Brand Battle No. 2: The Midcard Title Scene

Note to Readers:

Welcome back to the TNA vs. WWE Brand Battle brought to you by Bleacher Report’s own Demetrus Stokes and Adam Testa.

It’s been a while, so if you forgot how this competition works, here’s a refresher course.

Through the poll on this article, you will select who makes the better argument for his respective company. Demetrus represents WWE, while Adam represents TNA.

Remember, you are voting for the better argument, not which company you believe is actually superior in this area.

In the first round of competition, Demetrus crushed Adam by a vote total of 21-9. Being the TNA conspiracy theorist he is, Adam’s looking for all the blind haters who just pushed the WWE button.

Anyway, let’s get the ball back rolling with the second installment of this Brand Battle, one in which Demetrus and Adam will debate the mid-card title scenes of professional wrestling’s two major competitors.

Adam’s Case for TNA:

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling separates itself from its competition by not having a true mid-card title.

Stars in World Wrestling Entertainment build themselves and test their championship caliber by holding the Intercontinental or U.S. titles, but stars in TNA have to prove their worth without the benefits of a mid-card title.

One would likely be hard pressed to find someone who could honestly say that holding a belt like the two aforementioned ones automatically gains a wrestler either popularity (for babyface characters) or heat (for the heels).

Stars in TNA, for the most part, must build the credentials themselves without the easy route of adding gold around their shoulder. This forces the superstars to grow their skills and their talent rather than using a mid-card title as a crutch.

The closest thing TNA has to a mid-card title is the X Division Championship. But, many future world champions don’t fit the “no limits” characteristics of that division’s championship.

Breakout stars like James Storm and Hernandez would look out of place with the X Division title around their waist, though stars like Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle proved they could live up to the slogan, “It’s not about weight limits, it’s about no limits.”

While the X Division title has helped develop past, and likely future, world champions like A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, it cannot be used as the only evaluating factor of TNA’s mid-card scene.

The company is also sitting on gold with the Legends Championship.

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