'The Fiend' custom title debuted to mixed reviews at best, but count Corey Graves as someone who believes the new title looks cool.
Speaking on his After The Bell podcast, Graves weighed in on 'The Fiend' custom WWE Universal Championship, which features a large photo of 'The Fiend's' face. And while Graves doesn't have a problem with the look of the belt, he does have a problem with custom WWE Championships in general.
"It's cool. I think it's very very cool. I am a big fan of Tom Savini, one of the greatest special effects artists to ever work in the motion picture industry. I think it's cool that our worlds have collided. The championship in and of itself is very cool, visually. But I have a problem with these customized championships. I always have. I hated when Stone Cold had the Smoking Skull belt. It looked cool, but all of a sudden, the WWE Championship and all of its history is customized to one guy. I didn't have a problem with the blue Universal Championship because it made sense, it still looks like the WWE Championship. I didn't hate when Ultimate Warrior would change the strap on his WWE Championship. But all of a sudden, The Fiend is going to defend a title that is just his face? I'm not a huge fan of it. I think it devalues the championship as a whole. The one thing we've always got is history, revisionist as it may be. The more you change the championships, the design, it devalues it," he said.
Following the debut of the title, WWE put special editions of the belt on-sale, charging a cool $6,500. The item is still available in the WWE shop.
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