World Heavyweight

Championship
(WWE, 2002–2013)

The World Heavyweight Championship

was a men's professional wrestling world
heavyweight championship created and
promoted by the American promotion
WWE. It was the second world
championship to be created by the
company, after their original world title, the
WWE Championship (1963). The title was
one of two top championships in the
company from 2002 to 2006 and from
2010 to 2013, complementing the WWE
Championship, and one of three top
championships from 2006 to 2010 with the
addition of the ECW World Heavyweight
Championship.

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
World Heavyweight
Championship and Championship
the title was
awarded to Triple H
after he was the
original contender The World

for the WWE Heavyweight

Championship was
Championship by
represented by a
beating The
design based on the
Undertaker the
Big Gold Belt that
previous week on incorporated the
Raw. The titles WWE logo.
moved between the
Details
brands on different
Promotion WWE
occasions (usually
as a result of the
WWE Draft) until Brand Raw (2002–
August 29, 2011, 2005;
when all 2008–2009)

programming SmackDown
(2005–
became full roster
2008;
"supershows". The
2009–2011)
World Heavyweight
Date established Sep
Championship was
2, 2
retired at TLC:
Date retired Decembe
Tables, Ladders &
2013 (un
Chairs on December
with the
15, 2013, when it
Champio
was unified with the
Other name(s)
WWE Championship
World
with Randy Orton
Championship
recognized as the (2006, 2010)[a 1]
final champion.

The title was one of

five to be
represented by the
historic Big Gold
Belt, introduced in
1986. Its heritage
can be traced back
to the first world
heavyweight
championship,
thereby giving the
belt a legacy over
100 years old, the
Statistics
oldest in the world.
First champion(s) Tri
H
Triple H brought
back the World Final champion(s) Ra
Or
Heavyweight
Championship on Most reigns Edge (7
reigns)
April 24, 2023 as a
Longest reign Batista
result of Roman
(1st
Reigns being drafted
reign,
to SmackDown,
282
bringing the
days)
Undisputed WWE
Shortest reign Randy
Championship with
Orton
him. As a result, the (4th re
World Heavyweight unified
Championship was
Oldest champion The
established for Raw.
Und
Although the two
(3rd
titles share the (44
same name, they 194
don’t share the Youngest champion R
same lineage as this O
title. (
1
History
Heaviest champion B
S
Background (4
(2
The title's origins lay
Lightest champion R
in the first world
M
heavyweight
championship, and (1
then to events that (7

began in the
National Wrestling
Alliance (NWA), which had many different
territorial promotions as members. In the
late 1980s, World Championship Wrestling
(WCW) was a member of the NWA, having
been formed by the purchase of Jim
Crockett Promotions (JCP), which had
absorbed many other NWA members, by
Turner Broadcasting, which aired WCW's
programming. During this time, WCW used
the NWA World Heavyweight
Championship as its world title. The WCW
World Heavyweight Championship was
soon established when the recognition
was awarded to then-NWA World
Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in 1991. In
1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and
grew to become a rival promotion to the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF), itself a
former member of the NWA. Both
organizations grew into mainstream
prominence and were eventually involved
in a television ratings war dubbed the
Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the
ratings war, WCW began a financial decline
which culminated in March 2001 with the
WWF's purchase of selected assets of
WCW.[1]
As a result of the purchase, the WWF
acquired the video library of WCW, select
talent contracts, and championships
among other assets. The slew of former
WCW talent joining the WWF roster began
"The Invasion" that effectively phased out
the WCW name. Following this, the WCW
World Heavyweight Championship was
unified with the WWF Championship, the
WWF's world title, at Vengeance in
December.[2] At the event, the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship was
decommissioned with Chris Jericho
becoming the final WCW World
Heavyweight Champion and the
subsequent Undisputed WWF Champion
after defeating The Rock and Steve Austin
respectively.[3] The WWF title became the
undisputed championship in professional
wrestling until September 2002 with the
creation of the World Heavyweight
Championship, spun off from the
Undisputed WWE Championship as the
successor to the WCW World Heavyweight
Championship.[4]

Creation

Inaugural and five-time World

Heavyweight Champion Triple
H
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 main
television programs, Raw and SmackDown,
assigning championships and appointing
figureheads to each brand of the same
name. This expansion became known as
the "Brand Extension".[5] In May 2002, the
WWF was renamed to World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE). Following these
changes, the Undisputed WWE
Championship remained unaffiliated with
either brand as competitors from both
brands could challenge the Undisputed
Champion. Following the appointment of
Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon as
General Managers of the Raw and
SmackDown brands, respectively,
Stephanie McMahon contracted then-WWE
Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar to the
SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand
without a world title.[6][7] On September 2,
Eric Bischoff announced the creation of
the World Heavyweight Championship.
Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H, who
had been designated number-one
contender to Lesnar's title the previous
week. Immediately afterwards, the
Undisputed Championship returned to
being the WWE Championship as it was no
longer undisputed.[8] The World
Heavyweight Championship and the WWE
Championship switched brands a number
of times before the first brand split ended
in 2011.

Historical lineage

A diagram showing the evolution of various world

heavyweight championships.
 Four-time and longest-
reigning champion Batista

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 history of the belt
that represents it.[9][10] As affirmed by
WWE, the World Heavyweight
Championship is not a continuation of the
WCW Championship, but rather its
successor by way of the WWE Undisputed
Championship, just as the WCW
Championship spun off from the NWA
World Heavyweight Championship. Due to
its relation to both titles, its lineage is
connected with the earliest recognized
world heavyweight championship.[11] In
2009, WWE released a DVD set called
History of the World Heavyweight
Championship that definitively linked the
title to the WCW and NWA titles.[12]
Title unification

Youngest, four-time, and final

champion Randy Orton,
pictured here holding the Big
Gold Belt (formerly
representing the World
Heavyweight Championship),
and the 2013–2014 belt
design of the WWE
Championship; both belts
together represented the
renamed WWE World
Heavyweight Championship
until a single belt was
introduced in August 2014.

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
Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight
Champion John Cena made a challenge to
then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to
determine an undisputed WWE world
champion. Randy Orton defeated John
Cena in a TLC match at the TLC: Tables,
Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on
December 15, 2013, to unify the titles.
Subsequently, the WWE Championship was
renamed WWE World Heavyweight
Championship.[8] The unified championship
retained the lineage of the WWE
Championship, and the World Heavyweight
Championship was retired.[13] With his
victory over John Cena, Randy Orton
became the final World Heavyweight
Champion. Like with the Undisputed
Championship, the Big Gold Belt was used
in tandem with the WWE Championship
belt to represent the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship until a single
belt was presented to then champion
Brock Lesnar in August 2014.

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

September 2, 2002 Raw The World

Heavyweight
Championship
was established
for Raw and
awarded to Triple
H as previously
designated
number-one
contender after
the WWE
Undisputed
Championship
became exclusive
to SmackDown!
and renamed to
 WWE
Championship.

World
Heavyweight
Champion
Batista was
June 30, 2005 SmackDown! drafted to
SmackDown!
during the 2005
WWE Draft
Lottery.[16]

June 30, 2008 Raw The World

Heavyweight
Championship
moved to Raw
after CM Punk, a
member of the
Raw brand,
 cashed in his
Money in the
Bank contract
and defeated
Edge to win the
World
Heavyweight
Championship.[17]

February 15, 2009 SmackDown The World

Heavyweight
Championship
moved to
SmackDown
after Edge, a
member of the
SmackDown
brand, won the
World
 Heavyweight
Championship in
an Elimination
Chamber match
at No Way
Out.[18]

April 5, 2009 Raw The World

Heavyweight
Championship
returned to Raw
after John Cena,
a member of the
Raw brand,
defeated Edge
and Big Show in
a triple threat
match at
WrestleMania 25
 to win the World
Heavyweight
Championship.[19]

April 26, 2009 SmackDown The World

Heavyweight
Championship
moved back to
SmackDown
after Edge, a
member of the
SmackDown
brand, defeated
John Cena in a
Last Man
Standing match
at Backlash to
win the World
 Heavyweight
Championship.[20]

End of first brand

extension.
The World
Heavyweight
August 29, 2011 N/A
Champion could
appear on both
Raw and
SmackDown.
Reigns

Record seven-time champion

Edge

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.

Randy Orton was the final champion in his

fourth reign. He defeated John Cena in a
Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC
in Houston, Texas on December 15, 2013
to unify the WWE and World Heavyweight
Championships.

See also

List of former championships in WWE

World championships in WWE
Notes

1. 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.

2. WWE recognizes Orton's final reign—and

the championship's subsequent unification
with the WWE Championship—as shorter,
lasting for one minute.

References

1. "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW

from Turner Broadcasting" (https://web.arc
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 sp) . WWE. March 23, 2001. Archived from
the original (https://corporate.wwe.com/ne
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2. WCW World Champion - Chris Jericho (http

s://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wcwc
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3. "WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight

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7. "Vince Mcmahon Biography at SLAM!
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five years old" (https://www.wwe.com/sho
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12. "WWE: The History of the World
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amazon.com/WWE-History-World-Heavywe
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CHAMPIONSHIP" (https://www.wwe.com/c
lassics/titlehistory/wwe-world-heavyweight
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14. Keller, Wade (April 24, 2023). "4/24 WWE
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Introduces WWE's New World Heavyweight
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(http://www.wwe.com/superstars/smackd
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World Heavyweight Champion)" (http://ww
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 20. "Edge's fifth World Heavyweight
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External links

Official WWE World Heavyweight Title

History (http://www.wwe.com/inside/titl
ehistory/worldheavyweight/)
Wrestling-Titles.com: World
Heavyweight Title (WWE) (http://www.wr
estling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.ht
ml)

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=World_Heavyweight_Championship_(WWE,_2
002–2013)&oldid=1196998138"

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