WWE Championship

Details

• Promotion - WWE
  • Brand - Raw
• 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 Designs

Original Version

80s Version

Federation Version

Winged Version

Smoking Skull Version

Attitude Version

Undisputed Version

Cena Version

Rated R Version

Unified Version

New Era Version

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

• Iron Sheik - December 26, 1983 - Live Event
• Hulk Hogan - January 23, 1984 - Live Event
• Andre the Giant - February 5, 1988 -The Main Event

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.

• Randy Savage - March 27, 1988 - WrestleMania 4
• Hulk Hogan 2 - April 2, 1989 - WrestleMania 5
• Ultimate Warrior: April 1, 1990 - WrestleMania 6
• Sgt. Slaughter - January 19, 1991 - Royal Rumble
• Hulk Hogan 3 - March 24, 1991 - WrestleMania 7
• The Undertaker - November 27, 1991 - Survivor Series
• Hulk Hogan 4 - December 3, 1991 - This Tuesday in Texas

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.

• Ric Flair - January 19, 1992 - Royal Rumble
• Randy Savage 2 - April 5, 1992 - WrestleMania 8
• Ric Flair 2 - September 14, 1992 - Prime Time
• Bret Hart -: October 12, 1992 - Live Event
• Yokozuna - April 4, 1993 - WrestleMania 9
• Hulk Hogan 5 - April 4, 1993 - WrestleMania 9
• Yokozuna 2 - June 13, 1993 King of the Ring
• Bret Hart 2 - March 20, 1994 - WrestleMania 10
• Bob Backlund 2 - November 23, 1994 -Survivor Series
• Diesel - November 26, 1994 - Live Event
• Bret Hart 3 - November 19, 1995 - Survivor Series
• Shawn Michaels - March 31, 1996 - WrestleMania 12
• Sycho Sid - November 17, 1996 - Survivor Series
• Shawn Michaels 2 - January 19, 1997 - Royal Rumble

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

• Bret Hart 4 - February 16, 1997 - In Your House
• Sycho Sid 2 - February 17, 1997 - Raw
• The Undertaker 2 - March 23, 1997 - WrestleMania 13
• Bret Hart 5 - August 3, 1997 - SummerSlam
• Shawn Michaels 3 - November 9, 1997 - Survivor Series, Montreal Screwjob.
• Stone Cold Steve Austin - March 29, 1998 - WrestleMania 14
• Kane - June 28, 1998 - King of the Ring
• Stone Cold Steve Austin 2 - June 29, 1998 - Raw

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

• The Rock - November 15, 1998 - Survivor Series
• Mankind - December 29, 1998 - Raw
• The Rock 2 - January 24, 1999 - Royal Rumble
• Mankind 2 - January 26, 1999 - Halftime Heat
• The Rock 3 - February 15, 1999 - Raw
• Stone Cold Steve Austin 3 - March 28, 1999 - WrestleMania 15
• The Undertaker 3 - May 23, 1999 - Over the Edge
• Stone Cold Steve Austin 4 - June 28, 1999 - Raw
• Mankind 3 - August 22, 1999 - SummerSlam
• Triple H - August 23, 1999 - Raw
• Mr McMahon: September 16, 1999 - SmackDown

Vacated - September 20, 1999: Raw

• Triple H 2 - September 26, 1999 - Unforgiven
• Big Show - November 14, 1999 - Survivor Series
• Triple H 3 - January 3, 2000 - Raw
• The Rock 4 - April 30, 2000 - Backlash
• Triple H 4 - May 21, 2000 - Judgment Day
• The Rock 5 - June 25, 2000 - King of the Ring
• Kurt Angle - October 22, 2000 - No Mercy
• The Rock 6 - February 25, 2001 - No Way Out
• Stone Cold Steve Austin 5 - April 1, 2001 - WrestleMania 17
• Kurt Angle 2 - September 23, 2001 - Unforgiven
• Stone Cold Steve Austin 6 - October 8, 2001 - Raw
• Chris Jericho - December 9, 2001 - Vengeance
  • Unified with the WCW Championship.
• Triple H 5 - March 17, 2002 - WrestleMania
• Hulk Hogan 6 - April 21, 2002 - Backlash

World Wrestling Entertainment - WWE

• The Undertaker 4 - May 19, 2002 - Judgment Day
• The Rock 7 - July 21, 2002 - Vengeance
• Brock Lesnar - August 25, 2002 - SummerSlam
• Big Show 2 - November 17, 2002 - Survivor Series
• Kurt Angle 3 - December 15, 2002 - Armageddon
• Brock Lesnar 2 - March 30, 2002: WrestleMania 19
• Kurt Angle 4 - July 27, 2003 - Vengeance
• Brock Lesnar 3 - September 16, 2003 - SmackDown
• Eddie Guerrero - February 15, 2004 - No Way Out
• John Bradshaw Layfield - June 27, 2004 - The Great American Bash
• John Cena - April 3, 2005 - WrestleMania 21
• Edge - January 8, 2006 - New Year's Revolution
• John Cena 2 - January 29, 2006 - Royal Rumble
• Rob Van Dam - June 11, 2006 ECW One Night Stand
• Edge 2 - July 3, 2006 - Raw
• John Cena 3 - September 17, 2006 - Unforgiven

Vacated: October 2, 2007 — ECW

• Randy Orton - October 7, 2007 - No Mercy
• Triple H 6 - October 7, 2007 - No Mercy
• Randy Orton 2 - October 7, 2007 - No Mercy
• Triple H 7 - April 27, 2008 - Backlash
• Edge 3 - November 23, 2008 - Survivor Series
• Jeff Hardy - December 14, 2008 - Armageddon
• Edge 4 - January 25, 2009 - Royal Rumble
• Triple H 8 - February 15, 2009 - No Way Out
• Randy Orton 3 - April 26, 2009: Backlash
• Batista - June 7, 2009 - Extreme Rules

Vacated — June 9, 2009

• Randy Orton 4 - June 15, 2009 - Raw
• John Cena 4 - September 13, 2009 - Breaking Point
• Randy Orton 5 - October 4, 2009 - Hell in a Cell
• John Cena 5 - October 25, 2009 - Bragging Rights
• Sheamus - December 13, 2009 - TLC
• John Cena 6 - February 21, 2010 - Elimination Chamber
• Batista 2 - February 21, 2010 - Elimination Chamber
• John Cena 7 - March 28, 2010 - WrestleMania 26
• Sheamus 2 - June 20, 2010 - Fatal 4-Way
• Randy Orton 6 - September 19, 2010 - Night of Champions
• The Miz - November 22, 2010 - Raw
• John Cena 8 - May 1, 2011 - Extreme Rules
• CM Punk - July 17, 2011 - Money in the Bank
  • Rey Mysterio - July 25, 2011 - Raw
  • John Cena 9 - July 25, 2011 - Raw
• Alberto Del Rio - August 14, 2011 - SummerSlam
• John Cena 10 - September 18, 2011 - Night of Champions
• Alberto Del Rio 2 - October 2, 2011 - Hell in a Cell
• CM Punk 2 - November 20, 2011 - Survivor Series
• The Rock 8 - January 27, 2013 - Royal Rumble
• John Cena 11 - April 7, 2013 - WrestleMania 29
• Daniel Bryan - August 18, 2013 - SummerSlam
• Randy Orton 7 - August 18, 2013 - SummerSlam
• Daniel Bryan 2 - September 15, 2013 - Daniel Bryan

Vacated — September 16, 2013 — Raw

• Randy Orton 8 - October 27, 2013 - Hell in a Cell
  • On December 15, 2013 at the TLC pay-per-view, Orton defeated John Cena to unify the WWE World Heavyweight Championship into his WWE Championship. Both belts were used till August 18 2014.
• Daniel Bryan 3 - April 6, 2014 - WrestleMania 30

Vacated — June 9, 2014 — WWE Raw

• John Cena 12 - June 29, 2014 - Money in the Bank
• Brock Lesnar 4 - August 17, 2014 - SummerSlam
• Seth Rollins - March 29 2015 - WrestleMania 31

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

• Roman Reigns - November 22 2015 - Survivor Series
• Sheamus 3 - November 22 2015 - Survivor Series
  • This was Sheamus' Money in the Bank Cash In.
• Roman Reigns 2 - December 14 2015 - Raw
• Triple H 8 - January 24 2016 - Royal Rumble
• Roman Reigns 3 - April 3 2016 - WrestleMania 32
• Dean Ambrose - June 19 2016 - Money in the Bank
• AJ Styles - September 11 2016 - Backlash
• John Cena 13 - January 29 2017 - Royal Rumble
• Bray Wyatt - February 12 2017 - Elimination Chamber
• Randy Orton 9 - April 2 2017 - WrestleMania 33
• Jinder Mahal - May 21 2017 - Backlash
• AJ Styles 2 - November 7 2017 - SmackDown Live
• Daniel Bryan 4 - November 13 2018 - SmackDown Live
• Kofi Kingston - April 7 2019 - WrestleMania 35
• Brock Lesnar (5) - October 4 2019 - Friday Night SmackDown
• Drew McIntyre - April 5 2020 - WrestleMania 36 (Night 2)
• Randy Orton (10) - October 25 2020 - Hell in a Cell
• Drew McIntyre (2) - November 16 2020 - Raw
• The Miz (2) - February 21 2021 - Elimination Chamber
• Bobby Lashley - March 1 2021 - Raw
• Big E - September 13 2021 - Raw

See Also

WWE World Heavyweight Championship -- WWE Universal Championship