There is no off-season in wrestling, so to keep its product feeling fresh, WWE frequently seeks ways to spruce up its presentation. Whether it’s changing their show logos or the design of their promotional material, new looks will always catch the audience’s attention, for better or worse. One way the company has tried to enhance the presentation of certain wrestlers over the years is by letting them walk around with personalized championship belts.
One of the WWE’s fastest rising stars this year
has been former NXT Champion and current United States Champion Trick Williams. The man has charisma for days, a catchy catchphrase that goes right along with his entrance music, and mic skills that I would put up against any of today’s top stars. If having him win a championship at WrestleMania with as much history and prestige as the United States Title wasn’t enough of an indication of the potential that WWE brass sees in Mr. Whoop That, then the newly redesigned belt that he’s been sporting for the last few weeks should be.
This weekend, Trick Williams defends his brand-new fur-covered United States Championship against the recently returned Baron Corbin. As funny as it would be to see the Nomad walking around with a title belt straight out of the Sesame Street collection, taking the title off of Trick so soon after completely redesigning it for him specifically doesn’t seem likely. It got me thinking, though… when a star gets a brand-new, customized title belt, how long is it before someone usually beats them for it? Here are a few stars who got tricked out (pun heavily intended) championships, and how long they held them for:
Stone Cold Steve Austin – Smoking Skull – 62 days
On an episode of RAW in the summer of 1998, WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin debuted a brand new version of the industry’s top prize. His initial reign with the Smoking Skull WWE Title would last for 62 days, until In Your House in September. On that night, Kane and Undertaker simultaneously pinned Austin in a Triple Threat match, prompting the title to be vacated.
The championship would remain vacant until Survivor Series that fall, when The Rock, with the Corporation’s support, would become WWE Champion and be awarded the previous design of the title belt. The following year, Austin would square off with The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 15 and win the WWE Championship back, and afterward, demanded that the Smoking Skull title belt be returned to him. Austin’s version of the belt would be used on-screen until August of that year, when it was quietly retired for good.
John Cena – Spinner – 81 days (US) & 269 days (WWE)
At the Armageddon pay-per-view premium live event in December of 2004, the Doctor of Thuganomics, John Cena, debuted a personalized version of the United States Championship about a month after winning the title from Carlito. The new belt, equipped with a spinning front plate bearing “Word Life” and “John Cena,” would only last on-screen for a little over 2 months. The following March, Cena lost the United States Title to Orlando Jordan, and the following week, JBL and his cabinet blew the spinner belt up in the middle of the ring, and the Wrestling God (and WWE Champion at the time) awarded Jordan the previous iteration of the belt.
That display of disrespect set the stage for WrestleMania just a few weeks later, when John Cena would defeat JBL for the first of his 17 World Championships. Less than two weeks after WrestleMania, the new champ would introduce another customized spinner championship, this time, the WWE Championship. Cena would hold the WWE Title for 280 days before losing it to Edge at New Year’s Revolution in January of 2006.
LayCool – Split Title – 43 days
In 2010, one of the very few bright spots for the WWE women’s division was the team of Layla and Michelle McCool, better known as LayCool. On an episode of SmackDown in May of that year, WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix was forced to defend her title against LayCool in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. LayCool would win, with Layla earning the pinfall. The duo would compete as co-champions throughout the summer until August, when SmackDown GM Teddy Long decided only one of them could walk around as champion. Layla and Michelle famously had a tug-of-war over the belt, which ended with it breaking into two.
LayCool would each carry half of the WWE Women’s Title around until it was unified with the Divas Title just a few weeks later.
Daniel Bryan – Eco-Friendly – 68 days
After being medically disqualified from competing for years, Daniel Bryan returned as an on-screen character in 2016, serving as the General Manager of SmackDown for the better part of two years. In March of 2018, Bryan’s long road to being medically cleared finally ended, and he returned to in-ring competition. Like Edge and others who returned from serious career-threatening injuries, Daniel returned right back into his role as one of the biggest babyfaces in the company.
In November, just 8 months after returning, Bryan began his 4th WWE Championship reign by defeating AJ Styles, but perhaps more notable was how he did it. With the referee distracted, Daniel nailed AJ with a low blow, followed up with a running knee to pick up the win. After the match, Bryan shockingly continued his assault on Styles, effectively turning heel for the first time in almost 6 years.
After branding himself as “a new Daniel Bryan” for the next few months, the new champ introduced a brand new eco-friendly version of the WWE Title belt, made from sustainable, organic materials, in January. His run as WWE Champion would last for 68 more days when WrestleMania turned into Kofi-Mania. Kofi Kingston would be awarded the traditional WWE Championship belt on the following episode of SmackDown.
Ethan Page – Maple Leaf – 217 days
Last summer, Ethan Page was in the midst of one of the greatest North American Championship reigns of all time when he introduced a brand new version of the title with the Canadian flag on the strap. He had already been champion for two months and was fresh off a successful title defense over Ricky Saints when he tossed the traditional North American Title out of the ring in favor of his new one. Ethan would also add a second championship along the way, winning the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championships with fellow Canadian, Chelsea Green.
Page would remain North American Champion and carry around his Canadian version for 217 more days before losing to Myles Borne earlier this year.
So what does this all mean for Trick Williams and Baron Corbin this weekend?
History is not on Baron Corbin’s side
Of all the customized title designs discussed above, the shortest reign was LayCool’s split title, but that belt was retired shortly after, anyway. As for the others, Daniel Bryan’s eco-friendly belt was only used on-screen for a little over two months, but the rest were either a part of long title runs (like Ethan’s) or were featured on-screen for longer periods of time overall (like Austin’s).
When Baron Corbin steps into the ring with the United States Champion, Trick Williams, at SummerSlam this weekend, it will have only been 22 or 23 days since Lil’ Yachty gifted Trick his fur-lined title belt. Because I just don’t see the Nomad walking around with that version of the title, and because I can’t see them going back to the traditional version so quickly, Trick retaining the gold seems like a lock. If I were a gambling man, I’d bet the farm on Trick and his lemon peppa steppas walking out of Minneapolis the same way he walked in.
What do you think, Cagesiders? Is there any chance Baron Corbin wins this weekend and walks around with Trick’s title? What is your favorite customized title in WWE history? Let’s talk about it in the comments!
