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WWE World Heavyweight Championship
WWE World Heavyweight Championship 2023
The WWE World Heavyweight Championship design since April 3rd, 2023
Details
Promotion(s) [World Wrestling Entertainment]
Brand [RAW]
Current champion(s) Kofi Kingston


The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and used by WWE. It is currently one of the main world titles of WWE alongside with the WWE Championship, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the NXT World Championship, and the ECW World Championship.

The title was originally unified with the WWE Championship in 2013 after Randy Orton and John Cena unified the titles at the 2013 TLC PPV. However, the title and it's lineage was brought back after Batista defeated Daniel Bryan and Kane at 2014's Battleground PPV to Un-unify the titles.

The title was one of six to be represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, first introduced in 1986. Its heritage can be traced back to the first world heavyweight championship, thereby giving the belt a legacy over 100 years old, the oldest in the world.

History[]

Background

The title's origins lay in the first world heavyweight championship, and then to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which had many different territorial promotions as members. In the late 1980s, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was a member of the NWA, having been formed by the purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), which had absorbed many other NWA members, by Turner Broadcasting, which aired WCW's programming. During this time, WCW used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as its world title. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was soon established when the recognition was awarded to then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in 1991. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), itself a former member of the NWA. Both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline which culminated in March 2001 with the WWF's purchase of selected assets of WCW.[1]

As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired the video library of WCW, select talent contracts, and championships among other assets. The slew of former WCW talent joining the WWF roster began "The Invasion" that effectively phased out the WCW name. Following this, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, the WWF's world title, at Vengeance in December.[2] At the event, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was decommissioned with Chris Jericho becoming the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion and the subsequent Undisputed WWF Champion after defeating The Rock and Steve Austin respectively.[3] The WWF title became the undisputed championship in professional wrestling until September 2002 with the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship, spun off from the Undisputed WWE Championship as the successor to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.[4]

World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
An image of the World Heavyweight Championship (WWE).
Details
Other name(s) WWE World Championship (Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, and Zante Maverick)
Past design(s) WWE World Heavyweight Championship 2002-2023

Creation[]

By 2002, WWE's roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers. As a result of the increase, WWE divided the roster through its two main television programs, Raw and SmackDown, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand of the same name. This expansion became known as the "Brand Extension".[5] In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Following these changes, the Undisputed WWE Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the Undisputed Champion. Following the appointment of Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon as General Managers of the Raw and SmackDown brands, respectively, Stephanie McMahon contracted then-WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar to the SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world title.[6][7] On September 2, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship. Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H, who had been designated number-one contender to Lesnar's title the previous week. Immediately afterwards, the Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship as it was no longer undisputed.[8] The World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship switched brands a number of times before the first brand split ended in 2011.

Title unification[]

Following the end of the first brand extension in 2011, both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. In 2013, the night after Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine an undisputed WWE world champion. Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a TLC match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15, 2013, to unify the titles. Subsequently, the WWE Championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship.[9] The unified championship retained the lineage of the WWE Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship was retired.[10] With his victory over John Cena, Randy Orton became the final World Heavyweight Champion. Like with the Undisputed Championship, the Big Gold Belt was used in tandem with the WWE Championship belt to represent the WWE World Heavyweight Championship until Batista unified the titles following his win against then champion, Daniel Bryan on July 20th at the Battleground PPV.

Un-unification at Battleground 2014[]

At the 2014 Battleground PPV, Daniel Bryan defended for his WWE Championship and his World Heavyweight Championships on the same night in two triple threat matches. While he retained the WWE Championship in the main event, he lost the World title following an interference with Randy Orton and Seth Rollins.

Title Design[]

The title was updated after Summerslam 2014 to feature the modern WWE logos on the main and side plates, and has remained the same up until 2023.

The title was redesigned once again in 2023 following Kofi Kingston's victory against Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 39 Night 2. This time, the title itself was completely changed.

Brand designation history[]

The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the World Heavyweight Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.

Date of transition Brand Notes
September 2, 2002 Raw The World Heavyweight Championship was established for Raw and awarded to Triple H as previously designated number-one contender after the WWE Undisputed Championship became exclusive to SmackDown! and renamed to WWE Championship.
June 30, 2005 SmackDown! World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown! during the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery.[11]
June 30, 2008 Raw The World Heavyweight Championship moved to Raw after CM Punk, a member of the Raw brand, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[12]
February 15, 2009 SmackDown The World Heavyweight Championship moved to SmackDown after Edge, a member of the SmackDown brand, won the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out.[13]
April 5, 2009 Raw The World Heavyweight Championship returned to Raw after John Cena, a member of the Raw brand, defeated Edge and Big Show in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 25 to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[14]
April 26, 2009 SmackDown The World Heavyweight Championship moved back to SmackDown after Edge, a member of the SmackDown brand, defeated John Cena at Backlash to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[15]
August 29, 2011 N/A End of first brand extension.

The World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. The World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship were unified in December 2013, subsequently retiring the World Heavyweight Championship and continuing the lineage of the WWE Championship, which was renamed to WWE World Heavyweight Championship until Battleground 2014.

July 16th, 2016 SmackDown With the Draft returning, the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championships were put on different shows with the World Heavyweight Championship being put on Smackdown. Following Shinsuke Nakamura's victory at Wrestlemania 33, Since Nakamura was on RAW by the time of his win, he moved over to Smackdown to defend the championship on Smackdown and the title remained on the blue brand until 2019.
October 11, 2019 Raw The World Heavyweight Championship alongside it's then-champion Zante Maverick where moved to RAW following the first night of the 2019 Draft.
April 28, 2023 SmackDown Kofi Kingston and the World Heavyweight title were moved back to Smackdown alongside Big E and Xavier Woods as apart of the 2023 Draft.

Reigns[]

The inaugural champion was Triple H, and there were 25 different champions overall. The longest reigning champion was Batista who held the title from April 3, 2005, to January 10, 2006, for a total of 282 days. Triple H holds the record for longest combined reigns at 616 days. The shortest reigning champion was Randy Orton in his fourth reign, who immediately retired the championship upon winning it and unifying it with the WWE Championship in 2013. He was also the youngest champion, at the age of 24. The oldest champion was The Undertaker who won at the age of 44. Edge held the title the most times with seven championship reigns. There were six vacancies throughout the title's history.

When the World Heavyweight Championship was unified, Randy Orton was the final champion in his fourth reign. He defeated John Cena in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC in Houston, Texas on December 15, 2013 to unify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships.


The Reigns

Name Years
World Heavyweight Championship April 3, 2017 – Present
World Championship During Kofi Kingston's reign and Zante Maverick's reigns
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Reign(s) Days as Champion Days Recognized by WWE Defenses Defeated Event Lost to Event(s) of Defeat(s) Notes
1 Triple H 1 76 76 6 N/A RAW September 2nd, 2002 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Shawn Michaels Survivor Series November 17th, 2002 (New York, New York)
2 Shawn Michaels 1 28 28 3 Triple H Survivor Series November 17th, 2002 (New York, New York) Triple H This was the first Elimination Chamber match, also involving Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Kane.
3 Triple H 2 106 3 Shawn Michaels Armageddon December 15th, 2002 (Sunrise, Florida) Wrestlemania XIX March 30th, 2003 (Seattle, Washington) This was a Three Stages of Hell match.
4 Booker T 1 4 Triple H Wrestlemania XIX March 30th, 2003 (Seattle, Washington)
5 Triple H 3 6 Triple H
6 Goldberg 84 84 6 Triple H
7 Triple H 4 91 91 4
8 Chris Benoit 1 154 154 10 Triple H Randy Orton
9 Randy Orton 1 3 Triple H
10 Triple H 5 85 85 4 Randy Orton Vacated RAW December 6th, 2004 (Baltimore, Maryland)
- Vacated 1 41 41 Triple H RAW December 6th, 2004 (Baltimore, Maryland) Triple H The championship was vacated after a double fall occurred in a triple threat match, also involving Chris Benoit and Edge.
11 Triple H 6 84 84 4 New Year's Revolution ( Batista
12 Batista 1 282 282 12
- Vacated 2 <1 <1 Batista vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legit triceps injury.

Aired on tape delay on January 13, 2006.

13 Kurt Angle 1 82 82 5 This was a 20-man battle royal for the vacant title.

Aired on tape delay on January 13, 2006.

14 Rey Mysterio 1 112 112 8 This was a triple threat match, also involving Randy Orton who Mysterio pinned. The championship was referred to as the "World Championship", due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight
15 King Booker 2 126 126 10
16 Batista 2 126 126 5
17 The Undertaker 1 37 37 4
18 Edge 1 70 70 4
- Vacated 3 <1 <1 Smackdown July 17th, 2007 (Laredo, Texas) Umaga Smackdown July 17th, 2007 (Laredo, Texas) Edge vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legit pectoral injury.

Aired on tape delay on July 20, 2007.

19 Umaga 1 61 61 4 Smackdown July 17th, 2007 (Laredo, Texas) Batista Unforgiven September 16th, 2007 (Memphis, Tennessee) This was a 20-man battle royal for the vacant title.

Aired on tape delay on July 20, 2007

20 Batista 2 91 91 6 Umaga Unforgiven September 16th, 2007 (Memphis, Tennessee) Edge Armageddon December 16th, 2007 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
21 Edge 2 105 106 5 Batista Armageddon December 16th, 2007 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) The Undertaker
22 The Undertaker 2 30 33 3 Edge Wrestlemania XXIV March 30th, 2008 (Orlando, Florida)
- Vacated 4 33 33
23 Edge 3 29 29 3 The Undertaker One Night Stand June 1st, 2008 (San Diego, California) CM Punk RAW June 30th, 2008 (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Defeated The Undertaker in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the vacant title. Per the pre-match stipulation, Undertaker was (kayfabe) banished from WWE.
24 CM Punk 1 69 69 5 RAW June 30th, 2008 (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
25 Brandon Blackwell 1 49 49 4 This was a Championship Scramble, also involving John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Kane. "Blank" was a late replacement for champion CM Punk, who was attacked by Legacy prior to the match.
26 Batista 3 8 8 2 Chris Jericho RAW November 3rd, 2008 (Tampa, Florida)
27 Chris Jericho 1 20 20 2 Batista RAW November 3rd, 2008 (Tampa, Florida) John Cena Survivor Series November 23rd, 2008 (Boston, Massachusetts)
28 John Cena 84 84 4 Chris Jericho Survivor Series November 23rd, 2008 (Boston, Massachusetts) Edge No Way Out February 15th, 2009 (Seattle, Washington)
29 Edge 4 49 48 3 John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, Kane, and Chris Jericho No Way Out February 15th, 2009 (Seattle, Washington) John Cena Wrestlemania 25 April 5th, 2009 (Houston, Texas)
30 John Cena 1 21 21 2 Edge and Big Show Wrestlemania 25 April 5th, 2009 (Houston, Texas)
32 Edge 5 42 42 3
33 Jeff Hardy 2 <1 <1 1 CM Punk
34 CM Punk 2 77 77 4 CM Punk
35 Jeff Hardy 2 42 42 4
- Vacated 5 <1 <1 The Undertaker
36 The Undertaker 3 140 140 8
37 Chris Jericho 1 37 40 2 The Undertaker
38 Shelton Benjamin 1 110 107 5
39 Rey Mysterio 2 <1 <1 2 This was a fatal four-way match, also involving Big Show and CM Punk. The championship was referred to as the "World Championship" due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight.
40 Kane 1 154 154 6
41 Edge 6 58 61 4 This was a fatal four-way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also involving Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio.

WWE recognizes Edge's reign as ending on February 18, 2011, when the following episode aired on tape delay.

- Vacated 6 <1 <1 Edge was stripped of the title by SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as a result of using the spear (which had been banned) in a previous match.

Aired on tape delay on February 18, 2011.

42 Dolph Ziggler 1 <1 <1
43 Edge 7 56 55 2 WWE recognizes Edge's reign as beginning on February 18, 2011, and ending on April 15, 2011, both episodes of which aired on tape delay.
- Vacated 19 19 Edge relinquished the title when he announced his immediate retirement as a result of being diagnosed with spinal stenosis.

Aired on tape delay on April 15, 2011.

44 Christian 1 2 5 1 Randy Orton Randy Orton
45 Randy Orton 2 75 72 4
46 Christian 2 28 28 2 Randy Orton Randy Orton
47 Randy Orton 3 35 35 3
48 Mark Henry 1 91 92 9
49 Big Show 1 <1 <1 1 Daniel Bryan
50 Daniel Bryan 1 105 105 7
51 Sheamus 2 210 211 9 Daniel Bryan
52 "Blank" 72 72 6
53 "Blank" 90 90 5
54 Dolph Ziggler 2 69 70 2
55 Alberto Del Rio 1 3 John Cena
56 Christain 3 <1 <1 1
57 Damian Sandow 1 3
58 John Cena 2 49 50 Randy Orton
59 Randy Orton 4 John Cena
- Deactivated Randy Orton defeated John Cena to unify the World Heavyweight Championship with the WWE Championship. The World Heavyweight Championship was retired and the WWE Championship became the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
- Reactivated
60 Batista 5 Kane and Daniel Bryan Battleground 2014 Roman Reigns Summerslam 2014 Following Batista's win, the title was officially re-activated
61 Roman Reigns 1 1 1 Batista Summerslam 2014 Seth Rollins Summerslam 2014
62 Seth Rollins 1 Roman Reigns Summerslam 2014 Dean Ambrose Wrestlemania 31
63 Dean Ambrose 1 Seth Rollins Wrestlemania 31 Bray Wyatt Summerslam 2015
64 Bray Wyatt 1 Dean Ambrose Summerslam 2015 Finn Balor TLC 2015
65 Finn Balor 1 Bray Wyatt TLC 2015
- Vacated Rusev Royal Rumble 2016 Finn Balor was injured during a live event and was force to forfeit the championship. And New champion was crowded during the 2016 Royal Rumble.
66 Brock Lesnar 1 Roman Reigns and 29 others Royal Rumble 2016 Roman Reigns Wrestlemania 32 Lesnar would eliminate his future Wrestlemania 32 opponent, Roman Reigns last to win the World title and the Royal Rumble. The PPV hosted two royal rumble matches, with this being the main event.
67 Roman Reigns 2 Brock Lesnar Wrestlemania 32 Kevin Owens Money in the Bank 2016
68 Kevin Owens 1 Roman Reigns Money in the Bank 2016 Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2016
69 Brock Lesnar 2 Kevin Owens Summerslam 2016 Shinsuke Nakamura Wrestlemania 33
70 Shinsuke Nakamura 1 Brock Lesnar Wrestlemania 33
- Vacated Roman Reigns Summerslam 2017 Nakamura was injured following his match with Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire
71 Roman Reigns 3 Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, and Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2017 Braun Strowman No Mercy 2017
72 Braun Strowman 1 Roman Reigns No Mercy 2017 Samoa Joe TLC 2017
73 Samoa Joe 1 Braun Strowman TLC 2017 Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania 34
74 Daniel Bryan 2 2 Samoa Joe Wrestlemania 34 Baron Corbin Money in the Bank 2018
75 Baron Corbin 1 3 Daniel Bryan Money in the Bank 2018 Keith Lee Summerslam 2018 Corbin cashed-in his money in the bank briefcase on Bryan after Bryan defeated Samoa Joe once again
76 Keith Lee 1 9 Baron Corbin Summerslam 2018 Bobby Lashley Survivor Series 2018
77 Bobby Lashley 1 13 Keith Lee Survivor Series 2018 Cesaro Wrestlemania 35 Night 2
78 Cesaro 1 8 Zante Maverick and Bobby Lashley Wrestlemania 35 Night 2 Zante Maverick Summerslam 2019
79 Zante Maverick 1 3 Cesaro Summerslam 2019 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt Crown Jewel 2019
80 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt 5 Zante Maverick Crown Jewel 2019 Drew McIntyre Wrestlemania 36 Night 2
81 Drew McIntyre 1 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt Wrestlemania 36 Night 2 Jordan Pierce Wildcard Roulette 2020
82 Jordan Pierce 1 Drew McIntyre Wildcard Roulette 2020 Randy Orton Horror Show at the Bash
83 Randy Orton 5 Jordan Pierce and Drew McIntyre Horror Show at the Bash Jon Moxley Summerslam 2020
84 Jon Moxley 2 Randy Orton Summerslam 2020 Victor Walker TLC 2020
85 Victor Walker 1 Jon Moxley TLC 2020 Zante Maverick Wrestlemania 37 Night 1
86 Zante Maverick 2 Victor Walker and Casey Wayne Wrestlemania 37 Night 1 Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2021
87 Brock Lesnar 3 2 Zante Maverick Summerslam 2021 Victor Walker RAW 08/02/21
88 Victor Walker 2 14 Brock Lesnar RAW 08/02/21 Roman Reigns RAW in MSG 09/13/21 Walker cashed-in his money in the bank briefcase following Lesnar getting assaulted by Bobby Lashley and the Hurt Business.
89 Roman Reigns 4 587 Victor Walker RAW in MSG 09/13/21 Kofi Kingston Wrestlemania 39 Night 2 Reigns holds the second record for longest champion in a single reign in 587 days.
90 Kofi Kingston 1 112+ Roman Reigns Wrestlemania 39 Night 2 Bobby Lashley SummerSlam (2023) Following his victory, Kingston was presented with the brand new championship design on the RAW after Wrestlemania 39. He's also the third person to have the title be referred to the World Championship instead of the World Heavyweight Championship.
91 Bobby Lashley 2 Kofi Kingston SummerSlam (2023) Nick Aldis WrestleMania 40
92 Nick Aldis 1 1> Bobby Lashley WrestleMania 40 Cedric Alexander WrestleMania 40
93 Cedric Alexander 1 118 Nick Aldis WrestleMania 40 Gunther SummerSlam (2024)
94 Gunther 1 106+ Cedric Alexander SummerSlam (2024)

Combined Reigns[]

Rank Wrestler No. of

reigns

Combined days Combined days

recognized by WWE

1 Triple H 5 616
2 Batista 4 507
3 Edge 7 409 411
4 Alberto Del Rio 2 223 224
5 Sheamus 1 210 211
6 The Undertaker 3 207 210
7 CM Punk 3 160
8 Chris Benoit 1 154
John Cena 3 154 155
Kane 1 154
11 Rey Mysterio 2 140
12 Randy Orton 4 138 135
13 King Booker 1 126
14 Chris Jericho 3 106 109
15 Daniel Bryan 1 105
16 Mark Henry 91 92
17 Goldberg 84
18 Jack Swagger 82 79
Kurt Angle 82
20 Big Show 2 72 73
21 Dolph Ziggler 2 69 70
22 The Great Khali 1 61
23 Christian 2 30 33
24 Jeff Hardy 2 28
Shawn Michaels 1
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