5 Reasons the U.S. and I.C. Title Should Merge

We can all agree that Cody Rhodes has been doing a terrific job in bringing back some sort of relevance to the Intercontinental Championship. The same can not be said about Raw's mid-card champion Dolph Ziggler and his United States Championship.

So, let's take a look at why the WWE should merge these two titles.

1. United States Title Is Pretty Pointless

When was the last time there was a real U.S. Title match (not counting Ziggler vs. Ryder)?

The fact of the matter is that this belt is being completely ignored as it loosely hangs around the waist of Dolph Ziggler. I'm sure it's caught him below the belt more than once with the spear-like tip at the bottom of it.

The last pay-per-view with a U.S. Title match was Night of Champions, in a fatal four-way match that had absolutely no purpose except to get Alex Riley, John Morrison, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler on the card.

I was hopeful that maybe, just maybe, Vickie Guerrero would chose a side, making either Swagger or Ziggler face him but nope, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened.

Now we're approaching the second straight pay-per-view in which the champ is involved in a different feud, but over a different title.

I find myself hopeful again, however, that maybe Ziggler and Swagger can pull of the win this time and let Ziggler drop the belt to someone who might actually do something with it.

2. Getting the U.S. Title off Our Televisions

OK, what is it with Raw and finding the absolute worst-looking belts they can?

Obviously, there's the complete train wreck of the WWE Championship, the Tag Team Championships are shoved down our throats like the slightly ove-rbaked cookies they look like, and the Divas Championship is more girly than Michael Cole.

Then there's the U.S. Championship.

I understand that they were trying to make it the most patriotic thing the world has ever seen, but they may have overcompensated a bit.

It's like they took one look at the old WCW belt and thought, "I mean, it's good...but you know what it's missing? A giant freaking flag taking over everything! There's just way too much gold on here, how are people going to know it's the U.S. Title? Oh, and redesign it so it looks as awkward as possible. Home run, guys!"

3. Lack of Competition

Let's take a look at the viable challengers for the U.S. title, considering how low it really is on the totem pole.

We have Zack Ryder as the main guy right now, and those with outside chances are Alex Riley and John Morrison, if he even stays with the WWE.

As much as everyone here seems to love the Woo Woo Woo, I don't see him as a serious player in the future.

He's like that new girl in school—at first everyone loves her because she's new and exciting with a lot of charisma. Then you realize she doesn't really bring much to the table and you wait for the next new girl to fantasize about.

Personally, I'd like to see Justin Gabriel finally get some airtime and emerge as a challenger to Dolph, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

There are very few options for Ziggler to feud with right now, which leads me to the next slide.

4. Potential Feud Between Ziggler and Rhodes

Yes, it's a heel vs. heel feud which the WWE hates doing more than they hate mentioning a certain crippler, but I believe that this feud has potential to be amazing.

Keep them both heels, and have Rhodes be jealous of Ziggler's "perfection," leading to Dolph getting attacked and paper-bagged.

The promos could be incredible between these two, as Rhodes has been establishing himself as one of the top mic-workers in the business as of late.

While Ziggler tends to get a lot of criticism for his mic skills, he's been getting better and better as his Z! True Long Island Story-like rant last night was easily one of my favorite moments.

5. The Real Way to Bring Prestige Back

I know we all yearn for the days when the mid-card titles mattered. Back when they were a stepping stone to bigger, better places for a list of legends so long I'm not even going to bother.

I don't know exactly when the defamation of these titles began, but I remember being a kid and seeing Chyna win the Intercontinental Title and wondering, "why?"

Combining these two titles will leave room for only the best up-and-coming superstars.

Gone are the days of Ezekiel Jackson, Santino Marella, William Regal (who I hate to add because he deserved a real push), Lance Storm, A-Train and, for the love of god, Chyna. Obviously there are more whom I could mention here, but towards the end I was starting to feel a little woozy.

No more are the days of random wrestlers winning the belt and doing nothing with it afterwards. We won't stand for any more Jeff Jarretts! Make this title worth something again!

A guy can dream, can't he?