WWE Championship Belts: A Tale of Two Titles

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity." - Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.

So, the WWE's 2011 Hell in a Cell PPV has come and gone.  Lessons have been learned, some future directions laid bare and more questions and answers have come and gone. 

However, let me paint a picture for you in regards to the WWE's respect of their two top titles, the WWE Championship and the Heavyweight Championship. 

The Epoch of Belief

Since coming over to the "Blue" brand, Randy Orton has been a dominant force.  He defeated the newly crowned champion Christian, who grew frustrated with his inability to pin The Viper.  This led to a great feud, arguably the best of the year, between the two men.  

Orton had two successful title defenses in that span and regained the title after a loss inflicted by Christian, who capitalized on the rules that were available to him.  Although sneaky, it was believable.  The blow-off to the feud was an excellent No Holds Barred match, where Orton proved Christian was not on his level. 

Though some of us (okay, a lot of us) weren't very happy that Orton went over Christian, most agreed that the feud was very well done with some classic moments, great matches and Christians' apparent elevation as a Main Event talent.   

The Rise of "Monster" Mark Henry was also in full swing at this point, and created yet another challenger for Orton.  As an unstoppable Monster, Mark Henry had stepped up his game in every way, putting together a suitable gimmick, great microphone work and wicked credibility in the ring with victories over the Big Show, Kane and Sheamus.  It was certainly enough to justify a title shot.

At Night of Champions in Buffalo, Henry capitalized fully on that opportunity and defeated the Viper via pinfall. And, later, he defended his newly won title against the same, settling all doubts about his claim to the throne. 

The Viper, the former champion, grew more and more frustrated.  He had done his level headed best to defeat the Strong Man from Texas.  Perhaps it was time to do away with that "level head."  Maybe it was time that he embraced "the voices" he quietly tried to put to rest. 

In the mean time, a second challenger arose in the form of a Celtic Warrior.  Destroying all in his path, like Henry before him, he built a legitimate claim to Henry's Championship.  Perhaps now is his time.  In the background of all this, a phantom of a man, the Martyred One, began building his claim as well.  

Needless to say, SmackDown's treatment of it's World title has been nothing short of great, with appropriate storytelling, great action in the ring and a continual build of challengers for the title.  

The Epoch of Incredulity

Since Capital Punishment, the WWE Title's situation, on the other hand, has been floundering to the point of disbelief, disdain and ridicule.  Also, it's important to note that Capital Punishment was the last time the title was successfully defended in any sort of a coherent fashion, and that was mid June. 

Beginning with Money in the Bank, and its excellent build which put a phenomenal value on Raw's World title, the strap went from John Cena to CM Punk.  Punk promptly left the company after defeating The Champ and, literally, laying Alberto Del Rio out cold. 

Fast forward to Raw.  It's announced that a tournament will be held to crown a new champion.  A reasonable course of action, to be honest.  In the meantime, Cena is supposed to be fired as a stipulation of his loss.  Of course, we saw how far that went.

After a series of quick and largely forgettable matches, Rey Mysterio is the new champion after defeating The Miz in a good TV match.  That opened Raw the next week.  I'm going to say that again.

The WWE crowned a new champion with its most prestigious title on Raw in an opening match.  

If Patrick Stewart were a WWE fan, he would do the famous Picard facepalm.  We aren't done yet, though.

In the same show it was decreed by Triple H, the new COO, that Rey's first title defense would be later that night against John Cena.  Needless to say, the Champ won against a tired Rey and CM Punk returned immediately because he happened to be in the arena and handed Triple H a signed contract.

If the Jim Cornette face were ever appropriate, now would be the time.

Okay, so a title unification is in the cards and obviously necessary to clarify the title situation.  Summerslam was as appropriate a venue as any, being one of the Big Four PPVs for the WWE.  Triple H decides to inject himself as the referee.  

Going forward, the match was great. Although it was not up to the main event at Money In The Bank, it was an appropriate follow up and worth the price of viewing it. 

Punk defeated Cena a second time, albeit via a mistake on Triple H's part.  This was acceptable to fans, for the most part, as a means to continue the otherwise excellent feud and continue the establishment of Punk. The 'E, it seems, couldn't stand to let a good thing happen.

Out of nowhere, Kevin Nash destroys Punk with a powerbomb and Del Rio cashes in to become the new champ.

Two weeks after making this a huge Main Event on two PPVs, the WWE gives this one away on TV in order to establish a new No. 1 contender with no buildup.  A PPV-caliber main event given away for free, with no build up beforehand.  Is Bischoff booking for the WWE?

Del Rio displayed a remarkably inconsistent character during this time frame, destroying Rey Mysterio in the latter's return match for the title and then vanishing the next week due to Visa issues in real life, an issue the WWE wrote off as head games on Del Rio's part.

Cena goes on to defeat Del Rio at Night of Champions, subsequently regaining the belt two weeks after losing it.  As you can see, it really hasn't been a good situation for the WWE title at all.  No real storytelling since June, no real credible champion.  Cena is padding his title count, Punk is being buried and Del Rio is doing Lord knows what.

The Age of Wisdom and Foolishness

The one nice thing about Brand Extension is that the separate rosters are allowed to treat their titles as they see fit.  This has proven to be an unexpected boost over the course of the summer and has allowed SmackDown to be the more coherent of the two shows in this regard, and arguably more enjoyable. 

SmackDown knows how to tell a better story with more foresight and long term booking decisions. 

More is the pity for Raw then.  Despite being the "A" show, it has been a convoluted mess thanks to its title situation, and displayed a tremendous lack of foresight and disregard for its title.  Booking seems to be done on the fly, with no regard for coherency or continuity.  

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Note: It was brought up in the comments below this article was similar in start to one published by William Guilo in July.  I did not come across his article before and this was unintentional.  I apologize to him and you as a reader.