WCW World Heavyweight Championship

Statistics
First champion(s)	Ric Flair
Most reigns	Ric Flair (8)
Longest reign	Hulk Hogan (469 days)
Shortest reign	Chris Jericho (24 minutes)

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
	The Big Gold Belt represented the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1991 and then from 1994 to 2001
Details
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling ; (January 11, 1991 – March 23, 2001); World Wrestling Federation ; (March 26, 2001 – December 9, 2001)
Date established	January 11, 1991
Date retired	December 9, 2001 (unified with the WWF Championship)
Other name(s)
	WCW World Heavyweight Championship; (January 11, 1991 – March 26, 2001); WCW Championship; (June 24, 2001 – November 19, 2001); World Championship; (November 19, 2001 – December 9, 2001); WCW World Championship; (as the official name listed on WWE's website);
First champion(s)
Statistics
First champion(s)	Ric Flair
Most reigns	Ric Flair (8)
Longest reign	Hulk Hogan (469 days)
Shortest reign	Chris Jericho (24 minutes)

Last updated December 29, 2023

The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title of the World Championship Wrestling promotion, spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. It existed in WCW from 1991 to 2001.

Following the acquisition of WCW by the WWF in March 2001, it became one of two world titles in the WWF, with its name being immediately abbreviated to the WCW Championship and finally, the World Championship in November. It continued to complement the then-WWF Championship until the following month, when both titles were unified to create the Undisputed WWF Championship. The Undisputed title retained the lineage of the WWF Championship, and the World Championship was retired.

Ric Flair was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, with Chris Jericho being the last.^[1] The title was the second of five to be represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, first introduced in 1986.

History

Formation

In November 1988, Turner Broadcasting purchased Jim Crockett Promotions, which had promoted under the name "NWA World Championship Wrestling". While the promotion remained a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the use of the NWA name was gradually reduced on televised programming, in favor of the name "World Championship Wrestling", or "WCW". On January 11, 1991, Ric Flair defeated Sting to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and was recognized as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The new championship was not initially represented by its own title belt, and WCW continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title belt. Because of this, WCW regularly claimed the NWA World Heavyweight Championship lineage for its own championship.

Separate championship

The belt design used to represent the title from 1991 to 1994 1991wcwbeltvector.png — The belt design used to represent the title from 1991 to 1994

On July 1, 1991, a creative disagreement with WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd led to Flair leaving WCW for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation. When Herd refused to return Flair's $25,000 deposit (that was left with the NWA), Flair kept the "Big Gold Belt" that had represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A new belt was ordered, but was not ready in time for The Great American Bash on July 14. WCW was forced to use a belt owned by Dusty Rhodes from the defunct Championship Wrestling from Florida with a gold-colored plate tacked on with the words "WCW World Heavyweight Champion", which was awarded to Lex Luger after he defeated Barry Windham in a cage match for the vacant championship. The new belt appeared shortly after the event.

In 1992, the Big Gold Belt was used for the revived NWA World Heavyweight Championship, a co-promotional gimmick between WCW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Masahiro Chono won the G1 Climax in 1992 defeating Rick Rude in the finals while also having a broken neck in the process. Then in 1993 On January 4, The Great Muta won the NWA World Heavyweight title defeating Masahiro Chono, but eventually dropped it to Barry Windham at SuperBrawl III. Then at the "WCW Disney tapings", it was revealed that WCW had been changing titles around without the NWA agreeing on it, making it a breach of contract. In September 1993, WCW left the NWA for good over a dispute regarding the other NWA members demanding that NWA world champion be available for booking, and due to the use of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on syndicated programming recorded months in advance. By fall 1993, Rick Rude was appearing at the "Disney tapings" as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, despite the fact that in regards to the storyline, Flair, who had returned to WCW and regained the NWA title, was still champion. After leaving the NWA, WCW kept the Big Gold Belt, and it was renamed the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship.

Unification

At Starrcade in December 1993, Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, by defeating Vader. WCW decided to unify the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (represented by the new belt) and International Championship (represented by the "Big Gold Belt"), by having Flair wrestle Sting in June 1994. Flair won and unified the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. The unified championship retained the lineage of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, while the International Championship was retired. The belt design used from mid-1991 to mid-1994 to represent the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was dropped in favor of keeping the "Big Gold Belt", which had originally represented the title when it was established in January 1991.

During Hollywood Hogan's runs as champion in 1996–1997 and again in 1998–1999 (ie from his second to his fifth reign as champion), as part of the New World Order (nWo) storyline, the title was spray painted each time with the "nWo" initials in black and often announced during Hogan's title defenses as the nWo/WCW World Heavyweight Championship, while referred to by nWo members only as the nWo World Heavyweight Championship. Similarly, red paint was used for the nWo Wolfpack.

Acquisition by the WWF

In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) purchased the assets of World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place and four of WCW's championships were defended on WWF programming including the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which became known as the "WCW Championship". The WWF carried over the title, along with the United States Heavyweight Championship, Cruiserweight Championship, and the WCW Tag Team Championship.

After the "Invasion" concluded at Survivor Series in 2001, the title was rebranded as the "World Championship". The title was then unified with the WWF Championship at Vengeance, where Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the World Championship and the WWF Championship respectively to become Undisputed WWF Championship. As a result, Jericho was the last WCW/World Champion,^[2]^[3] and he became the first Undisputed WWF Champion. The Big Gold belt itself would be used in tandem with the WWF Championship belt to represent the WWF Championship until a single belt was presented to then champion Triple H by Ric Flair in April 2002.

Reigns

Chris Jericho, seen in 2003, was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion under the WWF umbrella when he unified with Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWF Championship at Vengeance in 2001. Jerichoentrance.jpg — Chris Jericho, seen in 2003, was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion under the WWF umbrella when he unified with Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWF Championship at Vengeance in 2001.

The inaugural champion was Ric Flair, and there were 63 different champions overall. The longest reigning champion was Hulk Hogan who held the title from July 17, 1994, to October 29, 1995, for a total of 469 days. Hogan holds the record for longest combined reigns at 1,177 days. The shortest reigning champion was Chris Jericho in his second reign, who immediately retired the championship upon winning it and unifying it with the WWF Championship. The Giant was youngest champion, at the age of 23. The oldest champion was Ric Flair who won at the age of 51. Flair held the title the most times with eight championship reigns, the six had been recognized by the WWE. There were twelve vacancies throughout the title's history.

Chris Jericho was the final champion in his second reign. He defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin at Vengeance in San Diego, California on December 9, 2001 to unify the WWF and World Championships.

Notes

In WCW, Flair was recognized as an eight-time champion but WWE only recognizes 6, counting his first reign as one of his 8 NWA title reigns and ignoring a title vacancy that occurred in 1994 and instead viewing that as one continuous reign.

Related Research Articles

Lawrence Wendell Pfohl, better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation.

Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanning over 50 years.

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is EC3, who is in his first reign.

The WWE Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Roman Reigns, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match at WrestleMania 38 Night 2 on April 3, 2022, subsequently becoming the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Richard Henry Blood Sr., better known by his ring name Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation. Steamboat is often regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers of all time.

The World Heavyweight Championship was a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was the second world championship to be created by the company, after their original world title, the WWE Championship (1963). The title was one of two top championships in the company from 2002 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2013, complementing the WWE Championship, and one of three top championships from 2006 to 2010 with the addition of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw. The current champion is Logan Paul, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania X8</span> 2002 World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event

WrestleMania 18 was the 18th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the second WrestleMania at that venue after WrestleMania VI in April 1990. The event marked the final WrestleMania event held under the WWF name and the Attitude Era, as the company was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May and entered the Ruthless Aggression Era later that year. It was also the last WrestleMania held before the introduction of the brand extension just a week after the event. The record-breaking attendance for the SkyDome of 68,237 grossed approximately $6.1 million CAD. WrestleMania weekend also included WWF Fan Axxess at the Canadian National Exhibition's Automotive Building.

The WCW International World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that was contested in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1993 and 1994. A popular misconception about the title was that it was a secondary title, due to the word "International" being in the name. In reality, the championship was presented as the highest accolade of "WCW International", a fictitious subsidiary of WCW. The championship was contested at WCW events and at several events in Japan under the aegis of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Barry Clinton Windham is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.

The Big Gold Belt is a historic professional wrestling championship belt that has represented multiple world championships throughout its history.

An undisputed championship is a professional wrestling term for a world title that is the unquestioned top championship in a promotion, often formed from two world titles being unified or held by the same individual.

World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that existed from 1988 to 2001. It began as a promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that appeared on the national scene under the ownership of media mogul Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to the launch of WCW as a separate promotion, the "World Championship Wrestling" name was used for a television program produced by NWA promotions Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions on TBS; the name came from an Australian wrestling promotion of the 1970s.

The 2002 No Way Out was the fourth No Way Out professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place on February 17, 2002, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the final No Way Out promoted under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May. It was also the final No Way Out event held before the WWF introduced the brand extension in March.

The 2002 Backlash was the fourth Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on April 21, 2002, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri—it was the first PPV event to be held at Kemper Arena since Over the Edge in May 1999, in which Owen Hart, competing as The Blue Blazer, died after falling 78 feet from a harness to the ring. It was the company's very first PPV held following the introduction of the brand split. It was the fourth consecutive Backlash presented by Castrol GTX and the final Backlash held under the WWF name as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) the following month. Thus, it was the last WWF PPV of the Attitude Era. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania X8.

The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first recognized professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created in 1905 to identify the best catch as catch can wrestler in the world.

The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first world championship was the WWE Championship, which was established along with the promotion's creation in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship; it is still active today and is WWE's oldest active title. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand.

References

↑ WCW World Championship. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
↑ WCW World Champion – Chris Jericho at WWE.com
↑ WCW World Heavyweight Championship history, from Wrestling-Titles.com

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] WCW World Championship. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.

[2] WCW World Champion – Chris Jericho at WWE.com

[3] WCW World Heavyweight Championship history, from Wrestling-Titles.com

[1]

[2]

[3]