WWE Is Devaluing Championships with Poor PPV Booking

Survivor Series is supposed to be one of the biggest events of the year. It's the second-longest running show behind WrestleMania, and it's considered one of the "Big four" pay-per-views.

Right now, it doesn't exactly feel like a special event. While not featuring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is part of the problem, the biggest issue is with how every title is being booked for the show.

Both the Intercontinental and United States Championships are tied up in the main event Elimination Match, which means, like the WWE WHC, they will not be defended.

All three major singles titles don't have to be on the line at every PPV, but at least one of them should be. The way things are currently playing out means the most we will see is a Tag title match and a Divas title match at SS.

Let's get this out of the way: Championships don't mean as much as they used to. We all know that the people in charge put them on whomever they want, but they used to represent something greater.

The IC and U.S. titles used to be on guys who were building momentum and needed a little boost to their push, or they were put on the wrestlers who went out and had the best matches every single night.

They were known as the workhorse belts when wrestlers like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Razor Ramon held them. Now they feel like minor tools to help a storyline or keep someone busy who should be competing for the World title.

Title defenses used to be exciting because you never quite knew who would walk out with the gold if the storyline was booked right.

Having a PPV without any singles titles on the line other than the Divas Championship really shows just how little these belts mean anymore, and WWE is making the situation worse.

Dolph Ziggler and Rusev don't have to be on Team Cena and Team Authority. They might be good additions to the match, but they should be defending their belts.

WWE commentators have been repeatedly calling the IC title the most prestigious championship in WWE to help mask Brock Lesnar's absence, but it's not going to work if the champion doesn't defend his title on what is supposed to be one of the biggest shows of the year.

It was a risky move to put the one and only World title on a guy who would be missing multiple PPVs in a row, but it almost seems like the WWE is trying to make matters worse by keeping the other champions from defending their titles.

Here's a solution that helps everyone. Why not have both Rusev and Ziggler defend their titles in separate bouts and be part of the big main event? It gives them double the exposure and makes them look like worthy champions by wrestling twice in one night.

It even makes sense that Triple H would punish Ziggler by making him defend his title and be involved in the main event with how he has been treated by The Authority recently.

Rusev and Ziggler need PPV victories because it helps legitimize their runs as champion. Ziggler has had some outstanding matches as champion, but his overall reign is being made less important by how WWE is treating all its championships.

Sheamus had what might be considered the worst run as U.S. champion in decades because he was never in a real feud over the title until he took on the man who beat him for it just days ago.

Random title defenses against opponents who don't believably deserve a title shot won't help anyone. There should always be somebody pursuing the title, and it should be somebody who wasn't just on the receiving end of a loss.

How many times have you seen someone inexplicably receive a shot at someone's belt? It happens all the time. The top contenders used to be guys who were on hot streaks, but now it's just whoever has nothing better to do.

Rusev winning the United States title actually makes sense because he is undefeated by pin or submission and he has gone through numerous former World champions since he debuted like Big Show, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and now Sheamus.

However, not defending the title on his first PPV as champion makes his recent win less special. Sheamus should have had his rematch at Survivor Series so Rusev could prove he was worthy of the title on a bigger stage than Raw.

Even though the Tag and Divas Championships will have more spotlight as the only titles being defended, they are still brought down by the fact that WWE is making all its titles look weak.

Even the NXT title scene feels more compelling because the champions are booked to look strong, and getting a shot at a championship really means something for these men and women.

It's not impossible to rebuild the prestige WWE titles once had, but it's going to take more than a few good matches. It's going to take long-term planning to make any real progress in restoring the glory of being a champion.

What do you think? Has WWE booked its own titles into being nothing more than token prizes? Is there any good way to salvage the worth of being a champion in WWE?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.