Watching WWE for so long makes me wonder about the many troubles certain titles have, depending on the storylines that is currently going on. One title that comes into mind is the WWE United States Championship. Now, just to make this clear, the title has a rich history from the NWA days and the WCW days and we are talking about the WWE version of the title.
Reactivated in 2003, the title proved to be the title that every Smackdown superstar at the time wanted to wear proudly, with Eddie Guerrero winning the title and becoming the first WWE United States Champion (having winning the WCW United States Championship when he was in WCW) and we've seen some great matches for the title and it was on par, if not just a bit more over the I.C. Championship. And I can say one time that Booker T won the United States Championship right here in my city of Reno.
But now, in 2013, I wonder what happened to the once great title with such a rich history. I have nothing against Kofi and his current reign but why have him as champion? He was just defeated in a tag team match against the Shield and he's the current champion. Antonio Cesaro held the title since Summerslam of last year and he has that power, that ability to be a great heel champion and it lasted for a long time before losing to Kofi. We haven't seen the U.S. Title held that long since Shelton Benjamin held the title back in 2008 and when MVP won it in 2007. I'm just saying that a title can become much more important when you have the right superstars and have the right amount of feuds into it. While Cesaro won matches, he also lost matches for large amounts of time and that's when you start questioning if the title means anything anymore.
When a title doesn't even have a match on Wrestlemania, you have to wonder what is going on with the title itself and if it's worth the time anymore. I can recall some really good matches in the past and people were loving the title. I even remember when John Cena won it at Wrestlemania XX and that was the first match of the night and people were on their feet. I remember when Carlito debuted and defeated John Cena and became the champion on his first night on Smackdown. We can have great matches and really good feuds if you elevate it towards the level of a true championship. But recently, it's like the title doesn't exist sometimes.
And what about our I.C. Championship? What about Wade Barrett? Nothing against Barrett but again, I questioned what happened after Wrestlemania. Miz won the title before the actual show and then, the next night, lose it back to Barrett. I grew up for thirteen years with the very title Barrett holds right now and yet this is what we are getting? Some great matches for the title was held during my time. Who could forget when Eddie Guerrero came back in 2002 and had a great feud with RVD for the title? We had some great matches for the title and Cody Rhodes brought back the old school white strap title design when he felt that the title didn't mean anything anymore. But is that really the case now?
I can remember a time when the I.C. Title was a sign that a superstar is that good enough to be the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Some of the best of the business held the title would go on to at least win one of the major titles. But really, it comes down to who is holding it and how good they make the title. Barrett has the talent but people find him bland to what he promised he would do and again suffered much how Cesaro suffered when he was U.S. Champion in where he would lose his matches as well. Long strands of matches lost. When WWE came to my city back in October, Barrett got a decent reaction and that was before he won the title two months later. A heel needs to win matches, not lose them every show they appear on. What's the point of a champion if you continue to lose the matches your in?
In short, both titles have a great history with some of the greatest matches in WWE history. But now, it seems that both titles need some kick start once again and it takes that right superstar to kick the title back into a place where people will cheer again. While both (currently) Kingston and Barrett are good, you have to have that right person to hold the title and see it become that much better. If we had Cesaro hold on to the title, who knows what could've happened after that. But after what we've seen with Langston and even Ambrose, could we see a change with the title picture for the U.S. Championship? And what about Barrett? Who will step up to face and take down Barrett next to cement their legacy for the title? I just hope that we can save the legacy of both the United States and the Intercontinental Championship.
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