Opinion: WWE mid-card Championships need to be defended inside the Elimination Chamber

The period from January to April is the best period for any WWE fan as the wrestling giant delivers three of its most exciting pay per views during this period i.e. Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania, the former two being named after two different types of matches taking place at the respective events.

In a Royal Rumble match, WWE puts 30 Superstars in a ring, all competing for an opportunity to challenge a world champion of their choosing, i.e. either the WWE champion or the Universal champion, at WrestleMania. At the Elimination Chamber, 6 Superstars compete inside a steel chamber for a title or a title shot, with the title mostly being a world title. The nature and stipulation of this match make it one of the most interesting matches ever created in WWE as the odds are heavily stacked against the champion and most of the time, the title changes hands in these matches.

Since the first Elimination Chamber match, which was held in the year 2002, there has only been one occasion on which a mid-card Championship, i.e. the Intercontinental title, was defended in this match and another one when Tag Team titles were defended, both in the year 2015. On all the other instances, the Elimination Chamber matches have occurred either for a World Championship or a World title opportunity at WrestleMania.

Presently, the Universal Championship and the WWE Championship are the two top titles in the main roster of WWE i.e. RAW and Smackdown respectively. The Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship are the mid-card titles, which in spite of having long histories, are generally not considered as worthy as the World titles.

The successfulness of career of any WWE Superstars is usually measured on the basis of the Championships held by him over the course of his active years. Championships, therefore, play a very important part in the pro wrestling world.

At present, WWE has one of the most talented and diverse rosters it has ever seen. The level of competition within the WWE has increased manifolds over the past few years. But the biggest problem being faced by WWE is that there is nothing much really, to compete for and hence many Superstars end up getting much less than what they deserve.

There are only two world titles in WWE, with one of them being held by an absentee champion who just shows up at major events. The two mid-card titles are generally not taken seriously enough by the fans and even, at times, by the WWE itself and therefore holding these titles does not benefit a Superstar that much(some exceptions are always there!).

The Intercontinental Championship, though, has somewhat come to be considered worth fighting for, partly, due to the efforts of champions like The Miz and Seth Rollins and partly due to the fact that Brock Lesnar, who has been the Universal champion for the better part of two years now, rarely shows up. But when it comes to the US Championship, things are a lot different as it has lost its prestige and the Championship match (if it happens) is generally, pushed to the pre-show of pay-per-views, which most of the fans miss.

There are at least 15-20 main event calibre Superstars in the current WWE main roster. It is a fact that not all can be world champions at once. Hence someone definitely has to hold on to the mid-card Championships and wait for their turn to get a shot at a top title and eventually become the World Champion. But one thing that can be ensured is that, whoever holds the mid-card title, benefits the most from the Championship reign and is at the least taken seriously. This is possible only if the Championship is considered worthy enough to be fought for.

Elimination Chamber is one of the most challenging and brutal matches ever created in WWE and hence, is the ideal place to add to the worth of any title. If six WWE Superstars are locked inside the chamber and are going to extreme lengths for winning a title, it surely makes a strong case about that title.

And that is exactly what the mid-card titles of WWE need at this moment.

The mid-card titles need to be defended frequently in Elimination Chamber matches. It will definitely deliver a strong statement to the WWE fans about the importance and value of the titles so that the holder of these titles is never taken for granted.