Unsactioned Championships Have A Purpose.

Back in July, Taz and his client Brian Cage introduced the FTW (F&*k The World) championship to AEW. For those unfamiliar the FTW championship was Taz's self made title in ECW, it wasn't sanctioned by ECW but he defended the belt as if that was the case. On last weeks edition of AEW Dynamite Taz went on a rant feeling disrespected that the FTW wasn't sanctioned by AEW and given it's respect. 

His rant got me thinking, how valuable are custom or unsanctioned championships in pro wrestling? In Taz's case it added to his character in ECW as a straight shooter who seeked opportunites. He created the FTW championship after losing to Shane Douglas in a match for the ECW Heavyweight Championship, in an effort to prove he was an effective champion.

The "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase held one of the most famous unsanctioned titles in wrestling, the million dollar championship. The championship wasn't sanctioned but had one purpose generate heat for Ted Dibiase. It served it's purpose well as a prop, an accessory to the overall aura of the Million Dollar Man. A guy so rich he could buy his own championship and use it as another way to flaunt his wealth. 

Last year Daniel Bryan introduced his own version of the WWE championship, an eco-friendly version of the championship made of all recycable materials. This version of the WWE championship worked because it fit into his complex persona, a heel who would degrade fans and cheat to win, but felt strongly about sustaining the environment. 

These custom titles work because they have a reason for exisiting. Other championships such as John Cena's blinged out US championship and World Championship spinner belt worked to a degree, his gimmick at the time was of a throwback wearing chain gang leading white rapper, bling and spinning car rims were still somewhat relevant so it worked to a degree. Stone Cold's smoking skull championship that he carried during the height of the attitude era is still one of the coolest looking ones out there. I guess never explicitly explained why he started carrying that championship around, but I guess it was another way to flesh out his character being an rebel and finding anyway to stick it to the man.

Then there's championships like Jeff Hardy's Immortal championship during his early 2010's heel run in TNA, which was strictly for aesthetics, but didn't serve a bit of story purpose.

That comes to the bottom line of custom championships, I am a proponet of them. Some folks may say it takes away from actual championships, but I believe if it adds to a angle or allows a wrestler to seperate themselves from everyone else go for it. I mean what else do fans hate more than an delusional champion? Especially one that's not a real champion at all. Now you can't have five of these running around but just one with the right wrestler and there is potential for gold storytelling.