On the 24 April 2023 edition of Monday Night Raw, WWE’s Head of Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque announced the creation of a new World Heavyweight Championship belt.
The announcement comes as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns approaches 1,000 days with the unified straps. Consisting of both the WWE and Universal championships, the undisputed title has restricted the flexibility of WWE’s main event scene over the past year. The new belt World Heavyweight Championship will allow the company to continue Reigns’ historic run without limiting the opportunities for high-stakes match ups.
The new title shares its name with the previous World Heavyweight Championship. It was defended in WWE from 2002-2013 when it was unified with the WWE Championship. It has not been confirmed if this new version of the championship will share the lineage of the previous title.
The inaugural World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned at Night of Champions on 27 May in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Triple H said: “This will be a champion that will defend this championship anywhere, any place, any time, all over the world.”
New WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt (pictures)
The design of the new World Heavyweight Championship belt is a hybrid of the original Big Gold Belt and WWE’s recent logo-centric designs. However, it has drawn mixed reactions online. For some, it represents a modern take on an all-time classic belt. For others, it is an ugly mismatch of two designs that work well independently but not together.
Below are pictures of the new World Heavyweight Championship belt design, as seen on Monday Night Raw.
Like the WWE and Universal Championship belts, the new title features a large WWE logo on the middle plate. The side plates also appear to be interchangeable (to match the reigning champion’s logo) like most other WWE titles.
According to Triple H, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship will be exclusive to whichever brand (Raw or Smackdown) that Roman Reigns goes to in the upcoming draft. Consequently, the new championship will appear on the other brand.
Do you like the new belt design? Do you think another title is a good idea? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other Film & TV articles…
