Retro Wednesday: The Revival And Burial Of The "Big Gold Belt"
When WCW disbanded in 2001, the company's World Heavyweight Championship was still alive during the transition to WWE. Moreover, some good feuds stemmed from vying for the title, including Chris Jericho vs. Rock, Rock vs. Booker T, and Booker T vs. Kurt Angle. The title remained active for nine months, before being unified with the WWE Championship by Chris Jericho at Vengeance.
Although the WCW Championship was no longer, the traditional "Big Gold Belt" did indeed resurrect. To further exercise the brand split officially started in 2002, WWE felt the obligation to have two world championship to represent both brands, Raw and SmackDown.
The belt was presented to Triple H during Raw in September of 2002, and he immediately engaged in a feud with Shawn Michaels. Triple H kept the prestige of the belt relevant, and helped create stars in Randy Orton and Batista. In fact, with the combination of his five reigns, he has the longest total length as champion, as was two days shy of Batista for the longest single reign.
The World Heavyweight Championship, during its 12-year stint in the WWE, has been held by three current WWE Hall of Famers, and certainly more to come. Sadly, we saw the last of the Big Gold Belt on Raw, but it definitely did not leave us without memorable moments.
What was you favorite Big Gold Belt moment in the WWE? Sound off below.