When did the IC title nose dive for you?

[iamthedoctor]

Yeah they kinda ruined the importance of the belt once Austin tossed it in the river and discarded it as rubbish.A shame how many title changes happened in 99/2000 as if they really needed the belt on Chyna.

[Sidebottom]

Thought I'd bookend this topic with the fact that the IC title is literally being used as a hot potato for a storyline right now.

[cm funk]

For me it was when tag team star Marty Jannety won it in 93. He was the first (babyface) guy, in my young fandom, that I couldn't picture hitting the main events after his int. Title run.

 

I respectfully disagree with you on this

 

There was a perfect story there of the cocky, arrogant, annoying HBK getting his comeuppance from his former tag team partner, the guy he turned on and superkicked and tossed into a window. And the crowds were white hot for this angle too, the pop when Marty shows up on RAW and Michaels is completely freaking out and running away was insane

 

That's such an odd choice of "this is where it went downhill" when about a year prior the f'n Mountie had the title

[Badlittlekitten]

Mountie was a heel. The babyface champs were credible guys on the rise. From the moment you saw him with his Rocker power chord entrance and tasseled tights it was clear Jannetty was going nowhere fast. Tag team star 4life.

[El-P]

The Mountie winning on a house show two days before jobbing it to Piper at the Rumble wasn't exactly making the IC title any favours either, really.

[cm funk]

Yeah, I would say that up to that point the Mountie was the weakest IC champ in history. I totally get why and how they did it, and I actually liked it (Bret has 105 degree fever, shouldn't be wrestling, but he's a fighting champ and refuses to not compete. Mountie loses belt to Piper in first defense, Piper wins first WWF belt, immediately offers Bret his rematch). It was a really great angle and a great WM match, and very different because titles didn't often change hands on house shows and babyface v babyface matches were rare. Mountie was just there in his role to further a bigger picture story

 

And the stuff with Shawn and Marty was so great at the time, and arguably the hottest thing in the company, so it's hard to point to that IMO. In the new generation and attitude era days is when the belt really got devalued by how many title changes there were, how many chickenshit heel champs they'd have, and how little importance was placed on title compared to how it was treated in the 80's and early 90's. I liked Jeff Jarrett, but he never beat anyone clean, and they did false/disputed finishes with midcard babyfaces to set up rematches where he'd cheat to retain or re-win the title.....and it was around that time that the prestige of the belt really went in the crapper and it felt like a TV title, midcard title and not the almost on par with the WHC that it used to be

[Coffey]

I would say late 1994 for me. Last guy I cared about being or becoming Intercontinental champion was Razor Ramon. I didn't care about the feud with Jeff Jarrett, or when Jarrett won the title. Certainly didn't care about Dean Douglas, Ahmed Johnson or Goldust. Everything after Summerslam 1994 probably.

 

Austin & Rock feuded over the IC belt too in 1997 but it was way dead for me by then. I mostly watched WCW over WWF at that time period.

 

EDIT: Replied before reading the thread entirely, like a jobber. Had no idea it was an old thread.

[Parties]

First off, WWE would kill to have a heel with Honky Tonk Man’s mic skills and level of heat right now. At his best, Miz had a Honky vibe that the company recognized as a Honky vibe, and they were so enamored with it that they made him world champion and had him beat Cena in the main event of Mania.

The IC champ is currently “King of the Losers”. You’re top jobber. It’s been that way for at least 7-8 years, probably longer. It’s due to the tiered system by which Vince/creative views the talent. HHH rejecting the belt in '02 is as good a death rattle as any. And yes, it's another good reminder of why Russo sucked.

In those last 7-8 years, there’s been about a dozen guys who are in the top tier of real main eventers. Cena, Orton, Batista, HHH, HBK, Punk, Rock, Edge, Undertaker, Brock. Maybe Bryan, maybe Jeff Hardy, probably Jericho. Big Show oddly enough is a guy who fits in here, and we can now add Reigns to that list, assuming his push doesn’t implode this year. But those are the company-backed heroes in the top tier. They’re the answer to the question that they ask of every new talent: “Can he main event Mania someday?” Note that the vast majority of the guys I just listened will either be gone from the company soon, aren't there now, or will never wrestle for them again. 50% of the people Vince considers stars aren't even options right now.

If you haven’t cracked that top tier, the company does not care about you. They might like you backstage as a person, they might think you’re talented, they might even employ you for the next 15 years. But at best, you’re King of the Losers. Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Mysterio, Benoit before he flipped.

The haves-and-have nots attitude there has made it so that the McMahons are apathetic about almost all of the workers on their roster, at least from a booking perspective. Vince thinks the Cesaros of the world are whiny nerds who don’t live in his world. Your matches just don't matter. The IC title has been devalued not just because they think so little of the title, but because they think so little of anyone who could conceivably hold it.

That doesn’t change the fact that it should be booked very differently, and that the Wyatts and Reigns’ of the world feuding over it would be a big improvement. I’ve been a broken record on this for weeks, so I apologize for saying it again, but the WM moment I’m hoping for this year is the show ending with Reigns hoisting the World Title, and being joined in the middle of the ring for celebration with your new US champ John Cena and your new IC champ Daniel Bryan. A win-win for company priorities, relatively good fan reaction, and the ultimate babyface victory, which the company has sorely lacked in their heel-dominated booking the last few years. Bring value to the secondary titles, establish Cena’s role as the new Bruno, let Bryan reestablish the IC as the Nakamura-style cool smark “workrate” belt, etc.