9 Vital Ways To Save WWE SmackDown

8. Make The Intercontinental Championship SmackDown Exclusive

If the rumors are to be believed, the WWE had plans to make a serious effort at revitalizing the Intercontinental Championship beginning at WrestleMania 31. This went hand-in-hand with the plan to place renewed focus on the United States Championship at the same event, a task that was accomplished rather well with John Cena's memorable performances during his reigns. Similar to the way in which John Cena championed the US Title that was heavily featured on RAW, Daniel Bryan wanted to be exclusive to SmackDown with the same idea applying to the IC Title, making that a real focal point. Unfortunately, Bryan would go down with injuries again and was forced to surrender his second singles titles in as many years. Though no one can be blamed for this poor turn of events, the right idea was to push both titles as important. SmackDown would have made, and would still make, for the perfect vehicle to promote the Intercontinental Championship. Once thought of internally as the "Workhorse's Title", the Intercontinental Championship, like any popular superstar, has many fans and a SmackDown association is one way to monetize that support. With a rich history of titleholders that includes Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Mr. Perfect, and Randy Savage, the IC Title would make for a great SmackDown exclusive, even just on a temporary basis, to help rebuild the title's standing in the eyes of the audience. While blatantly ripping off John Cena's US Open Challenge would be a bit lazy, SmackDown could feature a weekly title defense with some of the best performers in the company. I'd also be a fan of bringing back the black strap since the white trimmed gold plates don't exactly fit the current champ's heel persona, but I digress... Daniel Bryan was on the right track with his idea for the title and WWE would be wise to revisit those plans with SmackDown at the core.