Why is everyone now celebrating with a WWE belt?

The most famous and well-known tradition in American professional sports dictates that the winning franchise of a title celebrates their success by creating a special ring to be given to all members of the team. This is probably the best and most fascinating way for team members to remember the achievement they reached together. However, in recent years, another tradition has emerged in American sports, where the winning team is presented with an official belt by the WWE. And not just any belt, but the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt. To clarify, this is the belt introduced in 2014 and nicknamed the "Big Logo" due to the large W in the center representing the WWE logo. And just like every wrestler who holds this belt in the kayfabe, every team that is presented with a WWE belt receives a personalized one with the club logo embedded in the two circular sections on either side of the main section.

And so, in recent history, we have seen every possible variation of this belt. For example, in the last two years, the WWE belt has accompanied the parades of the Kansas City Chiefs after their Super Bowl victory in the NFL. The big W has also made appearances in the NBA, being presented to both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets after years of WWE belts accompanying the Golden State Warriors dynasty. Examples like these can easily be found in the recent history of MLB and NHL as well. The novelty is that this new sports tradition has slowly gained popularity outside of the United States, confirming the growth of Wrestling in the Old Continent. In 2017, Lewis Hamilton received a special belt to celebrate his Formula 1 title, and even Manchester City received a belt after winning the Premier League in 2018. It is not unlikely that the next winner of the Premier League or even the Champions League may also receive a WWE belt as an additional prize.

There are several reasons behind this trend. The most important, of course, is related to image: the free publicity generated is immeasurable, with articles and images broadcasted on both specialized and general channels. Not to mention the traffic generated by posts on social media by individual athletes, thus linking the most recognizable icon of their brand to the image of the most beloved athletes. In addition, it is highly likely that there are one or more wrestling fans on every professional sports team, and owning a belt is the realization of a childhood or adolescent dream. The WWE belt is a status symbol, but for decades it was only for a small audience of fans. However, the fact that professional athletes proudly wear a belt during the most important moment of their career has allowed WWE to access a new market segment. Yes, because the most important commercial effect of this initiative is that recently, WWE has been able to make agreements with various American professional leagues so that WWE branded belts with the team logo can be purchased on their official website. Because, while it may be a matter of love and fandom, money is also a factor in the end.