Ranking WWE Championship Title Belts from Worst to Best
On the latest episode of Monday Night Raw, the new United States Championship belt was unveiled by MVP and Bobby Lashley.
Apparently, WWE has been sitting on this completed title for quite some time and also has new tag titles waiting to debut.
These are the last belts without the common side plates and it’s time for something new, given that the US Title was one of the longest running designs in WWE history – dating back to 2003!
Personally, I’m a fan of it, but a lot of people aren’t. After all, belt design preference is subjective and everyone has their own views on whether they like certain colors, shapes, sizes and more.
For some, the Winged Eagle is WWE’s greatest title of all time. Others prefer the Big Gold Belt World Heavyweight Championship. I think the European Championship was horrible, but I love the Million Dollar Championship.
After being asked where I ranked this new US title in terms of the hierarchy of current designs, I figured I’d expand that a bit and present my current overview of all WWE belts today, from worst to best.
1. Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships
These belts are hideous. Immediately after their original debut, when they looked like pennies, I despised them.
When they were redone, I was hoping for a completely different design. Instead, WWE replaced them with silver plated ones, which made them look like dimes and put the red and blue straps on them.
Something to reference for several things on this list: I hate colorful suspenders. I think they are sticky and ugly. They make some belts look like gum strips or toys you’ll find in one of those 25 ¢ Machines.
Whatever new designs WWE has in store for these belts, I’m confident it will be better than the current designs. They can’t make them worse, right?
2. 24/7 Championship
Green strap. Round design, which I usually don’t like. Tasteless overall concept. Completely blank side plates that can’t work with the replaceable gimmick (because people don’t hold that title long enough to make it worth it). Yeah.
Here’s the thing, though. As atrocious as this belt is, that’s part of its charm.
It’s a terrible title and it doesn’t need to be glamorous because it will never be a credible championship. It’s a gadget that people turn to like a hot potato. It’s less offensive than tag titles, which should be meaningful.
The center plate has at least a clock vibration, which makes sense. I don’t object too much. But maybe the side plates could have had something similar to indicate the 24/7 Championship concept instead of being entirely blank?
3. Raw Women’s Championship
The Raw Women’s Championship has the same fundamental design as many of the other belts you’ll see on this list, all categorized differently, as their colors offer drastically different vibes.
As far as this title goes, it ranks so low, not because of the generic WWE logo in the center or anything like that. In fact, you’ll probably be surprised how far that same basic design will go on this list.
The problem is the red swoosh on the red background. It mixes way too much and I don’t know why WWE didn’t see it coming from a mile away.
The Universal Championship got around this when it was red by having a black swoosh. It was MUCH better than the way the Ws work with it.
In my mind, it would be so much better if the Raw Women’s Championship had a black swoosh or black backing. The SmackDown Women’s Championship, for that matter, could either stay the same or have a black background with a blue swoosh.
Here are two mockups I had done at the time on these designs, for reference:
In my opinion, this black background version with the white strap is absolutely phenomenal. The colors pop, but they don’t look tacky. The same goes for the one with the black swoosh, as it still has the same color scheme as the Universal Championship, minus the white difference.
Red on red, though? This needs to be corrected.
4. Blue Universal Championship
In fact, I’ve grown to like the red version of the Universal Championship over time more than I thought I would, although I’d still say it looks better with a black strap or with a black bottom like the women’s title version. which I did above.
Blue is by far my favorite primary color, so you think I’d like it better. But the blue strap does not appeal to me.
Blue collides with red. If it had a black swoosh maybe I’d like it better but I’m sure I’d be a much bigger fan if it looked exactly like the WWE Championship from Raw with the only difference being a blue swoosh, rather than red.
But hey, at least it’s not Bray Wyatt’s custom belt. I hated that the Fiend mask was considered a championship. Even Daniel Bryan’s eco-belt was better than that.
5. SmackDown Women’s Championship
There isn’t much to say about it. It’s the same design as the Raw Women title, but without the boring red-on-red.
I rank it above the blue universal championship because the white strap is much better.
Despite the way he’s red on blue, he doesn’t confront me as much for whatever reason. Instead, I think it appears in a good way.
6. NXT North American Championship
It seems some people really like it. I’m not the biggest fan.
The brownish strap is definitely not as offensive as the green, blue and so on, but it’s a bit silly for my taste. It gives more of a rustic cowboy feel than I personally like.
More so, however, I think the round center plate is bland.
Obviously it fits the theme, as it shows North America, but the idea itself to be the title wasn’t something I was sold on either. I don’t like geo-belt concepts unless there’s a real divide. If anyone from any country can contest this title in any country, why is it the North American Championship to begin with?
The Cruiserweight title is for cruiserweights. The Raw/SmackDown tag and women’s belts are for these divisions. What is the North American title for?
