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WWE Championship

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The WWE Championship is a men's world heavyweight championship created and promoted by WWE. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Raw.

The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963, as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after the promotion seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) following a dispute over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championship currently active in WWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title, with many matches for the title having headlined pay-per-view and livestreaming events—including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania. In professional wrestling in general, it is considered to be one of the most prestigious championships of all time. From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWE's sole primary championship. An additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Wrestling Federation's purchase of World Championship Wrestling in early 2001. The titles were later unified as the Undisputed WWF Championship. After the first brand split in 2002 and the promotion being renamed to WWE, the championship became exclusive to SmackDown, dropping the "undisputed" moniker, while the World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw. ECW became a third brand in 2006, adding the ECW Championship. That title was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified into the WWE Championship in 2013. The championship was again the sole world title of WWE until the introduction of the Universal Championship with the 2016 brand split and then a new World Heavyweight Championship in 2023. During both brand splits, the WWE Championship has switched brands, usually as a result of the WWE Draft; the 2023 draft moved it back to SmackDown.

Details

  • Promotion - WWE (SmackDown)
  • Date established - April 25, 1963
  • Other name(s)
    • WWWF World Heavyweight Championship - (1963–1971)
    • WWWF Heavyweight Championship - (1971–1979)
    • WWF Heavyweight Championship - (1979–1983)
    • WWF World Heavyweight Championship - (1983–1989)
    • WWF Championship - (1989–2001)
    • Undisputed WWF Championship - (2001–2002)
    • Undisputed WWE Championship - (2002)
    • WWE Undisputed Championship - (2002)
    • WWE Championship - (2002–2013, 2016–present)
    • WWE World Heavyweight Championship - (2013–2016)
    • WWE World Championship - (2016)

WWE Championship Lineage[]

(Dates are the TV Air Dates where applicable)

World Wide Wrestling Federation[]

  • Buddy Rogers - April 25, 1963 — Won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro after the WWWF left the National Wrestling Alliance, of which Rogers was the 7th champion since defeating Pat O'Connor on 30 June 1961.
  • Bruno Sammartino:May 17, 1963 - Live Event
  • Ivan Koloff - January 18, 1971 - Live Event
  • Pedro Morales - February 8, 1971 - Live Event
  • Stan Stasiak - December 1, 1973 - Live Event
  • Bruno Sammartino 2: December 10, 1973 - Live Event
  • Billy Graham - April 30, 1977 - Live Event
  • Bob Backlund - February 20, 1978 - Live Event
    • Antonio Inoki - November 30, 1979: Reign is not recognized by WWE.
    • Vacated — December 6, 1979: Inoki immediately vacated the title after a rematch with Backlund ended in a no contest due to the interference of Tiger Jeet Singh.
    • Bob Backlund - December 17, 1979 - WWE recognizes Backlund's first and second reigns as being uninterrupted, and considers this a continuation of the first.

World Wrestling Federation[]

Vacated: February 5, 1988 — The Main Event Immediately after winning the title from Hogan, André sold the title to Ted DiBiase; President Jack Tunney nullified this decision, and vacated the title.

Vacated: December 7, 1991 - Superstars of Wrestling Hogan was stripped of the title by Tunney due to the controversy surrounding both of the previous title changes.

Vacated: February 13, 1997 — Michaels forfeited the title due to a knee injury.

Vacated - September 27, 1998 - In Your House, Vacated after Kane and The Undertaker simultaneously pinned Austin in a triple threat match.

Vacated - September 20, 1999: Raw

World Wrestling Entertainment - WWE[]

Vacated: October 2, 2007 — ECW

Vacated — June 9, 2009

Vacated — September 16, 2013 — Raw

Vacated — June 9, 2014 — WWE Raw

Vacated: November 5, 2015 - Rollins injured his knee at a live event in Dublin, Ireland on November 4, 2015.

Gallery[]

See Also[]

WWE World Heavyweight Championship -- WWE Universal Championship

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