What are the most and least prestigious championships in WWE?

In the words of Asuka, "the prestige of the title is determined by the quality of the champion." That's certainly been a roller coaster when it comes to the various titles within the WWE. Some champions have been magnificent. Many others, and the consequent angles booked around their titles, have been awful.

The organization has introduced many new titles within the past couple of years thanks to the brand split and its international expansion. With the advent of the UK division, more are on the way. We should take this opportunity to look back and see which ones have been helping the programming and which title reigns have been harmful.

14 titles currently populate WWE's programming. Their prestige is determined by their current holders, their title histories, and the matches and feuds surrounding them. Which is the most prestigious of all? There's only one way to find out!

#14 NXT North American Championship

This ranking is by no means me throwing shade at its titleholder, Adam Cole, who was an excellent choice to inaugurate the title. The ladder match at TakeOver: New Orleans to determine that inaugural titleholder has already become legend.

It's just that the title is so brand-spankin' new that there's nothing much to go on besides Cole and that match. There have been no actual feuds for it yet, though that's now changing, with Adam Cole vs. Ricochet set for TakeOver: Brooklyn. Their encounter should definitely be a match of the year candidate.

I expect the prestige of this title to rocket upward with time. NXT booking is nothing if not trustworthy. However, the North American Championship is just too lacking in history to truly be called a prestigious championship yet. It will be up to Cole, Ricochet, and others to make us believe it means something. They're off to a good start, though!

#13 Universal Championship

The Universal Championship has a very checkered history.

When it was introduced, fans rightly ridiculed its poor design and its lame name. Things looked promising at first when the popular Finn Balor rocketed out of NXT to become the inaugural champion, but injury cut him down at the knees and he hasn't recovered since.

The title was relegated to Kevin Owens, whose cowardly heel run didn't do much to elevate its prestige. He dropped the title to Goldberg, who dropped it to Brock Lesnar. From there, the title has been entirely centered on Roman Reigns' pursuit of it, even if it wasn't always visible.

During the Lesnar/Goldberg feud and the summer of 2017 culminating in last year's fantastic SummerSlam main event, the title felt important, despite Lesnar's infamously sparse schedule, but ever since the Beast went over Braun Strowman at No Mercy last September, the title has been dragged through the mud.

But again, that was to be expected. The title is centered on one man's radioactive chase of it.

It went through a filler feud at the Royal Rumble, two terrible matches with Roman Reigns, an absence that became comical, and now another poorly received angle with Reigns, where the company tried to bury its own champion and its own programming.

Never has a championship chase been this bizarre and convoluted, and until we see that title more often, and until it moves away from being centered on Roman Reigns' title chase, it will lack prestige, despite its being Raw's top title.

#12 United Kingdom Championship

The WWE United Kingdom Championship started off on fire. Last year's tournament was a massive success. Tyler Bate became the inaugural champion by defeating Pete Dunne in the final. The two would go on to have 2017's best match in their second encounter at TakeOver: Chicago. Dunne would capture the title there and he's been champion ever since.

Dunne would have title defenses against the likes of Roderick Strong and Johnny Gargano, and a third match with Bate last December, but the title felt less important after the feud proper with Bate ended. It wasn't defended in New Orleans despite Dunne's appearance there.

With the second UK tournament, things went on the up, and with the division now seemingly taking off at last, that trajectory might be more sustained. Who Dunne feuds with will be crucial.

#11 SmackDown Women's Championship

The blue brand's women's championship has had a checkered history, full of false hopes and bad times.

Becky Lynch was a promising inaugural titleholder, but it quickly became clear that she was a mere placeholder until Alexa Bliss was ready. She didn't even get to captain her own Survivor Series team in 2016. Alexa Bliss won the title a month later and didn't do much with it. She and Naomi hot-shotted it between one another until WrestleMania 33. Following that show, Naomi's reign was just there. She feuded with Lana of all people.

After Natalya became champion, her reign, too, was also just there. She dropped the title to Charlotte, who meandered until her brilliant match with Asuka at WrestleMania 34, undoubtedly the best match for this title that there ever was.

Unfortunately, that too, was a false dawn, as Asuka's undefeated streak came to an end and Charlotte dropped the title two days later to Carmella. Both women have been sacrificed to the manifestly untalented Carmella, whose reign has brought the title to the lowest point its ever been.

#10 United States Championship

Despite its lengthy history, there's arguably been no title in WWE less exciting over the course of the past year than the US title. Even AJ Styles and Kevin Owens' feud with it was lackluster. A string of champions from Baron Corbin to Jinder Mahal didn't make the belt feel like it mattered. Dolph Ziggler infamously surrendered it after winning it only two nights earlier.

When Jeff Hardy took the championship from Jinder Mahal, things looked a little more promising, though his three-month reign, too, was mostly lackluster.

Now, however, the title has quickly become arguably the most interesting thing on SmackDown. A psychotic heel in Shinsuke Nakamura holds it, and Randy Orton, now the most cold-blooded heel on the main roster, has entered the scene as well. A triple threat at SummerSlam is likely, and could prove a sleeper hit.

Let's see if this regime lasts long.

#9 Cruiserweight Championship

The Cruiserweight title has had its highs and lows. It began with a barnburner in the Cruiserweight Classic. On the main roster, however, things were different. After a slow start, Neville's reign gave it legitimacy, but with the acrimonious departure of the "King of the Cruiserweights" and the ascendancy of Enzo Amore, 205 Live entered an era that fully exposed the fact that the division had forgotten its unique selling proposition. It was Raw-lite, and why care when you can just watch Raw?

After Enzo's firing, Triple H took control of the purple brand and rebuilt it nicely with the second cruiserweight tournament. Cedric Alexander won, and while he's not the most exciting choice for a champion, the man hasn't been beaten in 2018. With the likes of Buddy Murphy, Mustafa Ali, and Drew Gulak gunning for his championship, the purple strap is on the upswing.

#8 Raw Women's Championship

Though the constant trading of the title between them was a detriment, Charlotte and Sasha's feud over the Raw Women's Championship showed to a wider audience what women's wrestling could bring. When Bayley captured the championship from a heel Charlotte and retained it at WrestleMania 33, her promise from NXT seemed to be showing itself.

Unfortunately, Alexa Bliss then entered the picture, and it's been downhill since. Alexa's tenure on top has been marked with stagnation, forgettable matches (at best), and a thorough burial of the Raw women's division's top babyfaces. Her feud with Nia Jax was unsurprisingly a bomb, and Nia Jax proved an even worse choice of a champion, also unsurprisingly.

Enter Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey carrying Nia Jax to a good match was a revelation. Her feud with the newly-crowned Alexa Bliss began hot and, if booking tropes can be avoided (Ronda was unfortunately struck with Dumb Babyface Syndrome this week), is very promising. The match at SummerSlam legitimately holds intrigue, and if Alexa's year and a half tenure in the picture was made for this kind of payoff, at least it will have done some good in the end.

Either way, Ronda Rousey holding the title and having excellent matches with it will surely help it see better days than it has since Alexa entered the scene.

#7 SmackDown Tag Team Championships

The SmackDown Tag Team Championships, despite being new, have had a good run since they were introduced. The Usos and New Day's 2017 feud elevated tag team wrestling to a level not seen in years. The Usos ultimately prevailed and proved themselves the best tag team in the world that year.

They would drop their titles to the Bludgeon Brothers in a disappointing match at WrestleMania. The straps have declined in prestige since then, but the Bludgeon Brothers are at least credible champions, if not exactly popular. With the tournament on SmackDown, we might yet see another upswing before the end of the year.

#6 Raw Tag Team Championships

Ironically carrying the lineage of the old SmackDown titles from the first brand split, the Raw Tag Team Championships have seen the New Day's record reign seamlessly transition into a great, if repetitive, feud between The Bar and the Shield.

Unfortunately, its two-year high ended at WrestleMania 34, when Braun Strowman and a 10-year-old won the titles, only to drop them the next night. From there, the Deleters of Worlds won the titles, had a lackluster reign, and dropped them to a team of comedy jobbers. The decline mirrors WWE's faith in tag team wrestling, and the company as a whole since WrestleMania.

Nevertheless, even though the titles are on a downswing, the goodwill built up over the last two years won't get erased in only a few months. With the Authors of Pain lurking around and The Revival perhaps beginning to be rebuilt, better days may yet lie ahead.

#5 NXT Tag Team Championships

The NXT Tag Team Championships have had a wild, crazy, and enthralling history. Being involved in classic battles between DIY, The Revival, American Alpha, The Authors of Pain, SAnitY, and more they had a polish that the main roster titles don't have.

With the entrance of the Undisputed Era into the scene, they've become status symbols for an era that the former Ring of Honor stalwarts are trying to impose on NXT by force. With a feud with Moustache Mountain underway, and a possible War Games match featuring the War Raiders on the horizon, we can expect more excellence from the straps to come.

#4 NXT Championship

Not all NXT Champions have been smash main roster successes, but they've all been well-chosen in NXT, even if the top title has seen its share of comparatively lackluster reigns. Seth Rollins set the standard, while Neville and Sami Zayn's feud over it became legend.

In more recent times, the title has taken something of a backseat. Drew McIntyre's reign was transitional, and Aleister Black's wasn't what it could have been. Andrade "Cien" Almas' stint was full of brilliance, but it was the exception over the past year.

That looks to be changing now with Tommaso Ciampa's ascendancy. In Ciampa, the title is held by the most hated heel in NXT history, and it's now fully inserted into the best story in NXT's annals. The upcoming triple threat match in Brooklyn between Ciampa, Black, and Johnny Gargano will almost certainly be the summer's best. From there, Ciampa's reign and Gargano's slow, painful pursuit will build to possibly the most cathartic moment in NXT history.

Safe to say, even by its own standards, the title is on the upswing.

#3 Intercontinental Championship

The Intercontinental Championship has a long history. The Honky Tonk Man was a most unworthy champion before Ultimate Warrior squashed him and ultimately, if only for that night, unified it with the WWE Championship by defeating the immortal Hulk Hogan. Bret Hart, The British Bulldog, and Roddy Piper took it to newer heights still.

It fell off the wagon as time went on, but the past few years have done well with it. The Miz indeed made it relevant again and his feud with Dolph Ziggler in 2016 was widely praised. After dominating it for two years, he would surrender it to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 34, who brought it up to a new standard still.

Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins' feud over it, which includes Drew McIntyre in the picture, has been the sole watchable program on Monday nights these past few months, a testament to the quality of the performers. The title feels far more important now than Raw's supposed top title does.

#2 NXT Women's Championship

Seven title reigns in five years. That's what a well-booked championship looks like. Its titleholders were the actual reasons for the progression of women's wrestling in the company. It was thanks to them, and the women they feuded over with it, that the bar was raised, much as Stephanie McMahon would like to worm her way into claiming the credit for herself.

In fact, that bar was raised to a ridiculously high level with its first five titleholders. Who were they?

First came Paige, one of the most popular female wrestlers of the last decade.

Second came Charlotte Flair, who was and became the franchise player of the "revolution," the one who fully let the world know that it had arrived.

Third and fourth came Sasha Banks and Bayley, whose story was one of the best of the past decade, and whose match at TakeOver: Brooklyn proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the women could indeed headline shows.

Fifth came Asuka, who became the most dominant force in NXT history and took the title to a level that conferred a nearly supernatural prowess on its holder. That was how good you had to be to even have a chance of holding this piece of gold.

Unfortunately, Ember Moon's reign was forgettable, but we can perhaps forgive her for being unable to meet such a high standard. Shayna Baszler has done a good job in keeping the importance of this championship at the forefront of our minds. She has become such a tyrannical force that the championship feels like the ultimate marker, and grantor, of power over the division.

Kairi Sane has stepped up to the challenge. Io Shirai waits in the wings behind her.

Fully expect the legacy to continue.

#1 WWE Championship

The WWE Championship has seen better days. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's feud was abysmal. So was Jinder Mahal's reign.

AJ Styles thankfully liberated it from those doldrums, but unfortunately, he's been booked like more of an afterthought in his second reign than he should be. Nevertheless, AJ Styles is a well-respected titleholder, and the longer he holds that title, the more important his fall will be.

Beyond that, this is the title that put WWE on the map. Bruno Sammartino's reign gave it its competitive advantage in the marketplace. Hulk Hogan's reign guaranteed its national expansion. Stone Cold Steve Austin's tenure chasing and holding this title saved the company and guaranteed its worldwide dominance. The Rock rode that wave, took it to new heights, and became the biggest star in Hollywood off its back. John Cena controversially redefined that it means to be WWE Champion, but it was always treated as a big deal in his hands.

The history of this title and its importance makes it bulletproof. It can have on and off years, but nothing will ever match it.

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