Enough is enough: Stop doing world title switch every 3 weeks

[psykohurricane]

After last night PPV, i had to say that i'm officially tired of World and WWE title Switch on every PPV. After 10 PPV there as been 8 World title swtich and 7 WWE title switch if you count Orton's win on Raw after Extreme rules.

How can you takes these titles seriously if everybody that are winning them are not able to defend them on the next PPV. For god sake, even the ECW title is more prestigious then either the WWE or World title are and it wasn't even on the Card last night. The fact that both titles took a back seat to Dx vs Legacy prove that they don't take these title seriously and that to bad because they use to mean something now they are just props to advance a feud and it to bad.

Another problem i see with tha many title switch is when they finally decided to stop switching those titles at every ppv, fans will probably be criticizing The WWE for not making the switch and they will call the PPV the worst PPV ever.

I miss the day when a champion is able to hold on to the title for 4 month or longer but i guess these days are gone and that'S to bad because it was better that way.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I don't care. People complain if you get a short reign or a long reign. The problem is the lack of variety in title holders more than anything. If WWE are going to change their world titles every three weeks then they should give somebody who's not one of the usual suspects a shot. It's no big deal if it doesn't work out, Randy Orton or Batista would win it back off them three weeks later.

 

[JBK2008]

The short title reigns should go to the superstars nobody sees coming and the "crebilble" champions should have longer title reigns. The short title riegns just hurt the credibility of the championship and the person holding it. Makes no sense to have this many title switches within such a small amount of time with so few superstars.

 

[Xbox360]

At the moment personally i dont think WWE no what there doing with titles.As Y 2 Jake said its more the same people in the title scene thanthe length of reigns.However it has been awhie since there has been a long title run which i feel could really make things interesting at the moment.However for now i guess where going to have to deal with short title reigns.

 

[D-Man]

I can't agree with Jake more. Fans bitch and moan whether the title reigns are long or short. No one is ever happy. The biggest problem is WHO is feuding for the titles. If you put on the same PPV main event every 3 weeks with different stipulations, it doesn't change the fact that you've got the same PPV main event. No one cares if there's a one-on-one match one PPV, a No Holds Barred match 2 weeks later, and then a HIAC match 3 weeks later, all containing Randy Orton vs. John Cena. They want to see new feuds, new competitors, NEW BLOOD (and not the kind that drips out of cuts... I'm talking talent).

 

[tLight]

I'd like to restate here what I stated in the Raw forum a few weeks ago.

Randy Orton won at HITC. Without him winning there was no way to continue the Orton/Cena story line or feud. Much like when Orton lost the title to Batista in their cage match earlier this year, only to win the title back a week later on Raw in that 4 man match vs Cena, HHH, and Big Show. This is going to be Orton's long title reign where he loses it a few times, but holds it for the better part of a year. Him and Cena will have another match at the next PPV, Orton will most likely go over and then move into his next feud while Cena moves on to something else.

Maybe well see Orton as a heel vs MVP or Kingston in the up coming months. I only say this because their both faces, MVP is next in line for the Main Event. Kingston has been on a role as the US Champ, and it doesn't look like he's losing the US Title anytime soon. I do believe that Cena only held the US Title once, before becoming a World Champion. The same thing could happen with Kingston. Or theres Ted and Cody, both in Legacy and both being set up to battle Orton in some shape or form in the future.

 

[MrPlatano1989]

i agree!! this is something i love about TNA, in the last 2 years there has only been a couple champs, sting, kurt angle, samoa joe, sting, mick foley, kurt angle, and AJ styles. So thats 7 title reigns in the last 2 years, i could only imagine how many WWE world title have changes in the last 2 years, i still cant believe that everyone was waiting for jeff hardy's first world title, and within months he was already a 3 time champ, i wouldve prefered 1 long reign than 3 short

 

[tLight]

People bitch about Cena being super man, but then he drops the belt only 3 weeks after winning, he ain't no super man no more! It also makes no sense for Orton to lose to Cena or Triple H, because he's beat them both, twice in Triple threat title matches, as well as in that four man battle royal match. Not to mention in all there 1 on 1 matches. Orton could essentially start saying he's beat both John Cena and Triple H (ah la la Chris Jericho beating SCSA and the Rock) in the same night. Another factor in Orton having the title right now is due to the guest host theme on Raw, all the guest hosts have been faces, so its easier to have a heel champion against a face GM, and the USA Network loves, absolutely loves Randy Orton as champion.

I think this whole past year for the WWE has been a trial and error year, because both sets of world titles have changed hands, but the US and IC titles have stayed on the same people for most of the year. Their slowly building up the middle card so some of the people can step up into the main event, but until that time, Orton, Cena, and Triple H will be in the title picture.

 

[johnbragg]

I disagree that short title reigns hurt a title when the title is still only passed around by 2-3 people. It means that, story-wise, those 2-3 people are even with each other and neither has a real advantage.

The problem is that no one else has been built up to the point where they could credibly join that top tier. HHH could, or HBK, but I still don't think that they're done with Legacy. Is either member of Legacy ready to step up to Orton one-on-one, or even with the other in his corner? I don't think so--they should be going after Jericho and Show. MVP and Mark Henry have failed to win the Tag team titles, and Kofi is still the US Champion but isn't exactly a dominant one. The guys running at the US title can't even take down Kofi Kingston, so Orton and Cena is a little much to ask right now.

Big Show is the Raw superstar not named Orton, Cena, HHH or HBK with the most success lately. Should he be in the World title picture?

The valid complaint is "I've seen Orton vs Cena enough now, I'm tired of it no matter who wins or what the stipulation is." That's fair enough. A Cena win would have ended the feud according to the stipluation. Where you go from there is a different question, unless you have Legacy win last night. Then Legacy could start to mix it up with Cena as they break away from Orton, transition away from DX, and start to move on the Tag Team titles.

But don't pretend that the title is hurt by a short reign by one of the four or five biggest stars in WWE.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I think this whole past year for the WWE has been a trial and error year, because both sets of world titles have changed hands, but the US and IC titles have stayed on the same people for most of the year.

That's agood point actually. WWE have moved their mid card titles less. But at the same time nobody is talking about John Morrison and certainly not Kofi Kingston.

If titles are moved at least people talk about it.

People need to take into consideration the PG rating. Younger children will be perfectly happy with all the title changes.

 

[D-Man]

That's agood point actually. WWE have moved their mid card titles less. But at the same time nobody is talking about John Morrison and certainly not Kofi Kingston.

If titles are moved at least people talk about it.

People need to take into consideration the PG rating. Younger children will be perfectly happy with all the title changes.

THIS ^^

Everyone complains about shit because they're over the age of 13.

Put it this way, I was at the HIAC last night and I sat next to two kids, 12 and 8. Naturally, I cheered the heels and the kids said, "You're really ruining our night." I almost fell off my chair laughing. Then, Undertaker won the title and the kids went crazy, pointing their fingers at me and saying, "Ha ha, I told you Punk would lose. Taker's the best!" And then continued their glee.

Fast forward to Orton's win, and the kids were mortified. Then, they really caught my attention when they said, "Cena will win it back next month, I just know it!"

This is EXACTLY what the WWE is aiming for. The kids want ACTION... they don't care or have the thought process to digest the amount of title changes that occurred in the past 6 months. All they want is activity, and lots of it.

Once again, this proves my theory that all of you complainers out there are bitching and moaning on deaf ears because Vince is no longer aiming to cater to you. He is out to entertain children... period.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

It doesn't really bother me too much, In 99 the same thing was happening between Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind and HHH and it wasn't a big problem, I still thought the title was prestigious and still meant something. The sad truth is the new top stars are nothing compared to the names already said (except HHH, but he's way past his best IMO). Frankly, they just haven't done a good enough job to where they can do title switches every 3 weeks. Lets be honest, Orton and Cena would have been mid-carders at best in '99, I like both guys, but I surely don't believe that Cena and Orton should have 6 world titles each to their name, they're not that good. Most of all, back in '99 HHH and the Rock could of had 3 feuds in the same year and all would of felt fresh, Cena and Orton have 1 feud and your bored to tears before it even starts. I guess my point is I feel the stars these days were pushed too hard, too fast, so it makes it difficult for people to see them at the same level as like a stone cold, or rock. I mean Cena is one of the best in the world right now (when you come to think of it, is really sad because 10 years ago he wouldn't of been in the top 20), but the way he's been pushed they make him seem like he's Hogan (Hogan is the offical G.O.A.T. of wrestling), although he's no where near the level Hogan was at. Don't even get me started on how they make HHH to look like the greatest wrestler that ever lived.

You can call a lump of coal a diamond all you want, but if you don't take the time to pressurize coal into a diamond its still a lump of worthless coal.

 

[KBeef]

Hopefully Orton will have another long reign he is the best heel in wrestling and it should be noted

 

[EGfan4life]

Well I'd say give guys that have been there awhile the push they deserve. Shelton Benjamin is on the developmental brand, which I don't agree with. He should be on Smackdown at the least, feuding with guys like Ziggler and Morrison so he can set up for a world title shot, he shouldn't be feuding with sorry ass Sheamus. And I know this is a little off the wall, but why not give Kofi a world title shot, just for the hell of it. The fans love him to death and his mic skills aren't that bad. And when DX breaks up, (hopefully soon,) I hope they send HBK off with a belt.

 

[theiceman]

I saw somebody mention TNA's title reigns in the last 2 years and wonder how much the WWE title/World Heavyweight Championship have changed hands in the last 2 years. Here's the list...

WWE Championship

Randy Orton
Triple H
Randy Orton(2)
Triple H(2)
Edge
Jeff Hardy
Edge(2)
Triple H(3)
Randy Orton(3)
Batista
Randy Orton(4)
John Cena
Randy Orton(5)

That's a total of 13 times the WWE title has changed hands in the last 2 years with 6 different holders.

World Heavyweight Title

Batista
Edge
Undertaker
Edge(2)
CM Punk
Chris Jericho
Batista(2)
Chris Jericho(2)
John Cena
Edge(3)
John Cena(2)
Edge(4)
Jeff Hardy
CM Punk(2)
Jeff Hardy(2)
CM Punk(3)
Undertaker(2)

That's a total of 17 title reigns in the last 2 years with 7 different holders.

Put that together, we've seen 30 Championship reigns in 2 years with 10 different people holding the strap.

Fact is that it's a different business than it was when Hulk Hogan carried the World Title from January 23rd, 1984 to February 5th, 1988. Now, I know that with the WWE going PG again and targetting the child audience, they realize that young children don't give a shit that the World title changes hands as often as it does.

Fact is that no matter how often the title gets passed around, young kids are still going to love John Cena, they'll love DX, they'll love Batista, and Undertaker. They'll continue to hate Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and CM Punk. That'll leave us, the 20 somethings that grew up in a different era of wrestling to long for the product that worked for us 10 to 15 years ago and wish to watch their old favorites, now 45-50 year old men in the ring parading in spandex one more time.

Kudos to today's WWE superstars for working in today's business, and especially a guy like Chavo Guerrero to earn thousands of dollars every week chasing around leprachauns for their lucky charms.

 

[johnbragg]

I'm going to sound inconsistent here, since I just argued that popcorning the World title between 2-3 stars every PPV is okay. A long reign is good to build up a champion, if the champion needs building. Cena and Orton don't need it. Punk did, and jobbing him out to the Undertaker sets him back.

Title switches are one way to get people talking about a champion, but not the only way. Nobody is talking about Kofi Kingston's 4- or 5-month title reign because WWE hasn't made a big deal of it. They rarely mention that Kingston has held the titles for over 4 months. Then, Kofi would be perceived as having something at stake in a triple threat with Swagger and Miz for the title. As opposed to Kofi being Generic Face Opponent for the Miz and Swagger characters.

Of course it could help build Kingston if they did anything to, well, build Kofi Kingston. Leaving him and his title off of PPV, and having him retain weakly in multi-man matches makes him look less than dominant. "Can anyone take the title from this guy?" Well, yeah, it looks like pretty much anyone could if they just get lucky and get a fluke pin in a multi-man scrum. It would help if Kofi had some solid, credibility-building wins over established guys, too. (Paging Mark Henry, Jericho, Big Show. Take 10-12 minutes on Raw, make this guy look legit without dominating you. Thanks, now back to your regular program.)

And Morrison, well, he just got the IC title. Maybe it seems longer because there have been two pay per views, but he got the title a month ago.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not really bothered by short or lengthy runs anymore. After all, the WWE is gonna be pissed and moaned at no matter what they do so they may as well just ignore any criticism and do what they want to do. That's usually what the WWE does anyhow, so there's no reason to change that.

For the WWE Championship, my problem is that there's just such a lack of variety regarding challengers. For this entire year it's been Randy Orton, Triple H and John Cena. Triple H is someone that, for the most part, has been consistently in a world title situation for going on ten years and Cena's been in it for nearly four and a half. We've seen these three go at it time and time again, off and on for several years now and it's just stale.

As for the WHC, I'm ultimately not sure. The latest story going around is that Punk did something or behaved inappropriately during the last overseas tour and was stripped of the title as punishment. I don't think this is the first time Punk's been punished for bad behavior by the company, but I won't swear to that. At any rate, I'm not really sure what to feel about this. On one hand, Punk is a young and exciting guy that's easily the best heel in the WWE, maybe wrestling in general right now. But, if he's behaving in a way that can cause tension backstage or embarassment to the company, then something does have to be done whether he's carrying a strap or not. As for the Undertaker, there's said to be a lot of concern about him backstage. I believe that he had hip surgery while he was out, some say he's had a hip replacement, and is said to be in a lot of pain. With Jeff Hardy's departure, they had to bring him back but I don't think he was ultimately ready. It would also explain why his matches with Punk have been in the 10-12 minute mark. It may be getting around the time for Taker to hang it up. Overall, I've enjoyed his matches with Punk but they haven't been what we were all expecting them to be. If he can't perform at that certain level that we've come to expect, then I think it's time.

 

[sevastra82]

One thing that bothers me is the "what was the point"? reigns. Take Cenas last reign. What was the point of it? They are just giving it back to Orton a month later. Was there really a point in that title switch? They could of easily let Orton hold it and literally nothing would have changed or progressed any differently IMO. I think these "random back/forth switches" are sometimes pointless and hurt the credibility of the guys holding the belt.

 

[D-Man]

One thing that bothers me is the "what was the point"? reigns. Take Cenas last reign. What was the point of it? They are just giving it back to Orton a month later. Was there really a point in that title switch? They could of easily let Orton hold it and literally nothing would have changed or progressed any differently IMO. I think these "random back/forth switches" are sometimes pointless and hurt the credibility of the guys holding the belt.

That's only because you overthink it. Let me explain...

Try to view this from a child's point of view. They don't over-analyze title reigns, title credibility, and the like. All they want is drama and "right-now" action. All of the kids are now saying to themselves, "Crap. Orton won again. Now we need to tune in next month to see if Cena wins the belt back." That's all... plain and simple.

The internet fans, teenagers, and 20+ year old fans always break the show down to it's thinnest components and ruin their suspention of disbelief. When I watched the match last night and didn't think of it from a smark's perspective, my jaw hit the floor when Orton won the title. That's because I didn't expect another title change to happen so quickly. Because of the fact that I viewed things from a much simpler perspective (similar to that of a child's) I was shocked and I enjoyed what transpired.

If everyone just sits back, relaxes, enjoys the show, and stops being know-it-all's, they might enjoy the product as much as I have for the past 6 months. Honestly, who gives a shit how many times the title changed hands? As long as the matches are exciting and satisfying, why does anything else really matter? No offense to you all, but that's because you're spending so much time being a smark that you forgot what it's like to be a FAN. Try that shoe on for size and see if it fits.

 

[Dropkicked]

Well pretty soon the "boy-hood dream" that Jim Ross has coined in someone winning their first world championship should only apply to the US or IC title since its the only title getting a respectible outlook.

Like someone mentioned - Jeff Hardy's boyhood dream happend 3 times very quickly. WTF!? What is the purpose. The World Titles are supposed to be something you work your whole life for. Now granted, it does take time for the E to finally give it to them with the exception of a few (Orton won his first one way to fast), but then they take it away 3 weeks later. Real nice.

The business has defenitely shifted WAAAAAY too much into the entertainment focus and even that is questionable as to who the focus is for anymore.

It really is a shame that its become so predictable and not as storied as it used to be.

 

[johnbragg]

D-MAn has it. The point was that Cena got to do his "The Champ is Here" promos. The hero-overcoming-overwhelming odds has to occassionally actually overcome the odds. On the other hand, if he always overcomes them (SuperCena) then they're not that overwhelming.

How much would the Cena detractors be moaning now if, after shrugging off Jericho and Show to beat Randy Orton on top of the Cell on Raw on Monday, and standing tall with DX and the Undertaker on Friday, he beat Randy Orton last night?

 

[Dropkicked]

dont forget they had to get the "I Didn't Quit" crap out. Suprised I haven't seen a shirt with "I Didn't Quit" on it.

 

[Junior]

i think that these 3 week reign( which cenas last 2 title reign have been...hows that make him look) is dumb....2-4 months is good but im tired of having the same people win n fighting for it....maybe once every 2-3 years someone has a 6-8 month reign but lets get some new talent please...MVP.... Swagger...dibiase...lets get these young guys in the hunt

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I don't mind it as much, although it all depends on the champion and what the situation is. For example, I am tired of seeing WWE mess up what could be a long title reign for Randy Orton. He is now a 6-time champion. His title reigns have gone from 28 days, to 20 minutes, to 6 months, a-month-and-a-half, to three months, and now his current one. I'm cool with the fact that WWE wasn't ready to give Orton a long reign when he became the youngest World Champion in history. However, what was the point of Vince McMahon and William Regal awarding Orton the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007, just to have Triple H win it 20 minutes later? Why do that if Orton would just regain the title that same night? Why would Orton lose the WWE Title at Extreme Rules, when Batista is injured, just to "injure" Batista and win the title back the next week? Why would Orton lose the WWE Championship at Breaking Point just to win it back at Hell in a Cell? These situations come to a big disadvantage to Randy Orton, and I hate it.

Now, with C.M. Punk. I never thought he made a great World Champion, and I think WWE might feel that that is also the case. However, that doesn't mean that Punk won't win the title back. The Undertaker? Being my favorite WWE superstar of all-time... I'll take a title reign from him any day. It didn't hurt Punk to drop the title to Undertaker, nor did it really elevate Undertaker.

These title switches might be annoying. But it is only done to the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship. That could be a plus or a minus, depending on how you think of it. The other champions normally have title reigns that last a few months. What WWE needs to do is pick a champion and stick with it. Randy Orton makes a great choice as WWE Champion, so does John Cena. When one of them is the champion, stick with it. The Undertaker is the perfect choice for World Heavyweight Champion. If his first fued is with Batista... have Undertaker retain. Go on to the next opponent, until C.M. Punk wins back the title.

 

[TheChampionOfTheWorld]

I really can't say I understand why they have had the title change so much in the past two years. Prior to the start of this constant title changing we had Cena hold the title for basically ever. In the process Cena was built to look incredibly stong, defeating anyone put in his path, now they are trying to give his competition credibility.

I think the WWE is trying to establish stars by having them become multi-time World Champions. There are a few guys who don't really need credibility, like Cena, Batista, HBK, Triple H, and The Undertaker. But for some of the other guys like Hardy and Punk that just don't have a championship look to them, so the WWE puts the title on them a few times then later on down the road you can promote Punk as a multi-time World Champion. It appears to give him more credibility.

I would hope that these constant changes will slow down leading up to Wrestle Mania. I for one like the idea of a long reigning champion attempting to defeat an up and comer who hasn't been able to get over the hump to become World Champion, ala Jeff Hardy with his series of matches last fall with Triple H. It leads to a feel good story and a truly memorable event. It just defeats the purpose when you have them lose a few weeks later.

If the WWE is going to have World Title changes all the time, I would be in favor of seeing the occasion champion crowned on Raw. I think they could set it up great with the whole guest host concept. Have someone who is a fan of Cena give him a match against Orton and the host stacks the deck against him and Cena wins and becomes champion. Orton then goes to the board of directors who give him a rematch at the PPV. Now I wouldn't do this very often but once in a while would be a nice change. Plus the thought that a title could change hands on Raw would help spark ratings. How often do we see World Championship Matches on free TV? Not nearly enough!