The Legacy Of The WWE Championship

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The coveted WWE Championship is without a doubt one of the most prestigious prizes in professional wrestling, tracing its lineage back nearly a hundred years to the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

But that’s not to say its legacy is a simple one.

Buckle up – this history lesson is equal parts fascinating and convoluted.

[tps_start_button label=”Start slideshow” style=”” class=”tps_startslideshow”]

[tps_title]The Granddaddy Of Them All[/tps_title]

World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (May 4, 1905 – July 24, 1957)

The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first-ever recognized professional wrestling world championship, established to identify the best catch-as-catch-can professional wrestler in the world. George Hackenschmidt prevailed in a worldwide tournament to become the inaugural champion, ultimately defeating American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins on May 4, 1905 in New York City.

From there, things get a bit complicated.

Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lou Thesz won every major world title with the exception of one (Boston’s AWA World Heavyweight Championship, then held by Gorgeous George). Presumably to keep from having to lug around a thousand pounds worth of titles, he unified the championships on May 21, 1952 to become Undisputed Champion – and opted to carry the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship (pictured above) to represent them all.

Because of this, the last several reigns of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship are recognized by the NWA under the lineage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. And because the WWE’s first-ever heavyweight title — the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship — was a splinter of the NWA title, the WWE Championship can indirectly trace its lineage back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

Phew. Let’s continue.

[tps_title]Stats: World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship[/tps_title]

[tps_title]Pioneers Of The First World Pro Wrestling Title[/tps_title]

George Hackenschmidt, the first World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

Frank Gotch held the title for five years and is the sixth-longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history.

Ed “The Strangler” Lewis held the title for a combined 3,073 days.

[tps_title]Best Of The Best: Lou Thesz[/tps_title]

Lou Thesz was the final man to hold the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, and he’s rightly regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

He’s a 14-time world champion, second only to Ric Flair and John Cena (who are each 16-time world champions). He also held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for an unprecedented combined 10 years, 9 months, and 3 days – that’s 3,749 days, longer than anyone else in history.

[tps_title]Controversy Over The NWA World Heavyweight Championship[/tps_title]

NWA World Heavyweight Championship (July 14th, 1948 – Present)

The NWA World Heavyweight Championship is the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world. And it was a dispute over this championship that ostensibly contributed to the creation of the WWE, and therefore the WWE Championship.

Here’s what happened.

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Jess McMahon’s Capitol Wrestling Corporation controlled approximately 70% of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). But things quickly unraveled when Lou Thesz beat “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers to become NWA Champion in January 1963.

At the time, NWA World Heavyweight Championship matches were traditionally contested under 2-out-of-3 falls rules. However, the NWA made the decision to book Rogers to lose the title in one fall.

Capitol Wrestling Corporation executives took exception to the booking and seceded from the NWA. They subsequently formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), awarded the brand new WWWF World Heavyweight Championship to Rogers, and the rest is history.

[tps_title]Stats: NWA World Heavyweight Championship[/tps_title]

[tps_title]NWA Heavyweight Champions Past And Present[/tps_title]

A dispute over “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers’s claim to the NWA Heavyweight Championship would lead to the creation of the WWE; but more on that later.

The late, great Dusty Rhodes was one of the most beloved NWA champions to never win a WWE world title.

The Phenomenal A.J. Styles is a 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and a 1-time WWE Champion.

[tps_title]Best Of The Best: Ric Flair[/tps_title]

WOOOOO!

The one and only “Nature Boy” Ric Flair is considered by many fans and wrestlers alike to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He captured his first NWA Heavyweight Championship in September 1981, and he’s won a record 16 world titles.

John Cena has since tied him for world titles wins, but it remains to be seen if Flair’s record will ever be broken.

[tps_title]The WWE Championship![/tps_title]

WWE Championship (April 25, 1963 – Present)

Now that all the pre-history is out of the way, we’ve finally arrived at the star of the show: the WWE Championship.

As noted a few slides back, the first incarnation of the WWE Championship, the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, was created on April 25, 1963 and awarded to “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers, whom WWWF executives believed was still the true heavyweight champion.

Since then, the championship has been called by a ton of different names, gone through a ton of different redesigns, and passed through a ton of different hands. Throughout the remaining slides, I’ll highlight some of the more notable incarnations and champions to hold this beloved title.

[tps_title]Stats: WWE Championship[/tps_title]

[tps_title]The Many Names Of The WWE Championship[/tps_title]

The WWE Championship has gone by no less than 11 different names:

But is a title by any other name still as awesome? Some of the incarnations are definitely more beloved by fans than others. Here are some of the more notable versions.

[tps_title]The “Winged Eagle” Belt[/tps_title]

The “Winged Eagle” championship belt (pictured right) is far and away the most popular WWE Championship title design among fans. Hulk Hogan introduced the design at the end of his first championship reign in 1988, and it was the primary design of the championship for the next decade.

After Stone Cold Steve Austin became champion in 1998, he was presented with a new similarly designed title (pictured left), which fans have dubbed the “Big Eagle” belt.

[tps_title]The Undisputed WWF/E Championship[/tps_title]

On Dec. 9, 2001 at WWF Vengeance, Chris Jericho – who is the all-time favorite wrestler of yours truly – defeated both The Rock (who was World Champion) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (who was WWF Champion) in the same night to become the Undisputed WWF Champion.

Because he’s the G.O.A.T., Jericho opted to carry both the “Big Eagle” belt and “Big Gold” during his entire championship reign. However, after Triple H defeated Jericho in a title match at WrestleMania X8, a new single belt design (pictured above) was presented to him.

In Sept. 2002, this design became the WWE Championship and was made exclusive to SmackDown, while Big Gold was resurrected as the Raw-exclusive World Heavyweight Championship.

[tps_title]The Cena Spinner Belt[/tps_title]

Whereas the “Winged Eagle” design is the most beloved by fans, the “Spinner Belt” is by far the most reviled.

After John Cena won his first WWE Championship in April 2005, he introduced a new custom design that featured a diamond-encrusted WWE scratch logo.

But if that wasn’t gaudy enough, it could also spin.

The Spinner Belt was supposed to be unique to Cena, as it reflected his hip-hop gimmick at the time. However, to the chagrin of fans everywhere, the WWE opted to keep the belt for subsequent champions. It remained the WWE Championship design until February 2013 after The Rock returned for his first championship run in nearly a decade.

[tps_title]Reunited: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship[/tps_title]

Like Chris Jericho four years prior, Randy Orton unified WWE’s two top titles when he defeated John Cena at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in December 2013 to win the World Heavyweight Championship (he’d previously won the vacated WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell in October 2013). The World Heavyweight Championship was subsequently retired, but Orton continued to carry both Big Gold and the WWE Championship to dignify his status as the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

After Brock Lesnar won the championship at SummerSlam in August 2014, a new single WWE World Heavyweight Championship (pictured above) was introduced. This design remains the current one for the WWE Championship.

[tps_title]The Brand Split And The WWE Universal Championship[/tps_title]

In the summer of 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split for the first time in five years. For the first time ever SmackDown would be broadcast live weekly, and it and Raw would be treated as two entirely separate brands – with two entirely separate sets of championships.

WWE held a superstar draft on the first episode of SmackDown Live on July 16. The WWE Champion at the time, Dean Ambrose, was drafted to SmackDown and the WWE Championship therefore became exclusive to that brand.

The WWE Universal Championship (pictured above) was subsequently created on July 25 to represent the Raw-exclusive world title.

[tps_title]Best Of The Best: CM Punk[/tps_title]

At 434 days, CM Punk’s second and final reign as WWE Champion was the longest of the modern era. And many WWE fans consider that run to be one of the greatest in WWE history.

Not only that, but his match against John Cena at Money in the Bank in 2011 to win his first WWE Championship is one of the greatest of all time.

It’s hard to list everything CM Punk did for WWE during his final years there. It’s sad that his tenure with the company ended the way it did, but I certainly hope one day he’ll return.

 

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