5 reasons why WWE should merge the Raw and SmackDown Live titles at SummerSlam 2019
Five weeks on from WrestleMania 35, it feels like there is more scrutiny on WWE’s storylines right now than ever before.
The 2019 Superstar Shake-Up has been the biggest talking point over the last month, as many Superstars have continued to switch brands since the roster changes were supposedly finalised over two nights on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live.
There has also been a lot of debate around WWE’s main-roster championships after the Title vs. Title match between Universal champion Seth Rollins and WWE champion Kofi Kingston on the Raw after WrestleMania was brought to an abrupt end following interference from The Bar.
With 10 titles potentially up for grabs on every pay-per-view, it feels like there are far too many championships to be won and lost on WWE television at the moment, and title changes are beginning to lose their importance as a result.
In this article, let’s take a look at five reasons why WWE should consider merging the Raw titles (Universal, United States, Raw Tag Team, Raw Women’s) and the SmackDown Live titles (WWE, Intercontinental, SmackDown Tag Team, SmackDown Women’s) at the SummerSlam 2019 pay-per-view on August 11.
#5 Quality title storylines over quantity
Looking through the current main-roster titles, it is clear that WWE focuses on four of them – the Universal Championship, WWE Championship and both Women’s Championships – and the storylines involving the secondary titles, as well as the tag titles, are not treated as a priority.
If WWE were to merge the Universal Championship with the WWE Championship, there would be one definitive male champion and nobody could argue over whether the holder of the Raw or SmackDown Live title was more worthy than the other.
The same goes further down the card, where an Intercontinental Championship-United States Championship merger would almost certainly result in WWE treating the title(s) as more of a priority, rather than swapping the champions on a monthly basis just to give fans a title change.
The male tag titles merging together hardly even needs an explanation. Neither set of titles feel meaningful and the SmackDown Live tag division has been decimated by the Shake-Up, so why not put the titles together and go down the same route as the Women’s Tag Team titles?
As for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships, Becky Lynch has made the titles more relevant than ever by holding them both at the same time, which just goes to show that this idea of merging titles can definitely work.