The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE for Extreme (WWEFE). It is one of the world titles of the RAW brand, complementing the WWE Championship. It was established by WWE in 2002 after WWE bought out World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and split its roster into two franchises, RAW and SmackDown!, in a brand extension. WWE's original world title, the WWE Championship (then known as the Undisputed Championship), was designated to the SmackDown! brand, which resulted in this World Heavyweight Championship being established and designated to the Raw brand. As affirmed by WWE, the World Heavyweight Championship is not a continuation of the WCW or NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but rather a successor to both titles after indirectly having spun off from the WCW Championship, by way of the WWE Undisputed Championship, just as the WCW Championship spun off from and succeeded the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. For a list of champions who have held those titles, see List of WCW World Heavyweight Champions and List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions, respectively.
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants usually execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champion was Triple H, who was awarded the title in September 2002 by Eric Bischoff, then General Manager of RAW. At 282 days, Batista's first reign is the longest in the title's history. Rey Mysterios's reign is the shortest reign at about 2 minutes. Ashley Massaro is the current champion, currently in her first reign. Overall, there have been 24 reigns with Triple H holding the most reigns at five.
Title history[]
- Key
# | Order of reigns in history. |
Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won |
— | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
+ | Indicates the current reign is changing daily. |
Reigns[]
# | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Triple H | 1 | September 2, 2002 | 76 | Milwaukee, WI | RAW | Triple H was awarded the championship by the on-screen General Manager Eric Bischoff, making him the inaugural champion in the process. Triple H defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Kane on October 20, 2002 at No Mercy to unify the Intercontinental Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. |
2 | Shawn Michaels | 1 | November 17, 2002 | 28 | New York, NY | Survivor Series | This was the first ever Elimination Chamber match also involving Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Kane. |
3 | Triple H | 2 | December 15, 2002 | 280 | Sunrise, FL | Armageddon | This was a Three Stages of Hell match. |
4 | Goldberg | 1 | September 21, 2003 | 84 | Hershey, PA | Unforgiven | This was a Career vs. Title match. |
5 | Triple H | 3 | December 14, 2003 | 91 | Orlando, FL | Armageddon | This was a Triple Threat match also involving Kane. |
6 | Chris Benoit | 1 | March 14, 2004 | 154 | New York, NY | WrestleMania XX | This was a Triple Threat match also involving Shawn Michaels. Benoit was the first Canadian-born to win the title. |
7 | Randy Orton | 1 | August 15, 2004 | 28 | Toronto, ON | SummerSlam | Became the youngest world champion in the history of the WWEFE. |
8 | Triple H | 4 | September 12, 2004 | 85 | Portland, OR | Unforgiven | |
— | Vacated | — | December 6, 2004 | — | Charlotte, NC | RAW | The championship was vacated after a double fall occurred in a Triple Threat match involving Triple H, Edge and Chris Benoit. |
9 | Triple H | 5 | January 9, 2005 | 84 | San Juan, PR | New Year's Revolution | Triple H defeated Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Batista, and Edge in an Elimination Chamber match with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee to win the vacant championship. |
10 | Batista | 1 | April 3, 2005 | 282 | Los Angeles, CA | WrestleMania 21 | Batista was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as the final pick in June 30, 2005, making the title SmackDown! exclusive. |
— | Vacated | — | January 10, 2006 | — | Philadelphia, PA | SmackDown! | Batista vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legitimate triceps injury. This episode aired on tape delay on January 13, 2006. |
11 | Kurt Angle | 1 | January 10, 2006 | 82 | Philadelphia, PA | SmackDown! | Angle won the vacant championship in a 20 man battle royal last eliminating Mark Henry. This episode aired on tape delay on January 13, 2006 |
12 | Rey Mysterio | 1 | April 2, 2006 | 0 | Rosemont, IL | WrestleMania 22 | This was a Triple Threat match also involving Randy Orton. Mysterio was the first Hispanic to hold the championship. |
— | Vacated | — | January 10, 2006 | — | Rosemont, IL | WrestleMania 22 | Vince McMahon vacated all the championships that night, announcing the start of the For Extreme Era. |
13 | John Paul Vonhamel | 1 | April 7, 2006 | 105 | Indianapolis, IN | SmackDown! | |
— | Vacated | — | July 21, 2006 | — | Philadelphia, PA | SmackDown! | Randy Savage stripped JPV of the title, citing his thirty day no-compete clause. |
14 | Scorpion | 1 | July 30, 2006 | 120 | Indianapolis, IN | The Great American Bash | Scorpion defeated John Cena, Eddie Guerrero, Scarab, Dana Shadows, and Hulk Hogan in an Elimination Chamber match. Also, Scorpion was drafted to the RAW brand in September 30, 2006, making the title RAW exclusive. |
15 | UnlimitedExtreme | 1 | November 27, 2006 | 41 | Detroit, MI | RAW | |
16 | Scorpion | 2 | January 7, 2007 | 1 | Albany, NY | New Year's Revolution | This was a Triple Threat match that also involved Reaper. |
17 | UnlimitedExtreme | 2 | January 8, 2007 | 56 | Laredo, TX | RAW | |
18 | Scorpion | 3 | March 5, 2007 | 174 | Memphis, TN | RAW | |
19 | Refugee Tim | 1 | August 26, 2007 | 21 | East Rutherford, NJ | SummerSlam | |
20 | Edge | 1 | September 16, 2007 | 98 | Memphis, TN | Unforgiven | This was a Championship Scramble match that also included The Manhunter, Chris Hunter and Ashley Massaro. |
21 | Misery | 1 | December 23, 2007 | 56 | Pittsburgh, PA | Armageddon | Misery was the first woman to hold the championship. |
22 | Slade Mathens | 1 | February 17, 2008 | 42 | Las Vegas, NV | Lockdown: No Way Out | Mathens defeated Misery, John Cena, Randy Orton, Refugee Matt, and Beth Phoenix in an Elimination Chamber match. |
23 | Dacia Stoker | 1 | September 7, 2008 | 28 | Orlando, FL | WrestleMania XXIV | Dacia Stoker had earned this match by winning the Royal Rumble. |
24 | Ashley Massaro | 1 | April 27, 2008 | 84 | Baltimore, MD | Backlash | |
25 | Slade Mathens | 2 | July 20, 2008 | 49 | Uniondale, NY | The Bash | |
26 | Andy Brookes | 1 | September 7, 2008 | 77 | Uniondale, NY | Unforgiven | This was a Championship Scramble match that also involved Jasper Merrick, Justin Credible and Kofi Kingston. |
27 | Rejinaldo | 1 | November 23, 2008 | 1 | Boston, MA | Survivor Series | |
28 | Andy Brookes | 2 | November 24, 2008 | 20 | Toronto, ON | RAW | |
29 | Dacia Stoker | 2 | December 14, 2008 | 63 | Buffalo, NY | Armageddon | |
30 | Saint | 1 | February 15, 2009 | 49 | Seattle, WA | Lockdown: No Way Out | This was an Elimination Chamber match that also included Refugee Mike, Evan Bourne, Justin Credible and Sheamus. |
31 | Andy Brookes | 3 | April 5, 2009 | 21 | Houston, TX | WrestleMania 25 | |
32 | Saint | 2 | April 26, 2009 | 21 | Providence, RI | Backlash | |
33 | Sold1er | 1 | May 17, 2009 | 21 | Rosemont, IL | Judgment Day | |
34 | Jasper Merrick | 1 | June 7, 2009 | 1 | New Orleans, LA | Extreme Rules | This was an Interpromotional Extreme Rules Battle Royal that also included Christopher Luck, Damien Holster, Arn Anderson, Ted DiBiase, Jr., Umaga, Ric Flair, Cute Kip, iRob, Lil' Sold1er, Andy Brookes, Scorpion, Michelle Hullender, Natsukashi, Mike Maverick, Derian North and Refugee Matt. |
— | Vacated | — | June 8, 2009 | — | Miami, FL | RAW | Genesis stripped Merrick of the title as he was not part of the Raw brand and wouldn't jump ship from SmackDown!. |
35 | Damien Holster | 1 | June 28, 2009 | 56 | Sacramento, CA | The Bash | Holster defeated Saint for the vacant championship. |
36 | CM Punk | 1 | August 23, 2009 | 21 | Los Angeles, CA | SummerSlam | |
37 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | September 13, 2009 | 70 | Montreal, QC | Unforgiven | |
38 | Kurt Angle | 2 | November 22, 2009 | 21 | Washington, D.C. | Survivor Series | |
39 | Lance Storm | 1 | December 13, 2009 | 70 | San Antonio, TX | Armageddon | |
40 | Muhammad Hassan | 1 | February 21, 2009 | 5,171+ | St. Louis, MO | Lockdown: No Way Out | This was a steel cage match. Hassan earned the title shot through the Lockdown Series. |
- Current Champion's number of days held is inaccurate, due to differences in dates between the For Extreme universe and the real one.
List of combined reigns[]
Rank [1] |
Wrestler | # of reigns |
Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Triple H | 5 | 616 |
2 | Scorpion | 3 | 295 |
3 | Batista | 1 | 282 |
4 | Chris Benoit | 1 | 154 |
5 | Andy Brookes | 3 | 118 |
6 | John Paul Vonhamel | 1 | 105 |
7 | Kurt Angle | 2 | 103 |
8 | Edge | 1 | 98 |
9 | UnlimitedExtreme | 2 | 97 |
10 | Slade Mathens | 2 | 91 |
10 | Dacia Stoker | 2 | 91 |
11 | Goldberg | 1 | 84 |
11 | Ashley Massaro | 1 | 84 |
12 | Drew McIntyre | 1 | 70 |
13 | Saint | 2 | 70 |
13 | Lance Storm | 1 | 70 |
14 | Misery | 1 | 56 |
14 | Damien Holster | 1 | 56 |
15 | Randy Orton | 1 | 28 |
15 | Shawn Michaels | 1 | 28 |
16 | Refugee Tim | 1 | 21 |
16 | Sold1er | 1 | 21 |
16 | CM Punk | 1 | 21 |
17 | Rejinaldo | 1 | 1 |
17 | Jasper Merrick | 1 | 1 |
18 | Rey Mysterio | 1 | 0 |