WWE Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship | |||||||||
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Details | |||||||||
Promotion | WWE | ||||||||
Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||
Date established | April 3, 2016 | ||||||||
Current champion(s) | Bayley | ||||||||
Date won | April 7, 2024 | ||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||
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The WWE Women's Championship is a
Established 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 WWE Draft, the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed the Raw Women's Championship while SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as its counterpart. As a result of the 2023 WWE Draft, the Raw and SmackDown women's championships switched brands, with the Raw Women's Championship reverting to its original name of WWE Women's Championship, while the SmackDown Women's Championship became the Women's World Championship.
The title was the first women's championship to headline a WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event, which occurred at Hell in a Cell in 2016. It also headlined WWE's only all-female event, Evolution in 2018. Along with the SmackDown Women's Championship at the time, it was also defended in the main event match of the 35th edition of WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, in 2019.
History
The championship was established on April 3, 2016. During the
Following the reintroduction of the
As a result of the 2023 WWE Draft, the Raw and SmackDown women's championships switched brands and there were no title changes for either championship before draft results went into effect on May 8. The issue of the Raw Women's Championship being on SmackDown was then resolved on the June 9, 2023, episode of SmackDown. That night, WWE official Adam Pearce unveiled a new championship belt to reigning champion Asuka, with the title subsequently reverting to its original name of WWE Women's Championship.[10][11] The SmackDown Women's Championship subsequently became the Women's World Championship on June 12.[12]
The championship was the first women's title to be defended in the main event of a
The title shares its name with the original WWE Women's Championship. However, the newer title does not share the same title history as the original, which was unified with the Divas Championship in 2010 and subsequently retired. WWE acknowledges the original championship as its predecessor,[1] and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back to The Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.[5]
Brand designation history
When the championship was unveiled, the brand extension was not in effect as that had ended in August 2011. From its inception until the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, reigning champion Charlotte defended the title on both Raw and SmackDown.
Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
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July 19, 2016 | Raw | WWE Women's Champion WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.[18]
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May 8, 2023 | SmackDown | Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair was drafted to SmackDown during the 2023 WWE Draft. The title reverted to its original name of WWE Women's Championship on June 9, 2023.[10][11] |
Championship belt designs
The WWE Women's Championship belt uses the "Network Logo" design that was first used by the WWE Championship when it was introduced in August 2014 with a few notable differences. When it was originally unveiled, the die-cut WWE logo in the center plate sat on a red background, as opposed to black, while the small print below the logo read "Women's Champion", and the strap was smaller and white as opposed to black. The belt featured the same side plates, divided from the center plate by gold divider bars. In what has become a prominent feature of the majority of WWE's championship belts, the side plates feature a removable center section, which can be customized with the reigning champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. This was the first women's title in WWE with customizable side plates. The title retained this design when it was renamed as Raw Women's Championship in September 2016.[5]
On the June 9, 2023, episode of SmackDown, WWE official Adam Pearce unveiled a new design for the title which reverted to being called the WWE Women's Championship. It uses the same "Network Logo" design, but with similarities to the men's
In what has become a tradition since fall 2014, WWE has presented custom WWE Championship belts to winners in both male and female professional sports with the side plates commemorating the achievement.
Reigns
As of May 2, 2024, there have been 28 reigns between 12 champions. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion. She also has the most reigns at six.
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Raw Women's Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Konuwa, Alfred (March 30, 2016). "Is WWE Planning To Rebrand Its Divas Division?". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ Ahmed, Tufayel (April 4, 2016). "WrestleMania 32: By Dumping the 'Divas' Branding, WWE Makes Its Biggest Step to Gender Equality". Newsweek. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Gass, Dorathy (June 20, 2014). "Wrestlemania 32: How The Women Stole The Show". Wrestle Newz. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ a b c "All-new WWE Women's Championship introduced at WrestleMania". WWE. April 3, 2016. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. 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.
- ^ Caldwell, James (April 3, 2016). "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Pre-Show Results – Caldwell's Complete Report". Pro Wwrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James (April 3, 2016). "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report on Mainland PPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- 411Mania. Archivedfrom the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (December 3, 2021). "Preview and Predictions for 'NXT WarGames'". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ a b c Barnett, Jake (June 9, 2023). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (6/9): Barnett's review of Jey Uso's decision, Asuka presented with the WWE Women's Championship belt, MITB qualifiers featuring Butch vs. Baron Corbin, Santos Escobar vs. Mustafa Ali, Michin vs. Bayley, and Shotzi vs. Iyo Sky". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ a b c "WWE Women's Championship". WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (June 12, 2023). "Rhea Ripley Crowned Women's World Champion, Given New Title Belt On 6/12 WWE Raw". Fightful. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ Keller, Wade (October 30, 2016). "Keller's WWE Hell in a Cell PPV Report 10/30: Owens vs. Rollins, Sasha vs. Charlotte, Roman vs. Rusev – live coverage". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ^ Powell, Jason (October 28, 2018). "Powell's WWE Evolution live review: Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella for the Raw Women's Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Mae Young Classic Finals". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (March 25, 2019). "WrestleMania to feature first-ever women's main event". WWE. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 7, 2019). "WrestleMania 35 event results 4/7: Keller's match report and analysis including Lesnar vs. Rollins, Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Lynch, Bryan vs. Kofi, Batista vs. Triple H". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Raw highlights: May 11, 2020". WWE. May 11, 2020. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Babos, John. "WWE Raw & Smackdown Live Spoilers: WWE Raw Rebrands 2 Championship Belts Following Smackdown Live's Lead!". Www.insidepulse.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
- ^ Flanagan, Neal (June 9, 2023). "New WWE Women's Championship belt presented to Asuka". POST Wrestling. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ "Custom WWE World Championships in the sports world: photos". WWE. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
- ^ Pappolla, Ryan (September 26, 2018). "Triple H sends custom title to WNBA Champions Seattle Storm". WWE. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- ^ Triple H [@TripleH] (July 8, 2019). "An inspiring performance and fourth FIFA Women's World Cup win for the U.S. Soccer Women's National Team. Congratulations to Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and the entire team and coaching staff for helping us all believe in One Nation One Team! This custom WWE Women's Championship should help continue the celebration!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (July 10, 2015). "Megan Rapinoe celebrates with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ Triple H [@TripleH] (September 8, 2019). "Her first appearance in the US Open .. Her first grand slam title.. The first Canadian to win the US Open... And now her first WWE Raw Women's Championship to celebrate! Congrats Bianca Andreescu!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ WWE Staff (October 18, 2021). "Stephanie McMahon commemorates Chicago Sky's WNBA championship with custom WWE Title". WWE. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ Triple H [@TripleH] (October 25, 2023). "Building their own dynasty… one championship at a time. Congratulations to the back-to-back @WNBA Champions, @LVAces" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Keller, Wade (August 5, 2023). "WWE SummerSlam results (8/5): Keller's report on Reigns vs. Jey, Seth vs. Balor, Cody vs. Lesnar, Asuka vs. Charlotte vs. Belair, Logan Paul vs. Ricochet". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
External links
- Official WWE Women's Title History
- Media related to Wrestlers as the WWE Raw Women's Champion at Wikimedia Commons