When WWE introduces a new version of an established title, the new title design should have a distinct purpose. The new design should stand out, but it should also enhance the established title, by respecting the past, yet embracing the future.

Unfortunately, over the years, WWE has been heavily criticized when it comes to their title makeovers, as some of the designs have been less than flattering, and lead to fans wanting to see the old design make a dramatic return.

So, with that being said, let’s look at 10 WWE Title makeovers that fans totally HATED.

10: ECW Title

The original ECW Title design was used on WWE programming when the company relaunched ECW in 2006. This was the right move, as the title is a perfect representation of what ECW is, and the title certainly has its fans. Sadly, a few years into the relaunch of ECW, the WWE version of ECW had completely lost its way, and it was nowhere near what made ECW so popular. WWE knew that the ECW Title represented the old era, so they made the call to introduce a brand-new version of the ECW Title.

This was the right move, and was surprisingly welcomed by fans, but the version of the ECW Title that WWE introduced was the worst design option WWE could have possibly come up with.

On the July 22, 2008, edition of ECW, Teddy Long presented Mark Henry with the new title design. The design featured a large, black leather strap with a silver centerpiece. The obvious issue with the title is the fact that it’s silver as opposed to gold. This was further evidence that WWE didn’t value the ECW brand, and fans saw the silver design as yet another spit in the face to the ECW faithful.

9: Tag Team Titles

WWE up until the 2010s seemed to have a great understanding of what design to go with for the Tag Titles; however, in 2010, WWE ditched the two respective Tag Titles designs that had been with in the company since the Ruthless Aggression Era, in favor of a truly atrocious single design.

WWE would have Bret Hart present The Hart Dynasty with the new titles, which were belts with black leather, and a copper centerpiece. These title designs were instantly met with negative reviews because they were so unimaginative and lifeless.

8: RAW Tag Team Titles

WWE would stick with the dreaded copper design for the next six years, that was until reports surfaced that WWE were set to debut new Tag Titles on RAW.

Sheamus and Cesaro were getting set to be presented with the new titles, and fans on social media were urging WWE to at least give some thought into how the new titles were going to look. In late 2016, WWE finally revealed the new titles, and they were presented in a lackluster backstage segment.

The copper center and side pieces were now silver, which was a great decision, but the strap was now red to represent Monday Night RAW. This design was unbelievably lazy and must have taken WWE about 30 seconds to come up with.

The main reason that WWE introduced the new design was to match SmackDown’s version of the Tag Titles, as the version for SmackDown was the exact same, just with a blue strap to represent SmackDown Live.

7: NXT Title

Due to WWE giving NXT a soft relaunch in 2021, WWE decided to give the NXT Title a slight makeover. The gold centerpiece would now have various colors filtered into it, and although it was a slight tweak on a popular design, it was completely pointless. Whilst the design wasn’t too noticeable, when the TV lights hit the title at the right angle, the changes to the design became apparent, and to say that it didn’t look great on live TV would be an understatement.

One of the reasons why fans hated the new design was that it felt like WWE were changing everything that made NXT different, and there seemed to be no rational reason to modify the top title on the brand in such an unflattering manner.

6: Cruiserweight Title

WWE couldn’t have produced a better design for the Cruiserweight Title in the early 2000s. The Title delivered the perfect balance of honoring the WCW version of the Cruiserweight Title, whilst representing the WWE branding and style of titles that were common during the respective time-period.

When WWE revamped the Cruiserweight division in 2016, there was a push from fans to see the title design return, or at the very least modify it for a modern audience. Unfortunately, WWE didn’t want to honor the design in any way, and their design choice wasn’t what fans had in mind.

The new version of the title would have a hideous purple strap, which was supposed to represent the branding of 205 Live, and the center and side pieces would be silver, and of course, WWE plastered a big WWE logo in the center. It was underwhelming, and it could certainly be argued that the title looked like a toy that was made by Mattel.

When the Title moved exclusively to the NXT brand, the strap would become black, which was a considerable improvement, and it’s a massive shame that WWE couldn’t have designed the title in this way from 2016 onwards.

5: Women’s/Divas Title

Between 2008-2010, WWE would have two Women’s Titles on the show, the Divas Title and the Women’s Title. When the two were unified in 2010, fans hoped that the classic Women’s Title would be used, as that version of the title had a classy appearance, and the consensus on the Divas Title design wasn’t the best.

WWE made the daring move to completely abandon the Women’s Title design, and the Divas Title would now be the primary Women’s Title in the division. Whilst not a makeover as such, WWE believing that the butterfly design of the Divas Title was a better look than the classic Women’s Title was without a doubt a creative mishap.

In terms of direct makeovers that WWE have made to the established Women’s Title, they once allowed Lay-Cool to carry half of the classic Women’s Title each, which looked totally ridiculous, and it made the title look like an utter joke.

Additionally, when WWE revamped the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Titles in the summer of 2023, Asuka’s new design received criticism. Asuka’s new version of the title simply named the WWE Women’s Title would be similar to Roman Reigns’ Undisputed Title, but with a white strap. Most of the negative feedback came from the fact that the centerpiece said, “Women’s Undisputed Champion”, which seemed like an odd choice as Asuka hadn’t unified the Women’s Titles.

4: Undisputed Title

Sometimes in pro wrestling, the reception to a title design can change over time. In 2002, when WWE ditched having the Big Gold Belt and the Big Eagle representing the Undisputed Champion, they introduced a single new title called the Undisputed Title. This was a small, gold World Title that at first looked rather underwhelming, and fans at the time were disappointed to see WWE go from two universally beloved designs to a design that looked rather basic.

Gradually, over time, the consensus on the design shifted. When wrestlers such as The Rock, Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle had the belt over their shoulder, it looked incredible. It was the perfect belt for TV, and the title design is now often named as one of the more underrated title designs that WWE has ever come up with.

3: The Big Gold Belt

It goes without saying that the Big Gold Belt is one of the most popular title designs in pro wrestling history. WWE used the title initially as the WCW World Title, then in 2002, it became their permanent World Title on RAW to counteract SmackDown, who had the WWE Championship.

One of the reasons the title stands out is because the gold centerpiece is so noticeable and grand, and whenever a wrestler wears it over their shoulder or around their waist, they look incredible. Names such as Ric Flair, Booker T, Goldberg and Sting all looked a million bucks with the title, and it truly was the definitive World Title.

However, over time, WWE began to shrink the World Title design down, and this was met with heavy criticism. The design became smaller and smaller, and when wrestlers such as Mark Henry and Big Show wore the prestigious gold, the title looked kind of ridiculous.

If WWE ever brings the design back, hopefully, it’s the original version of the title, and not the considerably smaller design that WWE used for the final years of the title’s existence.

2: Intercontinental Title

In 2019, WWE decided it was finally time to introduce a new design for the Intercontinental Title. This wasn’t a decision that fans were excited about, as the present design of the Intercontinental Title was classic, popular, and more importantly looked amazing.

The new design had a black strap with a gold center and side pieces. It was hard to get used to, and most of the negative feedback came from fans questioning what the point of the redesign was.

Whilst fans have somewhat managed to get used to the new design, the design is certainly missing something, and that’s the color, blue. Fan art showing the belt with blue added into the center is a vast improvement, and even the title on a white strap would make the title look 100% better.

1: WWE Title

There have been a number of custom WWE Titles over the years, and without a doubt the most infamous was John Cena’s custom WWE Title, first introduced in 2005.

Following Cena’s first WWE Title win, he decided to ditch the Undisputed Title design of the WWE Title, in favor of his custom title, which would go on to be commonly referred to as the spinner belt.

At first, fans assumed this was a basic gimmick belt and the design would go away once Cena dropped the title. However, when Cena dropped the title, the design remained the same, in-fact WWE continued to use the title for the next 8-years.

The design was scolded by fans, as outside of Cena, the WWE Title looked unusual on names such as Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista. The reason the design overstayed its welcome was ultimately money. The design was incredibly popular with the younger demographic, and WWE weren’t going to pass up selling replica versions of the spinner belt.

WWE did eventually make a slight modification to the design, as they would fix the WWE logo in the center, so it would stop spinning. This was a vast improvement, but even still, it would have made more logical sense for WWE to introduce a new version of the WWE Title and keep the spinner title exclusively for Cena.

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