WWE Championship
This article is about the original WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Championship a.k.a. the WWE Championship that is currently defended on WWE RAW. For SmackDown!'s World Heavyweight Championship see World Heavyweight Championship (WWE). |
The WWE Championship belt, April 2005-present. |
The
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship is a
professional wrestling title. The championship is WWE's original world championship and was exclusive to the
SmackDown! brand from
August 26,
2002 until on
June 6,
2005 then-WWE Champion
John Cena was drafted to
RAW during the 2005
WWE Draft Lottery, he took the belt with him to
RAW. Since then, the
RAW's
World Heavyweight Championship has moved to
SmackDown! due to the draft of then-Champion
Batista on
June 30, 2005.
The WWE Championship was originally known as the
World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Heavyweight Championship. In 1971, the WWWF rejoined the
National Wrestling Alliance, and the title was downgraded in status to become simply the
WWWF Heavyweight Championship. In 1979, the promotion dropped "Wide" from its name, thus renaming the title the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Heavyweight Championship. After the WWF left the NWA in
1983, the title was referred to as the
WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Beginning in the 1990s, the title was occasionally referred to as simply the
WWF Championship. When the belt was changed to the "Attitude" title belt in 1998, the belt read
World Wrestling Federation Champion, no longer having the words "World Heavyweight".
It was unified with another title, then called the World Championship (though more commonly known through lineage as the
WCW World Heavyweight Championship), on
December 9,
2001 by
Chris Jericho at the
Vengeance 2001 pay-per-view event in
San Diego, California (Some argue that this unification gave the WWF title lineage to the NWA title, as the WCW title had that lineage, however, no consensus has ever been reached.). Whilst
unified, both championship belts were used and they were collectively defended as the
WWF Undisputed Championship until
April 1,
2002 when
Ric Flair presented then-champion
Triple H with a single belt representing both titles. During the title reign of
Hollywood Hulk Hogan, legal matters forced the company to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the championship was likewise renamed, with the WWF logo on the belt shortly afterwards being replaced with a new WWE logo during
The Undertaker's 2002 title reign. The belt style remained in use, and the combined title was known as the
WWE Undisputed Championship until
August 26, 2002, when the champion at the time,
Brock Lesnar, refused to defend the championship against a
RAW brand wrestler following a number-one contender's match won by Triple H. Lesnar claimed he would only defend his championship against
SmackDown! brand wrestlers, despite previous tradition that the Undisputed Champion would defend their championship against wrestlers from either brand.
Following Lesnar's actions,
RAW's general manager
Eric Bischoff awarded the
World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H on
September 2 2002, to act as
RAW's premier champion. This left the former Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar as simply the
WWE Champion, with no "undisputed" label. Both championships have since become exclusive to both brands.
When John Cena was drafted to
RAW on
June 6 2005, both belts were briefly
RAW-exclusive until
Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion at the time, was drafted to
SmackDown! on
June 30 2005.
Prior to
ECW One Night Stand 2006 on
June 11,
2006,
Paul Heyman hinted that, if
ECW-brand exclusive
Rob Van Dam was to win the WWE Championship at One Night Stand, the
ECW World Heavyweight Championship name might be revived as a replacement for that belt. After Van Dam did in fact defeat Cena for the title, he was referred to by Joey Styles and on WWE.com as the "WWE/ECW Champion". On the premiere episode of
ECW on Sci Fi on
June 13,
2006, Heyman presented Van Dam with the
ECW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Van Dam then stated that he would keep both titles.
WWE is scheduled to release a three disc
DVD set covering the history of the WWE Championship in September 2006.
Belt designs
Image:WWE 1960 - 1970.jpg|WWWF Championship title belt
(1963 - 1970) Image:WWE 1970 -1980.jpg|WWWF Championship title belt
(1970 - 1980) Image:WWE 1982 - 1984.png|WWF Championship title belt
(1980 - 1984)Image:1986 WWF Championship.jpg|WWF Championship title belt
(1986 - 1987)Image:Wwfbelt.jpg|WWF Championship "Winged Eagle" title belt
(1988 â€" 1998)Image:Modified WWE Attitude belt.jpg|WWF Championship "Attitude" title belt
(1998 â€" 2002)Image:WWEstonecoldbelt.jpg|WWF Championship "Smoking Skull" title belt
(1999)Image:WWEchampbelt.jpg|WWE Championship "Undisputed" title belt
(2002 - 2005)Image:WWE JohnCena.jpg|WWE Championship "Spinner" title belt
(2005 - present)Special custom belts have been created for at least five WWE champions:
Billy Graham (slightly different plate art and a red strap), the
Ultimate Warrior (white, blue, and purple straps),
Sgt. Slaughter (purple strap that he won from Warrior),
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (entirely custom "smokin' skull" belt), and
John Cena (entirely custom diamond-filled "bling" belt with spinning WWE logo modeled after the culturally popular "spinner" vehicle rims and the "spinner" necklace).
WWE also had a custom belt designed for
The Rock featuring the brama bull logo, but decided against using it over fear that its use, combined with that of the Smoking Skull Belt, would result in the traditional belt being nearly abandoned.
A belt with an exceptionally long strap was created for André the Giant before
WrestleMania III, but he never wore it as champion.
Hulk Hogan held four different designs during his first title reign: The Green and Gold belt that he won from The Iron Sheik, the smaller silver belt with a name plate featured on the cover of the first WrestleMania, the "Hogan 86" belt and the "Winged Eagle" belt that he adopted just prior to losing the title to André the Giant.
Two slightly different versions of John Cena's custom WWE Championship belt were created. One, used during the title's duration as a
SmackDown! championship, featured the words
SMACK and
DOWN on the plate directly to the right of the main plate, with a fist in between the two words. When the title was brought to
RAW, the plate was replaced with one that said
MON-NITE RAW, and the fist was replaced by a chain and lock.
| Record: | Record holder: | Record number: | Notes: | | Most reigns | The Rock | Seven | See Trivia below for runners up. | | Longest reign | Bruno Sammartino | 2803 days (c. seven years) | Sammartino's second reign, at 1237 days (c. three years), was the fourth longest in history. | | Longest heel reign | "Superstar" Billy Graham | 296 days | N/A | | Shortest reign | André the Giant | c. 45 seconds | André defeated Hulk Hogan and then immediately attempted to sell the title to Ted DiBiase, thus rendering the title vacant. | | Second shortest reign | Yokozuna | c. 2 minutes, 7 seconds | Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart and then immediately defended against Hulk Hogan. | | Oldest champion | Vince McMahon | 54 years, 21 days | N/A | | Second oldest champion | Hulk Hogan | 48 years, 8 months, and 11 days | The title was at the time designated the WWE Undisputed Championship. | | Youngest champion | Brock Lesnar | 25 years, 44 days | The title was at the time designated the WWE Undisputed Championship. | | Second youngest champion | Yokozuna | 26 years, 6 months, and 2 days | N/A | | Third youngest champion | The Rock | 26 years, 6 months, and 13 days | N/A | | Heaviest champion | Yokozuna | c. 550 lb (272 kg) | N/A | | Lightest champion | Shawn Michaels | c. 227 lb (103 kg) | N/A | | Big Show | c. 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) | N/A | | Shortest champion | Eddie Guerrero | c. 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | N/A | | Longest transitory title match | 1992 Royal Rumble match | 1 hour, 2 minutes, 2 seconds | The match took place on January 19, 1992 and was won by Ric Flair. | | Shortest transitory title match | Diesel vs. Bob Backlund | c. 8 seconds | The match took place on November 26, 1994 and was won by Diesel. |
* The record for most WWE Championships held by a single person is seven, held by
The Rock.
Hulk Hogan and
Stone Cold Steve Austin have six reigns,
Bret Hart and
Triple H have five,
The Undertaker and
Kurt Angle have four, and
Shawn Michaels,
Mick Foley, and
Brock Lesnar have three. * Four wrestlers (Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Kane, and Mankind) have had title reigns that lasted approximately 24 hours.
*Three Canadians have held the WWE Championship: Bret Hart,
Chris Jericho and
Edge.
* Rob Van Dam is the only man to hold both WWE and ECW World Titles at the same time.
* The Big Show is the only wrestler to have held the WWE Championship,
WCW World Heavyweight Championship and
ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
* The Rock is the first African-American wrestler to have held the WWE Championship (He is African-American/Samoan)
Edge is the current champion in his second reign as the WWE Champion. He defeated
John Cena and the then-champion
Rob Van Dam in a triple threat match on the
July 3,
2006 episode of
RAW, pinning Van Dam. Edge's victory marked the first time that the WWE Championship had changed hands on
RAW since
October 8,
2001.
*
List of WWE Champions*
List of WWE Championship reigns by length*
List of WWE world champions by age*
List of Number of World Title Reigns*
Solie's title histories*
Wrestling-Titles.com*
WWE Championship Title History
