Whether it’s a superstar’s performance, a storyline, or the quality of a pay-per-view, there is always something for wrestling fans to feel a distaste for in theWWE. Whilst there is still a vast amount of great talent among the ranks of the roster, which does seem less appealing is what they are working towards.TheWWEchampionship 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 andfeatured 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.RELATED:Stone Cold Steve Austin and Cody Rhodes Pick Their Favorite Zelda GamesWhat 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 theRAW,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 Rhodeshas recently stated on theAfter The Bellpodcast that he would love to bring back the Winged EagleWWEChampionship made famous by wrestlers such asShawn Michaels,The Rock, andStone Cold Steve Austinin the 90s Attitude Era. During his previous run with theWWE,Rhodes altered the Intercontinental Championship to look like its classic 90s design. TheWWE 2Kgaming series is not shy ofbringing back old wrestlersand their championships andWWE 2K22mightbe the largest yet content-wise.Of course, the decision forRhodesto bring back the classicWWEChampionship 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 largeWWElogo that is great for advertising the brand leaves little else to be desired.
Just because the current designs which are held by champion,Roman Reignslack character, that doesn’t mean every design before it has been prior. The spinner belt design most associated withJohn Cenawhilst 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 asStone 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 effortWWEputs into their designs.
The main belts in theWWEthat still show some integrity are the tag-team championships and this may be down to the fact they don’t plaster theWWElogo 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 frombeing part of theWWEdraftwhere wrestlers are traded between Smackdown and Raw.
TheWWEisn’t alone in their poor choice in title designs with other companies such asImpact Wrestling (TNA)having Heavyweight titles that look worn out and made of old leather.All-Elite Wrestling (AEW)might havegarishly large golden belts, but at least thoseAEWbelts look like they’re worth their weight in gold and are reminiscent of the big gold belt fromWCW.WWE’sdevelopmental division,NXTalso falls victim to the lack of creativity in the company where the belts are layered with a largeNXTlogo, and not much else to talk about. What’s also different these days for theWWEis 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 atNXThave once more been retired.
What now begs the question with theWWEis how important are the championship belts? Wrestlemania Backlash barely features any title matches and to sayRoman Reignshas 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 theWWE,but it looks like storylines and the wrestlers themselves will continue to be the main selling point at theWWE.
