Intercontinental Title

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

What?

 

RVD isn't ready for the IC belt?

 

This is the same guy that got one of the loudest pops in the history of Raw when the fans thought that he had won the undisputed title isn't it?

 

This is the same guy who has pinned Austin, Angle, Rock, Taker and Jericho right?

 

This is the same guy who is one of the most popular wrestlers in the WWF right now right?

 

It's not like he's a rookie.

 

Jericho got the IC belt 4 months after joining the WWF.

 

RVD is just as over as Jericho was and he's been around twice as long.

 

He WOULD restore credability to the IC title...hell he made fans want to watch the Hardcore title!

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Absolutely, bps. If he's not ready, I don't know who is.

[Guest Tony149]

I think RVD would be good for a HTM style IC Title run. If he was able to carry the Hardcore Title like it was the WWF Title, then he could be a good IC Champ.

[Guest Lil Naitch]

I agree with everybody in here. Regal is a decent wrestler, but his style clashes with everybody. He was better as a Commissioner who wrestled on Occassion. And speaking of devalued titles, I think Tajiri has defended the Cruiserweight title once or twice since winning it, and he is jobbed out to everybody these days. And does anybody know who holds the Euro belt?

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Well FoleyDDP, to know who the European Champion is, just look at the second half of your user name.

[Guest Tony149]

DDP holds the European Title.

[Guest WildPegasusXXII]

flat out, it goes right back to the original poster's thought...the IC champion is supposed to be the number 2 guy in the federation...I'll admit Regal shouldnt be the #2 guy, but RVD isnt the #2 guy himself. Rock, Austin, Angle, HHH, Jericho and The Undertaker are all above RVD in the heirarchy of the WWF..so one of them ought to be the IC champion.

 

Is RVD good? Yes. Do I like him? Sort of. Is he the legit #2 guy? hell no. Am I the one person being realistic about this? Probably.

 

I'm glad that none of the RVD fans on this board have booking positions in the WWF...if they did, we'd have a rehash of the WCW angle with Lance Storm holding three titles, except RVD would have a GOldberg streak, hold every single title, including the tag titles all by himself, and hold each belt for ten years, or until the WWF went out of business, whichever came first.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

I say give the belt to either Angle or Undertaker(no flames, please). Both guys are heels and building up to an RVD and/or Edge win against an actual top guy would help them in the long run. Hell, have ANgle hold the belt til SummerSlam and have one of them go over him there. It's a formula that's been proven to work, monster heel holds belt for extended period of time and then loses to up-and-coming face in the big blowoff on a major PPV.

 

It's worked before and it would work again.

[Guest gthureson]

Currently, with the NwO angle, most of the Upper-card guys should be worried about them.   Your mega-stars should be involved in the mega-angle.

 

The IC title could be used as something for your upper mid-card that won't get any rub from the NwO something to do.

 

So why not keep everybody happy with it?

 

Put the strap on RVD at Wrestlemania.   Let him run a short program with Lance Storm.   Find out once and for all if Lance can get over or not.

 

Let this program run about two months, RVD holds onto the strap all the way through, but still book Storm to come out at the end looking strong.   These matches will never be booked to be main-event matches, the NwO stuff is going to have the top three slots for the next six months likely.   But Storm/RVD could probably do very well fourth from the top, not expected to pop the buyrates, but just put on a really hot match that the crowd enjoys.

 

This will either get Storm over, or it won't.  If it doesn't, put him in the tag ranks and leave him there.

 

By the end of this 8-10 week program, Benoit should be ready to go.   Then you can run a long RVD/Benoit program.  Stick Benoit with a mouthpiece and turn him heel.   There is no room at the very top for Chris right now anyway, so have a really good IC title fued with him.   Build him towards being a top heel with his mouthpiece.   He has the look and attitude of a monster, psychotic heel.   Let him play it.   Run this program for a few months, and put the strap on Benoit at the end.

 

Then, you have the strap moving from RVD, who has held it for 4-6 months or so, to Chris Benoit, who you have been building into a legitimate Main Event heel.

 

The NwO thing should be winding down or over by that point, so RVD can either move up and challenge for the Undisputed, or some other Main Event fued.   Benoit is near the top of the card, but not expected to carry the company.  

 

Just my opinion though.

[Guest mastermind]

I fully agree about the title should go to the #2 guy or a very over person who the fans can believe to be a #2 guy. Something similar to my original post. I wouldn't have booked RVD to win the title yet personally. I think around fall this year he would cement himself as the true legit champion.

Only because the title is all messed up now with how the wwf has booked in the last couple years I say RVD should get the title. I think Kurt Angle should hold the strap personally. He's the best wrestler in the wwf besides the professional wrestling of Chris Benoit.

 

However, there is a problem with getting guys like Angle, HHH, and Jericho with the belt. They had it multiple times already, so it's no big deal if they win it again. The desire to win it the first time or to regain it is gone. I think the wwf seriously has to slow down title changes or people will get stale within a year or two. This has been proven with guys even like Rock. Yep, too most people Angle is stale. If people hold titles longer they can move up the ladder when they lose a title and move into stronger storylines.

 

Rushing things are basically done for ratings boost and the last two-three years has shown this is hurting character, storylines, and interest. Fans don't come back just because of one big angle. The proof is the 1998 version of the wwf. Fans saw Austin/Mcmahon's "fight" on RAW one week and the segment beat out Nitro's. The following week fans went back to Nitro. However, the wwf continued the solid programming and the fans stuck with it in the long run. That's what they have to do now.

 

Kurt Angle is really good, but he shouldn't have got the world title multiple times this early in the game. He is put in the position now with getting put in storylines with no belt(with stupid soap opera tones) because those are played out for him. So, we get Kane/Angle instead of Angle being a champion for a division like the I-C title. Jericho is another example. If he loses the title the only thing that would make sense for him to do is go after the world title.

 

We know the wwf has other storylines for Triple H wwf champion. So Jericho gets shifted back into stupid storylines and becomes a former champion without no motive for a belt. Go for the I-C title? Why? He has won it multiple times already. If he got the title now it would get a lot of heat and work wonders for him. Sometimes the wwf has to stick to a plan even if it seems its tanking if they know the outcome and end result will elevate someone.

 

Now I give you another problem. Edge. He isn't really over now. He has won the I-C title multiple times. What can he really do? Turn heel and go for Triple H? He loses that match or series and heads back to uppercard. No motive again for the i-c strap and then we see him in a stupid storyline like fighting for the gum of his girlfriend against Test. I think this is why the wwf has a major problem keeping fans interested.

[Guest DebilitatorX]

At WrestleMania, have RVD squash Regal in about a minute like he did on SmackDown! a few weeks ago (or like the Ultimate Warrior did Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam '89). Have him hold the I.C. gold for a FULL YEAR, defending the belt against all comers, building to RVD vs. the undisputed WWF champion at WrestleMania X-9, title vs. title. That's the only way that the WWF can put all of the Chyna, Godfather, Mountie, and Albert title reigns behind them.

[Guest JLAJRC]

The problem I have with the big stars like Austin, HHH, Rock, etc., holding the IC belt is that in many fans eyes that would be a step down the ladder. Why should we care if Rock has an IC reign because we know he has won the big prize many times. Why should he bother with the IC belt.

 

THe big problem I have with the WWF at the moment is that only RVD, Kane, Mr. Perfect, and maybe Big Show with a monsterous push are the only people I can see as future threats. No one else. The WWF title picture is getting boring with the same people all the time.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

The IC title has never been for the #2 guy.

 

It's the midcard title.

 

The Main Eventers are too big for it and it is what the midcard guys strive to acheive.

 

It's also used as a stepping stone to the Main Event.

 

A successful IC title run will get you into the ME.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

true that, i feel a protracted rvd-edge fued could do for those guys what the ic fued did for hhh and rocky.  it would elevate them both without the need for too much rub from the main eventers.

[Guest TheDames7]

I dont know, maybe its just me, but when I look back and think of the IC title's history as compared to the World title's....the IC title isn't the number 2 belt, or the midcard belt.  Well, it might be now, but what it used to mean, in my opinion, is that you were the best WRESTLER in the WWF.  

 

You guys probably think that I'm nuts.  Think about it this way, during the years of Hogan's reigns, Warrior, Slaughter, Yokozuna, etc......the IC title was on a guy who could consistently put on good WRESTLING matches.  Steamboat, Savage, Bret, HBK, etc.  If you were in contention for the World title, you were most likely involved in bullshit angles or storylines.  People earned shots at the IC title by actually wrestling and climbing the ladder.  I just find it ironic that most of the best matches on the 90's have been for the IC title.  

 

To think about what the belt means now just makes me sad.  

 

Dames

[Guest JLAJRC]

When you think about it that way, Dames is very correct.

[Guest teke184]

The IC belt has been many things, but typically it was EITHER that you were a great WRESTLER (Hart, Perfect, HBK, Savage, Steamboat) or one who could potentially DRAW (HTM, Warrior, Tito Santana, Pedro Morales).

 

Then again, that kind of died off around 1995 with the various forfeits and crappy champions.

 

Currently, the IC belt is for the RISING star.  Benoit, Jericho, and Angle have all held the belt before winning the WWF title or having a run as a main-event challenger.  That changed when HHH won the belt in April 2001, as he only had it as a prop for the 2-Man Power Trip angle.  

 

Since then, the only IC champions to be sufficiently over with the fans were Edge and Christian, although Edge has gotten worse reactions from the fans after each title switch (There may have been no ill effects from the Christian switch, but Test and Regal have killed the heat for Edge AND the IC title).  

 

Lance Storm would have been a good IC champion if the Invasion storyline had been properly handled outside of the Austin-Shane-Steph stuff.

 

Right now, the only real possibility for the IC title is a good RVD reign, as there is NO ONE else who is over enough without being a main eventer.  (The IC title is a step down for ANY main eventer.  That's why the only three WWF champions to hold the IC title AFTER winning the WWF title are Pedro Morales, HHH, and Kane, with the latter two coming in mid-2001.)

 

Jesus H. Benoit is a possibility for an IC reign later, but he's still a month or two away from a return and shouldn't be handed a belt immediately after coming back from a career-threatening injury.  Besides that, there are serious questions to whether he's remotely as over as RVD, but I'll leave that to the rest of you.  (Benoit may be God to the smarks, but the average fan doesn't give him the HUGE reaction that RVD gets even after the way the WWF has buried him over the past 5 months.)