[Wishbone]

Originally Posted by Noid Completely disagree. Ryder winning the IC Title brought the title down more than it brought Ryder up. I've heard that petitioning story before, and it just goes to show how much the business has changed. Back in the day when guys drew money, every person in that match would have been trying to petition why they should have been given the belt. Now everybody gets a prize and no one is really over.

I think you said it best yourself, the business has changed. Whether we like it or not it's clear WWE has no intentions of ever going back to the way things used to be. For that matter the world itself has no intentions of going back in that direction. We live in a world where the sort of sentiment that got Ryder that belt is praised by society. You constantly see where high-school kids let their disabled friends score a winning touchdown, or make them prom king/queen just to be nice and make everyone feel good. Fact is the wrestling industry as it was could never make a comeback in a world like the one we live in now.

Besides giving the U.S. belt to John Cena did nothing to elevate it. If giving one of the "you tried" belts to a guy like Cena couldn't help it then nothing will. The IC and U.S. titles are doomed at this point. They're the TNA of title belts in that their reputations are irreversibly ruined. Short of flat out scrapping them and making totally new titles there is no way the secondary titles will ever matter again.