WWE World Championship

WWE World Championship

The current WWE World Championship belt with default side plates
Details
Promotion WWE
Brand SmackDown
Date established April 25, 1963
Current champion(s) AJ Styles
Date won September 11, 2016
Other name(s)
  • WWWF World Heavyweight Championship
    (1963–1971)
  • WWWF Heavyweight Championship
    (1971–1979)
  • WWF Heavyweight Championship
    (1979–1983)
  • WWF World Heavyweight Championship
    (1983–1998)
  • WWF Championship
    (1998–2001)
  • Undisputed WWF Championship
    (2001–2002)
  • Undisputed WWE Championship
    (2002)
  • WWE Championship
    (2002–2013, 2016)
  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship
    (2013–2016)
  • WWE World Championship
    (2016–present)

The WWE World Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two world titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The title is currently held by AJ Styles, who is in his first reign.

The championship was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, following the promotion seceding from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championship currently active in the WWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title, with many matches for the title having headlined pay-per-view events – including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania.[2]

From its inception in 1963 until 2001, it was promoted as WWE's sole primary championship. After World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was bought out by the WWE (then WWF) in early 2001, the then-WWF Championship became one of two world titles in the promotion due to the addition of the WCW Championship. At the end of 2001, they were unified as the Undisputed Championship. After the first brand extension in 2002 and the championship becoming exclusive to SmackDown, the title was again one of two world titles in WWE when Raw created the World Heavyweight Championship. When ECW became a third brand in 2006, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship was introduced as a third world title. Over the course of the first brand extension, the then-WWE Championship was featured as the world title of the SmackDown brand twice, the Raw brand three times, and the ECW brand once. Following the decommissioning of the ECW Championship in 2010, and later, the 2013 unification with the World Heavyweight Championship, it was once again promoted as WWE's sole world title until the reintroduction of the brand extension in 2016.

History

Origin

Two-time champion and WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, whose seven year-plus (2,803 day) first reign as champion is the longest in history

The title was introduced in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the first champion. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which had various territorial member promotions. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was a member of the NWA and by 1963, its executives held a controlling stake over NWA operations. During this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship in a one fall match. Claiming the title can only be contested in a traditional two out of three falls match, the promotion disputed the title change, and thus seceded from the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was then established and awarded to Buddy Rogers with the explanation that he won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro, supposedly defeating Antonino Rocca in the finals.[3] After several years, the WWWF became affiliated with the NWA once again, and "World" was dropped from the championship's name. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and then after conclusively ending its affiliation with the NWA in 1983, the championship became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Although the full name appeared on the championship belts until 1998, the name was often abbreviated to WWF Championship, which became its official name in 1998.

Monday Night Wars and title unification

Further information: Championship unification
A diagram showing the evolution of various world heavyweight championships

In 1991, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a member of the NWA, established the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to replace the NWA's world title. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. Both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war, dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline, which culminated in WWF purchasing WCW in March 2001.[4] As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired, among other assets, WCW's championships. Thus, there were two world titles in the WWF: the original WWF Championship and the WCW Championship, which was eventually renamed to the "World Championship".[5][6]

In December 2001, the two championships were unified at Vengeance. At the event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Championship, while Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the World Championship. After this, Jericho then defeated Austin, unifying the WWF and World Championships, and becoming the first Undisputed WWF Champion; the Undisputed championship retained the lineage of the WWF Championship and the World Championship was retired.[7] Subsequently, the Big Eagle Belt (formerly representing the WWF Championship) and the Big Gold Belt (formerly representing the World Championship) were used in tandem to represent the Undisputed Championship.[8][9][10] Jericho held the championship for four months until he lost it at WrestleMania X8 against Triple H, who was soon after presented with a single championship belt.[11]

Championship disputes

Record twelve-time champion John Cena – shown with the "Spinner Belt", which was used to represent the title from 2005 to 2013

The Undisputed Championship continued until the brand extension, which saw wrestlers being drafted to the company's main television programs, Raw and SmackDown, each show representing the brand of the same name, with championships assigned to and authority figures appointed for each brand.[12] The holder of the Undisputed Championship was the only male wrestler allowed to appear on both shows.

In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the championships were renamed accordingly. At first, the championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as wrestlers from both brands could challenge the champion. Following the appointment of Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon as General Managers of Raw and SmackDown, respectively, Stephanie McMahon convinced then-Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar to become exclusive to the SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world title.[13][14] In response, on September 2, Bischoff disputed Lesnar's status as champion, stating Lesnar was refusing to defend his title against the designated No. 1 contender, Triple H, and awarded the latter with the newly created World Heavyweight Championship, spun off from the Undisputed Championship. Immediately afterwards, Lesnar's championship dropped the epithet "Undisputed" and became known as the WWE Championship.[15]

Over the course of the first brand extension, the WWE Championship was featured as the world title of the SmackDown brand twice and the Raw brand three times. In all but two cases, the WWE Championship switched brands as a result of the annual draft. In June 2006, the WWE established ECW as a third brand, featuring former Extreme Championship Wrestling stars, in addition to newer talent. When ECW's Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship at ECW One Night Stand on June 11, 2006, the championship briefly became a world title of the ECW brand; the ECW World Heavyweight Championship was subsequently reactivated for the ECW brand upon Van Dam's title win. Van Dam held both titles until he lost the WWE Championship to Raw's Edge the following month. The ECW brand was disbanded in 2010, subsequently deactivating the ECW Championship. The first brand extension ended in August 2011.

Previously that year, a storyline saw CM Punk vowing to leave the company with the WWE Championship when his contract expired on July 17, 2011, the date of the 2011 Money in the Bank pay-per-view. At the event, Punk succeeded in defeating the defending champion John Cena to win the title, and left the company with the physical championship belt. Subsequently, the championship was vacated and Rey Mysterio won an eight-man tournament by defeating The Miz in the finals to be crowned the new WWE Champion, only to subsequently lose it later that night to Cena, for the latter's record ninth reign. However, following Cena's win, Punk returned to WWE with his own championship belt, disputing Cena's claim to the title.[16] The two WWE Champions wrestled each other at SummerSlam; Punk defeated Cena to solidify his claim on the title.

Title reunified and second brand split

Three-time champion Daniel Bryan, shown with the 2013–2014 version of the championship belt (over his shoulder) and the Big Gold Belt, which were used in tandem to represent the unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship from December 2013 to August 2014

Following the end of the first brand extension in August 2011, both the WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. In November 2013, the night after Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine an undisputed WWE world champion. Orton defeated Cena in a TLC match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15, 2013, to unify the titles. Subsequently, the unified championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship and retained the lineage of the WWE Championship; the World Heavyweight Championship was retired.[17] Orton and subsequent champions held both championship belts until a single championship belt was given to then-champion Brock Lesnar in 2014.[18]

After Dean Ambrose became champion in June 2016, the title's name was reverted to WWE Championship.[19][20][21] In light of the return of the WWE brand extension, then-WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown on July 19. Ambrose then retained his title at Battleground on July 24 against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, making the title exclusive to SmackDown.[22] On the July 25 episode of Raw, to address the lack of a world title for the brand, the WWE Universal Championship was created; Finn Bálor became the inaugural champion at SummerSlam.[23] After the unveiling of the Universal title, the WWE Championship was renamed to WWE World Championship.[24][25]

Brand designation

Following the events of the first WWE brand extension, an annual WWE draft was established in 2002, with Ric Flair and Vince McMahon heading up the Raw and SmackDown brands respectively. Further individuals acted as General Manager of Raw and of SmackDown in subsequent years. Each year, the General Managers participated in a draft lottery in which select members of the WWE roster were assigned to a brand. The revived ECW became a third brand from 2006 to 2010.[26] On August 29, 2011, WWE ended the brand extension and wrestlers (including all champions), were then free to appear on any program.

On May 25, 2016, WWE announced that SmackDown would move to Tuesday nights and go live starting July 19 and also receive a unique set of wrestlers and writers, as opposed to Raw, thus reintroducing the brand extension. The draft took place on the live premiere of SmackDown.[27] On the July 18 episode of Raw, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon named Daniel Bryan the SmackDown General Manager and Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon named Mick Foley the Raw General Manager.[21][28]

The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the WWE World Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.

Colors

 Championship moved to the Raw brand.

 Championship moved to the SmackDown brand.

 Championship moved to the ECW brand.
Date of transition Notes
September 2, 2002 WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar signs with SmackDown and the title becomes exclusive to that brand.
The championship was renamed the WWE Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw.[29]
June 6, 2005 During the 2005 WWE draft lottery, World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown while WWE Champion John Cena was drafted to Raw.[30]
June 11, 2006 Following WWE's planned revival of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a third brand, Rob Van Dam was chosen by ECW Representative Paul Heyman to move to the new brand. At ECW One Night Stand, Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE Championship and bring the title to ECW. The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was subsequently reactivated for ECW.[31]
July 3, 2006 Edge won the WWE Championship, thereby bringing it back to Raw.[32]
June 23, 2008 WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to SmackDown during the 2008 WWE draft.[32]
April 13, 2009 WWE Champion Triple H brings the championship back to Raw following his drafting to the brand at the 2009 WWE draft.[33]
The championship remained exclusive to Raw until the end of the first brand extension.
The ECW Championship, along with the brand, was deactivated in 2010.
August 29, 2011 End of first brand extension.
The WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown.
The championships were unified in December 2013, subsequently retiring the World Heavyweight Championship.
July 19, 2016 Reintroduction of the brand extension.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown during the 2016 WWE draft.
The championship was renamed the WWE World Championship,[25] and the WWE Universal Championship was created for Raw.

Championship belt designs

1963–1982

The original WWWF World Heavyweight Championship belt had three gold plates on a red leather strap. The center plate was an outline of the continental United States with the caption "World's Champion" under a circle flanked by grapplers and an eagle on top. This version was worn by the inaugural champion Buddy Rogers in 1963 and the second champion Bruno Sammartino. After Sammartino became champion, a new version on a blue strap was introduced. The enlarged center piece contained a crowned globe and two grapplers, and read "WWWF World Champion"; the two side plates commemorated Sammartino's title win. Sammartino wore this version for the duration of his seven-year reign. After defeating Sammartino in January 1971, Ivan Koloff held this version for three weeks before losing it to Pedro Morales.

During Morales's reign, the championship belt was updated several times. First, the 1971 design, on an indigo colored strap, contained three shield-shaped plates. Below the center plate, which had a cross at its center, a separate plate read "WWWF". This was replaced with another design in 1972. This version, on a red strap, read "WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" around the edges with an eagle at the center, while six side plates represented several countries. 1973 saw the introduction of another yet similar design; this one was on a black strap and contained two grapplers above the eagle. This version was subsequently held by Stan Stasiak, Bruno Sammartino, Superstar Billy Graham – who wore a red leather variation – and Bob Backlund. During the latter's reign, the promotion's name was shortened to World Wrestling Federation (WWF), but the physical championship belt still read "WWWF".

1982–2005

A new design was introduced in 1982, nicknamed the "Big Green Belt" due to its size and the color of its strap. It included eight (later ten) side plates dedicated to the previous champions. This design, held by Bob Backlund, The Iron Sheik, and Hulk Hogan, was replaced first by the "Hogan '84" design in late 1984, then by the nearly identical "Hogan '85" design in early 1985. Both championship belts, worn only by Hulk Hogan, consisted of silver plates on a black strap, the center plate read "WWF World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" and "Worldwide Wrestling" and contained a name plate commemorating Hogan's title win, while the side plates noted previous champions. The difference between the '84 and the '85 design was that the writing was in red on the '84, and black background was added on the '85 belt. The next year, the "Hogan '86" was introduced, which read "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" with a big globe at its center and included the famous WWF block logo, while four side plates with two flags each represented eight different countries.

In 1988, just before ending his first championship reign, Hogan introduced a new design, the "Winged Eagle" championship belt, which became the primary design for the next decade with many wrestlers holding this version. Its nickname is derived from the eagle's wings seemingly coming off of the center plate, which included the block WWF logo and read "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion". The championship belt also had four identical side plates. Apart from the usual black leather strap, The Ultimate Warrior wore white, light blue, yellow, and purple variations. Sgt. Slaughter continued to wear Warrior's purple strap.

In 1998, after Stone Cold Steve Austin became champion, he was presented with a new design, often dubbed the "Big Eagle" or "Attitude Era" championship belt, which originally contained the block WWF logo and was on a blue strap, but was soon updated to the WWF scratch logo and on a black strap. In addition to the logo, it read "World Wrestling Federation Champion". After Chris Jericho unified the WWF and WCW Championships into the Undisputed WWF Championship, the "Big Eagle" championship belt was used in tandem with the "Big Gold Belt", the former WCW Championship belt, until a single Undisputed Championship belt was introduced to champion Triple H on the April 4, 2002 episode of Raw.[11] This new belt was designed by New York–based tattoo artist Keith Ciaramello. Taking inspiration from WCW, this design included a name plate, and like the previous two designs, it had an eagle atop the globe. It originally had the WWF scratch logo and read "World Wrestling Federation Champion"; after the promotion was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002, both the scratch logo and wording were changed accordingly.[34] The championship later became the WWE Championship in September 2002, while the Big Gold Belt was resurrected to represent the World Heavyweight Championship.

2005–2014

The "Spinner Belt", which had a gold and diamond bling-bling style reflecting John Cena's hip hop character at the time, became the WWE Championship's primary design from April 11, 2005 until February 18, 2013. The scratch WWE logo, placed between an eagle on top and the word "Champ" and a name plate below, could be spun like spinner wheels or a turntable in keeping with the hip-hop theme. The inner side plates read "WWE Champion", though before 2008, one side plate indicated the brand the title was designated to. The spinning function was phased out in later years and the logo set in a fixed place, most notably during The Miz's reign (2010–2011) when the logo was turned upside down to look like an "M". The Rock commented negatively on the spinning function on the night the belt was retired.

On the February 18, 2013 episode of Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship belt. The new title was partially designed by Orange County Choppers of American Chopper fame.[35][36][37] The championship included a large cut-out of the scratch WWE logo (encrusted with diamonds) inside a large irregular heptagonal plate. The word "Champion" appeared underneath the logo in large letters. On each side was a divider bar and a large plate. Default side plates consisted of a red globe with the WWE logo underneath a crown, but they were replaced with the reigning champion's personal logo. This championship belt was used in tandem with the Big Gold Belt to represent the renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Randy Orton unified the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013.[38]

Current design

Four-time and youngest champion Brock Lesnar was the first wrestler to hold the current WWE World Championship belt.

On the August 18, 2014 episode of Raw, reigning champion Brock Lesnar, who had won the title the night before at SummerSlam, was presented with a single championship belt. It has a slightly updated design from the belt introduced by The Rock in 2013 as a result of WWE adapting a new corporate logo originally used for the WWE Network. It includes a large center plate dominated by a cut out of the new WWE logo inside an irregular heptagon with the capital words "World Heavyweight Champion" along the bottom edges, in very small print. The large side plates, like the previous design, include removable round sections, allowing the holder's personal logo to be added to the championship belt; the default sections show gold and red world maps with the WWE logo over them, though they lack the crown placed on top of the plates in the previous design. The Big Gold Belt was retired with the unveiling of the new championship belt.[18]

After the 2016 brand extension, the championship was renamed as the WWE World Championship; the digitized championship belt used in pre-match graphics reads "WWE World Champion" below the WWE logo, though the physical championship belt retains "World Heavyweight Champion".

In what has become a tradition in recent years, WWE sends a WWE World Championship belt (with the team's logo on custom side plates) to the winners of the World Series, the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals.[39]

Customized designs

Custom championship belts have been created to honor certain reigning champions or match their characters. During Hogan's reign in 1986, he had a modified version of the Hogan '86 made, which included a picture of himself at the center. This was a short lived custom design as he reverted to the Hogan '86 version. A much larger version of the Hogan '86 championship belt was created for André the Giant before WrestleMania III, although he never wore it as champion.[40]

A custom championship belt was presented to Stone Cold Steve Austin, which included his "Smoking Skull" logo as well as rattle snakes. As an answer, The Rock also had a custom championship belt designed and constructed, including his trademark "Brahma Bull" logo, but due to creative reasons it never appeared on television.[34] The Spinner Belt, originally a customized belt for John Cena, remained the standard title belt from 2005 to 2013. Edge introduced his variation, the "Rated R Spinner" design, replacing the scratch WWE logo with his "Rated R Superstar" logo.[41]

Reigns

The WWE World Championship was the first world championship introduced into the promotion in 1963. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers, and there have been 48 different official champions overall and 11 vacancies.[2] The longest reigning champion is Bruno Sammartino, who held the title from May 17, 1963, to January 18, 1971, for a total of 2,803 days (7 years, 8 months, and 1 day); Sammartino also holds the record for longest combined reign at 4,040 days.[42] André the Giant is the shortest reigning champion, officially holding the title for 1 minute, 48 seconds.[1] The youngest champion is Brock Lesnar, who won the title at the age of 25, while the oldest champion is Vince McMahon, who won it at the age of 54. John Cena holds the record for most reigns with 12.

The current champion is AJ Styles, who is in his first reign. He won the title on September 11, 2016, in Richmond, Virginia at Backlash by defeating Dean Ambrose.

References

  1. 1 2 "The 5 shortest WWE Title reigns in history". Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "WWE Championship Title History". WWE. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  3. ↑ "Rogers' 1st reign". WWE. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  4. ↑ "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting". WWE Corporate. 2001-03-23. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  5. ↑ "WWE Raw Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Monday Night Raw – November 19, 2001: That's One Heck Of A Reset". KB's Wrestling Reviews. July 29, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ "WCW World Champion – Chris Jericho". WWE.com. Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ The complex history of WWE's era of unification. WWE.com (2012-09-12). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  9. ↑ "WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  10. ↑ Clayton, Corey (2007-09-06). "World Heavyweight Championship turns five years old". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  11. 1 2 "The unification of the WWE Championship and WCW Championship". WWE.
  12. ↑ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands".
  13. ↑ "Brock Lesnar Biography at SLAM! Sports". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-12-21. After the July 22nd episode of Raw, Lesnar defected to Stephanie McMahon's SmackDown. Lesnar decided to remain exclusively on SmackDown, forcing Eric Bischoff's Raw brand to create its own World Championship.
  14. ↑ "Vince Mcmahon Biography at SLAM! Sports". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-12-21. The entire WWE roster was broken up into two separate camps, yahoo, with some rivalry (especially between future General Managers Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon) occurring.
  15. ↑ Nemer, Paul (2002-09-02). "Full WWE RAW Results – 9/2/02". WrestleView. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  16. ↑ "SmackDown results: Truth and Consequences". WWE. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  17. ↑ "CALDWELL'S WWE TLC PPV RESULTS 12/15: Live, in-person coverage of Cena vs. Orton unification match from Houston".
  18. 1 2 "Brock Lesnar receives the new WWE title belt on 'Monday Night Raw'". USA Today. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ Johnson, Mike. "Future of top WWE championship already hinted at". PWInsider.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  20. ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Seth Rollins addressed 'The Roman Reigns Scandal'". WWE. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  21. 1 2 "WWE Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  22. ↑ Caldwell, James. "7/24 WWE Battleground Results – Caldwell's Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  23. ↑ Hamlin, Jeff. "WWE Raw live results: title match set for SummerSlam & a new champion is crowned". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  24. ↑ "WWE SmackDown Live results, July 26, 2016". WWE. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  25. 1 2 "WWE World Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  26. ↑ Dee, Louie (2007-06-07). "Draft History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  27. ↑ "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's LIVE premiere". WWE. June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  28. ↑ Fernandes, Steven (June 28, 2016). "WWE Championship name change official, Bellas and more news". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  29. ↑ Nemer, Paul (September 2, 2002). "Full WWE RAW Results - 9/2/02". Wrestleview. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  30. ↑ "2005 WWE Draft Lottery". WWE. 2005-06-13. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  31. ↑ is WWE Champion here, having won it two nights ago.
  32. 1 2
  33. ↑ DRAFT PICK FOUR AND FIVE: Raw Gets – Matt Hardy; Raw Gets – HHH
  34. 1 2 Murphy, Ryan. "Seven Rare Championships from the WWE Vault". WWE. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
  35. ↑ Ryan Murphy. (2013-02-19) The making of the new WWE Title: How the WWE Championship was reinvented in 540 days. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  36. ↑ "WWE Raw Results". WWE.
  37. ↑ "Check Out – a Full Look at the New WWE Heavyweight Title". 411mania.com.
  38. ↑ "WWE Champions". WWE. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  39. ↑ Lynch, Andrew (June 21, 2016). "The Cavs received their new custom WWE title belt from Triple H". Fox Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  40. ↑ "7 Championship Secrets Finally Revealed". (July 2009). WWE Magazine, p. 37.
  41. ↑ Robinson, Jon. "Edge Interview". p. 2. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  42. ↑ "Bruno Sammartino". WWE. Retrieved 2014-11-09.

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