Jump to content

World heavyweight championship (professional wrestling)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 66.229.219.44 (talk) at 04:10, 8 January 2010 (→‎Active prominent championships). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This redirect is about the general term. For amateur wrestling, see FILA Wrestling World Championships. For the SmackDown designated title, see World Heavyweight Championship (WWE).
World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker

The World Heavyweight Championship is the name given to certain championships in professional wrestling. Although various professional wrestling promotions have used the term "world heavyweight championship", it is almost exclusively used as a moniker for the championship that is under competition between the top contenders of major organizations. The territorial nature of early professional wrestling, in which promotions would each operate in different regional territories across the nation, suggested that few organizations could legitimately promote a World Heavyweight Championship, in the sense that the title could theoretically be defended against any challenger anywhere in the world. However, with the emergence of professional wrestling in mainstream and popular culture during the 1980s professional wrestling boom, many organizations grew to receive national and international exposure and thereby gained the platform to promote worldwide.

History

Main article: List of early world heavyweight champions in professional wrestling
WWE Champion Sheamus

Most of the well-recognized World Heavyweight Championships today are derived from the first recognized version held by Georg Hackenschmidt in 1905 and Frank Gotch in 1908. Established in 1948, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) directly traces its lineage to these reigns, thus making it the oldest active world title. With many regional territories appearing across the United States, the NWA was formed in 1948 as a governing body in professional wrestling, operating as a talent and brand name franchiser for the territory system. Though promotions that were members of the NWA retained their ownership and recognition of its champions, they were to recognize the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as the premier title over their own. The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was formed in 1960 from NWA territories that began to secede from the NWA during the late 1950s. Unilaterally, the AWA established the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and awarded the recognition to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O'Connor only to later rule that O'Connor had forfeited the title to the AWA's Verne Gagne. The title along with the AWA became inactive in 1990 and was officially decommissioned in 1991. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship has since served as the foundation from which other world titles have originated. Consequently, titles that spun-off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship lineage, are connected to the historical reigns of Georg Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch as well.

ECW Champion Christian

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is home to three such active world titles; the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, and ECW Championship. The WWE Championship was introduced in 1963 when Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the precursor to WWE, seceded from the NWA and became World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was thus established as being produced from the NWA title when recognition was awarded to Buddy Rogers after he had lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Lou Thesz. WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 and the title became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and later simply the WWF Championship. Similarly, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was introduced in 1991 and was established when the recognition was awarded to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair, thus being produced from the NWA title. WCW seceded from the NWA in 1993 and became a rival promotion to the WWF, growing into mainstream prominence along with them and eventually being involved in a ratings war. Meanwhile, due to WCW's secession from the NWA, WCW opted to recognize Ric Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign at the time of the secession as the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, which was then used for a fictitious WCW subsidiary until it was decommissioned in 1994.[1] Ultimately, WCW was bought-out by the WWF, and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWF Championship in 2001.[2][3] Chris Jericho become the final WCW Champion and the subsequent WWF Champion, defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin respectively.[4]

TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles

The WWF Championship became the Undisputed Championship in professional wrestling with no other prominent world title to dispute the claim until 2002. The WWF was renamed to WWE and its title became the WWE Undisputed Championship while WWE was divided into franchises or "brands" known as Raw and SmackDown, which act as complementing promotions under WWE.[5] The WWE Undisputed Championship was then designated to a single brand, becoming simply the WWE Championship after the World Heavyweight Championship was created, spun-off from the WWE Undisputed Championship, and established while being designated to the other brand. The World Heavyweight Championship was thus indirectly produced from the NWA title. The ECW Championship, originally of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was first introduced in 1992 in Eastern Championship Wrestling, the precursor to ECW.[4] However, it was officially established in 1994 and produced from the NWA title when the promotion seceded from the NWA and became Extreme Championship Wrestling after Shane Douglas relinquished the NWA World Heavyweight Championship immediately after winning it and instead proclaimed himself the ECW World Heavyweight Champion.[6][7] After ECW closed in 2001, its assets were subsequently purchased by WWE, and in 2006, the franchise was relaunched as a WWE brand complementary to Raw and SmackDown with the title being recommissioned and designated to the brand.

ROH World Champion Austin Aries

In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), a promotion founded in 2002, NWA titles held a dominant role through an agreement, which allowed the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to be operated within the promotion after TNA's NWA affiliation had ended in 2004. The agreement was abruptly voided in 2007 and Christian Cage was stripped of the title by the NWA.[8] TNA then introduced the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and awarded the recognition to Kurt Angle while also recognizing NWA reigns recorded in TNA.[9][10] Also founded in 2002, Ring of Honor (ROH) is a promotion that grew from the independent circuit of professional wrestling to become one of the major organizations with the ROH World Championship being established.

Blue Demon, Jr. the current NWA World Heavyweight Champion against El Hijo del Santo.

Nomenclature

The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world heavyweight championship" as the complete name of the title. Examples of this included the ECW World Heavyweight, WCW World Heavyweight, and WWF World Heavyweight Championship. However, some are also correctly known simply as the "World Heavyweight Championship" without bearing the name of an organization. In some cases, this occurs in organizations where other World Heavyweight Championships are also competed for, as was the case in the AWA during 1960s and 1970s, the NWA and WCW in the early 1990s, and in WWE today.

Due to the term "world heavyweight championship" being applicable to any World Heavyweight Championship in general or to a specific one in particular, this often creates confusion over which championship is being referenced when the term is used. This is often the case when noting the accomplishments of Ric Flair, who is recognized as being a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion. The actual reference is made to Ric Flair's accumulated NWA, WCW, and WWE Championship reigns, and does not pertain to the SmackDown brand's World Heavyweight Championship.

Other championships have also been referred to as simply "world titles" despite not being World Heavyweight Championships. These often include championships with various classifications, including stipulation-based or weight class. Examples of such championships include the ECW World Television Championship and NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

Promotions can also recognize subordinate titles to World Heavyweight Championships that are often designated as regional, national, or international championships. Examples of these subordinate titles include the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship, WWE United States Championship, and WWE Intercontinental Championship, which are regional, national, and international subordinates respectively.

Active prominent championships

Championship Promotion Date Est. Current champion Notes
ECW Championship WWE
(ECW) 		August 27, 1994 Christian
(July 26, 2009) 		Originally of the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, the title spun-off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when Shane Douglas, after being crowned the NWA champion, rejected the NWA title in favor of the newly declared ECW World Heavyweight Championship. It remained inactive after Extreme Championship Wrestling closed in 2001, but was recommisioned in 2006 by WWE for the ECW brand. It is now known simply as the ECW Championship.[11]
NWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA January 5, 1948 Blue Demon, Jr.
(October 25, 2008) 		The title traces its lineage to the world heavyweight championship reigns of Georg Hackenschmidt in 1905 and Frank Gotch in 1908, thus making it the oldest active world title. It has served as the foundation from which other world titles have originated.
ROH World Championship ROH July 27, 2002 Austin Aries
(June 13, 2009) 		Since 2003 it has been defended in England, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, and Ireland. The promotion is currently considered the third prominent promotion in the United States. The only active prominent Heavyweight Championship not to be spun-off from or a successor to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA World Heavyweight Championship TNA May 14, 2007 A.J. Styles
(September 20, 2009) 		The title was introduced by TNA after the NWA regained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from the promotion and stripped TNA's champions of the NWA titles.
World Heavyweight Championship WWE
(SmackDown) 		September 2, 2002 The Undertaker
(October 4, 2009) 		The title was established as having spun-off from the WWE Undisputed Championship as the successor to the NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Championship after the Undisputed Championship became exclusive to a single WWE brand. Originally introduced for the Raw brand of WWE, the World Heavyweight Championship moved to the SmackDown brand in 2005 and has since moved between both brands on multiple occasions, mainly as a result of the WWE Draft.[12]
WWE Championship WWE
(Raw) 		April 29, 1963 Sheamus
(December 13, 2009) 		The title was established as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship when it spun-off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship after Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the NWA and created the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF reaffiliated with the NWA in 1971 but ended its relationship with the organization in 1983 and was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) while the title became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The WWF Championship, as it was known thereafter, was unified with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 2001 and was temporarily known as the WWE Undisputed Championship after the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. It is now known simply as the WWE Championship.[13]

Other notable championships

  • WSL World Heavyweight Championship - The top title in Wrestling Superstars Live. It was introduced in 1996 when Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling, infringing on the AWA name. Finally, in April 2007 WWE filed a lawsuit against the them, as WWE owned all AWA properties due to their purchase after the AWA's closure. In October 2008, the court ruled in favor of WWE. Gagner and Stewart were forced to rename their organization. The current champion is Keith Walker
  • WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship - The top title in the World Wrestling Council. The championship was established in July 1982 as the WWC World Heavyweight Championship. It achieved its current name after a match billed to decide the "The Champion of the Universe" between WWC World Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colon and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. The current champion is Glamour Boy Shane.

Inactive prominent championships

Championship Promotion Date Est. Date retired Notes
AWA World Heavyweight Championship AWA May 18, 1960 December 12, 1990 The title was established in 1960 when the American Wrestling Association was formed from former National Wrestling Alliance territories. Unilaterally, the AWA awarded the recognition to the National Wrestling Alliance's World Heavyweight Champion Pat O'Connor, declaring him the inaugural champion. The AWA subsequently ruled that the title had been forfeited to the organization's Verne Gagne. The chain of events resulted in the AWA World Heavyweight Championship becoming the first of many world titles to have spun-off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The AWA and the title became inactive in 1990 and was officially decommissioned in 1991. Larry Zbyszko was the final AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship WCW January 11, 1991 December 9, 2001 It spun-off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when NWA Champion Ric Flair was recognized as the first WCW World heavyweight champion in January 1991, during which WCW was in the process of separating from the NWA. Flair held both titles briefly before leaving WCW over a creative dispute in July of that year. The title was unified with the WWE Championship in 2001. Chris Jericho was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
WCW International World Heavyweight Championship WCW 1993 June 23, 1994 After WCW and the NWA ended their business relationship, WCW used the Big Gold Belt that had represented the NWA title to create the world heavyweight championship of WCW International, a fictitious subsidiary of World Championship Wrestling. It was unified with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1994.

Other notable championships

  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1988-1997) - a United States Wrestling Association title. It consisted of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and WCWA World Heavyweight Championship. While the owning promotions of both championships would end their titles' connection with the USWA Unified World Heavyweight title, the USWA continued to recognize the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "International World Heavyweight Championship". Solie.org. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  2. ^ "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2001-03-23. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  3. ^ WCW World Champion - Chris Jericho at WWE.com
  4. ^ a b "WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18. Cite error: The named reference "W-T" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands".
  6. ^ "NWA World Title Tournament - August 27, 1994 in Philadelphia". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
  7. ^ "History of the ECW World Title". WWE. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  8. ^ "NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships". 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  9. ^ "Title Histories". TitleHistories.com. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  10. ^ "wrestlinginfoarchiveTNA". wrestlinginformationarchive.com. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  11. ^ ECW Championship History - WWE.com
  12. ^ World Heavyweight Championship History - WWE.com
  13. ^ "WWE Championship History". WWE.com. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  14. ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/austria/cwa/eu-cwa-h.html
  15. ^ Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories, Fourth Edition. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  16. ^ "M.W.A. World Heavyweight Title (Kansas City)". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_heavyweight_championship_(professional_wrestling)&oldid=336538338"