WWE Renames Raw Championships

Though no formal announcement has been made by WWE, text on the company's website was changed Wednesday to reflect new names for two of Raw's championships - names which provide better symmetry with Smackdown's new titles.

The WWE Tag Team Championships have been renamed the Raw Tag Team Championships, providing an appropriate counterpoint to the recently-introduced Smackdown Tag Team Championships. The WWE Tag Team Championships have gone by said name since 2002, when they were introduced as Smackdown-exclusive belts. In 2009, the titles were unified with Raw's World Tag Team Championships, though the "WWE Tag Team Championships" name remained.

Additionally, the WWE Women's Championship has been renamed the Raw Women's Championship, putting it on equal footing to the blue brand's Smackdown Women's Championship. The Women's Championship was introduced at WrestleMania 32, taking the place of the WWE Divas' Championship that had been in use for the previous eight years. The lineage of the old WWE Women's Title - which existed for nearly all of the promotion's history and grew out of the NWA Women's Championship - is not considered part of the modern belt's history.

With the name changes giving the separate brands' belts better uniformity, it can only be considered a matter of time until the WWE World, Raw Women's, and Raw Tag Team Championships get dyed straps.