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| By next Sunday night, maybe it won't be...we can only hope. |
It's the glass half empty or half full type of perspective: the two can bring an upgraded credibility to the titles that have become below mediocre at best in terms of prestige, or it can be viewed as how the mighty have fallen (due to the booking of WWE).
I tried to recall the most memorable Intercontinental title match I truly enjoyed and have thought about from time to time. I came up with Triple H vs The Rock from SummerSlam 1998.
For the United States Championship, that match was John Cena vs Big Show from WrestleMania XX in 2004.
Granted, there probably have been five star matches since then for those respective titles, and maybe I don't remember each pay-per-view as much as the next hardcore fan, but I've probably missed a handful of SmackDown episodes since it debuted in 1999 and might've missed one Raw since I started watching in the summer of 1997.
With that being said, those two titles haven't had any major relevance in more than a decade.
Life is all about timing and with respect to the Divas Championship, the timing in WWE for the top three titles to come together nicely might happen on the night of March 29th.
The hot rumor this week is that Brock Lesnar may be signing an extension with WWE and if that is the case, Lesnar will hang onto the title and continue to make his sporadic television appearances.
There are those who have complained that the champion needs to show up on a weekly basis, but since Lesnar became champ in the summer of 2014, the product hasn't suffered due to his lack of attendance. The artist formerly known as "The Next Big Thing" has become must-see WWE TV any time he appears. The same can't be said for anybody else on the roster, because we've see them over and over and over.
If that's the case, Bryan and Cena can make the IC and US titles the focal points for storylines and can drive the ship whether the world champion is present or absent.
Two of their top draws can reign from the top of their mountains and the wrestlers who are waiting in main event purgatory can chase the two top guns.
Hate him or love him, when Cena is there, it's a big deal. If he carries the United States Championship, it is now a big deal. If someone like Jack Swagger (who Cena is basically portraying as he fights Rusev) holds onto the title, then wow, there's still a United States title? With Cena as the champion, though, I'm leaning forward and interested.
Give the Intercontinental Championship to Dolph Ziggler again, he'll probably fizzle out like he has before. Give it to Dean Ambrose, he'll be pigeon-holed into IC level status for another two years. Bryan holds the title, I'm invested now.
The titles need Daniel Bryan and John Cena more than they need the titles.
These belts are so obsolete, they aren't even defended at every pay-per-view. Even wrestling fans who watch every week have trouble telling you who holds the belt. I would even guess half the people reading this article right now can't tell you who held the titles before Bad News Barrett and Rusev.
Without looking it up, I'm going to guess Ziggler and Jack Swagger. (One out of two ain't bad...Rusev beat Sheamus in a post-Raw match exclusively on WWE Network.)
These two belts should be used to catapult wrestlers to the main event level. Wrestlers like Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Triple H, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, and Jeff Hardy all used their momentum after winning the Intercontinental title by becoming world champions afterward.
We've had enough of Kofi Kingston, Wade Barrett, Curtis Axel and Big E holding the second and third most important titles in WWE.
WrestleMania could be the opportunity of a lifetime to bring the United States and Intercontinental Championship back to prominence. We can only hope to speak of the ladder match like how Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X changed the foundation of wrestling.
A John Cena win vs Rusev may not change history, but it could definitely help pave the way for not only Rusev, but other wrestlers who are struggling to reach the top.
The Mount Rushmore of champions in the WWE could be Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan and John Cena—a pretty impressive trio and arguably the strongest star power of three top wrestlers holding titles since the late 90s.
Then, the titles will all get the reaction they truly deserve, and piped in crowd noise won't be needed.
SIDE NOTE: I will be attending Raw on Monday as well as WrestleMania, and the Raw after that. Please follow me on Twitter by clicking on the link below for live up to date pictures and other musings.
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