WWE Championship
Current champion(s):	John Cena
Date won:	April 7, 2013
Promotion:	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand:	WWE Monday Night 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:	John Cena (11 reigns)
First champion(s):	Buddy Rogers

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963. After Raw and SmackDown became distinct brands under WWE, the championship has moved between both brands on different occasions, mainly as a result of the WWE Draft. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The belt is generally thought of as the most pretigious championship available today in professional wrestling.

Current champion

John Cena is the current champion, who is in his 11th WWE Championship reign, by defeating The Rock at the WrestleMania 29

History

The WWE Championship was introduced in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the inaugural champion on April 29. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a promotion with various subsidiaries. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was a subsidiary to the NWA and by 1963, CWC executives held a controlling stake over NWA operations. During this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the world title of the NWA and its subsidiaries, until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship. Following a dispute over the result, CWC seceded from the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was then established as having spun off from the NWA title when the recognition was awarded to Buddy Rogers following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro, defeating Antonino Rocca in the finals. Affiliated with the NWA once again, the WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979, and after conclusively ending its affiliation with the NWA in 1983, the championship became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and later simply as the WWF Championship by the 1990s.

Prominence

In 1991, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), another subsidiary to the NWA, established the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to complement the NWA's world title. WCW then seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. 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 WCW. 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" which effectively phased out the WCW name. Following this, the WCW Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, at Vengeance 2001 in December. At the event, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WCW Championship and WWF Championship respectively. Consequently, Chris Jericho was named the final WCW Champion and the subsequent Undisputed Champion as the WWF Championship became the Undisputed Championship in professional wrestling with no other prominent world heavyweight title to dispute the recognition.

Undisputed Championship

By 2002, the WWF roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers. As a result of the increase, the WWF divided the roster through its two main television programs, Raw and SmackDown!, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension. In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the championship became known as the WWE Undisputed Championship. Following these changes, the WWE Undisputed Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the WWE 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. On September 2, after disputing the status of the Undisputed Championship, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship, having spun off from the Undisputed title. Immediately afterward, the WWE Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship.

In the summer of 2011, after John Cena lost the WWE Championship to CM Punk at Money IN The Bank 2011, and Punk left WWE(briefly), Mr.McMahon held a championship chase to decide a new champ, with Rey Mysterio winning the title, later in the night Cena won the title back, Punk then returned and caused controversy over who was rightful champ. Triple H(COO of WWE) announced a match to decide the Undisputed WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2011, Punk beat Cena again, afterword Alberto Del Rio cashed in the Money In The Bank Briefcase. During Del Rio's first regin, he called it The Undisputed WWE Championship, but after it ended, it ceased to be called the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Brand designation

Following the events of the WWE Brand Extension, an annual WWE Draft was established, in which select members of the WWE roster are reassigned to a different brand. After three years on the SmackDown brand, the WWE Championship switched brands during the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, in which the WWE Champion John Cena was drafted to Raw while the World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown. On June 11, 2006, Rob Van Dam used his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand for a WWE Championship match against the WWE Champion John Cena. The holder of the contract is guaranteed a WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship match at anytime of their choosing. Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship, moving the title to the ECW brand, a WWE brand established from purchased assets of the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. On July 3, Edge defeated John Cena and Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE Championship. However, with Edge being a member of the Raw brand at the time, the title returned to Raw due to the circumstances. After the 2008 WWE Draft the WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to SmackDown, moving the WWE Championship to the SmackDown brand. The following year, the title returned to Raw after Triple H was drafted back to the brand during the 2009 WWE Draft, and has remained exclusive to the Raw brand since. When SmackDown's Batista won the title from Raw's John Cena at WWE Elimination Chamber, it remained exclusive to Raw when Batista was transferred to the Raw roster.

WWE Championship tournament

Quarterfinals & Semifinals took place on July 18, 2011 on Raw and the final took place one week later on Raw.

Custom belt designs

Special custom belts have been created to match the gimmicks of some champions:

• "Superstar" Billy Graham (red leather strap)
• The Ultimate Warrior (white, blue, and purple leather straps)
• Sgt. Slaughter (blue leather strap, later changed to original black strap at WrestleMania VII)
• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin ("Smokin' Skull" belt)
• John Cena (Spinner belt with free-motion "spinner" WWE logo)
• Edge (Modified "Rated-R Superstar" Spinner belt)
• The Miz (Modified spinner design with upside down WWE logo simulating the letter M)

A much larger version of the belt was created for André the Giant before WrestleMania III, although he never wore it as champion. A custom championship belt was designed and constructed for The Rock which featured his trademark Brahma Bull logo in the center, but it never appeared on television. Similarly, Edge had originally designed an entirely different custom belt than the "Rated R Spinner" design he used for his second reign; however, the plans were scrapped due to time constraints. The "Spinner" belt's design has become the WWE Championship's primary design since April 11, 2005, although, since No Mercy 2007, the centerpiece no longer spins. The physical belt itself originally indicated the brand it was designated to. When it was first introduced, it featured a unique side plate design that read "SmackDown," though it was then replaced with one that read "Mon-Nite Raw" when John Cena was drafted to the Raw brand. When the title once again became SmackDown's primary championship after Triple H was drafted to the brand in 2008, the "Raw" plate was replaced with a duplicate of the opposite side plate that simply reads "WWE Champion." Furthermore, the belt also features a silver tip on the end of the leather strap.

On the February 13, 2013 episode of Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship belt. The new title (Which was partially designed by Orange County Choppers of American Choppers fame) features a large black strap with a large diamond encrusted WWE logo with the word "CHAMPION" directly underneath. Instead of a nameplate, the current title belt features customizable side-plates that fits the wearer (i.e The Rock's "Brahma Bulls" logo and John Cena's "You Can't See Me and Hustle, Loyalty and Respect" logo).

Reigns

The WWE Championship was the first World Championship introduced into WWE in 1963. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. There have been 40 different official champions with 112 reigns between the 40 superstars. The longest reigning champion was Bruno Sammartino who held the title for 2,803 days from May 17, 1963 to January 18, 1971. The shortest reigning champion was André the Giant who officiallyheld the title for 45 seconds. The youngest champion was Brock Lesnar who won at the age of 25. The oldest champion is Mr. McMahon at the age of 54. John Cena has held the title the most times with 11 championship reigns. CM Punk had held the title since winning it at Survivor Series, in November 2011, marking the longest reign in the Modern era in 25 years at 434 days. The current champion is John Cena.

Past Designs

WWF "Winged Eagle" Heavyweight Championship (1988 - 1998)

WWF "Big Eagle/Attitude" Heavyweight Championship (1998 - 2002)

WWE Stone Cold Smoking Skulls Belt (1998/1999)

The Rock's unused Brahma Bull design.

WWE Undisputed Championship (2002 - 2005)

WWE Championship Belt (2005-2013)

Rated R Spinner Championship (2006)

The Miz' Flipped logo Championship (2011)

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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.
• Champion gallery - A gallery of all champions.
• Custom Belt Design Gallery - A Gallery of WWE title belts customized to specific wrestlers

References

• WWE Championship at WWE.com
• WWE Championship at CAGEMATCH.net