WWE Championship

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by WWE, currently defended on their Raw brand division.

The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championship currently active in WWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title.

From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWE's sole primary championship. An additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Wrestling Federation's purchase of World Championship Wrestling in early 2001. The titles were later unified as the Undisputed Championship. After the first brand split in 2002 and the promotion being renamed to WWE, the championship became exclusive to SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw. ECW became a third brand in 2006, adding the ECW Championship. That title was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified into the WWE Championship in 2013. The championship was again the sole world title of WWE until the introduction of the Universal Championship with the 2016 brand split. During both brand splits, the WWE Championship switched brands, usually as a result of the WWE Draft.

Reigns:[]

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes
No.	Champion	Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days	Notes
1	Buddy Rogers	April 11, 1963	House show	Washington, D.C.	1	36	Won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro.
2	Bruno Sammartino	May 17, 1963	House show	New York, NY	1	2,803
3	Ivan Koloff	January 18, 1971	House show	New York, NY	1	21
4	Pedro Morales	February 8, 1971	House show	New York, NY	1	1,027
5	Stan Stasiak	December 1, 1973	House show	Philadelphia, PA	1	9
6	Bruno Sammartino	December 10, 1973	House show	New York, NY	2	1,237
7	Superstar Billy Graham	April 30, 1977	House show	Baltimore, MD	1	296
8	Bob Backlund	February 20, 1978	WWF on MSG Network	New York, NY	1	2,118	The title was renamed the WWF Heavyweight Championship when the WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 1979.
9	The Iron Sheik	December 26, 1983	WWF on MSG Network	New York, NY	1	28
10	Hulk Hogan	January 23, 1984	WWF on MSG Network	New York, NY	1	1,474
11	André the Giant	February 5, 1988	The Main Event I	Indianapolis, IN	1	<1	Defeated Hulk Hogan when referee Earl Hebner, who was bribed by Ted DiBiase, scored the three-count despite Hogan raising his shoulder at the one-count.
—	Vacated	February 13, 1988	Superstars of Wrestling	Hershey, PA	—	—	WWF President Jack Tunney refused to recognize Ted DiBiase as champion and vacated the title.
12	Randy Savage	March 27, 1988	WrestleMania IV	Atlantic City, NJ	1	371	Defeated Ted DiBiase in a tournament final to win the vacant title.
13	Hulk Hogan	April 2, 1989	WrestleMania V	Atlantic City, NJ	2	364	The title was renamed the WWF Championship in July 1989.
14	The Ultimate Warrior	April 1, 1990	WrestleMania VI	Toronto, ON, Canada	1	293
15	Sgt. Slaughter	January 19, 1991	Royal Rumble	Miami, FL	1	64
16	Hulk Hogan	March 24, 1991	WrestleMania VII	Los Angeles, CA	3	248
17	The Undertaker	November 27, 1991	Survivor Series	Detroit, MI	1	6
18	Hulk Hogan	December 3, 1991	This Tuesday in Texas	San Antonio, TX	4	1
—	Vacated	December 4, 1991	Superstars of Wrestling	New Haven, CT	—	—	Hogan was stripped of the title by WWF President Jack Tunney due to the controversy surrounding both of the previous title changes.
19	Ric Flair	January 19, 1992	Royal Rumble	Albany, NY	1	77	This was the Royal Rumble match in which Flair last eliminated Sid Justice to win the vacant title.
20	Randy Savage	April 5, 1992	WrestleMania VIII	Indianapolis, IN	2	149
21	Ric Flair	September 1, 1992	Prime Time Wrestling	Hershey, PA	2	41
22	Bret Hart	October 12, 1992	House show	Saskatoon, SK, Canada	1	174
23	Yokozuna	April 4, 1993	WrestleMania IX	Las Vegas, NV	1	<1
24	Hulk Hogan	April 4, 1993	WrestleMania IX	Las Vegas, NV	5	70	After Yokozuna pinned Bret Hart to win the title, Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, issued an immediate challenge to Hogan for the championship, which was accepted and Hogan won the impromptu match.
25	Yokozuna	June 13, 1993	King of the Ring	Dayton, OH	2	280
26	Bret Hart	March 20, 1994	WrestleMania X	New York, NY	2	248
27	Bob Backlund	November 23, 1994	Survivor Series	San Antonio, TX	2	3
28	Diesel	November 26, 1994	House show	New York, NY	1	358
29	Bret Hart	November 19, 1995	Survivor Series	Landover, MD	3	133
30	Shawn Michaels	March 31, 1996	WrestleMania XII	Anaheim, CA	1	231
31	Sycho Sid	November 17, 1996	Survivor Series	New York, NY	1	63
32	Shawn Michaels	January 19, 1997	Royal Rumble	San Antonio, TX	2	25
—	Vacated	February 13, 1997	Raw	Lowell, MA	—	—	Shawn Michaels forfeited the title due to a knee injury.
33	Bret Hart	February 16, 1997	In Your House 13: Final Four	Chattanooga, TN	4	1	This was a four-way elimination match for the vacant title also involving Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Vader.
34	Sycho Sid	February 17, 1997	Raw	Nashville, TN	2	34
35	The Undertaker	March 23, 1997	WrestleMania 13	Rosemont, IL	2	133
36	Bret Hart	August 3, 1997	SummerSlam	East Rutherford, NJ	5	98
37	Shawn Michaels	November 9, 1997	Survivor Series	Montreal, QC, Canada	3	140	This was the Montreal Screwjob.
38	Stone Cold Steve Austin	March 29, 1998	WrestleMania XIV	Boston, MA	1	91
39	Kane	June 28, 1998	King of the Ring	Pittsburgh, PA	1	1
40	Stone Cold Steve Austin	June 29, 1998	Raw	Cleveland, OH	2	90
—	Vacated	September 27, 1998	Breakdown: In Your House	Hamilton, ON, Canada	—	—	The title was vacated after Kane and The Undertaker simultaneously pinned Stone Cold Steve Austin in a triple threat match.
41	The Rock	November 15, 1998	Survivor Series	St. Louis, MO	1	44	Defeated Mankind in the finals of the Deadly Game tournament.
42	Mankind	December 29, 1998	Raw	Worcester, MA	1	26
43	The Rock	January 24, 1999	Royal Rumble	Anaheim, CA	2	2
44	Mankind	January 26, 1999	Halftime Heat	Tucson, AZ	2	20
45	The Rock	February 15, 1999	Raw	Birmingham, AL	3	41
46	Stone Cold Steve Austin	March 28, 1999	WrestleMania XV	Philadelphia, PA	3	56
47	The Undertaker	May 23, 1999	Over the Edge	Kansas City, MO	3	36
48	Stone Cold Steve Austin	June 28, 1999	Raw	Charlotte, NC	4	55
49	Mankind	August 22, 1999	SummerSlam	Minneapolis, MN	3	1
50	Triple H	August 23, 1999	Raw	Ames, IA	1	22
51	Vince McMahon	September 14, 1999	SmackDown!	Las Vegas, NV	1	6
—	Vacated	September 20, 1999	Raw	Houston, TX	—	—	Mr. McMahon vacated the title due to the stipulation after losing his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who defeated The Undertaker and forced McMahon to no longer appear on WWF television.
52	Triple H	September 26, 1999	Unforgiven	Charlotte, NC	2	49	This was a six-pack challenge also involving Big Show, The British Bulldog, Kane, Mankind, and The Rock.
53	Big Show	November 14, 1999	Survivor Series	Detroit, MI	1	50
54	Triple H	January 3, 2000	Raw	Miami, FL	3	118
55	The Rock	April 30, 2000	Backlash	Washington, D.C.	4	21
56	Triple H	May 21, 2000	Judgment Day	Louisville, KY	4	35
57	The Rock	June 25, 2000	King of the Ring	Boston, MA	5	119
58	Kurt Angle	October 22, 2000	No Mercy	Albany, NY	1	126
59	The Rock	February 25, 2001	No Way Out	Las Vegas, NV	6	35	After the WWF purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001, the WCW Championship became a second concurrently active world championship in the WWF. By November 2001, the WCW title was renamed to World Championship.
60	Stone Cold Steve Austin	April 1, 2001	WrestleMania X-Seven	Houston, TX	5	175
61	Kurt Angle	September 23, 2001	Unforgiven	Pittsburgh, PA	2	15
62	Stone Cold Steve Austin	October 8, 2001	Raw	Indianapolis, IN	6	62
63	Chris Jericho	December 9, 2001	Vengeance	San Diego, CA	1	98	Earlier the same night, Jericho defeated World Champion The Rock for that title. By defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, Jericho unified both titles to become the first-ever undisputed WWF world champion. The World Championship was retired while the WWF Championship became known as the Undisputed WWF Championship.
64	Triple H	March 17, 2002	WrestleMania X8	Toronto, ON, Canada	5	35	In late March 2002, due to the WWF's roster having doubled in size, the brand extension began, splitting the roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Championships were assigned to be exclusive to a specific brand, with the exception of the Undisputed WWF Championship and the WWF Women's Championship, which were non-exclusive at this time.
65	Hollywood Hulk Hogan	April 21, 2002	Backlash	Kansas City, MO	6	28	After the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on May 6, 2002, the title was also renamed Undisputed WWE Championship and then WWE Undisputed Championship.
66	The Undertaker	May 19, 2002	Judgment Day	Nashville, TN	4	63
67	The Rock	July 21, 2002	Vengeance	Detroit, MI	7	35
68	Brock Lesnar	August 25, 2002	SummerSlam	Uniondale, NY	1	84	The following night, Lesnar signed a deal to appear exclusively on the SmackDown brand, making the championship exclusive to the brand. The World Heavyweight Championship was then created for the Raw brand and awarded to Triple H, who was Lesnar's number one contender. On September 2, 2002, the WWE Undisputed Championship became the WWE Championship as it was no longer "undisputed".
69	Big Show	November 17, 2002	Survivor Series	New York, NY	2	28
70	Kurt Angle	December 15, 2002	Armageddon	Sunrise, FL	3	105
71	Brock Lesnar	March 30, 2003	WrestleMania XIX	Seattle, WA	2	119
72	Kurt Angle	July 27, 2003	Vengeance	Denver, CO	4	51
73	Brock Lesnar	September 16, 2003	SmackDown!	Raleigh, NC	3	152
74	Eddie Guerrero	February 15, 2004	No Way Out	Daly City, CA	1	133
75	John "Bradshaw" Layfield	June 27, 2004	The Great American Bash	Norfolk, VA	1	280
76	John Cena	April 3, 2005	WrestleMania 21	Los Angeles, CA	1	280	The title became exclusive to the Raw brand following the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery.
77	Edge	January 8, 2006	New Year's Revolution	Albany, NY	1	21	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract immediately after John Cena had won an Elimination Chamber match.
78	John Cena	January 29, 2006	Royal Rumble	Miami, FL	2	133
79	Rob Van Dam	June 11, 2006	ECW One Night Stand	New York, NY	1	22	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. The title became property of the new ECW brand due to Van Dam's status as an ECW wrestler. The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was subsequently reactivated for the brand and awarded to Van Dam, who became the only wrestler to ever hold both titles at the same time. The ECW Championship became a third concurrently active world championship in WWE.
80	Edge	July 3, 2006	Raw	Philadelphia, PA	2	76	The title became exclusive to the Raw brand due to Edge's status as a Raw wrestler.
81	John Cena	September 17, 2006	Unforgiven	Toronto, ON, Canada	3	380
—	Vacated	October 2, 2007	ECW	Dayton, OH	—	—	The title was vacated when John Cena suffered a torn right pectoral tendon.
82	Randy Orton	October 7, 2007	No Mercy	Rosemont, IL	1	<1	Orton was originally scheduled to have a Last Man Standing match against John Cena for the title, but due to Cena vacating the title due to a legit injury, Mr. McMahon awarded it to Orton at the start of the event, and was immediately challenged by Triple H.
83	Triple H	October 7, 2007	No Mercy	Rosemont, IL	6	<1	After winning the championship, Mr. McMahon would tell Triple H he was previously booked for a match against Umaga, and he would face him the same night, now for the WWE Championship. After defeating Umaga, Mr. McMahon stated that Randy Orton was invoking his rematch clause and scheduled a rematch for the same night.
84	Randy Orton	October 7, 2007	No Mercy	Rosemont, IL	2	203
85	Triple H	April 27, 2008	Backlash	Baltimore, MD	7	210	The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand following the 2008 WWE Draft.
86	Edge	November 23, 2008	Survivor Series	Boston, MA	3	21
87	Jeff Hardy	December 14, 2008	Armageddon	Buffalo, NY	1	42
88	Edge	January 25, 2009	Royal Rumble	Detroit, MI	4	21
89	Triple H	February 15, 2009	No Way Out	Seattle, WA	8	70	The title became exclusive to the Raw brand following the 2009 WWE Draft.
90	Randy Orton	April 26, 2009	Backlash	Providence, RI	3	42
91	Batista	June 7, 2009	Extreme Rules	New Orleans, LA	1	2
—	Vacated	June 9, 2009	—	—	—	—	The title was vacated when Batista suffered a torn left biceps.
92	Randy Orton	June 15, 2009	Raw	Charlotte, NC	4	90	This was a fatal four-way match for the vacant title also involving Big Show, John Cena, and Triple H.
93	John Cena	September 13, 2009	Breaking Point	Montreal, QC, Canada	4	21
94	Randy Orton	October 4, 2009	Hell in a Cell	Newark, NJ	5	21
95	John Cena	October 25, 2009	Bragging Rights	Pittsburgh, PA	5	49
96	Sheamus	December 13, 2009	TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs	San Antonio, TX	1	70
97	John Cena	February 21, 2010	Elimination Chamber	St. Louis, MO	6	<1
98	Batista	February 21, 2010	Elimination Chamber	St. Louis, MO	2	35	Batista transferred to the Raw roster after winning the title.
99	John Cena	March 28, 2010	WrestleMania XXVI	Glendale, AZ	7	84
100	Sheamus	June 20, 2010	Fatal 4-Way	Uniondale, NY	2	91
101	Randy Orton	September 19, 2010	Night of Champions	Rosemont, IL	6	64
102	The Miz	November 22, 2010	Raw	Orlando, FL	1	160	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
103	John Cena	May 1, 2011	Extreme Rules	Tampa, FL	8	77
104	CM Punk	July 17, 2011	Money in the Bank	Rosemont, IL	1	28	Punk supposedly left WWE the day after with the championship, but he returned on the July 25, 2011 episode of Raw and his reign was deemed to continue through this period.
—	Vacated	July 18, 2011	Raw	Green Bay, WI	—	—	The title was vacated due to CM Punk leaving WWE. This vacancy is no longer recognized due to Punk's return on the July 25, 2011 episode of Raw.
105	Rey Mysterio	July 25, 2011	Raw	Hampton, VA	1	<1	CM Punk was also recognized as WWE Champion.
106	John Cena	July 25, 2011	Raw	Hampton, VA	9	20	Punk was also recognized as WWE Champion.
—	CM Punk	August 14, 2011	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, CA	1	—	Punk defeated John Cena in a match to determine the undisputed champion. This is considered a continuation of Punk's first reign.
107	Alberto Del Rio	August 14, 2011	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, CA	1	35	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. On August 29, 2011, the first brand extension ended, allowing the WWE Champion to appear on both Raw and SmackDown.
108	John Cena	September 18, 2011	Night of Champions	Buffalo, NY	10	14
109	Alberto Del Rio	October 2, 2011	Hell in a Cell	New Orleans, LA	2	49
110	CM Punk	November 20, 2011	Survivor Series	New York, NY	2	434
111	The Rock	January 27, 2013	Royal Rumble	Phoenix, AZ	8	70
112	John Cena	April 7, 2013	WrestleMania 29	East Rutherford, NJ	11	133
113	Daniel Bryan	August 18, 2013	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, CA	1	<1
114	Randy Orton	August 18, 2013	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, CA	7	28	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
115	Daniel Bryan	September 15, 2013	Night of Champions	Detroit, MI	2	1
—	Vacated	September 16, 2013	Raw	Cleveland, OH	—	—	The title was vacated after a controversial finish when Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton to win the title.
116	Randy Orton	October 27, 2013	Hell in a Cell	Miami, FL	8	161	Orton defeated Daniel Bryan in a Hell in a Cell match to win the vacant title. On December 15, 2013 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Orton defeated John Cena in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match to unify the World Heavyweight Championship with the WWE Championship. The World Heavyweight Championship was then retired and the WWE Championship became known as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
117	Daniel Bryan	April 6, 2014	WrestleMania XXX	New Orleans, LA	3	64
—	Vacated	June 9, 2014	Raw	Minneapolis, MN	—	—	Daniel Bryan was stripped of the title due to a neck injury.
118	John Cena	June 29, 2014	Money in the Bank	Boston, MA	12	49	This was an eight-way ladder match for the vacant title also involving Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Sheamus.
119	Brock Lesnar	August 17, 2014	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, CA	4	224
120	Seth Rollins	March 29, 2015	WrestleMania 31	Santa Clara, CA	1	221	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during a singles match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, converting it into a triple threat match and subsequently pinned Reigns to win the match.
—	Vacated	November 5, 2015	—	—	—	—	The title was vacated after Seth Rollins suffered a torn ACL, MCL and a damaged meniscus at a live event in Dublin, Ireland.
121	Roman Reigns	November 22, 2015	Survivor Series	Atlanta, GA	1	<1	Defeated Dean Ambrose in a tournament final to win the vacant title.
122	Sheamus	November 22, 2015	Survivor Series	Atlanta, GA	3	22	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
123	Roman Reigns	December 14, 2015	Raw	Philadelphia, PA	2	41
124	Triple H	January 24, 2016	Royal Rumble	Orlando, FL	9	70	This was the Royal Rumble match in which Roman Reigns defended the title and entered at number one. Triple H eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the title.
125	Roman Reigns	April 3, 2016	WrestleMania 32	Arlington, TX	3	77
126	Seth Rollins	June 19, 2016	Money in the Bank	Las Vegas, NV	2	<1
127	Dean Ambrose	June 19, 2016	Money in the Bank	Las Vegas, NV	1	84	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and the title's name reverted to WWE Championship. The brand extension returned and the title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand following the 2016 WWE Draft. The WWE Universal Championship was created for the Raw brand; the WWE Championship was renamed to WWE World Championship.
128	AJ Styles	September 11, 2016	Backlash	Richmond, VA	1	140	In December 2016, the title's name was shortened back to WWE Championship.
129	John Cena	January 29, 2017	Royal Rumble	San Antonio, TX	13	14
130	Bray Wyatt	February 12, 2017	Elimination Chamber	Phoenix, AZ	1	49
131	Randy Orton	April 2, 2017	WrestleMania 33	Orlando, FL	9	49
132	Jinder Mahal	May 21, 2017	Backlash	Rosemont, IL	1	170
133	AJ Styles	November 7, 2017	SmackDown	Manchester, England	2	371
134	Daniel Bryan	November 13, 2018	SmackDown	St. Louis, MO	4	145
135	Kofi Kingston	April 7, 2019	WrestleMania 35	East Rutherford, NJ	1	180
136	Brock Lesnar	October 4, 2019	SmackDown's20th Anniversary	Los Angeles, CA	5	173 or 174	On the November 1, 2019 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar quit SmackDown and went to Raw, taking the title with him.
137	Drew McIntyre	March 26, 2020	WrestleMania 36Part 2	Orlando, FL	1	213
138	Randy Orton	October 25, 2020	Hell in a Cell	Orlando, FL	10	22
139	Drew McIntyre	November 16, 2020	Raw	Orlando, FL	2	97
140	The Miz	February 21, 2021	Elimination Chamber	St. Petersburg, FL	2	8	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
141	Bobby Lashley	March 1, 2021	Raw	St. Petersburg, FL	1	195
142	Big E	September 13, 2021	Raw	Boston, MA	1	110	Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
143	Brock Lesnar	January 1, 2022	Day 1	Atlanta, GA	6	27
144	Bobby Lashley	January 29, 2022	Royal Rumble	St. Louis, MO	2	20
145	Brock Lesnar	February 19, 2022	Elimination Chamber	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	7	43
146	Roman Reigns	April 3, 2022	WrestleMania 38	Arlington, TX	4	106+