by Lee Stevens, PWTorch specialist

As the road to WrestleMania continues to wind, we know that Houston is the final destination, but we still don't know what will greet us when we get there. Many matches are assumed, but we still know more about the Hall of Fame induction earlier in the weekend than about the actual event.

Two things are known about WrestleMania 25: C.M. Punk will be in the Money in the Bank match and he won't be defending the Intercontinental Championship. This won't be the first time for either one.

This will be Punk's third straight appearance in the annual MITB Ladder match, but the absence of an Intercontinental Title match is a much longer streak. This will be the seventh consecutive time the I-C belt has not been defended at the WWE's biggest event of the year, continuing a string which started just after X-8 when Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal. After opening the show at X-8, the Title has taken a backseat, but that wasn't always the case.

Although the Intercontinental Title has always been a secondary championship, it still earned a place on the "grandest stage of them all." The belt was defended at every WrestleMania from the first year through X-18, with only one exception.

The I-C title wasn't a part of WM XII, with the title being vacated a week earlier in a match featuring Goldust and Savio Vega. WM XII showcasec Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in an Iron Man match, which took up more than a hour of air time, so it's understandable that cuts needed to be made.

I was reminded of the role of this championship at WrestleMania by the footage of Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage on Raw this past Monday. At WrestleMania 3, Steamboat and Savage turned in a performance which won several "Match of the Year" awards and many consider it one of the greatest battles in the history of the event. On Monday, Steamboat even said that it was the highlight of his career and yes, the Intercontinental Championship was on the line.

When The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan clashed three years later, it wasn't just Hogan's WWF Championship that was on the line. Warrior also carried his Intercontinental Championship into the ring before emerging victorious in the Champion vs. Champion battle.

Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, and Rick Rude have all left WrestleMania with the Intercontinental title around their waist, so doesn't this belt deserve a place in an event of this size?

The question certainly is not talent, as the person holding the belt has actually been at every WrestleMania since X-8. Apparently the problem is focus, as the champs were there, but none of them competed when the title was at the center of their match.

Randy Orton was involved in a handicap tag team match while holding the title at WM XX and Umaga was a centerpiece of WM 23, but it wasn't a belt that was on the line; it was hair. He was the muscle behind the Millionaire's Hair vs. Hair battle between Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. The main culprit of the absence brings us back to C.M. Punk.

During this absence, the Intercontinental Champion has competed in the Money in the Bank match four times. Shelton Benjamin did it twice, Chris Jericho held the belt last year, and Punk is the first one to clinch a spot this year. All of them deserve to showcase their talents in such a memorable match and the belt should be used as a springboard to launch someone into a World Championship opportunity, but not at the expense of the title they currently hold. If the wrestler is scripted to act like the briefcase is more important than the belt, the viewer will think the same thing.

The solution is to make the Intercontinental belt truly matter, while not taking anything away from the glory of Money in the Bank. The allure of MITB is that the winner gets a contract for a title shot at a later date. It's no wonder the I-C champ wants in on the match as he probably has been stuck in the second level for some time saddled with a secondary title. Instead of lowering the prestige of MITB, why not raise the stakes of his championship?

Giving the Intercontinental Champion a shot at the World Heavyweight title holder would not only give the secondary title a primary push, it would also give the creative side of the WWE an automatic storyline. They wouldn't have to spend much time building an issue between the two title-holders, because the incentive is already there.

The I-C Champ wants to prove he can step up, while the World Champ wants to prove that he can take on all challengers. You could certainly find room for a title vs. title match at any point during the year, but placing it on the Night of Champions pay-per-view seems appropriate.

The Money in the Bank match would still reserve its place as a featured part of the event and it would still give one wrestler a shot of moving up in the ranks. If the Intercontinental Championship is worth anything, it should provide the same opportunity.

The Champion would get a taste of the glory of competing for the most prestigious title and we could see if he was ready to make that jump at a later point. The wrestler would have the opportunity to impress and the belt would have a chance to shine, proving that you don't always need a ladder to move up a step.

Lee Stevens examines Raw and Smackdown with "Under The Microscope" every week. You can leave comments for him below or e-mail him at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com

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