John Cena, With his hard work, determination, and never-give-up attitude, he managed to become WWE’s franchise player for nearly 15 years. Cena wowed the audience like no other and continues to do so to this day. However, the most notable achievement in the Cenation Leader’s long career is his 16th World Championship, John made an interesting contribution to his title history with the introduction of his own version of the WWE Championship.
John Cena made his WWE debut in 2002, and it took two more years before Cena got a taste of championship gold. However, it wasn’t until the following year that John Cena captured his first world championship. Big Match John wanted his first world title reign to be even more memorable and that’s when the world saw the introduction of perhaps the most controversial version of the WWE title. So let’s dig in and explore the topic of the WWE Championship Revolving Belt.
John Cena won his first world championship at WrestleMania 21
John Cena was heading to WrestleMania 21 for his first major shot at the WWE Championship against the dominant holder at the time, John Bradshaw Layfield. After weeks of a heated rivalry, the Dinner Leader dethroned JBL at WrestleMania 21 and won his first WWE Championship in Hollywood.
Being young and hungry for success at the time, John Cena wanted to make a lasting impression in the WWE history books. Therefore, he decided to make his first reign as World Champion even more special by introducing his own version of the WWE Championship. Cena had done the same thing when he had won his third WWE United States title a year earlier.
John Cena was involved in designing the title. He offered his opinions on the shape of the spinner, the colored jewels, the different types of metal, the size and placement of the diamonds in the title, the size and placement of the diamonds in the title places, and the feel of the leather.
The 16-time world champion’s feud with JBL continued even after WrestleMania, with Bradshaw stealing the old version of the title and still claiming to be the champion. However, at WWE Judgment Day 2005, Cena defeated JBL in a brutal “I Quit” match and regained both championship belts.
Various WWE Superstars held the title with design alterations over the years
Although the revolving version of the WWE Championship was created to fit John Cena’s rapper persona, that didn’t stop WWE from putting the leash on other top WWE stars. Additionally, with various title changes, the WWE Universe saw slight adjustments to the revolving belt.
The first change was seen in 2006 when Edge was WWE Champion and defeated John Cena in his hometown at WWE SummerSlam. Immediately after, Edge presented his own version of the title that had the Rated R spinning logo and tossed Cena’s belt to the sound of Long Island. However, WWE offered him a unique R-rated version of the title. Edge went to work and came up with a design that was not similar to the spinning band. However, due to timing issues, WWE simply changed the Scratch logo to a Rated R logo and presented the concept to the audience.
Also, a key factor of the revolving title, the actual revolving feature, was gradually discontinued in later years, presumably with No Mercy 2007. The logo was placed in a fixed location and was visible during The Miz’s title reign when given the turn. . The spinning feature was seen on TV after a long time in 2013 during The Rock’s new title design reveal segment.
Other than that, many other WWE Superstars like Triple H, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, and Rob Van Dam held the WWE Championship in their careers.
The Spinner WWE Championship was finally discontinued after years of criticism
It was well known that the revolving WWE Championship was criticized by critics, fans, and even WWE Superstars who held the title. Only in 2011 did WWE executives officially begin to discuss creating a new look.
WWE eventually responded to the pleas of many and had the Great and later champion The Rock retire the revolving title, claiming that the biggest title in history should never be viewed “as a toy.” The people’s champion then introduced a more majestic and elegant version of the WWE Championship.
The revolving version of the WWE Championship may have been buried by now, but the eight-year history of the design will forever be etched in WWE history.