Editorial: Hittin' The Ropes #6 - A New Championship Era

Ricky Steamboat, Chris Benoit, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect and Owen Hart.

With the release of the WWE's latest DVD offering, the Intercontinental championship is saddling back into the limelight once again and with it all of it's former champions. There is one inarguable quality that is shared amongst all of these men; they were all great workers and were honored in carrying the IC title with grace and dignity. They thrived on giving the best performance of the night and were successful on most occasions. There's no denying that the title has lost some of it's luster in the recent years. There have been some big names to hold the title in those years but like most people have observed, the belt have become little more than an accessory. Although it is still considered an honor to hold the championship, it just doesn't feel like the need is there to put on the match of the night, every night. With that ideal waning, a new title has become that standard bearer?the ECW championship.

Since its re-introduction in June of 2006, the ECW title has been held by a relatively good array of talent. Rob Van Dam, Kane and the Big Show were all household names and World champions before holding this title and that just added prestige to the "new" WWE-version of the belt. Besides already established stars, the ECW title was held by such men like CM Punk, John Morrison and Matt Hardy. These men, especially Hardy, have taken it upon themselves to build this championship into the new "working-man's" title. They wrestled on almost every show. Defended the title against the entire ECW locker room. And have always come out making their opponents and themselves looking just a little bit better, the job formerly considered to be that of the Intercontinental champion.

But the championship is still missing just one thing, although that might very well be on the way. It is not widely considered that the owner of the ECW title is on the fast track to either the World or WWE championship but recently former champions have moved onto bigger things. CM Punk is a former World Heavyweight champion and John Morrison is considered by many to be the fastest rising heel on any brand. Not a bad pedigree for a brand that's usually a sore subject for many hardcore wrestling fans.

While the ECW title does not have nearly the amount of history the Intercontinental title does, it is rapidly establishing itself as a title young superstars want to hold on their way up the ladder. And the only people you can thank for that are the men who have held the title and their desire to be the best. They all might not be former IC champions, but they are carrying on the ideals that men like Hart and Steamboat originally instilled.

So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let me know! I want to know you're reading and what your thoughts are on this as well as on the past Hittin' The Ropes articles. You can email me at hittintheropes@yahoo.com or visit HittinTheRopes.paidtoblog.com where you can leave me comments after the articles and catch up on all my recent show reviews.