Concluding what is considered to be one of WWE’s top four
pay-per-views of the year, last Sunday’s Survivor
Series received a lackluster reception by the WWE Universe. The only buzz
worthy news from the event was what transpired at the end of the night. WWE
Champion, Randy Orton and World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena staring each
other down in the center of the ring, planting the seed for a potential champion
versus champion match in the near future. The following night at Monday Night Raw it was made official,
the match will take place less than three weeks away at Tables, Ladders and Chairs
(TLC). The news of the top two titles
entering into one championship match has drawn a variety of emotions from fans
including and not limited to excitement, anger and confusion. With the WWE
seriously considering unifying its top two titles into one, many questions need
to be answered regarding the scheduling of the roster for televised shows, live
events and pay-per-views.
From a business standpoint there are two sides to the title
unification argument. On the positive
side, combining the WWE and World Heavyweight belts would tighten up storylines;
make the title picture more concise and the single championship would be
considered the highest achievement in professional wrestling. The WWE roster is
quite large at the moment, but realistically has only four legitimate title contenders.
The two current champions, Randy Orton, John Cena along with Indy beloveds
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk at this point are the only qualified superstars with the
experience and ability to successfully carry the main strap as the face of the
company. It is believed that younger, mid card talent would find themselves in
much more fruitful, entertaining and clear-cut feuds with equal caliber
competitors. This would create a major
divide in WWE’s large roster between the mid-card and main event. Furthermore, by stiffening the competition we
could expect to see more exciting matches between the younger talent hoping to
get a push to the next level.
Even though the unification of the two titles has been
talked about over the past decade, the main reason why WWE executives haven’t
moved forward on this concept is because of WWE’s
traveling schedule. Due to the fact of there being two separate World
Champions, WWE has been able to promote two separate tours at all times. Therefore,
if the WWE Champ isn’t in the building you can bet on the World Heavyweight
Champion being there. Ratings may improve for Raw, Smackdown and buy rates may
improve for PPV’s, but an important financial obstacle the WWE will encounter
with only one champion is ticket sales for smaller house shows. Due to WWE’s
intense travel schedule the company will lose out on sales for non-televised
events as the WWE champion will not be able to appear at every single show. A
constant flow of ticket and merchandise sales from these smaller shows have
been a guarantee for the WWE, but without a champion at a show, ticket sales
can be sure to decline.
Even if this unification does happen, it will unlikely
happen at TLC. There will possibly be a
bait and switch of some type, with Cena leaving as WWE champ, while Orton takes
the World Heavyweight Championship home.
We are just over four months out from WrestleMania, WWE’s biggest event of the year. WrestleMania grossed over $72 million last year from Giants Stadium
and odds are that sales will exceed that number next April at the 30th
edition of WrestleMania in New Orleans. Don’t be surprised if WWE teases us
by building anticipation over the next few months leading up to WrestleMania as to who will finally be
the best in the business.
Would you like to see one Champion for the entire brand or
keep the titles separate?
