WWE Divas Championship: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox championship |
{{Infobox championship |
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|caption = The Divas Championship belt, being held by former and longest-reigning champion [[AJ Lee]]. |
|caption = The Divas Championship belt, being held by former and longest-reigning champion [[AJ Lee]]. |
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|championshipname = WWE Divas Championship |
|championshipname = WWE Divas Championship |
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Revision as of 20:02, 20 April 2014
 The Divas Championship belt, being held by former and longest-reigning champion AJ Lee. | |
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The WWE Divas Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship.[1] Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion on July 20, 2008 when she defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash. After former Divas Champion Maryse was drafted to Raw as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, she took the title with her. Michelle McCool won a match to unify the WWE Divas and Women's titles at the Night of Champions pay-per-view on September 19, 2010, creating the Unified Divas Championship.
History
With the first WWF Brand Extension, a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to different television programs and touring companies, in 2002, the WWE Women's Championship was originally to be defended on both brands. At some point that year, however, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. Thereafter, only Divas on the Raw brand were able to compete for the title, while the Divas on the SmackDown brand were unable to compete for a women's-exclusive championship.[2] However, on a few occasions the regulation was bypassed with Melina, Ashley, Torrie Wilson and Nidia challenging for the title while on the SmackDown! brand, but none were successful.[3][4]
As a result, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship and introduced it on the June 6, 2008 episode of SmackDown when then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the title.[5] The championship belt was officially unveiled on the July 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown. After winning respective matches to earn the opportunity to wrestle for the new championship, Michelle McCool defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash to become the inaugural champion.[6][7] When Maryse won the title from McCool in December 2008, she dislocated her kneecap at a live event later that month. Similar to how Trish Stratus kept the Women's Championship when she was sidelined with a herniated disc in 2005,[8] Maryse was able to keep the Divas Title upon her return in late January 2009. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft, then-Divas Champion Maryse was one of the people drafted to the Raw brand, in the process making the championship exclusive to Raw.[9]
It was announced on the August 30, 2010 episode of Raw that the Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship at a match at Night of Champions. And with that, the title (known briefly as the WWE Unified Divas Championship) became accessible to both WWE brands and the champion could appear on both shows, a situation made permanent by the ending of the Brand Extension in 2011.
Reigns
There have been 21 total reigns. The inaugural champion was Michelle McCool, who defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008.
Eve Torres - a three-time Divas Champion - has the most reigns in the title's history. AJ Lee's reign is the longest in the championship's history at 295 days and Jillian is the shortest reigning champion, with her reign lasting 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The oldest champion is Layla El, who won it at the age of 34.
The current champion is Paige, who is in her first reign. She defeated AJ Lee on April 7, 2014 during the live Raw broadcast in New Orleans, Louisiana; her reign has also made her the youngest champion at the age of 21. She is also the inaugural and current NXT Women's Champion on WWE NXT.
References
- ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 81. ISBN 978-075664190-0.
- ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2002-03-27. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ Hoffman, Brett (2007-04-01). "Playboy Covered". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ "Women's Champion Trish Stratus def. Melina". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-06-06). "Golden Dreams". WWE. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ Burdick, Michael (2008-07-20). "A Diva of destiny". WWE. Archived from the original on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "History Of The Divas Championship - Michelle McCool (1)". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Trish Stratus Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (2009-04-14). "RAW: Drafting a fresh start for the WWE". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-04-14.