Review Fix’s Thoughts on the New WWE Heavyweight Title

Gaudy, over the top and ridiculous.

The same words that describe Mr. T’s appearance during an episode of “The A-Team” now provide a perfect verbal visage for the new WWE title. Unveiled by The Rock this past week on RAW, the title was supposed to replace the equally as inane “Spinner” belt, but instead, just looks good on The Rock’s shoulder. Like a prop for a movie, Dwayne Johnson has a new toy, but real wrestling fans still can’t stop shuddering.

If you don’t think the look of a title means something, think again. One of the reasons why the Divas Division gets no respect has a lot to do with the fact that their title belongs on a Barbie doll than a female professional wrestler. Over the past few years, it’s been on more models than female workers. That’s not a coincidence.

Consider this as well. The WWE title is now around the waist of a part-time worker who despite earning his stripes a decade ago is in the company more for his popularity than his ability in the ring. But let’s be straight here. The Rock is a hell of a worker. He’s no Hulk Hogan. He’s a step and a half above John Cena as well. But with his seemingly forced title reign, for the sake of a Wrestlemania match-up and the new belt, the WWE continues to hurt its legacy.

It’s not Katie Vick bad, but it’s close.

Wrestling has always been an ebb and flow business. Make no mistake. This belt confirms it. This is ebb.

The biggest problem with the title is the huge WWE logo on the front of the title. It looks like a design for a ring or a belt buckle, blown up in size. Although it isn’t mandatory, the return of an eagle-inspired title, one similar to the one the company used in the late ‘90s, but with a more modern twist, would have been more appropriate. Instead, it looks way too outlandish and takes the “entertainment” thing up another notch. But maybe that’s what Vince McMahon wants. With this title, it’s obvious this isn’t a wrestling show anymore. You can’t fool kids anymore. They know the show is for entertainment value only. So instead of suspending disbelief a hallmark of the fantastic wrestling shows over the past 50 years, this title tells the world that being the WWE champion isn’t about working your tail off, it’s about wearing the blingy, over the top belt.

The sides of the belt, adorned with brahma bull logo also continue to make this title tailor-made for The Rock. Once he loses the title to John Cena at Wrestlemania, WWE logos should be added to the sides to clean it up some more, but then you’ll have three WWE logos on the thing. It’ll be an eyesore.

The World Heavyweight title is a secondary one in the company, but at least that belt is beautiful. Even if it only represents the last 30 years or so (in between its exodus after the fall of WCW) it now stands for a lot more than the new couture title the WWE will have its franchise player wear around his waist.

Photo by WWE

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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