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 Clark Connors
Date wonMarch 15, 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 ten reigns shared between eight different champions. The current champion is Clark Connors who is in his first reign. [1]

Contents

Title history

There have been a total of 10 reigns shared between 8 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 Clark Connors who is in his first reign. He defeated Starboy Charlie in a Super 8XGP Tournament final to win the vacant title at Afternath. [1]

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. [2]
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. [3]
3 Austin Aries April 13, 2018DEFY Vibes Seattle, WA 1981This was a winner takes all match also disputed for Aries' Impact World Championship. [4]
4 Shane Strickland July 20, 2018DEFY Swerve Vs. Aries Portland, OR 21473 [5]
5Artemis SpencerDecember 14, 2018DEFY On Edge Seattle, WA 12528 [6]
6SchaffAugust 23, 2019DEFY Defyance Forever Tacoma, WA 11824 [7]
7Randy MyersFebruary 21, 2020DEFY Kings Of Crash Seattle, WA 11,0090 [8]
— Christopher Daniels (Interim)December 18, 2021DEFY Dark Horse Seattle, WA —2946Daniels defeated Brody King to become the interim champion. [9]
— Swerve Strickland (Interim)October 8, 2022DEFY City Of Thorns Portland, OR —490 [10]
8 Swerve Strickland November 26, 2022DEFY Fightwave Seattle, WA 31331This was a title 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. [11]
9 Nick Wayne April 8, 2023DEFY The Realest Seattle, WA 1562 [12]
9 Kenta June 3, 2023DEFY Your Nightmare Seattle, WA 162610 [13]
10 Ricky Starks February 7, 2025DEFY Hundredth Seattle, WA 1210 [14]
— Vacated February 28, 2025—————Starks vacated the title after signing with WWE. [15]
11 Clark Connors March 15, 2025DEFY Afternath Seattle, WA 1101+1Defeated Starboy Charlie in a Super 8XGP Tournament final to win the vacant title. [16]

Combined reigns

As of June24, 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
5Schaff14182
6 Clark Connors †11101+
7 Austin Aries 1198
8 Nick Wayne 1256
9 Ricky Starks 1021
10 Davey Richards 108

Notes

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

References

  1. 1 2 Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY World Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Defy 06/30/17 Defy 5: Gigantic Night 2 Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. July 1, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  3. ↑ Perez, Luis (August 4, 2017). "ZW 07/08/17 EVILution iPPV Review". pwponderings.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  4. ↑ Rosado, Emmanuel (April 14, 2018). "#AndNEW: Austin Aries Wins Defy Wrestling Championship". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  5. ↑ DEFY Wrestling (July 18, 2018). "VIDEO: SHANE STRICKLAND BEGINS SECOND REIGN AS DEFY CHAMPION". defywrestling.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "Defy Wrestling 08/23/19 Defyance Forever Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. August 25, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "DEFY Dark Horse". cagematch.net. December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  10. ↑ "DEFY City Of Thorns". cagematch.net. October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  11. ↑ Chicasaca, Renato (November 26, 2022). "Cartelera DEFY Fightwave: Swerve Strickland, Christopher Daniels, Wheeler Yuta y más". turnheelwrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  12. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (April 9, 2023). "DEFY The Realest Results (4/8): Nick Wayne Faces Swerve Strickland". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  13. ↑ Guzzo, Gisberto (June 4, 2023). "DEFY Your Nightmare Results (6/3): KENTA, Christopher Daniels, And More In Action". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (February 28, 2025). "Ricky Saints Relinquishes DEFY World Championship". Fightful. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  16. ↑ "DEFY Afternath". cagematch.net. March 15, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
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