The WWE World Heavyweight Championship or WWE Championship is the World Heavyweight Championship created and promoted by the WWE. The championship was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 29, 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, following the promotion seceding from the National Wrestling Alliance.
It is the oldest championship currently recognized by the promotion, and is presented as being the most prestigious title in WWE, with many matches for the title having headlined pay per view (PPV) events - including WWE's signature PPV event WWE WrestleMania.
For the period between 2002–2013, the title was one of three world titles in WWE, along with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and ECW Championship (2006−2010). But following the decommissioning of the ECW title, and unification with the WWE World Heavyweight title, it is once again promoted as WWE's primary championship.
Championship Lineage
(Dates are the TV Air Dates where applicable)
WWE Championship
- 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.
- Iron Sheik: December 26, 1983 - Live Event
- Hulk Hogan: January 23, 1984 - Live Event
- Andre the Giant: February 5, 1988 -WWF The Main Event
Vacated: February 5, 1988 — WWF 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 - WWE WrestleMania 4
- Hulk Hogan 2: April 2, 1989 - WWE WrestleMania 5
- Ultimate Warrior: April 1, 1990 - WWE WrestleMania 6
- Sgt. Slaughter: January 19, 1991 - WWE Royal Rumble 1991
- Hulk Hogan 3: March 24, 1991 - WWE WrestleMania 7
- The Undertaker: November 27, 1991 - WWE Survivor Series 1991
- Hulk Hogan 4: December 3, 1991 - WWF This Tuesday in Texas
Vacated: December 7, 1991 - WWF 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 - WWE Royal Rumble 1992
- Randy Savage 2: April 5, 1992 - WWE WrestleMania 8
- Ric Flair 2: September 14, 1992 - WWF Prime Time Wrestling
- 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 WWE King of the Ring 1993
- Bret Hart 2: March 20, 1994 - [WWE WrestleMania 10]]
- Bob Backlund 2: November 23, 1994 -WWE Survivor Series 1994
- Diesel November 26, 1994 - Live Event
- Bret Hart 3: November 19, 1995 - WWE Survivor Series 1995
- Shawn Michaels: March 31, 1996 - WWE WrestleMania 12
- Sycho Sid: November 17, 1996 - WWE Survivor Series 1996
- Shawn Michaels 2: January 19, 1997 - WWE Royal Rumble 1997
Vacated: February 13, 1997 — Michaels forfeited the title due to a knee injury.
- Bret Hart 4: February 16, 1997 - WWF In Your House 13
- Sycho Sid 2: February 17, 1997 - WWE Raw
- The Undertaker 2: March 23, 1997 - WWE WrestleMania 13
- Bret Hart 5: August 3, 1997 - WWE SummerSlam 1997
- Shawn Michaels 3: November 9, 1997 - WWE Survivor Series 1997, Montreal Screwjob.
- Steve Austin: March 29, 1998 - WWE WrestleMania 14
- Kane: June 28, 1998 - WWE King of the Ring 1998
- Steve Austin 2: June 29, 1998 - WWE Raw
Vacated: September 27, 1998 - WWF In Your House 24, Vacated after Kane and The Undertaker simultaneously pinned Austin in a triple threat match.
- The Rock: November 15, 1998 - WWE Survivor Series 1998
- Mankind: December 29, 1998 - WWE Raw
- The Rock 2: January 24, 1999 - WWE Royal Rumble 1999
- Mankind 2: January 26, 1999 - Halftime Heat
- The Rock 3: February 15, 1999 - WWE Raw
- Steve Austin 3: March 28, 1999 - WWE WrestleMania 15
- The Undertaker 3: May 23, 1999 - WWF Over the Edge
- Steve Austin 4: June 28, 1999 - WWE Raw
- Mankind 3: August 22, 1999 - WWE SummerSlam 1999
- Triple H: August 23, 1999 - WWE Raw
- Mr McMahon: September 16, 1999 - WWE SmackDown
Vacated: September 20, 1999: WWE Raw
- Triple H 2: September 26, 1999 - WWE Unforgiven 1999
- Big Show: November 14, 1999 - WWE Survivor Series 1999
- Triple H 3: January 3, 2000 - WWE Raw
- The Rock 4: April 30, 2000 - WWE Backlash 2000
- Triple H 4: May 21, 2000 - WWE Judgment Day 2000
- The Rock 5: June 25, 2000 - WWE King of the Ring 2000
- Kurt Angle: October 22, 2000 - WWE No Mercy 2000
- The Rock 6: February 25, 2001 - WWE No Way Out 2001
- Stone Cold Steve Austin 5: April 1, 2001 - WWE WrestleMania 17
- Kurt Angle 2: September 23, 2001 - WWE Unforgiven 2001
- Steve Austin 6: October 8, 2001 - WWE Raw
- Chris Jericho: December 9, 2001 - WWE Vengeance 2001 - Unified with the WCW Championship.
- Triple H 5: March 17, 2002 - WWE WrestleMania 18
- Hulk Hogan 6: April 21, 2002 - WWE Backlash 2002
- The Undertaker 4: May 19, 2002 - WWE Judgment Day 2002
- The Rock 7: July 21, 2002 - WWE Vengeance 2002
- Brock Lesnar: August 25, 2002 - [[WWE SummerSlam 2002
- Big Show 2: November 17, 2002 - WWE Survivor Series 2002
- Kurt Angle 3: December 15, 2002 105 Sunrise, FL Armageddon [81]
- Brock Lesnar 2: March 30, 2002: WWE WrestleMania 19
- Kurt Angle 4: July 27, 2003 - WWE Vengeance 2003
- Brock Lesnar 3: September 16, 2003 - WWE SmackDown
- Eddie Guerrero: February 15, 2004 - WWE No Way Out 2002
- John Bradshaw Layfield: June 27, 2004 - WWE The Great American Bash 2004
- John Cena: April 3, 2005 - WWE WrestleMania 21
- Edge: January 8, 2006 - WWE New Year's Revolution 2006
- John Cena 2: January 29, 2006 - [[WWE Royal Rumble 2006
- Rob Van Dam: June 11, 2006 WWE ECW One Night Stand 2006
- Edge 2: July 3, 2006 - WWE Raw
- John Cena 3: September 17, 2006 - WWE Unforgiven 2006
Vacated: October 2, 2007 — WWE ECW
- Randy Orton: October 7, 2007 - WWE No Mercy 2007
- Triple H 6: October 7, 2007 - WWE No Mercy 2007
- Randy Orton 2: October 7, 2007 - WWE No Mercy 2007
- Triple H 7: April 27, 2008 - WWE Backlash 2008
- Edge 3: November 23, 2008 21 - WWE Survivor Series 2008
- Jeff Hardy: December 14, 2008 - WWE Armageddon 2008
- Edge 4: January 25, 2009 - WWE Royal Rumble 2009
- Triple H 8: February 15, 2009 - WWE No Way Out 2009
- Randy Orton 3: April 26, 2009: WWE Backlash 2009
- Batista: June 7, 2009 - WWE Extreme Rules 2009
Vacated — June 9, 2009
- Randy Orton 4: June 15, 2009 - WWE Raw
- John Cena 4: September 13, 2009 - WWE Breaking Point 2009
- Randy Orton 5: October 4, 2009 - WWE Hell in a Cell 2009
- John Cena 5: October 25, 2009 - WWE Bragging Rights 2009
- Sheamus: December 13, 2009 - WWE TLC 2009
- John Cena 6: February 21, 2010 - WWE Elimination Chamber 2010
- Batista 2: February 21, 2010 - WWE Elimination Chamber 2010
- John Cena 7: March 28, 2010 - WrestleMania 26]]
- Sheamus 2: June 20, 2010 - WWE Fatal 4-Way 2010
- Randy Orton 6: September 19, 2010 - WWE Night of Champions 2010
- The Miz: November 22, 2010 - WWE Raw
- John Cena 8: May 1, 2011 - WWE Extreme Rules 2011
- CM Punk: July 17, 2011 - WWE Money in the Bank 2011
- Rey Mysterio: July 25, 2011 - WWE Raw
- John Cena: July 25, 2011 - WWE Raw
- Alberto Del Rio: August 14, 2011 - WWE SummerSlam 2011
- John Cena 10: September 18, 2011 - WWE Night of Champions 2011
- Alberto Del Rio 2: October 2, 2011 - WWE Hell in a Cell 2011
- CM Punk 2: November 20, 2011 - WWE Survivor Series 2011
- The Rock 8: January 27, 2013 - WWE Royal Rumble 2013
- John Cena 11: April 7, 2013 - WWE WrestleMania 29
- Daniel Bryan: August 18, 2013 - WWE SummerSlam 2013
- Randy Orton 7: August 18, 2013 - WWE SummerSlam 2013
- Daniel Bryan 2: September 15, 2013 - WWE Night of Champions 2013
Vacated — September 16, 2013 — WWE Raw
- Randy Orton 8: October 27, 2013 - WWE Hell in a Cell 2013
On December 15, 2013 at the TLC pay-per-view, Orton defeated John Cena to unify the World Heavyweight Championship into his WWE Championship.
- Daniel Bryan 3: April 6, 2014 - WWE WrestleMania 30
Vacated — June 9, 2014 — WWE Raw
- John Cena 12: June 29, 2014 - WWE Money in the Bank 2014
- Brock Lesnar 4: August 17, 2014 - WWE SummerSlam 2014