The WWE Championship , briefly known as the WWE World Championship from July to December 2016, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE, created in 1963.
WWE World Championship may also refer to:
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 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 Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed title by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.
The 2002 to 2013 version of 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 Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE United States Championship on SmackDown. The current champion is Bron Breakker, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Sami Zayn at SummerSlam on August 3, 2024.
WWE Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The inaugural event took place in June 2007 and was a crossover with Vengeance titled Vengeance: Night of Champions. In 2008, Vengeance was dropped in favor of Night of Champions and it took over the June PPV slot. The event then moved to July in 2009 before becoming the annual September PPV beginning in 2010. The original concept of Night of Champions was that every championship promoted on WWE's main roster was contested. In 2016, Night of Champions was replaced by the similarly themed Clash of Champions which was discontinued after its final use in 2020. After eight years, Night of Champions was revived to be held in May 2023 as WWE's ninth event in Saudi Arabia. Although the 2023 event was based around championship matches, not all of WWE's main roster championships were contested.
The WWE Draft is a process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE to refresh its rosters between the Raw and SmackDown brands when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers from the promotion's developmental brand NXT (2016–present) are also eligible to be drafted to Raw and SmackDown. Two of WWE's former brands, ECW (2006–2009) and 205 Live (2019), have also taken part in the draft during the promotion's various brand split periods.
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
The brand extension, also referred to as the brand split, is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE's roster of wrestlers into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's wrestlers are assigned to a brand via the annual WWE Draft and exclusively perform on that brand's weekly television show, with some exceptions. Throughout its history, WWE has utilized the brand extension twice. The first brand split occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the ongoing second began in 2016.
The Big Gold Belt is a historic professional wrestling championship belt that has represented titles in multiple promotions 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.
The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown. The current champions are The Judgment Day, who are in their first reign as a team; individually, it is the first for McDonagh and third for Bálor, who previously held the title twice as part of Judgment Day with Damian Priest. They won the title by defeating Awesome Truth on the June 24, 2024, episode of Raw.
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 and women's tag team championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) 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 first men's tag team title, the Northeast version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, preceded the company's creation, as it was established in 1957 for CWC as a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, while the first women's tag team title, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, was established in 1983. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate tag team championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
The WWE Universal 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 Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion WWE Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed championship by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.
Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw, also referred to simply as Raw. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
SmackDown is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to SmackDown primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Friday Night SmackDown, also referred to simply as SmackDown. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with Raw, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
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.
The WorldHeavyweightChampionship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the Raw brand division. Along with the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship, these titles are jointly held and defended as the Undisputed WWE Championship on SmackDown. it is one of the three men's world titles on WWE's main roster. The current champion is Gunther, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Damian Priest at SummerSlam on August 3, 2024.