WWE WrestleMania 28: How the WHC and Every Other Title Have Been Affected

After the opening match at WrestleMania 28 between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus for the world heavyweight championship was over in a total of one move and 18 seconds, many have been left feeling that the title has been devalued on the grandest stage of them all. 

Was this the only title to have been left feeling uncared for and unappreciated, though? Lets find out. Here’s a look at how each of the six titles has been affected by this year's showcase of the immortals.

World Heavyweight Championship

We’ll start in the same way that WrestleMania 28 began—with the world heavyweight championship.

Using the WHC match to open the show doesn’t really devalue the title, it only reinforces what is already known about its position in relation to the WWE championship.

It is an accepted fact that the WHC is the second of the top two titles in WWE, and opening with a defence of one of the top two titles is a good way to instantly grab the audience’s attention.

This match, though, did more than just tell us what we already knew; it left the title feeling close to meaningless. I wouldn’t dream of claiming it’s been left at its lowest point, but then again, that’s mainly thanks to David Arquette having held the belt.

There was genuine excitement from the audience to see a match between these two superstars, but instead we got to see a kiss and a kick and were expected to enjoy it.

What was the point in having those champion vs. champion matches in which Bryan, and consequently the WHC, were shown as equal to CM Punk and the WWE championship?

In 18 seconds, WWE destroyed any good work it had put into building the value of the WHC, and it has left the title feeling irrelevant.

WWE Tag Team Championship

Whilst those watching on TV didn’t get to see it (it was aired live on youtube/facebook/wwe.com though, and is still available to watch), there was a WWE tag team titles match at WrestleMania.

It was the dark match of the event, and that’s a big shame considering who was involved.

This would have been a really welcome addition to the televised card with the exciting talents of Primo and Epico, The Usos and Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd on show.

The tag team belts have been on life support for a long time now, and were probably lucky to even get this.

There is some hope to take from it, though, as two out of the three teams involved were genuine tag-teams, rather than two guys at a loose end. This hopefully indicates that WWE may be slowly and quietly building an actual tag team division to make these belts relevant again.

That is to take a positive look at the situation, though.

There’s no "maybe" involved in the the fact that the placement of this match confirms that, currently, the tag team belts and division as a whole aren’t valued particularly highly by WWE.

Divas Championship

This title has been sharing the same ward as the WWE tag team championship for a while now, though arguably in a more critical condition.

While the title is being held by a woman who is a genuinely talented wrestler, Phoenix is rarely given time, a worthy opponent or a storyline of any significance.

She has quite rightly been shown as by far the strongest in a fairly desolate landscape, though, squashing every opponent in her way and just waiting for the return of Kharma.

Until last night, that is. Without the title on the line, Beth Phoenix, the women who has been running through everything in her path, was pinned for the three count.

Not by a wrestler, but by a celebrity…who has two broken ribs.

If there was any life left in a title that, before Phoenix’s reign, was an accessory to be passed between models to help boost views of photo shoots, there may not be any longer.

United States Championship

In the same way the Divas champion was performing, but the title itself was not on the line at WrestleMania, Santino Marella was involved in a match, but the U.S. championship was not.

While the championship being held by a novelty act can have the effect of devaluing the title to an extent, not having it involved at WrestleMania just disrespects it.

It sends out a clear message, and this message is that WWE doesn’t hold this title in high enough regard to have it involved in the biggest event of the year.

The title will probably come back into focus following the victory of Team Johnny, with Mr. Laurinaitis most likely quite keen to get it from Marella’s waist. This kind of angle will do little for the value of the title either, though.

Intercontinental Championship

This was one title that probably came out of WrestleMania in a better state than it went in.

The storyline between Cody Rhodes and Big Show was given a lot more TV time in the weeks prior to WestleMania than the majority of IC title feuds get.

This, combined with the fact that the belt was being held by a star whom many consider a future top-title-holder, and that his rival had just dropped down from the main event picture, made the feud feel worthwhile, and the title important.

The match itself probably didn’t do as much for the belt as it could have, with Big Show taking the win in a fairly easy fashion, but overall, the intercontinental championship has come out of WrestleMania feeling like it means something.

WWE Championship

This is the biggest title in WWE. It’s the top prize and should indicate that its holder is the top star of the company.

In a matchup that felt a little confused by the involvement of the family issues bought up by Jericho and the last-minute removal of Punk’s “champions advantage”, it was ultimately a battle for the title of “best in the world”.

CM Punk finished with the title, and with this tag attached to it.

On the surface, this feud has been great for the value of the title in the way it has made this link such a strong one.

There is a problem, though: it came second to The Rock vs. John Cena, which took the main-event.

While there is no way that WWE was ever going to have The Rock’s in-ring return to WrestleMania anywhere other than in the main event, it did leave the title playing second fiddle.

There is also the issue that The Rock claimed that it was Cena he had to beat to secure his legacy as the greatest of all time. Something he succeeded in doing. Does this not leave both The Rock and Cena sitting above CM Punk?

Whilst these issues add some confusion, the Punk vs. Jericho match still felt like it put a lot of value in the WWE Championship.

So There You Have It...

On a night that will be remembered mostly for two matches that were entirely removed from any title picture, WrestleMania 28 didn’t exactly impart a great deal's worth onto the majority of the titles.

While we were only reminded of the irrelevance of some of the championship belts, others were actively harmed, none more so than the world heavyweight championship.

WrestleMania itself was memorable, but it may not have a done a huge amount of good for the company going forward, having left many titles feeling a little worthless.