All Major Titles being Unified?
 

From the front page:

– Creative plans as of Monday night was for WWE to unify all of its championships within the next year. There would be one World Championship, one Tag Team Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and one Women’s title. It is said that a WWE/World Title Unification Match will take place at next year’s WrestleMania.

Now I have no idea where this information came from, or if its actually true...but if that's the case, then this is pretty gigantic news.

Personally, I don't like this. I think having one title per brand allows more people to rise to the top, and it allows for more storyline possibilities. Plus, the issue arises that the champion has to carry on multiple feuds at once and work a double schedule...or not show up on Smackdown. I currently like the title environment the way it is...unify the womens and tag titles, but keep the IC/US and World Titles seperate.

I am on the opposite side. Having titles on every show dilutes the idea of being an elite champion and just waters down the whole process. SHit, we have Pay Per views that rarely see most of these titles defended. By having a Major title, a Mid Level and tag titles, we will see more guys pushed into the tag ranks like the attitude era, and will elevate the IC title and the holder.

I have a feeling the brand extension is coming to an end with the move of SD to SyFy sooner than later.

Oh and I guess we can say good bye to the <del>good ol days</del> US title, they'd never ditch the IC Title for the US Title.

Yeah, I completely agree.

Unless the brands are going to completely go away and Smackdown! wrestlers can wrestle on Raw and vice versa, having one belt between the two is going to suck. Unless they keep the WWE/World Title on Raw and the IC/US belt on Smackdown! and have Smackdown!'s big belt just be the IC/US... but I'm not sure if I can see that happening, and even if it does then that still means there's less opportunities for everyone.

I am indifferent about this. I think having A top title and secondary title on each show gives everyone more chances to be a champion. So just keep separate titles

As for the women's title, unify them and be done with it. Tag titles are already unified and such.

Damn there are way too many wrestlers to have just 4 titles.

I would like to see them keep the IC and US belts. It would give those champions a chance to main event Raw and SD if the world champ is feuding on the other show.

Suddenly I am reminded of the invasion era and all the stupid unifications. In any case the unification of the big 2 is a worthy Wrestlemania main event.

I hope the brand split ends. If not unify everything except IC and US.

Unify the US and IC titles, make it exclusive to Raw, and bring back the Cruiserweight title to Smackdown.

I'm a big fan of this news. Unifying the titles will make world title matches more special and will force the WWE to write actual feuds for their other wrestlers. It's so easy now that the writers have gotten complacent. If say they want two wrestlers to wrestler they just have wrestler A want a shot at the title and wrestler B gives it to him with little personal drama between them.

It'll also stem the tide of all these title reigns such as Edge and John Cena both having close to 10 title reigns in 4 years. It'll help world title matches seem more epic. And without two world titles and two secondary titles to book you can actually focus on bringing wrestlers along, that aren't quite ready. I think doing this makes the WWE less cluttered and allows writers the chance to really write feuds rather than have silly title chases.

I think it's a great move but I'm skeptical of whether it'll happen or not.

I like it.

i dont think its a good idea to unify all of them. definitely unify the womens title because there aren't a lot and i dont care for diva's wrestling at all. and the tag titles needed it because there weren't a lot of competitors. but the IC/US and world/WWE titles need to stay. the world title is like a minor title anyway. it gives more exposure to wrestlers. also, the US belt needs to be used and not just as a shoulder piece for the miz.

Rey Mysterio vs Evan Bourne vs Justin Gabriel!

Match of the decade

They should do a Mini Tourney like they did at Vengeance when Jericho won.

Have both champs wrestle seperate matches early on and then the winners
face each other in the Main Event. Only problem would be that the Rumble winner wouldn't necessarily get the "Main Event at Wrestlemania" but they'd get the title shot and the opportunity if they won.

then the Miz could cash in on whoever wins (after having been through 2 grueling matches!) and become the New Undisputed Unified Champion..

That would be Awesome...or not..

And that's another thing, if the titles are unified, then I would think they would start getting rid of wrestlers, and I don't mean just the lower tier, the mid tier too.

Looks like this years Rumble winner is going to get the shaft big time.

I will admit though that I will love to see another version of this:

http://www.411mania.com/siteimages/powertrip_37937.jpg

Unless they write the storylines around him. Have him take the "Cena" route and cash in his shot at Elimination Chamber...he wins, and he comes out the next night on Raw and says something to the effect of "I won the Rumble, and I won the Elimination Chamber...I'm the best in the world. Now I want to prove it...I want the Smackdown champion at Wrestlemania."

They would need to take the brand split off.

I don't think these rumors will come to pass. Too many people on the rosters for just one World and Mid-card champion.

I wouldn't mind seeing them make certain titles exclusive to a specific show once the titles are unified.

Let Smackdown have the U.S.; Women's title (with all the legit/capable wrestlers) and Raw have the I.C. and tag team titles with the current heavyweight champion floating between shows.

You can leave the shitty, but hot women wrestlers on Raw for corny skits. I think this is a good move.

It's going to allow the Rumble to go back to being a place where upper mid card guys can get pushed to the top again instead of just being sent to the Smackdown champ if the Raw champ has its own storyline. Plus the money in the bank winner would be able to float on both shows as well which could add some intrigue. They might actually build the women's and tag team division back up as well with one title, especially since TNA's Knockout Division and Tag Divisons have been embarrassing them for awhile...

Wait this is the WWE so never mind.

About fucking time

taken with a grain of salt of course until Meltzer or PWInsider say so.

Hard to believe the brand split has already been going on for 8 years!!! :eek:

But if this rumour is true, I think they plan on eventually reuniting the rosters. No way will one champion on two shows work.

"Havign more titles makes it better for more people to be champion and make it big"

Explain every over wrestler in the 80s and 90s?

There are alot of shit posts in this thread.

The WWE feuds and storylines have been character, and not title, driven for the last 5 years. What does a strap matter?

Sort of off topic, but who are these snitches that report this stuff to the "dirt sheets" and why are they so hard to catch? It would seem as if there are a small number of people who would have access to such information like the unification of all titles so how do they get away with it?

Does anyone know how Vince reacts to leaks like this? I kind of feel like leaks like this are tacitly approved of because it generates excitement and intrigue for the product.

Finally.

Both belts have lost considerable amounts of respect since Triple H was given the World Heavyweight title back in 2002. Most of the time I can't even remember who the champions are - they jump around so fucking much; the WWE title especially.

I do think the US and IC titles should stay the way that they are, unless the brand split is ending as well (which it's probably not). The mid-card is way too packed to only have one Intercontinental Champion without the United States championship as well, unless of course they brought back the European or Hardcore titles. Either way, they should bring back the Cruiserweight title and hire some fucking cruiserweights.

I enjoyed the short amount of time when the Undisputed Title was being defended on both Smackdown and RAW by the Undertaker. It really did make Taker look like the top dog in the WWE, which is something we have been sorely lacking for a very long time.

I disagree. With Smackdown, Raw, Superstars and WWE trying to add their own network there are plenty of shows for these guys to be on, not to mention Cena needs people to give the STF to at house shows.

Not every character has to chase the straps either.

Feuds have been character driven, yes, but theres still a certain level of prestige associated with holding the big belt. Considering the youth movement in the WWE, the ability and opportunity for these guys to hold titles does something for their credibility.

Fact of the matter is that the brand split does exist and the roster is pretty damn big...to establish, and to maintain, the main event talent, having a "top" title on each show makes sense.

Just because you don't agree w/ the viewpoint doesn't make them shit posts. Civility would be appreciated cap.

I like the news but I'm not sure how it'll work with over 8 usual competitors for the title.

That's how it was before they acquired WCW. They had one major belt for the entire company, along with the IC title, Tag Team, and Women's. They had the Light Heavyweight title for awhile as well.

But all the talent was working most shows.

With them going back to one roster instead of doing the draft every year, would allow for more feuds, like some have said, and require the writers to actually think. New tag teams could be formed with a single roster. The storylines could actually have some build-up again to the next pay-per-view.

All that said, I am for a unification of the WWE/WHC titles. Leave the IC and US belts alone, the tag belt merger was good, and merging the 2 women's titles is good, because the Diva's belt is ugly as all hell anyways, well they both are, but that's beside the point.

Getting rid of the brand split could be a rebirth of WWE that we are looking for it to be highly enjoyable and a little less predictable again. With new stars being forced to be created.

On the other side it could screw things up even worse if it overwhelms the creative team...it could into a much larger TNA with all this talent and no clue what do with it. Which isn't far from how it is now, where they push the same 4-5 guys and don't touch the mid-carders.

<font color=goldenrod>I'd support the idea of a floating World champion, gives the promotion a clear #1 guy. Then again, this also means that guys who may win or HAVE won the the WWE or World Heavyweight Title under the current setup (Swagger, Barrett, Kingston, Christian, among others) may never get that chance. WWE knows it needs to create new stars but I can't help but imagine that the belt would stay around the currently established main eventers.

IC and US Titles should stay separate....but then again you run into the same problem. if the floating champion is, say, Cena...and Cena is feuding with Undertaker on SmackDown. What do Orton, Edge, etc. have to fight for? The US Title. It'd make the secondary belts look like a bigger deal but then you'd still have the same problem of trying to get the midcarders stepped up the card.

And no fucking way should the brand split end. Right now Raw and SD are two totally different shows. Last thing I want is to see SD stop having good 10+ minute matches every week in favor of more 2 minute squashes with neverending promos and comedy segments.</font>

True but even so I have a feeling some people are still gonna get cut especially if they DO end the brand extension. otherwise it would be a bit of a overabundance.

Although I havent watched regularly for the past 4 years I disagree.

I pray that this signals the end of the Brand Extension. The Current incarnation of the WWE seriously lacks legit star power, and without stars, how can you seriously go on with the roster being separate. I didn't go to Summerslam this year because it just didn't have that big event feel to it (like last years did) and that really sucks. The lack of star power makes the idea of all of these titles pointless, and it actually cheapens the value of the title, and ultimately waters down the lineage of it (See the United States title.)

This time next year at the latest I predict that we will probably see a unified roster under the guidance of a single director of authority / GM type figure.

WHC
IC
US
Hardcore
Tag
Cruiserweight
Womens

They had it right 12 years ago (minus the european, hated that belt)

Maybe it's part of the agenda of the anonymous GM.