmad]

I have no problem with it, though each title will certainly mean more if both brands are fully distinguished from one another.

[VSG]

Early reports seem to indicate separate titles. I love the idea of elevating the IC title, but if they absolutely must have two "world champions," I wouldn't bring back the "big gold" belt. As pretty as it is, it'll be extremely challenging for people to view it anything but "second best."

If SmackDown has its own world title, I feel like they should make it visually identical to the current WWE World Heavyweight championship with one exception: the slash underlining the logo and anything else that's red is blue instead. That's it. Everything else the same.

Here's my amateurish edit--
http://i.imgur.com/67a5v2Q.jpg

I like this a lot :y:

[Wishbone]

I'd rather they keep it at one world title that goes between brands, one women's title, and one set of tag titles. Then have the U.S. and IC titles be the only "exclusive" titles on their respective brands.

However, if they must have two world titles I like the below idea best. It looks really nice.

http://i.imgur.com/67a5v2Q.jpg

[Big Vic]

Hopefully if they have 2 world titles Roman Reigns can break flairs record of being a 16 time world champ.

[Wishbone]

Hopefully if they have 2 world titles Roman Reigns can break flairs record of being a 16 time world champ.

You mean Cena's eventual record of 142 world titles that we all know is coming if this happens.

[Fignuts]

I want 1 champion that defends across both shows and the us and inter titles elevated so that they can main event when the world title feud is on another show.

[#1-norm-fan]

There should never be more than 1 world title. Fucking retarded. Making the IC and US titles main event level while making the world title "the one that rules them all" is the way to go.

Imagine a situation where Lesnar is holding the world title as a special attraction while Cena has the US title on Smackdown and Reigns has the IC Title on Raw. You've basically got three titles that can legit main event any PPV but at the same time there's no doubt what the hierarchy is.

As opposed to Jack Swagger being a world champion because "Why not, we've got another one."

[Simple Fan]

Could also being back the Cruiserweight Title for Smackdown and the European Title for Raw as those shows second tier titles while the IC and US are the top title on the shows. WWE, Women's, and Tag team champions should travel.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I can see both sides on this.

The one World Title argument is completely valid. Once the brand split era ended, there was absolutely no reason to have the World Heavyweight Champion around. It dilutes the product and could actually be a turn-off for casual fans. There's a part of me that thinks it was kept around for as long as it was so that the WWE could have claimed more time with the Big Gold Belt than WCW.

That being said, how separate are these shows going to be? I understand the "prestige" of a floating champion, but do you trust the WWE to create interesting and dynamic storylines on both shows around one champ that keeps the champ and challenger looking equally strong and interesting? They could potentially try the same thing with the Women's Title and Tag Team Titles, which could also be a disaster.

I have no problem with there being two World Titles, as long as they are kept fucking separate. RAW and SmackDown will have to feel like two separate promotions.

[Emperor Smeat]

No mostly since it likely is going to lead to the same problems the original Brand Split had in regards to watering down the prestige of both belts and the mid-card belts suffering the most.

Even though Smackdown is going to be live, feels like WWE will still end up showing favoritism or priority towards the RAW brand after a while. Pretty much which ever brand gets Reigns is going to be the brand the WWE will care about the most for the long run.

Smarter option would be to just elevate the US and IC belts as the major belts for each brand since it will improve the mid-card for both shows. WWE title gets to move around brands for fresh feuds and keep its status as the top title for the company.

[drave]

Elevating the IC and US titles is the right way to go. Gives them much more meaning, kinda like the IC title "back in the day".

[Outsider]

If I remember rightly, the only match between the World, WWE and ECW Champions was actually won by Booker T, the World Champion on Smackdown at the time.

[Innovator]

Then four years later, Jack Swagger was WHC

[Simple Fan]

Going to be opposite of what happened the first time. They'll start with 2 champions and at WM Roman and Cena have a match to see who the Undisputed Champion is(Roman Reigns).

[DAMN iNATOR]

Keep the original rule of the WWE WHC on both shows.