A long, long time ago WWE treated their Championships right. Every one instantly elevated a wrestler's standing when he won it, they were defended constantly and regarded with an almost reverential importance, the Intercontinental Title especially so. Before the days of the World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental belt was seen as the company's Number 2 championship, a vital stepping stone to main event greatness. It is due to this old reverence that we insist on typing words like Championship and Title with capital letters. Sadly, today this attitude has waned, and most championships are an afterthought to feuds and competition. For instance, compare the John Cena vs Bray Wyatt feud to the current Kane vs Daniel Bryan feud. Ask yourself, in terms of emotion or stakes, does one feud feel bigger or more important than the other? No, it doesn't. But it SHOULD. In the early 2000's, the WWE Championship was fought for in many bloody encounters because it was THAT important. Stone Cold Steve Austin joined forces with his arch enemy Vince McMahon just to get that Championship, it was THAT important. Today, the WWE World Heavyweight Title doesn't have that aura, nor the Intercontinental, United States or Tag Team Titles. In fact, the only championship that was really treated as something worth having and fighting to keep was the Divas Championship when held by A.J. Lee. Surely, something has gone wrong somewhere! Fortunately, in the past few weeks, there have been signs that something is to be put right with the Intercontinental tournament. This has seen the mid-talent compete against each other for the chance to face Big E for his Championship at Extreme Rules. Already it's provided us with great matches, making Raw a joy to watch since Wrestlemania, and now we know that Big E's opponent will either be Rob Van Dam or Bad News Barrett. Whoever wins the belt at Extreme Rules, this whole tournament is reason to celebrate. Here are four reasons why...
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
