In the early days of this website, Jon Potter made an editorial discussing the concept of a Hardcore Championship being resurrected. People had varying opinions, some believing WWE needs to focus on the championships they already have. While I think this is definitely a fair point, I think WWE has done wonders with both the Intercontinental and United States Championships in the past year and thanks to popular acts like The New Day, Usos, etc. I’d say the same for the tag division.
While other championships might not be absolutely necessary, I do think they could offer some positives. The proposed Hardcore Championship offers a lot of positives already outlined, however for an alternative idea I believe we should have a television championship made directly for WWE Network programs.
Superstars and Main Event are fun programs that are overlooked. I discuss both at length on this site, specifically Superstars due to the delay Main Event is on. However, it is well known that both shows are often ignored by fans simply because they are perceived as being unimportant. That criticism isn’t exactly unfounded either. While the shows offer entertaining matches with talent less frequently seen, neither is ground breaking in terms of stories being told and oftentimes just plain lack any stories whatsoever.
So why not add something to make the episodes stand out more? By adding a WWE Network Championship or what have you, it gives a story for every show. It gives people a reason to watch every single episode. It even offers a sense of continuity between Main Event and Superstars with the champion possibly defending on both shows. In a perfect world, I’d probably have the title defended every single episode. It would offer something completely different. It wouldn’t need huge praise or focus, just a workers title for people underused or not utilized.
I firmly believe the Hardcore Championship concept could work just as well, and even more so if you capitalize on the 24-7 gimmick and add in random defenses unexpectedly on the live stream. However for those not into the hardcore style, or for those who want to make these two shows stand out more, I believe this could offer a viable solution to those who feel the shows aren’t worth checking out.
Ideas like this do come with questions and complications. However, I believe most are easy to work around. The biggest issue however is the Main Event delay. This causes a serious damper if titles change hands regularly as most won’t see it until weeks later. The only real way around this would be to wait until the delay is gone, or more likely, keep it primarily on Superstars at first.
Really though, I think this could be great for talent like Bo Dallas, Heath Slater, Damien Sandow, and even some bigger names like Neville, Tyler Breeze, and Stardust who seem to struggle with a regular push or struggle with getting adequate time each week. Imagine a guy like Neville getting 10-15 minute matches every week with a title to give it some value? The matches would be excellent and they might even feel important.
So what do you think? Would a championship regularly changing hands and being defended on these shows make you more interested? Would you be more inclined to give these shows a chance? If not, what alternatives would you suggest? Be sure to speak out and let us know in the comments section.
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