DEFY World Championship

Last updated
DEFY World Championship
DEFY World Championship.png
Current title design (2017–present)
Details
Promotion DEFY Wrestling
Date establishedJune 30, 2017
Current champion Bryan Keith
Date wonSeptember 19, 2025
Statistics
First champion Davey Richards
Most reigns Swerve Strickland
(3 reigns)
Longest reignRandy Myers
(1,009 days)
Shortest reign Davey Richards
(8 days)
Oldest champion Kenta
(42 years, 83 days)
Youngest champion Nick Wayne
(17 years, 272 days)
Heaviest championSchaff
(273 lb (124 kg))
Lightest championArtemis Spencer (176 lb (80 kg))

The DEFY World Championship is a men's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion DEFY Wrestling, being sanctioned as the promotion's top championship. There have been a total of twelve reigns shared between nine different champions. The current champion is Bryan Keith who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Clark Connors at Aeon on September 19, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.

Contents

Title history

There have been a total of 11 reigns shared between 9 different champions. Davey Richards was the inaugural champion who also holds the record for the shortest reign with eight days. Randy Myers had the longest reign at 1,009 days, however without scoring any defenses due to the COVID pandemic impact. Swerve Strickland holds the record for most reigns with three. The current champion is Bryan Keith who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Clark Connors at Aeon on September 19, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.


Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
DefensesNumber of successful defenses
<1Reign lasted less than a day
+Current reign is changing daily
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDaysDefenses
1 Davey Richards June 30, 2017DEFY5 Gigantic Seattle, WA 180Defeated Shane Strickland in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. [1]
2 Shane Strickland July 8, 2017 CZW Evilution Voorhees, NJ 12795This was a four-way Winner Takes All match also disputed for Strickland's CZW World Heavyweight Championship which also involved Joe Gacy and Lio Rush. [2]
3 Austin Aries April 13, 2018Vibes Seattle, WA 1981This was a Winner Takes All match also for Aries' Impact World Championship. [3]
4 Shane Strickland July 20, 2018Swerve Vs. Aries Portland, OR 21473 [4]
5Artemis SpencerDecember 14, 2018On Edge Seattle, WA 12528 [5]
6SchaffAugust 23, 2019Defyance Forever Tacoma, WA 11824 [6]
7Randy MyersFebruary 21, 2020Kings Of Crash Seattle, WA 11,0090 [7]
Christopher Daniels (Interim)December 18, 2021Dark Horse Seattle, WA 2946Daniels defeated Brody King to become the interim champion. [8]
Swerve Strickland (Interim)October 8, 2022City Of Thorns Portland, OR 490 [9]
8 Swerve Strickland November 26, 2022Fightwave Seattle, WA 31331This was a Championship Unification match in which Strickland wrestled as the interim champion. The bout was a six-way ladder match which also involved Artemis Spencer, Christopher Daniels, Cody Chhun and Schaff. Strickland was previously known as Shane Stricklad. [10]
9 Nick Wayne April 8, 2023The Realest Seattle, WA 1562 [11]
9 Kenta June 3, 2023Your Nightmare Seattle, WA 162610 [12]
10 Ricky Starks February 7, 2025Hundredth Seattle, WA 1210 [13]
Vacated February 28, 2025Starks vacated the title after signing with WWE. [14]
11 Clark Connors March 15, 2025Aftermath Seattle, WA 11881Defeated Starboy Charlie in a Super 8XGP Tournament final to win the vacant title. [15]
11 Bryan Keith September 19, 2025Aeon Seattle, WA 12+0 [16]

Combined reigns

As of September21, 2025.

Indicates the current champion
RankWrestlerNo. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined
days
1Randy Myers101,009
2 Kenta 110616
3 Swerve Strickland [a] 39559
4Artemis Spencer18252
5 Clark Connors 11188
6Schaff14182
7 Austin Aries 1198
8 Nick Wayne 1256
9 Ricky Starks 1021
10 Davey Richards 108
11 Bryan Keith112+

Notes

  1. Strickland was known as "Shane Strickland" during his first two title reigns.

References

  1. "Defy 06/30/17 Defy 5: Gigantic Night 2 Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. July 1, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  2. Perez, Luis (August 4, 2017). "ZW 07/08/17 EVILution iPPV Review". pwponderings.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  3. Rosado, Emmanuel (April 14, 2018). "#AndNEW: Austin Aries Wins Defy Wrestling Championship". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  4. DEFY Wrestling (July 18, 2018). "VIDEO: SHANE STRICKLAND BEGINS SECOND REIGN AS DEFY CHAMPION". defywrestling.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  5. DEFY Wrestling (December 15, 2018). "RESULTS: DEFY ON EDGE 12/14/18 …AND NEW, DEFY WORLD CHAMPION - ARTEMIS SPENCER". defywrestling.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  6. "Defy Wrestling 08/23/19 Defyance Forever Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. August 25, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  7. Toro, Carlos (February 24, 2020). "DEFY Wrestling Kings Of Crash Results (2/21): New Champion Crowned, Jeff Cobb, Anthony Bowens, More". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  8. "DEFY Dark Horse". cagematch.net. December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  9. "DEFY City Of Thorns". cagematch.net. October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  10. Chicasaca, Renato (November 26, 2022). "Cartelera DEFY Fightwave: Swerve Strickland, Christopher Daniels, Wheeler Yuta y más". turnheelwrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  11. Lambert, Jeremy (April 9, 2023). "DEFY The Realest Results (4/8): Nick Wayne Faces Swerve Strickland". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  12. Guzzo, Gisberto (June 4, 2023). "DEFY Your Nightmare Results (6/3): KENTA, Christopher Daniels, And More In Action". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  13. Vetter, Chris (February 8, 2025). "Defy Wrestling "Hundredth" results (2/7): Vetter's review of Kenta vs. Ricky Starks for the Defy Title, Marina Shafir vs. Zamaya for the Defy Women's Title, Swerve Strickland and Ricochet, Nick Wayne vs. Marcus Mathers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved February 9, 2025.
  14. Lambert, Jeremy (February 28, 2025). "Ricky Saints Relinquishes DEFY World Championship". Fightful. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  15. Vetter, Chris (April 9, 2025). "Defy Wrestling "Aftermath" results: Vetter's review of Starboy Charlie vs. Clark Connors for the vacant Defy Title, The Bollywood Boyz vs. C4 in a double chain match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  16. Vetter, Chris (September 20, 2025). "Defy Wrestling "Aeon" results (9/19): Vetter's review of Killer Kross vs. Calvin Tankman for the Super Heavyweight Cup, Marina Shafir vs. Hyan for the Defy Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 21, 2025.