The World Heavyweight Championship is the name given to certain championships in professional wrestling. Although numerous titles in many different promotions have used the term "world heavyweight championship", it is almost exclusively used as a moniker for the title that is under competition between top contenders. The presence of a title considered to be a World Heavyweight Championship is one of the factors that makes its promotion one of the major organizations in professional wrestling. The territorial nature of early professional wrestling, in which promotions would each operate in different regional territories across the nation, suggested that few organizations could legitimately claim the "World" portion of the name, in the sense that the title could theoretically be defended against any challenger anywhere in the world. However, with the emergence into prominence of professional wrestling in the 1980s, where various promotions grew to receive national exposure, more and more organizations began to legitimately claim the status.
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Early history
Most of the well-recognized World Heavyweight Championships today are derived from the first recognized version held by Georg Hackenschmidt in 1905 and Frank Gotch in 1908. In particular, the world title of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, directly traces its lineage to these reigns. When the world titles of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship lineage, these titles became connected to the historical reigns as well.
Nomenclature of World Heavyweight Championships
The term "World Heavyweight Championship" can apply to any major belt in general, or to a specific belt in particular. This often creates confusion, as is the case of Ric Flair, who is billed as a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion but does not have 16 reigns of the World Heavyweight Title that is defended on WWE under its SmackDown brand.
The name of the promotion is often preceded to the phrase "World Heavyweight Championship" as the championship's complete name (as in the WWE World Heavyweight, WCW World Heavyweight, or ECW World Heavyweight Championships) - however some are correctly known simply as the "World Heavyweight Championship" without qualification, possibly because they are competed for in promotions where an existing World Heavyweight Championship is present (as was the case of the American Wrestling Association in the 1960s and 1970s and World Wrestling Entertainment today). The NWA Championship is often quoted as the "World's Heavyweight Wrestling Championship", and the physical title belt itself carries this moniker.
Numerous promotions have claimed their top championship belts as World Heavyweight Championships. However, there is no official universally accepted method of determining what constitutes a world title. Meanwhile, other belts have recognition as a "world championship" despite not being a "World Heavyweight Championship". These other world titles often include various other classifications, including weight classes (e.g., World Cruiserweight Championship) or stipulations (e.g., World Television Championship).
Often, subordinate belts to world titles are designated as national, international, or regional titles. Examples of this include:
- The WWE Intercontinental Championship (an international title subordinate to the World Heavyweight Championship),
- The NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (a regional title subordinate to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship),
- The WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (a national title subordinate to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship)
- The WWE United States Championship (a national title subordinate to the WWE Championship).
List of World Heavyweight Championships
Prominent active World Heavyweight Championships
- WWE Championship - A World Wrestling Entertainment title. It spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1963 when Capitol Wrestling Corporation left the National Wrestling Alliance and created the World Wide Wrestling Federation. The WWWF joined the National Wrestling Alliance again in 1971 and left again in 1983 to became the World Wrestling Federation. The WWF World Heavyweight Championship as it was known thereafter was unified with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 2001 and was temporarily known as the WWE Undisputed Championship after the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. It is now known simply as the WWE Championship. The WWE Championship is currently defended on Raw having come to the brand from SmackDown following the 2009 WWE Draft. The current WWE Champion is Randy Orton. [1]
- World Heavyweight Championship - A World Wrestling Entertainment title. It spun off from the WWE Undisputed Championship as the successor to the NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Championship.[2] The title was made for the WWE's Raw brand when the WWE Championship was made exclusive to their SmackDown brand. The title was moved to the SmackDown brand as a result of the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery and returned to the Raw brand in 2008. After a brief switch between SmackDown and Raw, the belt once again resides on SmackDown. The current World Heavyweight Champion is CM Punk.[3]
- ECW Championship - A World Wrestling Entertainment title and originally an Extreme Championship Wrestling title. It spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when Shane Douglas, after being crowned the NWA champion, rejected the NWA title in favor of the newly declared ECW World Heavyweight Championship. It was deactivated after Extreme Championship Wrestling closed from 2001 through 2006, but was revived by WWE for their ECW brand. It is now known simply as the ECW Championship. The current ECW Champion is Tommy Dreamer. [4]
- ROH World Championship - A Ring of Honor title. Since 2003 it has been defended in England, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, and Ireland. The promotion is currently considered the third prominent promotion in the United States. The current champion is Austin Aries.
- TNA World Heavyweight Championship - A Total Nonstop Action Wrestling title. It was created as a result of the NWA stripping the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from (former) TNA wrestler Christian Cage on May 13, 2007. The current TNA World Heavyweight Champion is Kurt Angle.
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship - A National Wrestling Alliance title. It claims lineage of Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 and Frank Gotch's 1908 version, defended in multiple territories and promotions since 1948, used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from June 2002 to May 2007. The current champion is Blue Demon, Jr.
Other active World Heavyweight Championships
- AAA World Heavyweight Championship - The recently created title for Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Promoted as the company's top title, it claims to be the first premier world title out of Mexico. The current champion is Dr. Wagner Jr..
- CMLL World Heavyweight Championship - A heavyweight Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre title since 1991. Unlike other world titles such as the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, it is not the premier championship in the promotion due to the greater number of lighter weight wrestlers. The current champion is Ultimo Guerrero.
- CZW World Heavyweight Championship - Combat Zone Wrestling's top title. Claims its status as a World Heavyweight title after it was defended in Japan, Germany, England, Mexico, Ireland and Italy - as well as America. The championship changed hands in all of those countries except Japan. The current champion is Drake Younger.
- FIP World Heavyweight Championship - Full Impact Pro Wrestling's top title. Became a World Heavyweight Championship following a defence of the title by Roderick Strong against British wrestler PAC at a Ring of Honor show in Liverpool, England. The current champion is Davey Richards.
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship - The top title in the International Wrestling Association. The championship was established in 2000. The current champion is Chicano.
- PWG World Championship - The top championship in the Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Claims its status as a World Heavyweight title after it was defended in Kent, England and Essen, Germany on the European Vacation tour of 2006. It has since been defended in Takamatsu, Japan and Paris, France. The current champion is Chris Hero.
- WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship - The top title in the World Wrestling Council. The championship was established in July 1982 as the WWC World Heavyweight Championship. The current champion is Steve Corino.
Prominent inactive World Heavyweight Championships
- AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1960-1991) - An American Wrestling Association title. The title was deactivated in 1991 when the AWA shut down. A new promotion started in 1996 called AWA Superstars of Wrestling claimed to have rights to the AWA World Heavyweight Championship when their AWA Superstars World Heavyweight Championship began claiming the same lineage to the original AWA title. The legality of this was in question however as World Wrestling Entertainment owns all AWA trademarks and its video library. Following a lawsuit in 2007, the new promotion was forced to be renamed to Wrestling Superstars Live and can no longer infringe upon the AWA trademarks. Larry Zbyszko was the final AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
- WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1991-2001) - A World Championship Wrestling title. It spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when NWA Champion Ric Flair was recognized as the first WCW World heavyweight champion in January 1991, during which WCW was in the process of separating from the NWA. Flair held both titles briefly before leaving WCW over a creative dispute in July of that year. The title was unified with the WWE Championship in 2001. Chris Jericho was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
- WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (1993-1994) - A World Championship Wrestling title. After WCW and the NWA ended their business relationship, WCW used the Big Gold Belt that had represented the NWA title to create the world heavyweight championship of WCW International, a fictitious subsidiary of World Championship Wrestling. It was unified with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1994.
Other inactive World Heavyweight Championships
- CWA World Heavyweight Championship (1973-2000) - A Catch Wrestling Association title. It was a notable world title out of Europe. It changed hands in four countries and three continents, with both Europeans and North Americans holding the title.[5]
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1968-1981) - An International Pro Wrestling title. It was billed as being the first world title out of Japan. The title was defended and changed hands in the United States on separate occasions.
- MWA World Heavyweight Championship (1940-1948) - A Midwest Wrestling Association title. It was the direct predecessor to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The title was created in January 1940 and lasted until the MWA joined the newly formed National Wrestling Alliance in October 1948. The MWA World Heavyweight Champion, Orville Brown, was then recognized as the first World Heavyweight Champion in the National Wrestling Alliance.[6][7]
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1929-1949) - A National Wrestling Association title. Not to be confused with the National Wrestling Alliance. It was unified with the National Wrestling Alliance's World title.
- WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2001-2003) - A World Wrestling All-Stars title. The short-lived company sanctioned the title as their world championship and it was defended in multiple countries. It was unified with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2003.
See also
- World Tag Team Championship
- Championship (professional wrestling)
- List of early world heavyweight champions in professional wrestling
- List of multiple world heavyweight champions in professional wrestling
External links
Notes
- ^ WWE Championship History - WWE.com
- ^ http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wcwchampionship/
- ^ World Heavyweight Championship History - WWE.com
- ^ ECW Championship History - WWE.com
- ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/austria/cwa/eu-cwa-h.html
- ^ Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories, Fourth Edition. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "M.W.A. World Heavyweight Title (Kansas City)". Puroresu Dojo. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/centralstates/mwa/mwa-h.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
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