WWE Championship
From Pro Wrestling
| WWE Championship | |
| |
| Current champion(s): | John Cena |
|---|---|
| Date won: | October 4, 2009 |
| Promotion: | WWE |
| Brand: | WWE RAW |
| Date created: | April 29, 1963 |
| Date retired: | |
| Other name(s): | WWWF World Heavyweight WWWF Heavyweight WWF Heavyweight WWF World Heavyweight WWF/E Undisputed |
| Most reigns: | Triple H (8 reigns) |
| First champion(s): | Buddy Rogers |
The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is the original world title of WWE. Following the Draft shift of Triple H to SmackDown!, causing both titles to be SmackDown exclusive, it was the first-ranked championship of the SmackDown! brand until June 30, 2008 when the World Championship was returned to the RAW brand as a result of CM Punk defeating Edge for the title.
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Current Champion
The current champion is Randy Orton, who is in his fifth reign. He won the title at Hell in a Cell when he defeated John Cena.
Title history
The WWE Championship was originally known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Heavyweight Championship. However, in 1971, the title was demoted in "World" status when the WWWF rejoined the National Wrestling Alliance. Then, in 1979, the name of the promotion was changed to World Wrestling Federation, thus the title was referred to as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Heavyweight Championship. After the WWF left the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, the title regained its "World" status and became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The title began to be referred to as simply the WWF Championship when the "Attitude Era/Big Eagle" version of the belt was introduced in 1998 and read "World Wrestling Federation Champion", no longer making use of the words "World Heavyweight".
In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Following this Vince McMahon orchestrated the "Invasion" storyline, in which both WCW and ECW were ultimately dismantled. After the "Invasion" concluded, it was agreed to unify the WCW Championship with the WWF Championship at Vengeance. At the event Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WCW/World Championship and the WWF Championship respectively. As a result, Chris Jericho became the first WWF Undisputed Champion.
The belts stayed unified throughout the WWF/WWE name change and the WWE Brand Extension, which allowed the Undisputed title to be defended on the RAW and SmackDown! brands. However, when Brock Lesnar won the Undisputed Championship, he signed an exclusive contract to appear and defend the Undisputed Championship on the SmackDown! brand only, thus leaving the RAW brand without a major championship. Following Lesnar's actions, RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff introduced the World Heavyweight Championship and commissioned it to be the main title for the RAW brand. He awarded the championship to Triple H and stated that the Undisputed Championship could no longer be called "Undisputed" because it belonged to only one brand. Immediately afterwards, the WWE Undisputed Championship reverted to being called the WWE Championship.
The WWE Championship remained exclusive to the SmackDown! brand from August 26, 2002 until June 6, 2005, when the WWE Champion, John Cena, was drafted to RAW during the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. This left RAW with two major titles and SmackDown! with none until the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was drafted to SmackDown! on June 30 2005.
Belt Designs
The "Attitude Era/Big Eagle" belt and the Big Gold belt represented the Undisputed Championship from December 9, 2001 to March 31, 2002, during Chris Jericho's entire reign, and the first two weeks of Triple H's reign. They were later replaced by the singular "Undisputed" version.
Special custom belts have been created for at least six WWE champions: Billy Graham (slightly different plate art and a red strap), the Ultimate Warrior (white, blue, and purple straps), Sgt. Slaughter (purple strap won from Warrior), Stone Cold Steve Austin (entirely custom "Smokin' Skull" belt), John Cena (entirely custom "Spinner" belt), and Edge (similar to Cena's but with an "Rated R" spinner). A belt with an exceptionally long strap was created for André the Giant before WrestleMania III, however, he never wore it as champion. Though Edge had originally designed a different custom belt for his reign, the plans were scrapped due to time constraints.
There have been two slightly different versions of John Cena's custom WWE Championship. The original belt used during the title's duration on the SmackDown! brand featured the words "Smack Down" on the right plate with a fist between the words. When the title was brought to the RAW brand, the belt was modified to feature the words "Mon-Nite RAW" on the right plate with a chain and lock between the words.
See also
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- Champion history - History of the wrestlers who have held the belt.
- Title matches - Matches in which the title was defended.
- Reigns by length - Lists of the length and reigns.
- World Heavyweight Championship (WWE) - The World Heavyweight Championship, the top ranked championship of WWE's Monday Night Raw brand.
