Championship (professional wrestling)
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In professional wrestling kayfabe, a championship or title is a recognition of a wrestler being the best in his or her promotion, or for lesser championships (such as the WWE Intercontinental Championship), his or her division. A wrestler can earn a championship by defeating the current champion in a match (by far the most common) or in other ways determined by the promotion, such as winning a tournament for a vacant championship. Most championships are represented by a championship belt, which the wrestler wears around his or her waist or carries over the shoulder.
Outside of kayfabe, championships are won/held by a wrestler whom the promotion's bookers believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Usually, these are wrestlers who generate large fan interest and crowd reactions over a sustained period of time, whether as a face or a heel. The wrestler can create this crowd reaction either through in-ring skill or from mic skills while cutting promos. Generally, the wrestlers who draw the greatest fan response will be rewarded with an angle in which he or she competes with the current champion for the title, and eventually the championship itself.
Professional wrestling's championship belts are modeled after the championship belts in boxing. They are made of elaborately designed gold plates, usually bearing the name of the title and the wrestling promotion, on a leather strap. The color and designs vary with each title and promotion. Recently, all major WWE titles have included a nameplate with the current titleholder on the bottom of the main faceplate. This is in the style of the WCW Championship of the 1990s (nicknamed the "Big Gold Belt"), which included a nameplate. When the WWE and WCW titles were merged into the WWE Undisputed Championship, the new belt included a nameplate, which has since been added to the design of new WWE championship belts.
Championships are often the subject of the company's most notable storylines. The most common angle when it comes to championships is choosing a "number one contender" (the next wrestler who will challenge the champion for his/her title), often via a tournament or a series of matches with other wrestlers who are also aiming for that spot. Most notably, the WWE currently uses the main event of the annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view to determine who will receive a match with the champion at that year's WrestleMania. In some cases, an authority figure (such as the general manager or commissioner) will simply name the "number one contender" without the need for that wrestler to earn the spot.
See also: professional wrestling slang