World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2002–2013)
World Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||||
Brand | Raw (2002–2005; 2008–2009) SmackDown (2005–2008; 2009–2011) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date established | September 2, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date retired | December 15, 2013 (unified with the WWE Championship) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The World Heavyweight Championship was a men's
Established in September 2002, its creation came as a result of the WWE Undisputed Championship becoming exclusive to the SmackDown brand, subsequently dropping the "undisputed" moniker, which left Raw without a world title. Raw then created the World Heavyweight Championship and the title was awarded to Triple H. The titles moved between the brands on different occasions (usually as a result of the WWE Draft) until August 29, 2011, when all programming became full roster "supershows". The World Heavyweight Championship was retired at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, 2013, when it was unified with the WWE Championship with Randy Orton recognized as the final champion.
The title was one of five to be represented by the historic
History
Background
The title's origins lay in
As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired the
Creation
By 2002, WWE's roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers. As a result of the increase, WWE divided the roster through its two
Historical lineage
While introduced in 2002 as a new title, the WWE often made allusions to other titles including those of WCW and the NWA, amalgamating the history of the championship with the
Title unification
Following the end of the first brand extension in 2011, both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. In 2013, the night after
Subsequent championship
On the April 24, 2023, episode of Raw, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H unveiled a new World Heavyweight Championship with a belt design that pays homage to the "Big Gold Belt", and announced that the Inaugural champion would be crowned at Night of Champions. This title does not carry the lineage of the 2002–2013 version.[14][15]
Brand designation history
The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the World Heavyweight Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
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September 2, 2002 | Raw | The World Heavyweight Championship was established for WWE Undisputed Championship became exclusive to SmackDown! and renamed to WWE Championship.
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June 30, 2005 | SmackDown! | World Heavyweight Champion |
June 30, 2008 | Raw | The World Heavyweight Championship moved to |
February 15, 2009 | SmackDown | The World Heavyweight Championship moved to Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out.[18]
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April 5, 2009 | Raw | The World Heavyweight Championship returned to triple threat match at WrestleMania 25 to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[19]
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April 26, 2009 | SmackDown | The World Heavyweight Championship moved back to |
August 29, 2011 | N/A | End of first brand extension. The World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. |
Reigns
The inaugural champion was Triple H, and there were 25 different champions overall. The longest championship reign was Batista's first reign, which lasted from April 3, 2005, to January 10, 2006, for a total of 282 days. Triple H holds the record for longest combined reigns at 616 days over 5 reigns. The shortest reigning champion was Randy Orton in his fourth and final reign, who immediately retired the championship upon winning it at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2013) and unifying it with the WWE Championship. He was also the youngest champion, when he won the title for the first time at the age of 24 years 136 days during SummerSlam (2004) in August. The oldest champion was The Undertaker who won the title for the third and final time at the age of 44 during Hell in a Cell (2009) in October 2009. Edge held the title the most times with seven championship reigns between 2007 and 2011. There were six vacancies throughout the title's history.
See also
Notes
- ^ During Rey Mysterio's reigns in 2006 and 2010, the title was referred to as the World Championship due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight.
- ^ 281 days as recognized by WWE.
- ^ WWE recognizes Orton's final reign—and the championship's subsequent unification with the WWE Championship—as lasting for one minute.
References
- ^ "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting". WWE. March 23, 2001. Archived from the original on April 8, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- ^ WCW World Champion - Chris Jericho at WWE.com
- ^ "WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
- ^ Clayton, Corey (September 6, 2007). "World Heavyweight Championship turns five years old". WWE. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make Raw and SmackDown Distinct Television Brands".
- Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2008., but while the previous title-holders had moved between Raw and Smackdown, Lesnar decided to remain exclusively on Smackdown, forcing Eric Bischoff's Raw brand to create its own World Heavyweight Championship.
After the July 22nd edition of Raw, Lesnar defected to Stephanie McMahon's Smackdown brand. A month later, at SummerSlam 2002, Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock to become the Undisputed WWE Champion
- Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the originalon May 7, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
The entire WWE roster was broken up into two separate camps, with some rivalry (especially between future General Managers Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon) occurring.
- ^ a b Nemer, Paul (September 2, 2002). "Full WWE Raw Results - 9/2/02". WrestleView. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ^ "World Heavyweight Championship reign history". WWE. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
- ^ "World Heavyweight Championship turns five years old". WWE. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ "WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign history". WWE. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
- ^ "WWE: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship". Amazon. December 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP". WWE.com. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 24, 2023). "4/24 WWE Raw results: Keller's report on Triple H announcement, Bad Bunny appearing in person, Rey vs. Priest". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- ^ "2005 WWE Draft Lottery". WWE. 2005-06-13. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ Adkins, Greg (2008-06-30). "Opportunity Knocked, Punk Answered". WWE. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ "WWE SmackDown Roster and Champions". WWE. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ "John Cena def. Edge & Big Show (New World Heavyweight Champion)". WWE. April 5, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "Edge's fifth World Heavyweight Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
External links