A wrestling championship is the pinnacle for a wrestler and it is important that this is represented in the belt they carry. It feels that nowadays every time we are introduced to a new title belt, it is met with hysteria and disgust. From the new United States Championship, to Cody’s TNT Championship, new belts seem to be written off the second they arrive. But fans should be grateful for these modern title belts because we have truly seen some horrendous belts throughout the history of wrestling… here are some of the Worst Championship Titles
Worst Championship Titles; TNA X Division Championship (2013-2015)
The X Division made TNA must watch television, with the likes of AJ Styles, Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal delivering some of the best wrestling in the world. The original title was a solid look for the belt and remained from it’s inception in 2002 all the way till Chris Sabin cashed the title in for a TNA World Heavyweight title shot.
We were then introduced to this disaster, looking like the attitude era Intercontinental Championship with a big blue X slapped on it. Manik, now known as TJP, was the unfortunate first recipient of this belt, which was replaced in 2015, when it was changed to green which is equally as bad.
Worst Championship Titles; Original WWWF Championship
They say if at first you don’t succeed try and try again. The WWWF, now known as the WWE, certainly didn’t succeed with their first world title belt attempt. The strap looks incredibly cheap, the wrestlers on the side plate look like their kissing and if you bend over wearing it you are going to get a flesh wound. WWWF clearly thought that this title wasn’t befitting of Bruno Sammartino, changing it later in the same year they brought it in for a much nicer blue and silver title.
Worst Championship Titles; 24/7 Championship
When Mick Foley stood in the middle of the ring holding this horrendous belt and the fans began to boo, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
The 24/7 title had been hyped up the night before, with many fans speculating the return of the beloved Hardcore Championship. But fans were not expecting to see a golden dinner belt presented before them, with an awful green strap holding it in place. The lack of effort for this belt can be seen in the side plates which have been left blank. The fact that this belt is a comedy championship makes it’s lack of taste more acceptable, but surely it should look like something you would actually want to win.
Worst Championship Titles; Tommy Dreamer’s Hardcore Championship
Speaking of the Hardcore Championship, by 2002 the Hardcore Championship had become so damaged that the WWF had to find a replacement. Sticking a New York licence plate over the European Championship, with a Kendo Stick wielding Statue of Liberty wasn’t the way to go. The title would only stick around for two months after it’s redesign, Rob Van Dam unifying it with the Intercontinental Championship.
Worst Championship Titles; 5 Star Wrestling: Tap or Snap Championship
The short-lived UK promotion 5 Star Wrestling is a bizarre tale, but they really had some ugly championships. Their submission-based title looked to utilise a breaking visual to represent the snap in tap or snap, but it looks more like the golden foil found on an Easter egg and the incredibly small impact font on the title makes it almost look like a parody. The title would only live for a month, being held my Mark Haskins and Matt Riddle, before the death of 5 Star Wrestling.
Worst Championship Titles; GFW NexGen Championship
Green is a colour that we don’t regularly see featured on the face of championship titles, and this belt shows us why. Global Force Wrestling is yet another short lived and bizarre story that also has some awful belts. But the cream of the crap comes in their secondary title, the NexGen Championship.
The green on the belt looks like slime and takes away any look of prestige that the title has, which would look fine without it. I know that the colour matches the branding of the promotion, but it would look so much better if it was anything but green.
Worst Championship Titles; Jay Briscoe’s Ring of Honor World Championship
Problematic racist flags aside, this title belt is horrendous. The skull in the centre of the belt screams “I wish I was Stone Cold” and the strap looks like Jay Briscoe unlocked a new camouflage on Call of Duty for his belt.
Custom world titles have been very hit or miss over the years, with Steve Austin’s Smoking Skull and the Rock’s Brahma Bull titles setting the bar, but they still look like world championships. This does not.
And of course, don’t forget that Ring of Honor allowed their world champion to put confederate flags on their world title.
Worst Championship Titles; The Divas Championship
The Divas Championship is infamous for being one of the worst title belts ever created by WWE, and for good reason. It represents the respect that was shown to the Women’s division at the time, with incredibly short Divas title matches being thrown on pay-per views. A huge pink butterfly has absolutely nothing to do with women’s wrestling, but shows us what the men in creative thought that women liked. This title somehow existed until 2016, with the Women’s Evolution helping to earn the respect the female competitors in WWE deserve.
Worst Championship Titles; John Cena’s United States Championship spinner belt
Twitter lit up with disgust at the new United States championship last month, but we’ve certainly seen a worse version in recent memory. There are several awful spinning titles from WWE, but the worst of the bunch comes in the shape of this monstrosity. The bejewelled belt makes it look like something that could be picked up at a UK seaside and the fact that it has word life written on it makes me sick.
This was the first spinning championship in WWE and because of this, we were subject to the spinner WWE Championship for eight years. JBL’s biggest babyface moment of all time came as he dumped this title in the trash and set it on fire.
Worst Championship Titles; Jeff Hardy Immortal Championship
Jeff Hardy is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and has been an incredible part of the industry. That being said, never let him design anything ever. In 2014 we were introduced to the Jeff Hardy creation Willow, a weird character and storyline. But before that, Hardy was handed the TNA Championship by Hulk Hogan which Jeff labelled the Immortal Championship. The odd-looking title is designed around the face paint of Hardy, but it just looks like something an 80’s Batman villain would wear. We would later see something similar repeated, with the Fiend putting his face on the Universal Championship, and wouldn’t you know it, people didn’t like that one either.
