The majority of WWE’s current championships feature a very similar design, something that Cody Rhodes hopes to change should he become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
The design of modern WWE championships all follow a similar path, with a huge WWE logo slapped on the face of the belt itself and a designated colour assigned to the strap. This wasn’t always the case, however, as the WWE Championship has had some iconic designs over its esteemed history, perhaps none more so than the famed Winged Eagle design.
Introduced by Hulk Hogan in February 1988, the Winged Eagle championship would be the design used for the following decade, being held by the likes of Bret Hart, Diesel, The Ultimate Warrior, and Shawn Michaels. It was replaced by the Big Eagle/Attitude Era design when ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin became champion in March 1998.
Speaking to Corey Graves on his After The Bell podcast, Cody Rhodes has come forward to say he would love to reintroduce the design should he become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion (h/t Sportskeeda):
“Hypothetically, it would be something to do that, achieve the ultimate industry dream, being the best of the best ever, in terms of that moment in time, and then to perhaps give it a fresh coat of paint with the winged eagle, the redundantly named title we are discussing. That would just be something. That’s all I can really say.”
Cody Rhodes is scheduled to face Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins in a WrestleMania 38 rematch at WrestleMania Backlash on 8 May. ‘The American Nightmare’ has previously stated interest in challenging for WWE’s top prize, which is currently held by Roman Reigns following his defeat of Brock Lesnar at ‘Mania 38.
The current design of the WWE Championship features the WWE logo on a plain black strap with gold plating. Its counterpart, the WWE Universal Championship, features this same design but with a blue strap, owing to its status as a SmackDown-branded title.
In WWE, Cody Rhodes is a former multi-time Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion, meaning a title victory over Roman Reigns would make him a WWE Triple Crown Champion. The former three-time AEW TNT Champion is expected to challenge Reigns for the championship in the near future, possibly as early as SummerSlam on 30 July.