WWE Women's Championship (1956–2010)
WWE Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||||
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World Wrestling Entertainment (1984–2010) | |||||||||||||||||
Date established | September 18, 1956 | ||||||||||||||||
Date retired | September 19, 2010 (unified with the WWE Divas Championship) | ||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||
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The WWE Women's Championship was a
A new WWE Women's Championship was created in April 2016, and although both championships share the same name and the original is considered to be the predecessor, the new championship does not carry the lineage of the original. In September 2016, the newer title was renamed as Raw Women's Championship but reverted to WWE Women's Championship in June 2023.
History
On September 18, 1956, The Fabulous Moolah became the third NWA World Women's Champion.[3] At that time, the WWE did not exist and did not become a company until 1963, when it was established as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Moolah, who bought the rights to the championship in the 1970s, defended the championship as the NWA World Women's Champion up until May 19, 1984; by this time, the WWWF had been renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 1983, the WWF disaffiliated with the NWA and Moolah sold the championship's rights to the WWF in 1984, and she was recognized as the WWF Women's Champion.[4] Instead of beginning her reign in 1984, the WWF claimed the lineage of her reign from when she first became champion in 1956. The preceding champions and the title changes between 1956 and when Moolah lost it in 1984 are not recognized by WWE (although they are recognized by the NWA[5]). As a result, The Fabulous Moolah's first reign is considered to have lasted 28 years by the promotion.[6]
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after
After the
The Women's Championship was unified with the Divas Championship at Night of Champions in September 2010, creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship and making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title followed the lineage of the Divas Championship; the title eventually dropped the "Unified" moniker.[2][11]
On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, a new WWE Women's Championship (called the Raw Women's Championship from September 2016 to June 2023) was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship. This new title does not carry the lineage of either the Divas Championship or the original Women's Championship, but is acknowledged by WWE as the successor of both.
Tournaments
WWF Women's Championship Tournament (1993)
The WWF Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide the new
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Alundra Blayze | Pin | ||||||||||||
Allison Royal | |||||||||||||
Alundra Blayze | Pin | ||||||||||||
Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | ||||||||||||
Heidi Lee Morgan | |||||||||||||
Black Venus | |||||||||||||
2 | Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | |||||||||||
Rusty Thomas | |||||||||||||
Rusty Thomas | Pin | ||||||||||||
Angie Marino | |||||||||||||
WWE Women's Championship Tournament (2006)
The WWE Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new WWE Women's Champion after champion Trish Stratus retired from her wrestling career.[13][15] The first round started on September 25, 2006, and ended at Cyber Sunday when Lita, who Stratus defeated in her retirement match, defeated Mickie James.
Quarterfinals Raw September 25 October 2, 9 and 15 | Semifinals Raw October 23 and 30 | Final Cyber Sunday | ||||||||||||
Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
Candice | 0:28 | |||||||||||||
Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
Maria | 2:19 | |||||||||||||
Maria | Strip | |||||||||||||
Candice Torrie Wilson Victoria | 1:14 | |||||||||||||
Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mickie James | 8:09 | |||||||||||||
Mickie James | Pin | |||||||||||||
Victoria | 2:51 | |||||||||||||
Mickie James | Pin | |||||||||||||
Melina | 4:00 | |||||||||||||
Melina | Pin | |||||||||||||
Torrie Wilson | 2:43 |
- Melina defeated Wilson in a Lumberjill match.
- Maria defeated Candice, Victoria and Wilson in Bra and Panties Match.
- The final match between Lita and James was a Lumberjill match.
Brand designation history
Following the WWE brand extension on March 25, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the Raw brand or SmackDown brand. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the Women's Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
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September 23, 2002 | Raw | The WWE Women's Championship became exclusive to Raw. In 2008, the WWE Divas Championship was established for SmackDown as the counterpart to the Women's Championship. |
April 13, 2009
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SmackDown | Women's Champion Melina was drafted to SmackDown during the 2009 WWE Draft. |
September 19, 2010 | N/A | At . |
Reigns
As per WWE's official title history, the inaugural champion was The Fabulous Moolah, who defeated Judy Grable on September 18, 1956[16] Moolah had the longest reign by holding it for 10 years, although the WWE considers it to be longer at 28 years, as title changes between 1956 and 1984 are not recognized by the promotion. The Fabulous Moolah is technically tied with Trish Stratus for the most reigns with 7, but because the WWE does not recognize the title changes between 1956 and 1984, Moolah only has 4 and Trish has the most reigns with 7. Mickie James has the shortest reign with 1 hour. While in Paris on April 24, 2007, James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for Raw, said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch, which she won.[17]
The only male Women's Champion was
The women's division was deemed inactive in 1990 during Rockin’ Robin's reign.[19] Alundra Blayze won the Women's Championship after it was reactivated in 1993.[20] Chyna departed from the company during her reign. Trish Stratus won her seventh title reign in her final match at Unforgiven in 2006 against Lita before retiring the same night, thus vacating the championship the next day.[21] Michelle McCool unified the Women's and Divas Championships in Layla's place, thus leaving Layla the final and undefeated champion.[22][23]
References
- Notes
- ^ The Fabulous Moolah technically became the inaugural WWF Women's Champion in 1984, but as per WWE's official title history, she became the inaugural champion in 1956 when she won the NWA World Women's Championship.
- ^ The Fabulous Moolah technically has the most reigns with eight, but WWE does not recognize title changes from 1956 until 1984. As officially recognized by WWE, Moolah only has four reigns and Trish has the most reigns at seven.
- ^ As per WWE's official title history. The Fabulous Moolah's real consecutive number of days as champion for her first reign is 3,651 days. Moolah first lost the championship in 1966, but WWE does not recognize title changes from 1956 until 1984. Her third reign of 3,841 days, which WWE includes as part of the continuous 10,170-day first reign, is still the longest reign.
- Footnotes
- ^ "Mickie's third Reign". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ World Wrestling Entertainment. Archivedfrom the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
- ^ Chris Schramm (October 5, 1998). "Moolah: Twenty-eight years was the reign". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Steve Slagle. "The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame: Fabulous Moolah". The Ring Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
- Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling. Archived from the originalon January 18, 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ "WWE: Inside WWE > Title History > Women's > 19560918 – Fabulous Moolah". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2011-12-31. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ISBN 978-0-06-001258-8.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- ^ a b Scott Fishman (October 20, 2007). "Rena enjoys home life". Miami Herald.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. 2010-09-21. Archivedfrom the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
- ^ "19931213 – Alundra Blayze". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- ^ a b "WWE Title Tournaments". Prowrestlinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- ^ "WWF 1993". The History of WWE.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "20061105 – Lita". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- ^ "The Fabulous Moolah's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on December 31, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Melina's second reign". WWE. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Hervina's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Rockin' Robin's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Alundra Blayze's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Trish Stratus' seventh reign". WWE. Archived from the original on May 8, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ Raymond-Santo, Katie A. (September 24, 2010). "Flawless mark on history". WWE. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Hall of Women's Champions". WWE. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2016.