WWE Introduce New Title Belt

When John Cena defeated JBL at Wrestlemania 21 in 2005, WWE were eager to replace the championship belt itself; the 'Undisputed' style of title had been around since 2002. Introducing a fresh take on the World Title design, the bold, garish 'Spinner' title was unveiled. Even though it fit in with Cena's then rap-heavy gimmick, the design never proved popular with the vast majority of wrestling fans, who felt it spat in the face of tradition or simply wasn't aesthetically pleasing.

This past Monday on Raw, The Rock revealed a new design for the WWE Title, one which has already polarised opinion itself. Still flashy, the belt now has a more sturdy, block look to it. Only time will tell if fans take to it the way they did to the classic 'Winged Eagle' belt worn by Hulk Hogan, or the streamlining of that same design worn during the Attitude Era.

On WWE.com, Senior Vice President of Creative Services, Stan Stanski detailed the production of the latest design, which had been ongoing for the past 18 months. Stanski notes it was important to create something more fresh looking than before, but maintain an immediate recognition for fans that this was the most important title in the company.

"As an artist or a designer who creates things, you get into the engineering of what's really doable? What we found really quickly was most of the title manufacturers were afraid to touch it. They said it couldn't be done.

The first thing we do is exhale. Then we think: What are we really up against and what are we looking to do? Our idea was never to take a step back or do something predictable or expected. We wanted to evolve the brand and create something that's never been done before. You don't always know what a traditional title might represent, so we wanted you to know immediately that this was the WWE Championship".