Shinsuke Nakamura flaunted the brand new Intercontinental title with the belt getting rid of the white coloured strap and the shades of blue as well. The former design was unveiled by Cody Rhodes back in 2011 at Hell In A Cell, which prompted several to think that the ex-WWE star is the reason behind the change as he is affiliated with AEW now.
Rhodes chimed in with his opinion regarding the design on Twitter. He said:
“Unlikely. Probably just time for a change, All good things and such…I’m sure this one will have great moments/wrestlers attached to it just like the older one.”
Back in 2013, Rhodes had revealed the story behind the title in an interview. He stated:
“You have no idea how difficult that was to get the IC Title, the white IC Title,” Rhodes said. “Not many people know this—I paid for the title to be recreated. I was refunded, heavily refunded, but I paid to show it to the man and said, ‘Listen, this will get a reaction, that you might not think it will and here’s why,’ you know? And I’m very happy to see it still in existence.”
