In 1986 this design was created for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Then champion Hulk Hogan held it for one year until it was replaced by the winged eagle championship in 1987. Given that Hulk Hogan was the only holder of the belt and it debuted in 1986, many collectors have called this the Hogan 86 Championship belt. The WWE Shop titles this replica the WWE Championship 1986 retro belt.
Placing the two belts next to each other is like looking at a picture next to a carving. This is mainly because the etching, and the fact that the WWE Shop version is dual plated instead of all gold.
The original WWF Championship 1986 belt from Figures Toy Co has 2mm thick plates and very shallow etching. The angle and the lighting will allow the details to be fully seen. The single gold color of the plates also makes it tough to see all the details. The older belt in this photo gallery is the deluxe version, meaning it has a genuine leather strap that is smooth and floppy but has no detail other than the basic seashell tooling surrounding the five metal plates. The standard strap has the same seashell tooling but a textured patch sewn onto the snap boxes.
The WWE Championship 1986 belt from the WWE Shop has much thicker plates, probably around the 5mm mark, allowing for deeper etching and greater detail. The WWE version also has a much softer strap with a different floral tooling that extends throughout the entire belt. There is a textured design stamped onto both snap boxes and “WWE” stamped on the right side of the strap. The WWE Shop strap also covers all the screws on the back of the belt.
All of the flags on the side plates have also been redesigned and recolored. The older version had pretty horrible art work and even miscolored flags. The newer version seems to have fixed this with incredibly accurate flags. Only the Union Jack in the United Kingdom and Australian flags are inaccurate.
The art work for the globe on the center plate is mostly the same, but for some reason Japan was removed from the art work on the WWE Shop version. It can still be seen in the Figures Toy Co version.
Side by side, the only reason anyone would want the older WWF Championship 1986 replica belt from Figures Toy Co would be for the WWF logo. That belt is more for collectors since they are so old and rare to find. The WWE Championship 1986 belt from the WWE Shop has updated every part of the belt to create a magnificent replica which is much more affordable and still available.
