For decades, whoever was champion of a territory was recognized as the best wrestler in that promotion. Maybe he was fantastic in the ring or drew tons of money but, either way, he was the man. Soon after, more titles started appearing to allow shows to seem important when the world champion wasn't on the card. The Intercontinental title, North American title, US title, and tag team titles were all created to give matches importance. Title matches were saved for big events and title changes were rare. The longer a wrestler held a title, the more important and prestigious the title became. Bruno Sammartino held the WWF world title for an eternity, the NWA title drew huge crowds all over the country, and secondary title matches headlined shows successfully. However, with the Monday Night Wars starting, title changes became a way to pop a quick rating. Instead of saving world title matches for pay-per-view, main event quality matches were being given away on free television. Even worse, world title changes were happening on free TV and sometimes the reigns would only last a week. WCW was king of hotshotting angles without thinking about ramifications. They presented a much-anticipated Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan match from the Georgia Dome and gave it away for free on Nitro just so they could win the ratings war that week. They flushed millions down the toilet just to pop a cheap rating. Don't forget about the time David Arquette won the WCW world title. The D-list actor actually told Vince Russo he didn't want to win the title because he was a wrestling fan and realized it was a terrible idea. However, Russo is nothing but persistent and still maintains to this day that it was a good idea. To his credit, Arquette donated his entire salary to the family of Owen Hart. The business has changed with the launch of the WWE Network. WWE has killed its own pay-per-view business overnight and now pay-per-views are basically Sunday Night Raw, The same matches are being presented and titles are being passed around like they are pieces of plastic instead of prestigious titles. The Intercontinental title used to be a stepping stone to the world title. Today, it's a belt that jobbers wear while they lose in the second hour of Raw. Titles lend credibility to the wrestlers who hold them if they are booked properly. Like WCW years before, WWE is in danger of killing off their own titles through their own incompetence,
