WWE: Restoring the credibility of the championships

Randy Orton

Contact sports are much different from any other type of sports, and are more dangerous, as they put the health and well being of the performers/sportsmen involved at risk.

When you take sports like boxing into consideration, there are strict rules that the boxers have to adhere to. When you talk about other contact sports such as Mixed Martial Arts, the probability of the people involved getting hurt are high, but there are certain steps which are taken into consideration for the safety of the fighters.

Although professional wrestling is seen as an “art”, the risks are much higher for someone getting gravely injured, as they get dropped on their heads far too often, and unlike the other sportsmen who put on a show only about 20 – 30 times a year, they go all out for 300 days in a calendar year!

These contact sports recognize the best athletes by putting straps on them. Whether you talk about boxing or UFC, they each have championship belts designed categorically, recognizing the best athletes in the respective divisions.

Similarly, professional wrestling has two top tier titles, representing the two best performers in the heavyweight division, along with the second tier titles for the best mid card performers. WWE has faced a lot of criticism over the past few years that the belts have lost their meaning, and need to do something to make the titles relevant once again. While that is partially true, it is also a fact that there aren’t many performers who could transcend the titles, and become bigger than the straps.

When I say become “bigger” than the straps, one has to understand that the importance of the championship is directly related to the person holding the title. In WCW, the writers and Eric Bischoff had the ingenious thought of putting the prestigious WCW Heavyweight championship on the shoulders of David Arquette, a move which is still criticized even today.

That move was seen as the death blow to the once prestigious title, and it never recovered its prominence again till the day WCW folded. The belt which once belonged to the greats such as Ric Flair, Bret Hart and Randy Savage was given to someone from Hollywood purely for marketing reasons, and that backfired, resulting in the belt being ridiculed along with the company itself.

While in the WWF, 90s was a rather interesting period. The WWF title was put on the shoulders of the likes of Ric Flair and Bret Hart, who elevated the prestige of the championship. But the one superstar who transcended the title was Stone Cold Steve Austin, who made the title look secondary!

The aura and presence of Steve Austin was much bigger than the title itself, and he gave credibility to the championship rather than the opposite happening. Today’s problem lies with the fact that there are no Austins to give credibility to the titles which have arguably lost all of their importance.