The World Heavyweight Champion - Where Now?

So,

With Edge's unfortunate retirement, where do we go from here with the WHC? Who's the shoe in to take the belt? Who could be outsiders? Let's have a look...

Alberto Del Rio

The Royal Rumble winner. The 4th consecutive winner to not win the title at the big one. Has been in the main program on SD for 4 months now and the logical step perhaps would be to put the strap on him and see what happens. Can he carry SD? Does he have enough backers?

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Christian

The IWC Darling, Christian has recently returned from injury to back Edge up in his feud with Del Rio. Having been put on the shelf by Del Rio it seems only natural to put him in there, but do you stick the belt on him? Granted the fans will love it but what about Vince?

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HHH

The Game. The King of Kings. The Quadblower himself. Stranger things have happened and think back to when Kurt won the Battle Royal on Smackdown after trading from RAW? He'd prefer the schedule and it would give ADR some major rub if he eventually went over the game.

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Wade Barrett

The Corre leader received a huge push last year, but failed to get over against Superman Cena and lost his spot to CM Punk as leader of the Nexus. Recently won the IC belt from Kofi but the WHC could give serious credibility to the Corre and elevate Barrett's already rising stock.

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CM Punk

The man who took over from Barrett as leader of the Nexus. Fantastic on the mic, great in the ring and overall the best thing in WWE right now. But does Vince trust him enough? Would Nexus v Corre work, or would Vince scrap the seperate brand issue and allow Punk to defend on both brands?

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Dolph Ziggler

Long shot. Having left SD to go to RAW after being fired it would seem a tall tale to send Ziggles back to SD to reclaim his 'title' given that Edge apparently screwed him. Would definitely deserve it after his performances against Edge.

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Santino Marella

Ok, bare with me. But this would'nt be a bad idea. You need an interim champ. But you also want something unpredicatable to keep people guessing and viewing. Santino has been feuding with The Corre, he was the last man eliminated in the Rumble, why the hell not? He'd bring something completely different, he's worked his socks off for the business and i'd never begrudge him a 3 week reign as WHC, not too mention the fans would go mental!

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What do you guys think?

i think there will be some sort of tournament leading up to ER with the winner of that facing Del rio in the Ladder Match.

Naturally, you would expect Christian to assume that role, so this could be his chance to finally win the big one. It would make sense to have a match between ADR and Christian rather than anyone else

I'm with Triple H winning the WHC, the scedule would suit him, other name to throw in the mix is Sheamus, he'de thrive on SD, where a good solid run would work for him, with out the Cena distraction which looks like the next big fued of 2 years for us.

Anyone no when the draft is? Seeing as how the picture will be shaken up soon.

Go Tino!

I would love for Morella to win it, if nothing more than to see the IWC go into meltdown.

You could also add in Sin Cara and awesome Kong to that list!

If it ain't any one from the three of Brimstone, D'Lo Brown? or Yoshi Tatsu then it just ain't worth bothering about, retire the damn strap.

In all seriousness though it's got to be either Alberto Del Rio or Christian, there's a ready made feud there.

I've just got the feeling that there'll be a match for the title between the two at the Smackdown tapings tonight, Christian will win and end the show celebrating with Edge. Then WWE will urine all over that feel good moment by having him drop the strap to ADR at Extreme Rules.

I'm not saying that's what I want to happen, I'd love for Christian to have a lengthy reign but it's just like WWE to go and do something really well and then ruin it all.

After Extreme Rules I can see Christian getting maybe one more match for the title before Vince decides that he's done with the Edge/Del Rio/Christian feud and it's been closed it out. From there it's anybody's guess where they go.

Im very suprised nobody has mentioned Rey Mysterio.

Either that or a Battle Royal where Christian and ADR are the last 2 competitors and it's a screwball finish.

I'd imagine Edge will hand over the belt to Teddy Long a la Batoaster and he'll announce the match!

Mr H wrote:Im very suprised nobody has mentioned Rey Mysterio.

That's because nobody wants him near it.

Although most people on here wouldn't want to see it, Mysterio would be a logical choice to go up against Del Rio given their previous history. It's probably a bit too soon for them to be feuding again though.

Then again, desperate times call for desperate measures.

theundisputedY2D2 wrote:Although most people on here wouldn't want to see it, Mysterio would be a logical choice to go up against Del Rio given their previous history. It's probably a bit too soon for them to be feuding again though.

Then again, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Not that desperate.

Rey is pretty busy with Cody at the moment is he not? Or do you think Wrestlemania was the end of thier feud?

I doubt it'll be anything to unpredictable, with Triple H's omission from the #1 contenders match on RAW there is a good chance he could be used on SmackDown! at least in the short term (until SummerSlam) that being said it's no surprise I'd rather see Christian in this position but I think Edge being gone will do more harm than good to his quest

I'd love to see a triple threat. Primo vs Sin cara vs Batista in a best botch wins match.

well if there now looking for someone to fill the gap how long is it goiong to be before skip sheffield is back? talked about as maybe the no2 babyface of the company yipyip? i'd have thought to be superface he could take out members of the corre 1 by 1 and take the IC title off barrett with some back and forth matches, which could then overflow towards the world title, but thats more a long term look, for the short term it will be ADR/Christian/HHH i think

I think the suggestion for Sheffield to be the #2 face in the WWE was more a long term outlook, Vince saw him as a successer to Batista but I doubt they saw him become that big anytime soon

I don't think that the WM decision was anything sinister or an attempt to give Edge a victory on the way out. I would say that as one of the old school he would realise that it doesn't work like that.

Instead I don't think that it would have worked for ADR to have won at WM unless he was going to do so with a Christian heel turn and given the worries about Edge's long term future they couldn't afford to turn another face. They simply don't have enough top face guys in the company.

In terms of his long term future I suppose that is for him to decide though I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in one off capacities and probably there the next time the WWE rolls around the Toronto.

Christian to win it at Extreme Rules, him and ADR to feud over it with Alberto finally landing it at Summerslam.

The following week on Smackdown ADR throws a celebration in the ring saying how he has finally fulfilled his destiny. As the mariachi band starts up sudddenly the lights go off the gongs play and on the screen the words Destiny Alberto Del Rio and the date of Survivor Series appear, shortly before the leeters R I P.

Taker returns the two feud over the title with the culmination at Survivor Series where ADR goes over cleanly.

It will give ADR a huge rub and allow HHH to then say to Taker that he was right and that only the streak matters now building towards their mania match.


Just an idea i had anyways.

I didn't think Christian was ever going to heel turn Edge until ADR was out the picture, if he did heel turn on Edge for me it would have been to propel himself to a title feud with Edge

Although I think Christian deserves to be champ, I think he should win it from a heel cleanly, after a long tough fued. He needs some momentum after his injury, and winning it in one match against ADR won't do this. With a really big struggle towards the title, possibly winning at SummerSlam, the fans would be delighted for him after he gets it, and would set him up for a good long run bringing the title in to 2012.

I can still see ADR going to RAW thats why im unsure he'll win the title

I've been wondering on this.
With the draft no longer happening, is there really that much of a brand split now?
I know we're still in Mania territory but I get the feeling now that roster is now free to roam.

I think they'll probably have to relax the brand extension rules even more now, I mean Smackdown has a dearth of top level talent and there are guys on RAW who would benefit from the switch. Randy Orton for example could probably do with getting out of the shadow of John Cena on RAW.

If they where serious about Orton and they are going to keep Cena face then Orton should be moved to SD doubt he will tho, is there no draft? I can see one

I think that's part of the problem with Randy Orton's face run, with a couple of exceptions he was never really presented as the number 1 guy on RAW. Even when he did occasionally get presented as such, and you thought "They're going to go all out and push him as the main man" it wasn't long before he was being overshadowed by John Cena again.

Hero - where did you hear there wasn't going to be a draft mate?

It's been doing the rounds for ages, it's not confirmed but it won't be in May as per usual, more than likely June.

I saw someone mention it but i saw others rubbish it too, I think WWE is to lazy creatively not to have a draft

As you said, now they need it. Either that or unify both titles and scrap the mixed brands, at least until they have more talent.

Is it not usually in April? It was around June time in 2008 but i think the last twn where April

I don't think there's much they could do with a draft that would be particularly earth shattering though. Taker to RAW or Cena to Smackdown would be pretty big but they'd probably end up making sporadic appearances on the other show anyway.

It's not like the old days:

"JINDRAK HAS GONE TO SMACKDOWN! JINDRAK HAS GONE TO SMACKDOWN! JINDRAK! JINDRAK! HOSS! STUD! BLUE CHIPPER! GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY JINDRAK HAS GONE TO SMACKDOWN!"

As KB mentioned it's been doing the rounds for a while about there being no draft.

For the next ten weeks at least there are no confirmed 3 hour specials due to Tough Enough.
Add to that the roster cuts of 12-14 stars and it'll leave quite thin brand shows (around 50 superstars compared to over 100 in 2007).
Instead it'll be more FCW guys coming through.

If they unify the titles I think it would be a massive angle at SummerSlam but not this year, the WWE still tour as seperate brands and while card is always subject to change they need definitive talents to sell the events and with RAW SD being touted for shows in Europe after NEXT WrestleMania I cant see the crand extension end4ng anytime soon

It's usually April/May after Wrestlemania but June has 2, 3 hour shows where a draft could fit in.

I don't understand what they would call it though if there was no split, would there still be 2 shows in a week? What would they be called?

Holymiky wrote:I don't understand what they would call it though if there was no split, would there still be 2 shows in a week? What would they be called?

The split happened long after Smackdown was created, Miky.

Oh so they would still be called the same but just they wrestle on both shows etc?

Holymiky wrote:Oh so they would still be called the same but just they wrestle on both shows etc?

Yes mate! Like the good ol' days!

Does the draft really need a 3hour Raw tho Maccs? USA have a contract with the WWE that means they need to do so many 3 hour RAWs on average per year over the course of their contract however with USA wanting tough enough on Mondays they might not be to fussed with 3 hour Raw's atm, with the roster smaller an 8 man draft 4/4 wouldnt take up much time

Could even mean more of a focus on different belts. Get your 2 top titles on Raw and have your IC/US/Tag Titles on Smackdown.

Never happen, but could be good.

But each show needs a reason to watch it in the first place, taking the 2 main titles may make people lose interest in your example, lose interest in Smackdown!

The ratings would plummet David, while more of the purists would watch it i believe they would lose a core audiance without a World Title and after a year or two it would become a glorified version of heat, the day they take the World Title off the show will be the day they end the brand split IMO

My personal opinion is that they should unify the 2 world titles anyway.

Unify the titles...move that to Raw. Then push the IC and US titles to give them some prestige. Have people actively challenging for them on a regular basis. Not just when you can't think of anything else for them to do. Put some proper focus on the King Of The Ring - unlike letting Sheamus win then squashing him every week.

If you had some actual titles on there instead of the after thought titles I don't think the ratings would plummet.

Obviously the next few months will have a big say in what happens. For every Ziggler or ADR that moves up, they need someone to step up and thats what is seriously lacking.

Guys like Black, Sin Cara, Moxley, Ryan and Sheffield when fit need to be given a proper chance to sink or swim.

I think they could do away with the brand split, but have a rule you can only wrestle on one show per week, but you may appear on the other. This could open up so many more fueds without over exposing some wrestlers. And if the brand extension is done away with, the titles should be unified. Unifying the world title would also bring prestige to the US and IC titles as well since more current main event guys will be competing for these with only the 1 world title. Would love to see it, the shows would be really exciting

Do you not think Sin Cara will make it KB?

He is amazing and he is pretty over already.

Holymiky wrote:Do you not think Sin Cara will make it KB?

He is amazing and he is pretty over already.

It's whether he gets the right feuds and push, Miky. I have every confidence he will do well but if the WWE book him wrong then he'll just fall away.

King Beer wrote:Obviously the next few months will have a big say in what happens. For every Ziggler or ADR that moves up, they need someone to step up and thats what is seriously lacking.

Guys like Black, Sin Cara, Moxley, Ryan and Sheffield when fit need to be given a proper chance to sink or swim.

Which for me is another reason to have more prestige for the IC and US title belts.

The IC title really used to mean something. It wasn't just a throw away title like it is now. Rebuild the prestige and use them as a stepping stone to the main title like days of old. The current level of these titles does little to prove if the guys holding them are ready for the step up. That, in my opinion, needs to change.

The state of the IC/US/Tag Titles wont be fixed until the World titles are unified, when the WWE stopped the single brand PPV's they effectively stopped needing to build the lower titles, now all they need to do is build 2World Title matches and A.N Other, tri brand PPV's killed anything outside the Main Event Scene

sent jomo to sd , that'll teach him . no one wants to be on sd cos then your screwed in your career