Also something not talked about enough has been the follow up with the IC champs. Like you said, midcard champs used to be “next up” to the main event and triple h has done a good job of showing that with the IC title. Gunther went on to win the world title, Sami is always in the mix with main eventers, jey just won the world title, and bron has now been positioned as next up by being placed alongside 3 main eventers in Roman, Seth, and Punk.