The Case For A WWE Television Championship
4 min read
image used courtesy of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
Since WWE announced their plans to bring back the roster split last week, the internet has been ablaze with tons of fans and ex WWE staff fantasy booking what happens next. While some are suggesting the WWE make the World Champ do double duty and defend the title against the top competitor from both brands, it looks like the WWE may end up bringing back a secondary World Title instead. While neither idea is terrible, I happen to think there should be another title brought back instead of a secondary World Title. One that has a long history, and a prestigious lineage (at least up until the late 90’s), and could actually be defended on both shows. The title I’m referring to is none other than the World Television Championship.
Let’s start at the beginning shall we? The World Television Title was first introduced in 1974 as the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. It was then renamed in the early 1980’s to the NWA Georgia Television Title and was initially held by Terry Taylor. The title was abandoned, only to be revised as the NWA National Television Title, then later renamed to the NWA World Television Title before once again being abandoned in April 1985.
At this point, you have to be thinking, “Why in the world would WWE bring back a Title that nobody seems interested in?” And you’d be totally right to assume no one wanted anything to do with that title… At least until it was brought back a few short months later, and with it began a string of excellent matches both on TV and Pay Per Views for the title. The first major rivalry for the TV Title was between two of the all-time greats in Dusty Rhodes and Tully Blanchard. The two traded victories against each other for the TV title across several live events and TV tapings. From there, several current and future Hall Of Famers have held the title including Arn Anderson, Nikita Koloff, Sting, The Great Muta, Bobby Eaton, Ricky Steamboat, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Booker T to name a few.
The Television Title is such a versatile title, that it could be used either exclusively on one show, or defended across both shows and Pay Per View if booked accordingly. With the massive roster that WWE boasts today, one would assume that the TV title should be one that is featured as much as possible. I would even have my champ defend the title on Main Event, just to keep the other titles from becoming stale too fast. With the reintroduction of a Television Championship WWE could keep the World Title and IC Title off TV unless absolutely necessary, while your US, Tag Team, And Women’s champion all get the proper shine they deserve. Yes, I’m advocating for the Intercontinental Title to become the clear no. 2 title in the company. And yes, I think the Women’s Title could be featured even heavier on TV to get their storylines over.
In regards to the “type” of star the TV title needs in order to get over, it’s very simple. Anyone and everyone that WWE feels isn’t ready to hold one of the primary titles in the company. The TV Title could be used as a means to get a young star over, or to help elevate a returning veteran. The time that a person holds the title wouldn’t necessarily be as important as the quality of match that occurs during the defenses. I’m not suggesting give a guy (or girl, hint hint) a one week or even one day reign with the title, but we also don’t need a one year TV Title run unless WWE plans on doing something special with whoever has the title.
For me, I would bring the title back, hold a tournament to crown a new champion, and have the title defended weekly. I think the perfect person to do such a thing would be AJ Styles. AJ Styles is at the absolute top of his game right now, and would be the perfect person to start off the prestige building phase of a new Television Championship. He could seemingly have a good match with just about anyone, and his work rate with that title could also help re-establish him as a surefire contender for either one of the two main titles.
After all is said and done, the re-emergence of a secondary title would do much better for WWE than splitting duty of two World champs. Bringing back the TV Title is the perfect way to lighten the load for your World Heavyweight Champion while also instantly elevating every other title underneath it.
Who would you crown as your Television Champ? Are you in favor of another title in WWE at all, or do you think there’s enough titles already? Sound off in the comments below!
