The WWE championship belts are the crowning jewels of a wrestler’s performance and continued hard work within the company and for that reason, they should look like they’re worth winning. The recent Wrestlemania event reached high viewing numbers across the globe and featured a variety of memorable moments, and if WWE is getting so many things right, then it is strange that they are getting the title belts so very wrong.
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What is supposed to be the crowning jewel in a wrestler’s career looks far from that, and the current designs for WWE titles are lacking in so much creativity that previous designs did so well. The top titles in all divisions in the company whether they are the RAW, Smackdown, or Women’s championships are plastered with a large WWE logo and a different color. Before the company had many different-looking titles that someone could pick out of a crowd and there was a distinguishment between the WWE World Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship (before its retirement). On top of that, classic level-building titles, The United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship both look to have taken a backseat in design and value with PPV events missing out on matches involving the titles.
Fan Favorite returnee, Cody Rhodes has recently stated on the After The Bell podcast that he would love to bring back the Winged Eagle WWE Championship made famous by wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the 90s Attitude Era. During his previous run with the WWE, Rhodes altered the Intercontinental Championship to look like its classic 90s design. The WWE 2K gaming series is not shy of bringing back old wrestlers and their championships and WWE 2K22 might be the largest yet content-wise. Of course, the decision for Rhodes to bring back the classic WWE Championship design is far above him and no doubt rests with the chairman, Vince McMahon. The current designs have the belts obviously target which show they are for, but the large WWE logo that is great for advertising the brand leaves little else to be desired.
Just because the current designs which are held by champion, Roman Reigns lack character, that doesn’t mean every design before it has been prior. The spinner belt design most associated with John Cena whilst nostalgic now is certainly not championship material like that of the Undisputed Championship before it. There has been a lot of customization with the belts with iconic wrestlers such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and more giving their own design for the belts and it is moments like those that question how much creativity and effort WWE puts into their designs.
The main belts in the WWE that still show some integrity are the tag-team championships and this may be down to the fact they don’t plaster the WWE logo in the viewer’s face. At the same time, it could be said the design lacks detail with its silver finish instead of the previous gold look. As current storylines go, it looks as though there will be unified tag-team champions in the future and like in previous times, it is doubtful any change will be made due to the championships being kept for their respective shows. Despite there being title names linked to the respective WWE shows, it is good to see this doesn’t exclude any wrestler holding it from being part of the WWE draft where wrestlers are traded between Smackdown and Raw.
The WWE isn’t alone in their poor choice in title designs with other companies such as Impact Wrestling (TNA) having Heavyweight titles that look worn out and made of old leather. All-Elite Wrestling (AEW) might have garishly large golden belts, but at least those AEW belts look like they’re worth their weight in gold and are reminiscent of the big gold belt from WCW. WWE’s developmental division, NXT also falls victim to the lack of creativity in the company where the belts are layered with a large NXT logo, and not much else to talk about. What’s also different these days for the WWE is that there is a lesser amount of belts than there used to be back in its golden era. Sure there was the 24/7 belt, but belts like the Cruiserweight Championship that saw a revival at NXT have once more been retired.
What now begs the question with the WWE is how important are the championship belts? Wrestlemania Backlash barely features any title matches and to say Roman Reigns has the Universal World Championships, he’s wrestling in a six-man-tag-team match and the titles aren’t on the line. Usually, at a PPV, the biggest match of the night would include one of the World Championships. There is no doubt these title belts will still be of the utmost importance for a wrestler and the WWE, but it looks like storylines and the wrestlers themselves will continue to be the main selling point at the WWE.
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