WWE: The Irrelevance of Mid-Card Championships

In recent months, the WWE hasn’t done a great job of boosting the relevance of the Intercontinental or the United States Championship; which questions if either are needed.

Once upon a time in the WWE, the Intercontinental Championship was held by men who were just as popular as the men holding the world championship – “Macho Man” Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior and Razor Ramon. In the past year, there have been some questionable names to claim the prize like Luke Harper, Ryback and currently the Miz.

It’s a shame really, but it starts to bring to question if there are too many championships for singles wrestlers. The point of having championship belts like the Intercontinental Championship was to use it to develop the next generation of main event superstars in the WWE. It looked like we were going to start seeing that leading into WrestleMania with matches involving Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose.

More wwe: WrestleMania 33 Match Card Projections

However, the Intercontinental Championship fell to Zach Ryder, who then lost the belt one night later to the Miz. While it’s not necessarily a bad move for Ryder to have the belt – especially considering he is one of the hardest working and dedicated men in the company – the win at WrestleMania felt pointless if he was going to end up being a transitional champion.

That sort of booking makes the championship feel like it’s being passed like a hot potato and probably will continue depending on what happens in the current feud between the Miz and Cesaro.

More from WWE

• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline
• WWE and AEW will put on a full court press for Kazuchika Okada in 2024
• The Judgment Day is the top faction story in WWE
• Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley is perfect for WWE Royal Rumble 2024

The same goes for the United States Championship that had some importance with John Cena having the open challenge on a weekly basis and then going to Alberto Del Rio. However, it seems like the red, white and blue belt has not really been carried with the same momentum with Kalisto holding it. Long gone are the days when the United States Championship had great feuds involving guys like Eddie Guerrero, Booker T and that guy the WWE doesn’t want you to remember.

The worst part of how the United States Championship is handled is that there currently isn’t any storyline revolving the title. It’s just there, like the participation trophy. Sure, the belt has plenty of history that dates back to the days in the NWA. But you have to start asking when the last time was that any of us were really excited about seeing who would win that belt at a pay-per-view event.

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

While the matches between Kalisto and Del Rio were good, it was booked too many times and just felt overdone. It also doesn’t help the credibility of the belt when the current champion Kalisto was involved in the Tag Team Championship tournament and we haven’t heard much about who his next challenger is going to be.

Maybe the WWE should consider having the championships merged together since it’s obvious the creative team isn’t worried about elevating the mid-card championships. The WWE really only needs to have one mid-card championship, but the need for having even just one is questionable when neither one has really been given a feeling of importance.

Related Story: Analyzing Baron Corbin's Potential in WWE

If either title goes away, will anyone care? Or will they just end up withering away as the attention remains on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, along with feuds here and there?