This is a 2 pronged thread with a colliding central topic. First I'd like to see Pee Dub list their personal hierarchy of belt importance. Like from whatever criteria you like (even if it's only kayfabe results) order the major players in belt form. Who is 2024's TOP GUYS? If you're a WWE and nothing else guy, is it an unscalable wall or can the other feds do something to elevate themselves?

The NWA Championship in 202x is worthless, but who isn't then?

I don't currently watch and while I'm aware of things I don't feel comfortable commenting on current affairs. Will say I do think AEW World looks damn sexy I don't feel confident in judging where they are. Back in the day I held the ROH World in high esteem. By time it hit the Matt Taven era obviously yeah it wasn't it, but I was still rooting for her in the Adam Cole/Jay Briscoe era. I thought it had some semblance of importance to the business. No delusion even in 2012 a good portion of fans would be "who?" but I think industry wide it was respected to a degree, maybe that's too markish? I assume it's part of the triple crown that Kingston has? So she's gone I take it.

I almost feel like the IWGP Heavweight before the Kota Ibushi change fit that NWA title prestige as far as "not WWE but pay attention to this. l@@k". It wasn't THE GUY and nobody actively cares, but if it's on their radar it gets appreciation. I wish I could explain it better.

It's hard to say in a world where WWE's larger size created several world titles, but were they? In a lot of ways whatever was the B title (some say always WHC, but I'd argue it depends on the time of each era) was just a really strong ic division while the other brand was the real main event. Does whatever belt Seth has, is it important in any conceivable way?

Dude either I'm out of my mind (again elapsed fan) but can someone explain the current world title situation? Did Roman merge WWE with Universal or is he just two belt Becky? Are the titles merged and they're just having them out to exist for merch until they decide on a proper new design or is Roman 2 separate champions? So is it Roman's belt and Seth or is there 3?

Gunther has had a lengthy reign, do you put any value on the ic? Or is it merely a case of him having a good run as champ instead of say a solid division?

Rank the belts in DIS BUSINESS.

Would TNA be the same level as the NWA world? Just surprised it still exists. LMAO does PWG still have shows? Is their belt still active?

CMLL/AAA are we even gonna pretend?

I'll take a crack at it. 

1. The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (which represents both the Universal Championship and WWE Championship)
It is the be all and end all in wrestling. No one has had a run like Roman Reigns in the modern era. It is unworldly the time the man has held this Championship, then consider the who's who of contenders, it reads like a HOF induction ceremony. It is the endgame for every single person who laces up a set of boots and for good reason, because it represents the absolute pinnacle of the business. It is the driving force behind what is destined to be one of the biggest and the best and most the important main events in Wrestlemania history - no, two of them. And the angle itself, The Bloodline Saga, has made everyone better. Sami was a mid-card conspiracy theorist before The Bloodline, The Usos were drunks bouncing from DUI to DUI, even Reigns was still an extension of The Shield. It gave Drew purpose, Cody direction and it reinvented The Rock. Ratings, attendance, social media engagement - you name it, the KPI is being smashed. That, and the title's importance has never faded despite Reigns' inability to show up to work. In fact, it has created a sense of urgency due to the infrequent nature of the title defences and opportunities to challenge for it. 

2. The WWE Intercontinental Championship
Much like the Undisputed Title, the length of GUNTHER's run, his list of contenders and the physicality of his matches have re-legitimized a title that was largely an afterthought 3 or 4 years ago. GUNTHER's poise and stoicism as champion has bought a level professionalism that hasn't been seen for a long time when it comes to the IC title, or in wrestling in general. This title means something today, despite Keith Lee's doubt about GUNTHER in WWE. A Champion that looks like a Champion, who carries himself like a Champion and works like a Champion was once a rare commodity in a world full of dweebs and geeks. Thank Christ for The Ring General. 

3. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship
It's still early days for this Championship, but it represent the alternative to the Roman Reigns, ummm... reign of terror. It doesn't mean much as yet, but at least it's around the waist of one of the best. Seth's contenders for the title thus far are some of the best in the business - Balor, Drew, Sami, Jey, Nakamura, etc. That, and it's a work-horse title, it's defended at every live event it seems and that's a good thing for those attending the live events. 

4. The AEW World Championship
It would rank higher, if most of the worthy contenders weren't doing side-quests and ignoring the top prize in the company and some of the most recent contenders weren't Hook and Wardlow instead of Danielson or Edge. MJF did his best Reigns impersonation and barely worked, yet still managed to mess up every part of his body despite his limited dates. I have bittersweet feelings for this Championship, as it carries some weight due to it being part of the biggest match in AEW history - Adam Cole v MJF at Wembley, but no one that matters in AEW seems to have any energy to bother chasing it. There hasn't been a really great Champion as yet either to really cement the title as something of worth. Maybe, potentially Will is that guy. 

5. The AEW TNT Championship
Edge drags this title up to another level than it probably deserves. It's not a fantastic championship, nor is it utilized especially well considering the Champion is 50 years old, and the whole idea of naming a title after a TV station screams of WCW circa 1994. But it has presence on Television and a note worthy Champion. And, it's the best of a series of random titles in AEW.

6. The AEW International Championship
Not to be confused for the Continental Championship. Or the All-Atlantic Championship. It's essentially AEW's Legend's Championship. 

7. The AEW Continental Championship
Not to be confused for the International Championship. Or the WWE Inter... continental Championship, or the ROH " World " Championship that it partly represented. It represents one continent? While the previous entry represents, the international nature of the sport? As opposed to the World? Yeah... ok. 

8. The WWE United States Championship
WWE's ugly step child of a Championship from a relationship WWE had with some chick from Atlanta. It's never defended and held by a YouTuber. Enough said. It's borderline pointless in 2024. 

9. The NXT Championship 
No one really cares anymore do they? 

10. The ROH " World " Championship 
It's hardly a " World " title. And there's so many titles in AEW than even Eddie Kingston gets one. So, yeah.. Meh. 

11. The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
The had a perfectly good IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and they had perfectly good IWGP Heavyweight Champions. Then they didn't have either. 

12. The TNA X-Division Championship
It makes the top 12, due to the TNA World Championship being held by a guy named... Moose. It's an irrelevant title in 2024, but it once represented the alternative. But now everyone is 190lbs and can do a backflip, so it's not exactly unique or innovative as it was in 2003 - and Rhyno is getting a title shot... all 48 years old of Rhyno in 2024, 300lb of flubber and oh, yeah, he's afraid of heights, and it's an X-Division Match. What does it even mean anymore? 

Fantastic breakdown NATH45.

Over the past decade the frequent unifying, merging, fusing, unfusing, separating, retiring and unretiring of championships has caused many championships to lose history and credibility, in addition to the inevitable confusion caused. I wish companies would stop doing that. I wish companies would stop creating new championships as well.

I feel like comparing championships from different companies is unconstructive since wrestlers in a specific company won't care about the prestige of championships outside their place of work.


WWE

The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

A championship with a name that is almost comically over-the-top. At some point Roman Reigns won two championship belts and fused them together like an Infinity Gauntlet. I don't remember if he won both titles after they were merged or not. I also don't remember the histories of the WWE and Universal Championships. The inevitable confusion strikes.

Perhaps this championship's only legacy is Roman Reigns' monstrous reign, but that's a tremendous legacy to have. I won't repeat what nath said - this is clearly the top prize in the WWE.


The WWE Intercontinental Championship

I agree that this takes second place over the World Heavyweight Championship. Not only is this one of the few existing championships remaining that has had its history untarnished, but GUNTHER is a commanding champion who has been the Roman Reigns of the midcard for a very long time. He has brought prestige and credibility to the championship.


The WWE World Heavyweight Championship

We all know what this is. The second place World Championship. The silver medal. A stain that's hard to remove, but Seth Rollins and, more recently, Drew McIntyre have done everything in their power to convince the world that this is a prize worth fighting for. And it is. It's the Raw championship to Reigns' Smackdown championship, that's pretty clear. But Roman's belt has a lot more weight behind it.


The WWE United States Championship

The US Championship doesn't feel relevant, even in the hands of Logan Paul.



AEW

The AEW World Championship

In its inception the AEW World Championship felt like American's equivalent to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Only the very best can win the championship, many fantastic wrestlers will miss out (no charity runs), and lengthy reigns are the norm. Jericho, Moxley, Kenny and MJF all had long reigns. However the value of that title has been up and down. It's not always been the main focus of the company. Nath put it best when he said "no one that matters in AEW seems to have any energy to bother chasing it."

At first I was skeptical about Samoa Joe becoming AEW Champion as his AEW career had been primarily focused on ROH which I view as substantially beneath AEW. However Joe made it work almost effortlessly, and the booking also helped. Immediately after winning he had Hook, Swerve and Hangman chasing after him. He destroyed Hook in a match that was really needed to establish Joe as a killer. Now he's feuding with one of the hottest acts in the company in Swerve Strickland.


The AEW TNT Championship

AEW's midcard workhorse championship, as we saw in the early years with Cody, Darby and Brodie Lee battling it out. It was good then. Then it stopped being relevant for a very long time. Then Christian won it and he single-handedly made it almost as coveted as the World Championship. Edge's feud with Christian only helped to give the TNT Championship a further boost.

Right now, it's really a 1A and 1B situation. The way Edge has been booked, he's just as credible a champion as Samoa Joe.


The AEW Continental Championship

Birthed from a round robin tournament and currently held by Kazuchika Okada. These are good things, but it's far too early to rank it higher than the more established belts. Except...


The AEW International Championship

AKA Orange Cassidy's plaything. I've never had any interest in this championship.


NJPW

I'm not ranking every championship, I just want to say some words about the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. When Kota Ibushi first declared his intention to merge the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships, I was fine with it. I didn't care. The new championship will still be in effect the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Just a rebranding, that's all.

That was naive. NJPW wrestlers at the time objected to what is effectively erasing history. I didn't see it that way, but now I do. Instead of Naito being the thirty-somethingth IWGP Heavyweight Champion, he's the fifth (or whatever) IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Hard reset. And that kinda stinks, to be honest.

However, that doesn't automatically make it worthless. It is a continuation of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It's booked the same. It's still valued by the wrestlers as the top prize in the company. There is huge honour in winning that championship, far above anything in NJPW and most other companies. It's lost some prestige points, but not too much. The position on nath's list is so ridiculous, below the ROH World Championship, I feel like I'm being baited. It's easily a Top 5 championship in all pro-wrestling.