The CZW World Heavyweight Championship is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling sh ...

(CZW). It debuted on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

. The championship is generally contested in

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, often with

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

(or "ultraviolent", as CZW generally terms it) stipulations. There have been a total of 58 reigns among 36 different wrestlers. The championship is currently vacant due to

Joe Gacy Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Joe Gacy. He is the leader of The Schism. Gacy is best known for his work in Combat Zo ...

signing with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

History

Background

The championship was created and debuted on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event, where

Nick Gage Nicholas William Wilson (born September 22, 1980), better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is the current GCW World Champion i ...

defeated 20 other men in a

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

to become the first champion. The championship has been defended and lost in countries other than the United States multiple times. The first time it changed hands on foreign soil was on April 15, 2001, when

Wifebeater Wife-beater, wifebeater, or wife beater is a slang term for a man who commits domestic violence, particularly against his spouse or long term female partner. It can also refer to: Items stereotypically associated with perpetrators of domestic ...

defeated

John Zandig John Corson (born April 4, 1971), better known by the ring name John Zandig, is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is the founder and former owner of the promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Early life Corson was born in Se ...

for the championship in

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

at a live event. Even though the CZW World Heavyweight Championship is supposed to only be eligible to "heavyweights" (wrestlers who weigh more than ), multiple lower-class wrestlers have held the championship. Wrestlers such as John Silver,

Drake Younger Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

, Nick Gage,

Nick Berk Nicholas K. Berk (born May 11, 1980), also known by his ring name Nicky Benz, is an American independent professional wrestler, best known for his work in Combat Zone Wrestling, where he is a former CZW World Heavyweight and Iron Man Champion ...

, and

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the ...

are a few who have been storyline exceptions.

Belt design

The championship's current design involves five metal plates positioned on a leather strap. The central plate has the word "World" at the top, while the word "Champion" at the bottom. There are two light tubes that are placed at each end of the plate. The CZW logo is engraved at the very center of the plate.

Reigns

The inaugural champion was Gage, who won the championship by defeating 20 other men in a battle royal on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event.

's first reign is the longest in the title's history.

and David Starr are tied for shortest in the title's history at less than 1 day. Zandig holds the record for most reigns, with six.

Footnotes

*1. - This description is based on the current design of the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, as seen in the images throughout the article.

Notes

External links

CZWrestling.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czw World Heavyweight Championship Combat Zone Wrestling championships World heavyweight wrestling championships