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WWE Women's Championship

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This article is about the current championship on the Raw brand. For the other championships, see WWE Women's Championship.
WWE Raw Women's Championship
The Raw Women's Championship belt with default side plates
Details
PromotionWWE
BrandRaw
Date establishedApril 3, 2016
Current champion(s)Sasha Banks
Date wonOctober 23, 2017
Other name(s)
  • WWE Women's Championship
    (2016)
  • WWE Raw Women's Championship
    (2016–present)
Statistics
First champion(s)Charlotte Flair[a]
Most reignsSasha Banks (5)
Longest reignCharlotte Flair (113 days[b])
Shortest reignSasha Banks (8 days[c])
Oldest championCharlotte Flair (30 years, 257 days)
Youngest championSasha Banks (24 years, 181 days)
Heaviest championCharlotte Flair (144 lb (65 kg))
Lightest championAlexa Bliss (102 pounds (46 kg))

The WWE Raw Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. It is one of two women's championships for WWE's main roster, along with the SmackDown Women's Championship on the SmackDown brand. The current champion is Sasha Banks, who is in her fifth reign.

Introduced as the WWE Women's Championship on April 3, 2016 at WrestleMania 32, it replaced the Divas Championship and has a unique title history, separate from WWE's original Women's Championship and the Divas Championship. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion. As a result of the 2016 draft, the championship became exclusive to Raw with a subsequent rename and SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title. It is the only WWE women's championship to have been featured in the headlining match of a pay-per-view event, which was Hell in a Cell 2016.[1]

History

The inaugural and four-time Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair

On April 3, 2016, WWE Hall of Famer Lita appeared during the WrestleMania 32 pre-show and, after recapping the history of women's professional wrestling in WWE, unveiled the brand-new championship and declared that WWE's women would no longer be referred to as WWE Divas, but as "WWE Superstars" just as their male counterparts are.[2] This came after the term "Diva" was scrutinized by some commentators, fans, and several past and present WWE female performers, including then-Divas Champion Charlotte, who were in favor of changing the championship to the Women's Championship.[3] It was also changed because some WWE female wrestlers felt it diminished their athletic abilities and relegated them to "eye candy".[4][5] Lita then announced that the winner of the Divas Championship triple threat match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks later that night would become the first-ever WWE Women's Champion, subsequently retiring the Divas Championship.[6] Charlotte, the final Divas Champion, became the inaugural WWE Women's Champion when she defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.[7]

Following the reintroduction of the brand extension, then champion Charlotte was drafted to the Raw brand on the July 19, 2016 premiere episode of SmackDown Live, making the championship exclusive to Raw. In response, SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship on August 23, 2016. The WWE Women's Championship was subsequently renamed to reflect its exclusivity to Raw.[2]

When the title was introduced, it shared its name with the original Women's Championship. However, the new title does not share the same title history as the original, which was unified with the Divas Championship in 2010, with the combined title inheriting the latter's lineage and history. WWE acknowledges the original championship as its predecessor,[2] and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back to The Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.[6]

Brand designation history

When the championship was unveiled, there was no brand division as that had ended in August 2011. From its inception until the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, then-champion Charlotte defended the title on both Raw and SmackDown.

Colors

Championship moved to the Raw brand.
Date of transition Notes
July 19, 2016 WWE Women's Champion Charlotte was drafted to Raw during the 2016 WWE draft.
After the introduction of the SmackDown Women's Championship, the title was renamed to Raw Women's Championship.

Championship belt design

The Raw Women's Championship belt is similar in appearance to the WWE Championship belt, with a few notable differences. The strap is smaller to fit the champion, and white, as opposed to black. The die-cut WWE logo in the center plate sits on a red background, as opposed to a black one. The small print below the logo reads "Women's Champion". Like the WWE Championship belt, the Raw Women's Championship belt features two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with the WWE logo on the globe as default plates, which are customized with the current champion's logos as a similarity of the name plate feature of other championship belts.[6]

Title history

Two-time and current Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, who is the first woman to hold both the Raw and SmackDown women's championships, and on two separate occasions each

Name

Name Years
WWE Women's Championship April 3, 2016 – September 4, 2016
WWE Raw Women's Championship September 5, 2016 – present

Reigns

As of August 29, 2024, overall there have been 11 reigns between 4 champions. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion, and she holds multiple records with the championship: her first reign is the longest reign at 113 days and she has the longest combined reign at 242 days (WWE lists 114 and 246, respectively), she is the oldest champion when she won her fourth championship at the age of 30, and she is tied with Sasha Banks for the most reigns at four. Banks is the youngest champion when she first won the title at 24 years old, and her fourth reign is the shortest at 8 days (WWE recognizes it as 9 days).

Alexa Bliss is the current champion in her second reign. She won the title by defeating Sasha Banks on Raw on August 28, 2017 in her contractual rematch.

Reign The reign number for the specific champion listed
Location The city in which the title was won
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
— Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Charlotte[d] 1 April 3, 2016 113 Arlington, TX WrestleMania 32 This was a triple threat match, also involving Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, to determine the inaugural champion. The Divas Championship, which Charlotte held going into the match, was retired in favor of the new WWE Women's Championship.
The title became exclusive to the Raw brand following the 2016 WWE draft.
WWE recognizes Charlotte's reign as lasting 114 days. 		[8]
2 Sasha Banks 1 July 25, 2016 27 Pittsburgh, PA Raw [9]
3 Charlotte 2 August 21, 2016 43 Brooklyn, NY SummerSlam The title was renamed the Raw Women's Championship on September 5, 2016 following the creation of the SmackDown Women's Championship.
WWE recognizes Charlotte's reign as lasting 44 days. 		[10]
4 Sasha Banks 2 October 3, 2016 27 Los Angeles, CA Raw WWE recognizes Banks' reign as lasting 28 days. [11]
5 Charlotte Flair 3 October 30, 2016 29 Boston, MA Hell in a Cell This was a Hell in a Cell match.
WWE recognizes Flair's reign as lasting 30 days. 		[1]
6 Sasha Banks 3 November 28, 2016 20 Charlotte, NC Raw This was a falls count anywhere match. [12]
7 Charlotte Flair 4 December 18, 2016 57 Pittsburgh, PA Roadblock: End of the Line This was a 30-minute Iron Man match, in which Flair won 3–2 in sudden death overtime.
WWE recognizes Flair's reign as lasting 58 days. 		[13]
8 Bayley 1 February 13, 2017 76 Las Vegas, NV Raw [14]
9 Alexa Bliss 1 April 30, 2017 112 San Jose, CA Payback [15]
10 Sasha Banks 4 August 20, 2017 8 Brooklyn, NY SummerSlam WWE recognizes Banks' reign as lasting 9 days. [16]
11 Alexa Bliss 2 August 28, 2017 2,558+ Memphis, TN Raw [17]

Combined reigns

Record-tying four-time Raw Women's Champion Sasha Banks

As of August 29, 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days Combined days
recognized by WWE
1 Charlotte Flair 4 242 246
2 Alexa Bliss † 2 2,670+
3 Sasha Banks 4 82 84
4 Bayley 1 76

See also

Notes

  1. ^ When she became the inaugural champion, her ring name was just Charlotte
  2. ^ WWE officially recognizes it as 114 days.
  3. ^ WWE officially recognizes it as 9 days.
  4. ^ During Charlotte Flair's first two reigns, her ring name was just Charlotte.

References

  1. ^ a b Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 live review: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Raw Women's Championship". WWE.com.
  3. ^ Konuwa, Alfred (March 30, 2016). "Is WWE Planning To Rebrand Its Divas Division?". Forbes. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Ahmed, Tufayel. "WrestleMania 32: By Dumping the 'Divas' Branding, WWE Makes Its Biggest Step to Gender Equality". Newsweek. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  5. ^ Gass, Dorathy (2014-06-20). "Wrestlemania 32: How The Women Stole The Show". Wrestle Newz. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  6. ^ a b c WWE Staff (April 3, 2016). "All-new WWE Women's Championship introduced at WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved April 3, 2016. Lita introduced the all-new WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania, and revealed that Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch will compete for this title tonight.
  7. ^ Caldwell, James. "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Pre-Show Results – CALDWELL's Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  8. ^ Artus, Matthew (April 3, 2016). "Charlotte def. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to become first new WWE Women's Champion". WWE. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  9. ^ Tedesco, Mike (July 25, 2016). "WWE RAW Results – 7/25/16 (Live from Pittsburgh, fallout from Battleground, new era of RAW begins)". Wrestleview. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Caldwell, James. "8/21 WWE Summerslam Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  11. ^ Tedesco, Mike. "WWE RAW Results – 10/3/16 (Live from Los Angeles, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women's Title)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  12. ^ Keller, Wade (November 28, 2016). "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 11/28: Live coverage – Charlotte defends against Sasha Banks, New Day defends against Anderson & Gallows". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  13. ^ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Roadblock: End of the Line 2016 live review: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in an Iron Man match for the Raw Women's Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Title". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  14. ^ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 2/13: Las Vegas Festival of Friendship, Emmalina's debut, Fastlane developments, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  15. ^ Powell, Jason. "4/30 Powell's WWE Payback Live Review: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for the U.S. Championship, Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt in a House of Horrors match". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  16. ^ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE SummerSlam 2017 live review: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship, Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, Sheamus and Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins for the Raw Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 8/28: Sasha defends against Alexa, Cena vs. Reigns contract signing, Lesnar returns to answer Braun attack". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
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