WWE Championship

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WWE Championship
The most recent version of the WWE Championship belt (April 11, 2005 – present)
Details
Current champion(s)	Randy Orton
Date won	June 15, 2009
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand	Raw
Date established	April 29, 1963
Other name(s)	WWWF World Heavyweight Championship WWWF Heavyweight Championship WWF Heavyweight Championship WWF World Heavyweight Championship WWF Championship WWF/E Undisputed Championship
Past design(s)
Statistics Most reigns Triple H (8 reigns) First champion Buddy Rogers Longest reign Bruno Sammartino (2803 days) Shortest reign André the Giant (c. 45 seconds) Oldest champion Vince McMahon (54 years, 21 days) Youngest champion Brock Lesnar (25 years, 44 days) Heaviest champion Yokozuna (568 lb (258 kg)) Lightest champion Eddie Guerrero (220 lb (100 kg))

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 three in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship and ECW Championship. It was established under WWE in 1963. After Raw, SmackDown, and ECW became distinct brands under WWE, the championship has moved between the brands on different occasions, mainly as a result of the WWE Draft.

WWE Championship title reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which wrestlers are involved in scripted pre-existing feuds that are played out on WWE programming. These narratives create feuds between various wrestlers, which cast them as heels and faces.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origin 1.2 Prominence 1.3 Brand designation 2 Custom belt designs 3 Reigns 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Origin

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 owners held majority control over the NWA. 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. CWC subsequently seceded from the NWA and was renamed to World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was thus established as having spun-off from the NWA title. The recognition was awarded to Buddy Rogers on April 29 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. By the 1990's, it began to be referred to simply as the WWF Championship.

[edit] 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.^[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" which effectively phased out the WCW name. Following this, the WCW Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, at Vengeance 2001 in December.^[2] 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 title to dispute the claim.^[3][4]

By 2002, the WWF roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted employees. As a result of the increase, the WWF divided the roster through its two primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown!, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension.^[5] In May 2002, the WWF became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the championship began to be referred to 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.^[6][7] 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, WWE Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship.^[8]

[edit] Brand designation

Following the events of the WWE Brand Extension, an annual WWE Draft was established, in which select members of the WWE Roster were reassigned to a different brand.^[9] After three years on the SmackDown brand, the WWE Championship switched brands during the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, in which WWE Champion, John Cena, was drafted to Raw, while World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was drafted to SmackDown.^[10] In 2006, Rob Van Dam used his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand for a WWE Championship match against WWE Champion, John Cena, on June 11. 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 third 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, Edge was a member of the Raw brand at the time and due to the circumstances, the title returned to Raw. After the 2008 WWE Draft, WWE Champion, Triple H, was drafted to SmackDown, moving the WWE Championship to the SmackDown brand.^[11] The following year, the title returned to Raw after reigning champion Triple H was drafted back to the brand during the 2009 WWE Draft.

[edit] 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)
• Edge (Modified "Rated-R Superstar" Spinner belt)

A belt with an exceptionally long strap was created for André the Giant before WrestleMania III, however he never wore it as champion. A custom championship belt was design and constructed for The Rock which featured his trademark Brahma Bull logo in the center, but was lost in the mail and never appeared on television.^[12] 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.^[13] The "Spinner" belt's design has become the WWE Championship's primary design since April 11, 2005, although the centerpiece no longer spins. The Championship used to have a "SmackDown" side plate, but was replaced with a "Raw" plate when John Cena was drafted to Raw. The title once again became SmackDown's primary championship after Triple H was drafted to the brand in 2008 and the "Raw" plate has been replaced with a plate that says "WWE Champion."

[edit] Reigns

The WWE Championship was the first World Championship introduced into WWE in 1963. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. There have been 39 different champions, with Triple H having the most reigns at eight.^[14] 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 reign champion was André the Giant who held the title for only 45 seconds. The current champion is Randy Orton, who is in his fourth reign after defeating Triple H, John Cena and The Big Show in a Fatal Four-Way match to win the vacant title on June 15, 2009 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official WWE Championship Title History
• WWE Championship History

v • d • e Current World Wrestling Entertainment championships and accomplishments Brand World WWE (reigns) · World Heavyweight (reigns) · ECW (reigns) Secondary Intercontinental (reigns) · United States (reigns) Tag Team World Tag Team (reigns) · WWE Tag Team (reigns) Divisional Women's (reigns) · Divas (reigns) Developmental Florida Heavyweight (reigns) · Florida Tag Team (reigns) Other Royal Rumble · Money in the Bank · King of the Ring · Triple Crown · Grand Slam · Current champions