Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 23 Paid Members Posted July 23 and among all of that you also have Bandido, the ROH World Champion, challenging Kyle Fletcher for his title. If everybody has two belts, there's nothing special about anyone having two belts, and then you're not far downstream from nobody who has a belt mattering. It was a decent but weird show. I still hate the Ospreay/Death Riders stuff, and everybody involved in the World Title match at the PPV seems busier elsewhere - Omega's caught in the middle of Ospreay and Mox, Kevin Knight was busy defending the TNT Title against Darby (in a feud that's been going on far longer and is far more heated than his World Title PPV programme). It really feels like a PPV that was supposed to be headlined by Kenny vs. MJF, with Darby vs. Kevin Knight on the undercard, and both of those matches got shuffled around on to TV for some reason. Quote
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted July 23 Paid Members Posted July 23 22 minutes ago, Supremo said: At the start of this show, Justin Roberts announced that the opening contest was for the TNT Championship and - honest to God - I couldn’t remember who the TNT Champion was. Turns out it’s Kevin Knight, who’s headlining Sunday’s pay per view. I think AEW might have too many belts. The ultimate question though is who are the current Trios Champions? This crossed my mind the other day and it took me ages to remember. Quote
Paid Members RedTwoster Posted July 23 Author Paid Members Posted July 23 (edited) 50 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: The ultimate question though is who are the current Trios Champions? Without googling, I’m not certain. I can’t even think of when they were last defended, although I care so little about them it may be that I wasn’t paying attention. It took me quite some time to remember who the Continental Champion was, which is mad given they have the C2 each year. EDIT: Ah fuck, I’ve just remembered - it’s Roderick Strong, his equally annoying friend and Orange Cassidy, who deserves much better than to be lumped with those sacks. Edited July 23 by RedTwoster Quote
Paid Members JNLister Posted July 23 Paid Members Posted July 23 4 hours ago, Supremo said: At the start of this show, Justin Roberts announced that the opening contest was for the TNT Championship and - honest to God - I couldn’t remember who the TNT Champion was. Turns out it’s Kevin Knight, who’s headlining Sunday’s pay per view. I think AEW might have too many belts. The annoying thing is they have a set of belts where you can make a logical hierachy: World > International (everywhere but US) > Continental (North America) > National (US). But by old-school logic, the TV title would be lowest (because it's "only part of the US"), whereas they still act like it's the main secondary title. Quote
Paid Members Supremo Posted July 23 Paid Members Posted July 23 Nevermind trying to remember who the Trios Champions are (a genuine impossibility), does anyone else remember when the company’s main character Hangman Adam Page returned two weeks ago and then it’s like it never happened? Weird. Quote
The King of Old School Posted July 24 Posted July 24 16 hours ago, JNLister said: The annoying thing is they have a set of belts where you can make a logical hierachy: World > International (everywhere but US) > Continental (North America) > National (US). But by old-school logic, the TV title would be lowest (because it's "only part of the US"), whereas they still act like it's the main secondary title. They just don't need any of them, can't be many people who care about a north america belt, international belt or whatever, All they need is a World Title, Tag Titles, TV (TNT) Title, and to be honest when used correctly I quite like the Trio's title. Then on the Womens Side a World, TV and Tag. International and National are completely pointless, and the Continental should just be defended every year in the CC, so when someone wins it they are champion for a year and defend it again in that competition. Quote
Merzbow Posted July 24 Posted July 24 20 hours ago, BomberPat said: and both of those matches got shuffled around on to TV for some reason. I read that MJF put forward the idea of dropping the title to Omega early, makes sense now Tony Khan has mentioned he's been battling with injuries all year so far. Quote
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted July 24 Awards Moderator Posted July 24 6 minutes ago, The King of Old School said: when used correctly I quite like the Trio's title. When do you think it has been used correctly? The Elite and Death Triangle had a great series fighting for them at the start, but that was never the plan and only came about because the Elite got suspended after All Out. The two matches for them at Wembley have been fun. Other than that I struggle to remember anything about them. I'd love for Redemption to see some unifications and no 'two belts' for anyone, but they've done that before and immediately re-split them, so I don't think it'll ever happen. Quote
The King of Old School Posted July 24 Posted July 24 1 minute ago, HarmonicGenerator said: When do you think it has been used correctly? The Elite and Death Triangle had a great series fighting for them at the start, but that was never the plan and only came about because the Elite got suspended after All Out. The two matches for them at Wembley have been fun. Other than that I struggle to remember anything about them. Probably badly worded, should have said "if" used correctly I would quite like them They have so many teams/factions that could feud over them but never do. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 24 Paid Members Posted July 24 I've always said that the problem is not having any defined purpose for the belts. The hierarchy that John mentioned would be a good start. As it stands, what distinguishes the TNT, National, International, and Continental Titles? I routinely confuse them. What doesn't help, and remains one of my pet hates in AEW, is people who already have one title challenging for another. That's what started a lot of this thread of conversation, all the "Two Belts" chat. I think there needs to be a bloody good reason why somebody with a title belt would prioritise challenging for a different title over defending the one they already have, and why the promotion would allow them to do that - in kayfabe, does Tony Khan, or the championship committee, or whoever is in charge of these things, not mind that there isn't a TNT Title match at the PPV because the champion is challenging for the World Title? Then you've got Bandido, the ROH Champion, challenging for the International Title - in kayfabe, which is the bigger commitment, holding the ROH World title, or the AEW Title that Okada didn't bother defending for months at a time? They should never have split the Continental and International Titles. Splitting them back up and introducing a new championship soon after was mental, proper shades of early brand split RAW where they unified all the secondary title belts and then just brought back the Intercontinental Title a few months later anyway. I would drop the Continental Title altogether. Unify it with the World Title - assuming Moxley still has it after Wembley, and that Will wins the World Title there, have those two feud and have a unification match. The C2 can then be for the Continental Cup, big massive trophy instead, make it an accolade in its own right rather than a championship to be defended until the tournament comes back around. It's a shame, because the Continental Title is the only belt in AEW that has its own set of rules and some kind of identity, but it's not enough get rid. Make the International Title almost a de facto second World Title. I thought that was going to be the plan under Okada having it, that it would be what RVD's TV Title was to ECW. I'm not taking brand split "two World Titles", but make it a prestigious title, and one with a focus on foreign talent and AEW's foreign partner promotions - it's ridiculous that the National title is the one that's been defended in NJPW, RevPro, and CMLL, not the International Title. The National Title is the most worthless, currently, because it just has no identity. Even that initial idea I just mentioned of it being defended outside of AEW hasn't happened since Ricochet had the belt (I'm not counting ROH as "outside of AEW"). It has some merit as a "not ready for the big belts yet, but we want you to be taken seriously" title, though. I'd struggle to justify keeping it around - in other promotions in the past, that kind of tertiary title would be a "workrate" belt, but every AEW title is a workrate belt. Trios Titles I would love to do more with. There's a ton of potential and existing trios, and AEW does big fun-time multi-man matches brilliantly. It's a unique selling point compared to WWE, and they could really get the division over as something akin to the Cruiserweight division in WCW; the match you know is going to be fast and frenetic and completely different to the competition. I'd bring in Lucha tag rules for Trios Title matches, just to up that pace even more and give it more identity. Quote
Paid Members RedTwoster Posted July 24 Author Paid Members Posted July 24 I guess you could run a gimmick of someone unifying all the secondary titles, with the aim of being the only men’s singles champion in the company, before going after the World Champion and failing, giving you two belts again and a very flimsy justification for having had all these other titles in the first place. If AEW introduces a new title in the future it needs to have a unique hook and it needs to follow the removal of other belts - I still like the idea of Intergender tag titles and a Super Heavyweight/Meat division. I’m not a fan of death matches, but if you really wanted, you could have a death match title and make it so that it’s only defended at four set shows so that the concept doesn’t wear thin. If Tony Khan wants more titles that’s fine, if there’s a reason for them existing in the first place. Quote
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted July 24 Paid Members Posted July 24 (edited) I was just about fine with the Continental, TNT and International titles co-existing side by side - I always justified it in my head canon as the Continental was almost AEW's answer to the Pure title, the TNT was their bells and whistles / shenanigans TV title and the International was one rung below the World title. The National title was a step too far, you just can't justify having four mid-card titles with no hierarchy between them. And to make matters worse, they bought it in under the USP of 'what separates this title is the fact it can be defended in any other promotion!' except that was already the USP of the International title when it started, so they could’ve just reverted the international title back to that. Then around a month after they introduced the National title, MJF started doing a 'touring champion' thing which saw him defend the World title in other promotions! Infuriating. Edited July 24 by Lorne Malvo Quote
Paid Members ReturnOfTheMack Posted July 24 Paid Members Posted July 24 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: It's a shame, because the Continental Title is the only belt in AEW that has its own set of rules and some kind of identity, but it's not enough get rid. And yet on at least 2 PPVs recently Mox has defended it in a no time limit match. Quote
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted July 24 Paid Members Posted July 24 15 hours ago, Supremo said: Nevermind trying to remember who the Trios Champions are (a genuine impossibility), does anyone else remember when the company’s main character Hangman Adam Page returned two weeks ago and then it’s like it never happened? Weird. That Collision was in his hometown. Add the fact that they also only announced it quite late and not even on Dynamite that week I'm guessing it was a last minute thing to try and shift a few more tickets rather than being his actual planned return. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 24 Paid Members Posted July 24 14 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: That Collision was in his hometown. Add the fact that they also only announced it quite late and not even on Dynamite that week I'm guessing it was a last minute thing to try and shift a few more tickets rather than being his actual planned return. it definitely feels that way. But then, you've got him there, maybe film a couple of pre-tapes? Something to play on Dynamite? The former World Champion shouldn't be able to turn up and not have it even acknowledged on the A-show. It was very bizarre, and adds to the feeling that Redemption has been fucked about and rebooked into something completely different to how it was originally planned, with a lot of things being booked practically on the fly at the moment. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.