It Has Heritage
The WWE Championship has a heritage which is exactly 50 years old this year (I am genuinely surprised they are not making more of a big deal of that, but anyway...). The World Heavyweight Championship can be traced back over double that length, and even if you doubt the legitimacy of the WWE's Big Gold Belt, there is no doubt that having the title that was held by Ric Flair in the NWA days does a hell of a lot for the idea of "Then, Now, Forever". Furthermore, having the Big Gold Belt always the same is a great sign that the WWE are respectful of the past while being able to do horrific things to the WWE Championship (I was no fan of the spinner...). Like the Intercontinental Championship, the WWE would be mad to drop it from its active titles because it represents so much about what wrestling was.