The new WWE championship title story: The making of, when it was supposed to debut, and more

As we saw on last night's (Feb. 18, 2013) episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE officially unveiled its new championship title design, the one you see in the picture above.

Reviews so far have been mixed. That may be putting it nicely, actually.

Whether you like it or not, though, it's here to stay. But what of the painstaking process of bringing it to be? WWE.com has a fascinating story up right now revealing a few interesting details on the new title. Here's an excerpt:

Stanski's plan to make the title instantly recognizable led the team to take the iconic WWE "W" - which was barely legible on older variations of the championship, but front and center on the "spinner" version - and make it so big and jewel-encrusted that it wouldn't look out of place on the end of an MC's gold chain.

But there was also an urge to use the traditional aspects of the title - namely the metal plates and the leather strap - in a unique way. Most championships have their logos and symbols etched into the face of the plates themselves. It was creative director John Jones who thought of cutting the WWE logo out of metal so that the black strap underneath would show through. How to go about doing that was another question entirely.

Other interesting notes:

• Stan Stanski is a real person, the Senior Vice President of Creative Services, and he was the one tasked with figuring out a new belt design.
• There were ideas in place to have a red leather strap or a title affixed with door hinges on both sides.
• The Orange County Choppers were brought in when no one else could take on the task of creating what they had in mind for the new look title.
• They spent $50,000 during the process.
• There was a plan in place to unveil the new belt at WrestleMania 28 but that never came to be.
• For those missing the "winged eagle" design, there was an idea to have the new belt "feature a massive, three-dimensional eagle grasping onto the central WWE logo with its talons."
• The belt looks the way it does because they want everyone to know that this is the WWE championship and there's no mistaking it.

Feeling any different after reading all this?