10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The World Heavyweight Championship

10. Its Name Is Still On The WWE Championship

For a time, WWE was obsessed with merging the Big Gold Belt into other championships.

It was part of the first ever Undisputed WWE Championship after Chris Jericho beat The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night. Along with the Big Eagle, it was retired when Triple H was handed a brand new strap. When the goldest belt in the box came back as the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, it lived on for more than a decade as one of the top prizes in the company.

Jump ahead to 2013 and once again the Big Gold Belt was merged with the WWE Championship. Brock Lesnar, the last physical holder of the belts, was handed a brand new title which had a shiny new WWE logo on it with the words World Heavyweight Champion written below. It made sense. The full name of the title was the WWE World Heavyweight Championship so having the entire name scrawled across the front plate in diamonds highlighted the legacy of both belts.

Except it went back to being called the WWE Championship again in 2016. So what gives?

Nobody would've batted an eyelid if they hadn't just announced the WHC's return. Every WWE fan asked themselves "Is this a continuation of the old belt, or the start of a brand new one?" when they heard Triple H's big announcement. In true WWE form they haven't confirmed anything yet.

Right now the old Big Gold Belt's legacy is a line of text on the WWE Championship. Kudos to Vince McMahon for shrinking the industry's most famous belt, one that was used in the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling, into three words on his company's main prize.