Interesting story behind major WWE championship plans - Reports
WWE came out of WrestleMania XL with tremendous momentum as officials went right to work on the new era with the 2024 Draft and the Backlash France Premium Live Event. A big part of the kickoff to the new era is related to championships, and updated information is reportedly now available from backstage.
Triple H introduced new tag team title belts and will reveal another new championship soon. The WWE Chief Content Officer presented then-RAW Tag Team Champions Awesome Truth with new titles, now billing them as the World Tag Team Champions. The Game did the same for then-SmackDown Tag Team Champions A-Town Down Under, now billing them as the WWE Tag Team Champions.
Officials made the changes to title designs and branding specifically to give them a lot more flexibility than in the past, according to a report from Fightful Select. The tag team titles for the men's and women's divisions are no longer brand-specific with different color schemes, and this was done in part to avoid awkward title trades as we have seen in the past when champions end up on the brand opposite of their championship.
Backstage sources reiterated that the current champions were locked into the brands they were currently on anyway, except WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane. The Kabuki Warriors were put in Monday's talent pool so that they can have a "home brand" as the titles float around.
The championships of the Triple H era are generally well-liked, especially compared to some of their older versions. The current Intercontinental Championship's design was introduced in November 2019, and the World Heavyweight Championship was revealed in April 2023. The current looks of the WWE Women's Championship and the Women's World Championship have been around since June 2023, and the United States Championship design goes back to July 2020.
Triple H praised Carmelo Hayes after WWE SmackDown
The latest episode of SmackDown featured Night One of the 2024 Draft. The main event of the night saw Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeat Carmelo Hayes in a match that went on for almost nine minutes.
The third pick of the first round saw SmackDown make their second pick after first choosing Bianca Belair. The blue brand went with Hayes. Triple H then took to X/Twitter to praise Melo and also shared a backstage photo with him.
"After a performance like that against the Undisputed WWE Champion @CodyRhodes, @Carmelo_WWE has shown the entire #SmackDown roster that he is HIM. #WWEDraft," Triple H shared.
Check out his tweet below:
Hayes left NXT as a two-time North American Champion, a one-time Cruiserweight Champion, a one-time NXT Champion, and the 2021 Breakout Tournament winner.
The future is certainly looking bright for Melo on SmackDown.