Is the nXt Title currently bigger than the IC Title?

[LWOLeN]

I don't really care for who is IC Champion or the US Champion at the moment. A title switch is always fun but I just view it as a prop for who ever who's wearing it. The History of the title is the only thing that makes it a bit special. I feel like most guys currently view it as a curse (Jericho, Ziggler, Miz etc..).

 

However, the nXt Title feels prestigious. It currently adds value to a wrestler.

 

What is your view? Is the nXt Title currently more prestigious than the IC or US Title?

[d-d-d-dAz]

The barometer should be 'would whoevers holding the NXT title on a niche, network only show rather stick with their lot, or would they snap your hand off if you offered them the chance to be the IC champ on global television, doing arena and stadium shows'?

 

I suspect the latter.

 

It could only be considered more prestigious if you asked a very specific type of audience member. Which in itself disqualifies it as prestigious.

 

Being The Miz on the main shows is still way more profitable than being Finn Balor or Samoa Joe.

 

And, anyway, The Miz and Maryse, and thus the IC title, are currently the best thing on the show.

[LWOLeN]

The barometer should be 'would whoevers holding the NXT title on a niche, network only show rather stick with their lot, or would they snap your hand off if you offered them the chance to be the IC champ on global television, doing arena and stadium shows'?

I suspect the latter.

It could only be considered more prestigious if you asked a very specific type of audience member. Which in itself disqualifies it as prestigious.

Being The Miz on the main shows is still way more profitable than being Finn Balor or Samoa Joe.

And, anyway, The Miz and Maryse, and thus the IC title, are currently the best thing on the show.

I get your point. Ofcourse any wrestler would rather be on the main show. But purely as a fan, are you more invested in watching a nXt Title match or an IC Title match?

[d-d-d-dAz]

That's not the same as being 'prestigious' though. That's asking a particular type of audience member, more than happy to include myself in that, whether they want to watch the figurehead of a show built entirely around their needs/preferences or a mid-card champion on a show built around being a profitable, mainstream entertainment product.

 

If you expand it out further, I'd still argue that a much larger majority of their audience would care more about the IC champ/match than the NXT equivalent.

 

Perversely, currently I'd actually rather watch The Miz's title reign and I'm very much the NXT core demographic, but I may just be an outlier.

[Undefeated Steak]

Questions like this are usually so open ended that it's difficult, if not impossible, to have a right or wrong answer. Especially in wrestling, where a title can be awarded to someone on merit, or given to them because the company wants to push into a new TV market (not saying either of these are right or wrong either).

 

The US and IC titles haven't been looked after much over the past few years, but if you're basing a belt's prestige on its lineage then the US and IC belts are behind only the main WWE title.

 

If you're talking about which belt is producing the most buzz around a subsection of WWE's fanbase, and which belt is producing some of the most exciting matches, then the NXT title might be your answer.

 

This alone doesn't mean the NXT title is more prestigious than the IC or US belts. The X Division and ROH belts have been held in a similar regard to the NXT title at one point or another over the past 10/15 years, and it would be hard to compare them directly to the US/IC belts.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Depends who holds it. Like every belt. If Konnor wins the NXT belt, the belt is going to mean much less than if Samoa Joe wins it.

[ClassicsGuy]

The barometer should be 'would whoevers holding the NXT title on a niche, network only show rather stick with their lot, or would they snap your hand off if you offered them the chance to be the IC champ on global television, doing arena and stadium shows'?

 

Regarding NXT supposedly being a 'niche network only show' - 

 

Every WWE show I've attended in the past year - and this includes UK tv tapings, UK house shows, hell, Wrestlemania 32 & RAW and Smackdown the nights after in Dallas and Houston - featured very loud 'NXT' chants. Performers with NXT links or who were from NXT were wildly cheered by the large 10,000+ crowds in stadiums and arenas.

 

If it's such a 'niche' entity, why is it so well known, and seen by many as the only coolest part of the WWE product currently? I'd greatly argue it's not a 'niche' entity but a very valid third brand (or even second brand, as Smackdown doesn't have its own identity). 

 

NXT has run arenas and drawn big houses in the U.S.. They're running arenas in the U.K. in June.

 

More eyeballs may be on RAW and Smackdown (3 million & 2 million viewers a week respectively, compared with a potential 1.7 million viewers for NXT) but the gap isn't that much in terms of visibility.

 

If you look at it objectively, the NXT title has been better protected, better booked, held by better wrestlers, and been contested for in better matches.

[Brock Goldberg]

Depends who holds it. Like every belt. If Konnor wins the NXT belt, the belt is going to mean much less than if Samoa Joe wins it.

Very true.

 

When Cena had his most recent U.S. title run, it meant something and everyone was interested.

[neil is brill]

Why do people always measure success in chants rather than money?

[d-d-d-dAz]

WWE, in and of itself, is a 'niche' product. It's sustained by those that do watch it being utter diehards about it.

 

To then be the third, non-televised brand carved out of that particular niche, that attracts the cheers of a portion of that audience, makes you, by definition, a highly 'niche' product.

 

NXT is great, I love it and Nakamura is my favourite thing in wrestling right now, but to argue it isn't a niche product, or that it's somehow more prestigious than anything happening on the mid card of the main shows is bonkers.

 

Don't let the fact that we're at the eye of the storm blur you to the fact that it's a very small storm.

[Brock Goldberg]

Yeah, I'm sure I heard recently that only around one third of network subscribers watch NXT on a regular basis.

[UK Kat Von D]

Why do people always measure success in chants rather than money?

Well to measure it in money, does the NXT title bring more money to the table than the IC title? What amount of tickets are sold to see each Championship defended? How many viewers would tune in to watch a big match for each title?

 

The IC title is a cog in a machine that draws a lot of money, but the show wouldn't miss a step without it. NXT might draw far less money but that title plays a huge part in the money that is generated.

 

Let's say for arguments sake an IC title match is left off a WWE event in favour of showcasing an NXT title match. Which title is more likely to bring in extra views or sell more tickets?

[tiger_rick]

I think it's the NXT title. Because wrestling is about perception. The NXT title has a perceived importance because of the way it's presented, because of the build to title matches, because it's the sole focus of all of the top stars on that program and because the matches are damn good and the stories better told than those on the main roster.

 

For those same reasons, the NXT Women's title feels more prestigious than the IC title. When was the IC Title last a main event? When was there a proper feud over it? When did it last feel like something so coveted that it was worth going to war for? I can't remember because it's that long.

[UK Kat Von D]

Another point to consider is all the fans who only watch Raw have been presented with no reason to care about the Intercontinental Title. The only times they will have seen the NXT Champion may be limited, but when it is featured it's well protected. All WWE fans will be aware of what NXT is, even if they don't watch it. Safe to assume a fair few of them will probably think the NXT title is more important.

[Yakashi]

The NXT title means more to the smaller number of fans that know about it and watch both shows. Of the, say, 800,000 people at a conservative estimate based on network numbers that watch NXT worldwide, the majority of them (me included) would consider the NXT title to be more prestigious. Of the tens of millions that watch Raw worldwide, 90% of those would likely consider the IC title more prestigious. It means more because, like other small indies, they don't know much about NXT as they don't have the network so don't watch the show or view it as a superstars level show with no real stars and they don't have time for an extra hour on top of the time they spend watching the proper shows.

 

In response to classic guys post, to be fair, you attended shows largely filled with the type of fans that NXT is specifically aimed at and are predisposed to chanting for NXT because it's what they think they should do. It's just like people chanting ECW back in the mid 90s. I'm not saying they don't watch and enjoy the show, but they are the type of fans that do that. They've got to send their message. Boo Roman, Chant NXT etc. I like NXT a lot but go to any town USA and they don't really give much of a shit about NXT. They want to see the stars. NXT has no stars. They have great wrestlers who could be stars. But they aren't stars until the casuals start spending money on them.

 

If NXT wasn't niche then people would be willing to spend money to watch the show each week. network numbers tell me they aren't. You'd think if it was so popular, people would be willing to spend £6 for four shows a week and a big show every few months.

 

In summary. It's a great show. The title is more prestigious to me, the people that watch NXT and the type of fans that chant we are awesome. To the vast majority of fans, it doesn't really mean anything and the IC belt, although virtually meaningless, is still more important.