World Heavyweight Championship
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Lineage controversy
Despite the similarity in appearance of the belt itself, and common belief among longtime wrestling fans, the current "World Heavyweight Championship" is not the same title as either the original NWA World Heavyweight Championship or the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (note the WWE logo in the picture of the belt). It is, instead, a new title whose lineage dates back to September 2, 2002, when it was introduced by RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff as the RAW World Championship in response to WWE Champion Brock Lesnar becoming exclusive to Smackdown. When presenting it to Triple H Bischoff stated he was "the last man to wear this belt" referring to Triple H's having held both the WWF and WCW championship title belts before they were replaced by one single title belt on April 1, 2002.
While WWE announcers like Jim Ross occasionally make allusions to the belt's lineage dating back as far as 1904, a reference to the original World Championship originally held by George Hackenschmidt, as well as segments detailing the history linking that timeframe as well as the WCW lineage to the title during episodes of WWE Confidential, the majority of other evidence suggests that the belt does not derive its lineage beyond its debut on RAW and instead is simply using that belt to represent this variation.
- The official WWE World Heavyweight Championship history website only recognizes champions starting from September 2, 2002.
- Former WCW Champions, most notably Booker T, are always referred to as former WCW Champions but are never referred to as former World Heavyweight Champions. This is true even of WWE wrestlers who won that title while in WWE and have never been in WCW, such as Kurt Angle.
- On the May 19, 2003 edition of RAW, champion Triple H was given the choice to defend his title against any of the former "World Champions" on RAW's roster ("World Champions" refers to former WWE Champions and RAW World Heavyweight Champions): Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Kevin Nash, or Ric Flair (he ultimately choice to defend his title against his ally, Flair). Notable by their absence in that lineup were any former WCW Champions who had never won the RAW World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship, such as Booker T, Scott Steiner and Goldberg, implying that the WCW Championship was not recognized as the World Heavyweight Championship.
- Upon his WWE debut Chris Benoit was recognized by the company as having held the WCW World Championship even after the disputed-title controversy WCW created upon his leaving the company, but upon winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX it was stated that Benoit "had finally won it" thereby contradicting their own claims four years prior, adding to the confusion and implying again that the WCW Championship was not recognized as the World Heavyweight Championship.
It must be noted however that upon restoring the WCW United States Championship as a WWE title after two years of inactivity, its lineage remained intact through the NWA and WCW eras, yet with a different looking title belt, whereas the World title seems to have a separate lineage and yet the same belt. Also, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship was renamed the WWE Cruiserweight Championship after The Alliance lost to Team WWF at Survivor Series. The WCW belt was kept for several months, despite being refered to as a WWF/E title. This championship seems to have also kept its WCW lineage. (A new belt with the WWE logo was eventually used.)
There is another, albeit less popular, school of thought which suggests that the World Heavyweight title is, indeed, an extension of the WCW championship.
- WWE announcers often reference the history of the World Heavyweight championship as if it extends further than 2002.
- WWE.com has been known in the past for not providing accurate championship histories. Their current title history page omits any Light-Heavyweight championship reigns prior to Taka Michinoku (before this, the championship was defended mostly in Japan as part of the J-Crown) and any Women's champion from September 1956 to July 1984 other than the Fabulous Moolah, giving the impression that Moolah held the title for 30 years. Their website also combined the list of WCW Light-Heavyweight champions with that of the current WWE Cruiserweight championship (formerly the WCW Cruiserweight championship). In short, WWE themselves seem confused on the history of their own titles.
- The WCW championship was renamed the "World Heavyweight title" by Vince McMahon after The Alliance was forced out of business at Survivor Series 2001. This is the title that was unified with the WWF championship to form the Undisputed title. It is suggested that when Bischoff "created" the World Heavyweight championship, all he was doing was retracting the WCW/World title that was part of the Undisputed title (leaving SmackDown! with the WWE half).
History and trivia
- The youngest champion was Randy Orton at the age of 24.
- The oldest champion is Batista at 39.
- The longest reign was by Triple H at under nine months.
- The shortest reign was by Randy Orton at twenty-seven days.
- The only text on the belt (excluding the name of the current holder) is "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion"
- The WWE had in fact decided to modify the original NWA/WCW Title belt for it to become the RAW World Championship Belt, by including a new WWE trademark logo at the top of the belt (previously not there) and shaping the plate face of the belt to be slightly curved.
- Prior to June 2005, the World Heavyweight championship had served as RAW's premier title. However, after WWE champion John Cena was drafted to RAW from SmackDown!, the two titles are apparently sharing "top billing" on the brand.
Current champion
The current World Heavyweight Champion is Batista in his first reign. He defeated Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 21 to win the title.
See also
External Links
- WWE.com - World Heavyweight Championship History (http://www.wwe.com/inside/title_history/world_hvywght/index.jsp)