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World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the championship that is currently defended on the SmackDown! brand of WWE. For RAW's top championship, see WWE Championship. For the other versions of the "Big Gold Belt" design, see Big Gold Belt.
| World Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The World Heavyweight Championship belt (2003 - present) |
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) |
Edge | ||||||||||||||||
| Date won | December 16, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||||||||||||||||
| Brand | SmackDown! | ||||||||||||||||
| Date created | September 2, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| Past design(s) |  |
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The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It was originally the highest ranked title on the RAW brand. Currently, it is the highest ranked championship on the SmackDown! brand.
Contents |
History
In August 2002, after Brock Lesnar won the WWE Undisputed Championship, he signed an exclusive contract to appear and defend the Undisputed Championship on the SmackDown! brand only, thus leaving the RAW brand without a top championship. Following Lesnar's actions, RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff introduced the World Heavyweight Championship and commissioned it to be the main title for the RAW brand. This new championship was represented by the Big Gold Belt, an iconic championship belt that previously represented the NWA Championship and later the WCW Championship. Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H citing the fact that he was "the last man to wear the belt," in reference to Triple H being the last person to physically hold the Big Gold Belt during his reign as Undisputed Champion. In March 2003, the Big Gold Belt was replaced with a new similar belt that features the WWE logo at the top of the center plate.
The World Heavyweight Championship remained exclusive to the RAW brand until June 6, 2005 as a result of the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. The WWE Champion, John Cena, was drafted to the RAW brand which left the RAW brand with the two top titles. This prompted SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long to attempt to introduce a third top title called the "SmackDown! Championship". However this was deemed unnecessary when the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on June 30, 2005.
Lineage and terminology
Though the World Heavyweight Championship is a new title created in 2002[1], it garned prestige by tracing its lineage "back all the way to George Hackenschmidt and 1904", to the NWA and the WCW Championship.[2]
WWE uses the terms "world championship" or "world heavyweight championship" in general for all acknowledged world titles rather than this World Heavyweight Championship in particular. As a result, the World Heavyweight Championship's name can occasionally cause some confusion and create an allusion to previous titles even though it is made clear that Triple H is the first holder of this World Heavyweight Championship.[3] For example, in January 2006, Batista was forced to drop the World Heavyweight Championship due to a legit injury. In a speech, he noted Ric Flair as being a previous world heavyweight champion. However, while Ric Flair is a 16-time world heavyweight champion, this was in reference to him previously winning the NWA, WCW, and WWE Championships a combined total of sixteen times as Ric Flair hasn't held this World Heavyweight Championship at all.
Current champion
The current champion is Edge, who is in his second reign.[4] He defeated champion Batista and The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match at Armageddon on December 16, 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ World Heavyweight Championship title history
- ^ WCW World Heavyweight Championship history at WWE.com
- ^ Triple H's sixth reign as a world champion
- ^ a b Edge's second World Heavyweight Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ McAvennie, Mike (2007-12-16). Edge's "three-meditated" attack to perfection. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
External links
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Brand Championships
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RAW: WWE • Intercontinental • World Tag Team • Women's SmackDown!: World Heavyweight • United States • Tag Team • Cruiserweight ECW: ECW |
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Developmental Championships
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Ohio Valley Wrestling: Heavyweight • Television • Southern Tag Team • Women's Florida Championship Wrestling: Southern Heavyweight |
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Other accomplishments
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Royal Rumble • Money in the Bank • King of the Ring • Diva Search |
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Championship lists
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List of current champions in WWE WWE (reigns) • Intercontinental (reigns) • World Tag Team (reigns) • Women's (reigns) World Heavyweight (reigns) • United States (reigns) • Tag Team (reigns) • Cruiserweight (reigns) ECW (reigns) |