by Matt Thomas

Created on: May 17, 2008

In 1963 the world of professional wrestling was changed forever after the then WWWF introduced their gold. And over 4 decades of it being around it has changed it's design several times and some of the greatest wrestlers in the world have had their paws on it such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin and even the late and great Eddie Guerrero. Not only that but it has been the center of some of the best matches fans have seen and caused the greatest feuds. But what has it become today?

After the attitude era slowly crept away from our television screens we were given WWE's new project- The Brand Extension. In my eye's this is what destroyed the WWE championships legacy as it just didn't seem as important. They kind of just threw it to the side a little and focused turning their sporting franchise into some kind of violent soap opera. Since the brand extension the WWE title has lost all prestige and become the center of just one brand rather than the whole industry and it was sidelined for the World Heavyweight Championship which pciked up from where the WWE title left.
Since then it has been nothing but terrible for the title and it has become just as meaningful as the sub title such as the intercontinental title and U.S title. But why is this?

WWE created the title because they wanted something to make wrestling worth watching and to give the talented wrestlers the reward they deserved. The WWE title was the cause for many success stories in the WWE such as the legendary Hulkamania and the rise of superstars such as the Rock and Steve Austin. Let's just cast our minds back to about 1997 when the attitude era was at it's starting point and the WWE was ran by the bad asses like DX. How entertaining was it tuning in and watchin RAW? Very! At that point it was every wrestlers dream to capture and defend the WWE title. However after WWE aquired the likes of ECW and WCW there was no need for this sex and blood filled, in your face bad ass attitude era to continue. Since then it seems that no wrestler or wrestling match has that certain buzz.
Unfortunatley the WWE championship followed this down spiraling business choice and lost all legacy and prestige on it's way. It was given to the likes of JBL who has had no significant wrestling past and is probably one of the most hated wrestlers in the history of WWE. This lost a lot of viewers and those who still watched couldn't wait for him to loose his title. Then when that day came at wrestlemani 21 we saw the young and talented John Cena pick up the title and we thought the title would be changed forever. In a way it was, it was given some gangster design which practically turned it intoa piece of bling! Now sure that's cool if your a 14 year old John Cena fan or some kind of Gangster wannabe, but personally i prefered the other design. The design oozed class which is what the WWE title was meant to be about.

My final verdict is that the brand extension destroyed this title and it's going to be a big struggle trying to bring this title back to the top where it belongs. Until that day we're just going to have to make do watching a blood bath soap opera where fame and glamour is moire important than success...

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