Unification: Are we turning a corner?

Despite it being last month that the WWE unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships, I thought with the Royal Rumble approaching it was about the right time to give my thoughts on the unification.

To start with I just wanted to share my problems with the unification... three things really bothered me going into the match and since...

Firstly, the amount of time they gave to build the 'most important match in WWE history'. Three weeks. That's how much time you give to this type of match (which, if it's that important, why are you having it under TL-f*cking-C rules??!). Luckily, they had two guys (Cena and Orton) who were competent enough to sell the match with that much time until the PPV. Along with the history-video-packages, they did a nice job.

The second problem I had was with how 'prestigious' the World Heavyweight Championship was going into the match. Now that the match is over, it doesn't really matter that it was completely worthless for as long as I can remember; it just gets added to the pile of stuff that happened and is forgotten about, thus letting WWE off for the poor job that they've done with the title all this time. As I've said in a previous article; I LOVE how Michael Cole repeatedly says that the World Title is 'prestigious' and we're meant to listen and eat that crap until it tastes good. The biggest problem with this World Heavyweight Championship is that it is NOT the World Heavyweight Championship that they are claiming it is, which leads me to my third problem...

Chris Jericho was the first Undisputed Champion in December 2001. This happened. I have proof... and yet this has been completely overlooked (apart from an explanation from Michael Cole on an episode of Smackdown where he made reference to it and gave more fuel to the argument's fire). When Jericho unified the WWF and WCW Championships, the newly created 'Undisputed Championship' swallowed the lineage of both titles. The 2002 reintroduction of the World Title was therefore a new title that looked freakishly like the 'big gold belt' from WCW's run (weird, eh?) but would have its own path now.

See! PROOF!!

I also got to thinking that back in 2001, Austin, Rock, Jericho and Angle - the four biggest stars at that time - sold that mini-tournament (along with bosses Vince and Flair (16 time World Champion)) on their own... The 2013 unification match had an ensemble of former World Champions in the ring such as Jack Swagger, Christian and Rey Mysterio - what an embarrassment in comparison.

Luckily, WWE have chosen their words wisely and the title is now called the WWE World Heavyweight Championship - which, I suppose, they can rightly call Randy Orton the FIRST ever holder of.

Now before this spins off into a huge negative rant of what I didn't like about the unification match build, the point of this article is to explore the future and the possibilities that can stem from having only ONE unified champion in WWE.

I think it is a great move provided the WWE gives it the proper attention needed to make it the biggest prize available to WWE Superstars. The same can now be said for the Intercontinental Championship, which should surely be held in a higher regard now.

Intercontinental Championship

With the World Heavyweight Championship unified, it should now be the job of the Intercontinental Championship to be the stepping stone on your way to the main event (as the case always used to be). This should never have been the job of the World Heavyweight Championship in any case: if you hold the World Championship it shouldn't be your test to see if you can then hold the WWE Championship. This is where WWE went wrong with this belt and its decline in prestige was inevitable.

Big E Langston is the current IC Champion and things already seem to be heading in the right direction. He is a strong champion already (only having the title for a matter of weeks). He has had stand-out matches with Damien Sandow and Fandango in his run so far and they have been different from the norm; he has been challenged and tested; it hasn't simply been a walk in the park. He has had to earn his wins; and they have been clean wins. The only downsides to these matches are that a regular program hasn't come from these matches. Despite him defeating Damien Sandow, I felt that a series of matches/feud could've happened to elevate both guys, and the title, further. We'll see as time passes, I suppose...

A clear division is also coming together, too. As I said earlier, with one World Champion on the show, the mid-card title has now got a purpose and a more obvious spot on the show. With this being the case, a group of contenders are vital and I believe that this has been thought about and put together nicely in the last few weeks. Big E (Champion) has already taken on two worthy opponents in Sandow and Fandango. Tied in with those guys is Dolph Ziggler - who, let's face it, with one World Champion about is going to have to earn his stripes all over again to be considered for the main event. WWE also attempted to raise the stock of both Kofi Kingston and The Miz. I think with The Miz' motivation and face/heel dynamic being unclear here, it hurt their program and it didn't pan out as they had hoped. Both guys are kind of back to the drawing board again.

Needed Returns

I did an article a few months ago on the Unneeded Returns of RVD and Christian. As it stands, I was right to say that they were short-term, who-gives-a-f*ck returns as both guys were never really given the ball to run with in their respective WWE/WHC quests.

On the other hand, with Wrestlemania season getting under way, we're going to get some welcome returns, short-term or otherwise. Brock Lesnar made his return this past week on Raw and looked dominant as soon as he walked out. This is the thing I love about Brock; he legitimately looks mean, angry and like he could kill you at any given moment. There just isn't ANYONE around that is like that. He comes back and takes out the biggest hero of the day - that's why it's so easy and natural to hate him. Brock is a straight-up bully; this is how a heel should be.

Seriously, would you f*ck with this guy?

The other upcoming return is that of Batista. Again, he is a presence and someone that you can believe will kick ass from the outset. He'll also seem like a fresh face when he comes back as he's been gone long enough that things have moved along; there are endless opportunities and matches that he hasn't had yet. He is also a multi-time World Champion, with reigns that had worth to them.

...or this one?

The thing that both of these guys have got in common is that being former World Champions mean that they can be inserted into the World Title picture as soon as is needed. This is because they are some of the last group to have a major push - that was 8-10 years ago and things have drastically changed since then. Thinking about this earlier, it dawned on me that this just shows what can happen when WWE does have faith in a particular talent; Brock was gone for 8 years and came back and was a dominant force from the get-go. Somehow, I don't think that Batista will be coming back for a US title match either...

Contenders

The Intercontinental title picture is coming together nicely (at least at the moment, anyway!) and it looks as if the WWE World Title picture is taking shape, too; we have Orton and Cena at the top of the pile. Brock is back and has stated his ambition to win the title. Batista will be coming back and is pencilled in to win the Royal Rumble. If he stays around long-term then he'll probably be in title matches more often than not. Along with Punk and Bryan on the fringes, that's six guys (five when Brock leaves for months at a time) that can realistically lay claim to the biggest prize. This is how it should be.

With this said, the WWE's divisions don't look in bad shape. I don't think we'll see it right away, but in the coming months a clearer picture will become apparent where the ONE WWE World Heavyweight Champion will have its worthy contenders, the IC title will have its contenders and the Tag Team division will also see more traditional teams trade the belts (once the Rhodes brothers go their separate ways).

The Winner of the Royal Rumble match...

Another element that has a chance to regain its prestige (hey Cole, there's that word again?!) is the Royal Rumble winner. I think that over the last decade, the Royal Rumble winner hasn't been as big a deal as it should've been. Whenever the winner has challenged for a title (usually the World Heavyweight Championship) and then had their match in a less-than-flattering stage of the Wrestlemania card, it has diluted the point and worth of winning the Royal Rumble.

With the Rumble winner now being in the position that they will challenge ONE World Champion, it will become a bigger deal and, similarly to if there were only the one Money in the Bank winner, that particular wrestler will be seen as a bigger deal and (hopefully) taken more seriously - with a view to becoming a - or the next - star.

Ah, a logo from the good ol' days...

Things are looking brighter - Wrestlemania season, and the near future, looks intriguing!

@jimmosangle