History of the WWE Championship belt design

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, and is contested for on their SmackDown brand. It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion, and one of the most prestigious world championships in professional wrestling. Since its inception on April 25, 1963 when it was established as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, the WWE Championship has had numerous championship belt designs, along with several wrestler-specific custom designs. There are several companies which WWE have commissioned to construct these championship belts over the years.

1963: Buddy Rogers' belt

File:Buddy Rogers (wrestler).jpg

The first WWWF champion, Buddy Rogers

The original WWWF World Heavyweight Championship belt had three gold plates on a red brick colored leather strap. The center plate was an outline of the contiguous 48 United States with the caption "World's Champion" under a circle flanked by grapplers and an eagle on top. The circle on the main-plate was designed to contain a photograph of the title holder. Several red and blue jewels adorned the center plate and side plates. The belt was originally owned by Buddy Rogers who had defended it as a United States championship pre-1963, hence the main plate design. When the WWWF broke away from the NWA and created their own World Heavyweight championship, Rogers (the first champion) brought the belt with him to represent his newly acquired title of WWWF champion.

At some point, the physical belt was found in the attic of Johnny Barend’s widow. When the title was found, it had a photo of Johnny Barend in it. Bruno Sammartino confirmed that Buddy Rogers and Barend were good friends. The belt was acquired by Dave Millican who then traded it to WWE. The WWE took possession of the belt just before WrestleMania 29 and displayed it at WrestleMania Axxess. The belt was also brought to the 2013 Hall of Fame to show to Bruno Sammartino, who was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame that evening. Discussing the belt, Sammartino remarked that at the time, Vince McMahon Snr. decided to create a new belt because the original belt looked old. Sammartino postulated that the belt was between 75-100 years old.

1963-1971: Bruno Sammartino belt

Sammartino with Triple H at WrestleMania Axxess 2014, unveiling a statue in Sammartino's honor. It features Sammartino wearing the 1963 belt

Soon into Sammartino's first reign as WWWF World Heavyweight champion, a new championship belt was introduced on a blue strap. The enlarged center plate contained a crowned globe and two grapplers, and read "WWWF World Champion"; the two side plates commemorated Sammartino's title win. Sammartino wore this version for the duration of his seven-year (2,803 day) reign. In 1965, the original belt was stolen from a locked car in New York City while Sammartino was eating at a restaurant following a WWWF event in Madison Square Garden. The belt was never recovered. The new belt also featured a black strap. This was also the belt on the line in January 1971 when Ivan Koloff defeated Sammartino, ending his 7 year reign as champion. This has been described as the most shocking event in the history of Madison Square Garden. After defeating Sammartino, Koloff held this version for three weeks before losing it to Pedro Morales.

1971-1972: Pedro Morales belt

During Morales's reign, the championship belt was updated several times. First, the 1971 design, on an indigo colored strap, contained three shield-shaped plates. Below the center plate, which had a cross at its center, a separate plate read "WWWF". Shortly after Morales became WWWF champion, Vincent J. McMahon rejoined the NWA, with the WWWF championship becoming secondary to the NWA World Heavyweight championship

1972-1982: Silver Eagle belt (V1 and V2)

Morales holding the V2 Silver Eagle belt

Shortly after rejoining the National Wrestling Alliance, the WWWF championship belt was replaced with another design. The first version of this belt (V1), on a red strap, had a gold colored center plate which read "WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" around the edges with a silver eagle at the center, while six side plates represented several countries. This belt was held by Pedro Morales from 1972-1973.

1973 saw the introduction of another yet similar design (V2); this one was on a black strap and contained two grapplers above the eagle. This version was subsequently held by Stan Stasiak, Bruno Sammartino, Superstar Billy Graham – who wore a red leather variation – and Bob Backlund. During the latter's reign, the promotion's name was shortened to World Wrestling Federation (WWF), but the physical championship belt still read "WWWF".

1982-1984: Big Green Belt

A new design was introduced in 1982, nicknamed the "Big Green Belt" due to its size and the color of its strap. It included eight (later ten) side plates dedicated to the previous champions. The original belt was made of trophy shop medal which was very thin. It was attached to the leather strap by rivets and, after becoming damaged, velcro. This design was held by Bob Backlund, The Iron Sheik, and Hulk Hogan.

1984-1985: Hogan '84 and Hogan '85 belts

The Big Green Belt was replaced by the "Hogan '84" design in late 1984 which was created by Reggie Parks (thus beginning a long working relationship between Parks and the WWF). Based off a design used over the years for other titles such as the NWA Television title and the AWA Tag Team titles, this belt was then replaced by the nearly identical "Hogan '85" design in early 1985. Both championship belts, worn only by Hulk Hogan, consisted of silver plates on a black strap, the center plate read "WWF World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" and "Worldwide Wrestling" and contained a name plate commemorating Hogan's title win, while the side plates noted previous champions. There are several subtle differences between the '84 and '85 belt. The strap on the '84 is laced around the edges, whereas the '85 is tooled. The '84 has raised banners with ‘World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion’ engraved into them and painted red. Conversely, the '85 has engraved banners painted in black with "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" raised on them left silver. The Hogan '84 has no other paint on the main plate or side plates whereas the Hogan '85 has gold paint on the inner sections of the side plates and black paint on the main plate surrounding the WWF letters and nameplate at the bottom. Hulk Hogan owns the Hogan '84 to this day, the whereabout of the original Hogan 85 are, however, unknown

1986-1988: Hogan '86 belt

Vince K. McMahon (who had taken the WWF out of the NWA in 1983), felt the silver color of the WWF title belt looked cheap in comparison to other belts which were gold and thus had it changed again. In late 1985, the "Hogan '86" was introduced, which read "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" with a large globe at its center and included the famous WWF block logo for the first time, while four side plates with two flags each represented eight different countries. The new belt had a large globe in the center on a much larger duel plated gold and silver main plate.

The sideplates were adorned with various flags with the WWF logo above. The belt is perhaps best remembered as being the one defended by Hogan in his famous match with Andre the Giant in 1987. Two belts were made, one with floral tooling around the edges sans a gold tip on one end of the strap, the other with seashell tooling and a gold tip on the end of the strap engraved with ‘HULK HOGAN’ (his was the one used at WrestleMania III).

During Hogan's entrance at WrestleMania III, Gorilla Monsoon stated that it would be the final time the current (Hogan '86) belt would be worn to the ring; being replaced by the new belt "big enough to fit a Giant"

1987: Andre '87 belt

The Andre '87 was introduced on WWF television in the run up to WrestleMania III. It featured most memorably on the Piper's Pit and Snake Pit segments with Roddy Piper and Jake Roberts respectively. The belt, originally on a black leather strap, featured the block WWF logo atop an extra large gold and silver duel plated center plate with a globe in the middle and various banners proclaiming "World Heavyweight Heavyweight Champion". Contrary to Monsoon's commentary, the belt was never seen on WWF television again after the build to WrestleMania III and Hogan continued using the Hogan '86 belt.

Although never used on WWF television after WrestleMania III nor officially used to represent the WWF championship, the belt was re-leathered on a shorter white strap and featured on promotional posters for the movie No Holds Barred, worn by Hulk Hogan as "Rip". The belt also appears in one scene in the movie; when Rip (Hogan) is in the locker room before his bout with Zeus at the end of the movie. The Andre '87 (on it's white strap) was eventually donated to Planet Hollywood in Florida by Vince McMahon in the early 1990’.

February 5, 1988 - March 29, 1998: The Winged Eagle belt

Bret Hart with the Winged Eagle belt

Hulk Hogan continued to use the Hogan '86 until an episode of The Main Event on February 1988. Hogan wore the Hogan '86 belt during a backstage promo before his rematch with Andre the Giant, debuting the new "Winged Eagle" belt as he walked to the ring, which would become the primary design for the next decade. Regarded as perhaps the most iconic and famous championship belt of all time the Winged Eagle was held by more wrestlers as WWF champion than any other design before, including future Hall of Fame members Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, Yokozuna, Diesel, Sgt. Slaughter, Undertaker and Bob Backlund.

The nickname of the Winged Eagle belt is derived from the eagle's wings seemingly coming off of the center plate, which included the block WWF logo and read "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion". The championship belt also had four identical side plates. Apart from the usual black leather strap, The Ultimate Warrior wore white, light blue, yellow, and purple variations. Sgt. Slaughter continued to wear Warrior's purple strap. The belt was designed and created by Reggie Parks, who views it as his 'signature belt'.

March 30, 1998 - March 31, 2002: The Big Eagle/Attitude Era belt

Steve Austin with the Big Eagle belt

The Big Eagle belt (referred to as the Attitude Era belt by WWE) was first introduced by Stone Cold Steve Austin. After becoming World Wrestling Federation champion and briefly holding the Winged Eagle belt at WrestleMania XIV, Austin was presented with the new Big Eagle/Attitude Era design by Mr. McMahon on the March 30, 1998 edition of Raw. The belt was manufactured by Joe Marshall aka J-Mar. It originally contained the block WWF logo and was on a blue strap, but was soon updated to the WWF scratch logo and on a black strap. In addition to the logo, it read "World Wrestling Federation Champion". The design was similar to the Winged Eagle, but the title’s center plate was now larger and fully rounded with new side plates. The belt also featured an additional "property of WWF" side plate. Having been held by wrestlers such as Triple H, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle and The Big Show, WWE have stated that the belt is most closely associated with The Rock due to six of his eight WWE championship resigns featuring the Big Eagle belt. In 2001, following the purchase of WCW assets by the World Wrestling Federation, the "Big Gold Belt" (then representing the WCW championship and latterly simply the 'World championship') was brought to WWF and defended on WWF television, thus for the first time WWF promoted two World championships.

1998-1999: Smoking Skull belt

The Rock holding the Smoking Skull belt

In 1998, Stone Cold Steve Austin introduced his customised "Smoking Skull" belt. The now-traditional eagle and globe were replaced by a skull with smoke billowing from the eye sockets draped with rattlesnakes on either side. Featuring the scratch WWF logo on the forehead of the skull, the belt also featured the writing "World Heavyweight Champion". The belt also featured side plates, also adorned with skulls and rattlesnakes. The belt was held by two other wrestlers; Mick Foley and The Rock, the later threw it into a river during an edition of Raw. After this, the Big Eagle was brought back, this time with the new WWF scratch logo and on a black strap.. On episode 383 of The Steve Austin Show podcast, Austin credited the Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) with coming up with the idea of having a custom-made belt. Austin contacted J-Mar to create the 'Smoking Skull' belt of which two were made: one gold and one silver. Austin brought the gold version to the next edition of Raw without WWE owner Vince McMahon's knowledge. McMahon was unhappy at this and did not like the belt initially but eventually allowed it to return to WWF television

April 4, 2002- April 11, 2005: Undisputed belt (V1, V2 and V3)

Brock Lesnar wearing the Undisputed title belt

At WWF Vengeance 2001, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the (WCW) World Championship (retrospectively referred to by WWE as the WCW Championship) and Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in consecutive matches, thus becoming the undisputed champion. Jericho would carry both the Big Eagle WWE championship belt and the WCW championship belt during his reign. Jericho would be defeated by Triple H at WrestleMania X8, who was presented with the new "undisputed" belt by Ric Flair on the April 4, 2002 edition of Raw..

Referred to as the 'Heritage design' on concept artwork the new belt was designed by New York–based tattoo artist Keith Ciaramello. The new design featured a name plate, and like the previous two designs, it had an eagle atop the globe. It was the last WWE championship belt to feature the WWF logo, having originally had the WWF scratch logo and read "World Wrestling Federation Champion". After the promotion was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002, both the scratch logo and wording were changed accordingly. The championship once again became the WWE Championship in September 2002, continuing to use the Undisputed belt design. The belt increased in size three times during its existence, along with slight moderations (referred to retrospectively as the version 1 (V1), version 2 (V2) and version 3 (V3). Triple H, Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker were the only wrestler to have held the Undisputed V1, which would be replaced by the Undisputed V2. The V2 was much larger than the original and had a black border around each plate. It also featured two-tone gold. The V2 was replaced by the V3 at SummerSlam 2002, when The Rock lost the title to Brock Lesnar. That night, the V3 was debuted, which was slightly smaller and minus the "Property of WWE" 6th side plate.

April 11, 2005 - August 20, 2006; September 18, 2006-February 18, 2013: Spinner Belt

John Cena with the spinner belt

The "Spinner Belt", which had a gold and diamond bling-bling style reflecting John Cena's hip hop character at the time, became the WWE Championship's primary design from April 11, 2005 until February 18, 2013. The scratch WWE logo, placed between an eagle on top and the word "Champ" and a name plate below, could be spun like spinner wheels or a turntable in keeping with the hip-hop theme. The inner side plates read "WWE Champion", though before 2008, one side plate indicated the brand the title was designated to. The spinning function was phased out in later years and the logo set in a fixed place, most notably during The Miz's reign (2010–2011) when the logo was turned upside down to look like an "M".

August 21, 2006 - September 17, 2006: Rated R Superstar spinner belt

Edge was the second wrestler to hold the Spinner belt by cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase at the New Year's Revolution Pay-Per-View in Albany, New York January 8, 2006. He would go on to capture the title for a second time on July 3, 2006 in Philadelphia, PA by defeating John Cena and Rob Van Dam on Monday Night Raw. He would then introduce a custom-designed Spinner belt, with the center plate WWE logo replaced with a spinning "Rated R Superstar" logo.

February 18, 2013 - August 18, 2014: Big Logo belt

Randy Orton holding the Big Logo belt

On the February 18, 2013 edition of Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship belt (dubbed the "Big Logo" by Matthew Martin , writer for cultofwhatever.com). Creative director John Jones proposed the idea of cutting the WWE logo out of medal, exposing the black leather strap underneath. This lead to the championship including a large cut-out of the scratch WWE logo (encrusted with diamonds) inside a large irregular heptagonal plate. The word "Champion" appeared underneath the logo in large letters. The belt featured 228 stones of cubic zirconium. On each side was a divider bar and a large plate. Default side plates consisted of a red globe with the WWE logo underneath a crown, but they were replaced with the reigning champion's personal logo.

The creation of the new title was originally commissioned to Dave Millican. The original prototype was deemed impractical due to weight. Orange County Choppers of American Chopper fame were then commissioned to use their state-of-the-art 3D printing facilities to create a metal “W” that was both lightweight and durable. The finished product by OCC was then sent to Dave Millican to place on a leather strap who also affixed 228 gems to its plates.

This championship belt was used in tandem with the Big Gold Belt to represent the renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Randy Orton unified the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013. This was the first time WWE recognised that the lineage of the Big Gold belt was "now tied" with the WWE championship.

August 18, 2014 - Present: Network Logo belt

Four-time and youngest champion Brock Lesnar was the first wrestler to hold the current WWE Championship belt

Soon after the WWE changed its logo, the WWE championship belt was once again updated to illustrate this. The new belt was introduced on the August 18, 2014 edition of Raw and was presented by The Authority to new champion Brock Lesnar, who had defeated John Cena the previous night at SummerSlam 2014. This belt brought back the tradition of a single belt represented the WWE championship. The belt featured the new, enlarged WWE logo, with the words “World Heavyweight Champion" along the bottom edges, in very small print. The large side plates, like the previous design, include removable round sections, allowing the holder's personal logo to be added to the championship belt; the default sections show gold and red world maps with the WWE logo over them, though they lack the crown placed on top of the plates in the previous design. The Big Gold Belt was retired with the unveiling of the new championship belt.

After the 2016 brand extension where the championship became exclusive to SmackDown, the similarly designed WWE Universal Championship was introduced for the Raw brand. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was briefly renamed back to the WWE Championship; the digitized belt in the pre-match graphic read "WWE Champion" below the WWE logo. It was then renamed to WWE World Championship in July 2016 and the pre-match graphic was updated to read "WWE World Champion". In December 2016, the title was again reverted to WWE Championship and the pre-match graphic no longer includes the title's name. The physical belt, however, continues to retain "World Heavyweight Champion" below the logo.

Commemorative belts

In what has become a tradition in recent years, WWE sends a custom WWE Championship belt (current design) to championship winners in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and others, with the team's logo on the side plates, which are non-removable.

The following are those that WWE has presented a custom championship to:

• San Francisco Giants for winning the 2014 World Series
• United States women's national soccer team for winning the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
• Kansas City Royals for winning the 2015 World Series
• University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football team just prior to the national championship in 2015
• Denver Broncos for winning the 2016 Super Bowl
• Pittsburgh Penguins for winning the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals
• Cleveland Cavaliers for winning the 2016 NBA Finals
• Chicago Cubs for winning the 2016 World Series
• Serena Williams for winning the 2017 Australian Open
• New England Patriots for winning the 2017 Super Bowl

References

Other articles of the topic Professional wrestling : WWE Crown Jewel
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