The WWE Women's Championship was a
women's professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for women ...
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
in the American promotion,
World Wrestling Entertainment
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 ...
(WWE). The lineage of the Women's Championship dates back to September 18, 1956, when
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah.
She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mild ...
became the
NWA World Women's Champion
The NWA World Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The title was first won by Mildred Burke in 1937 def ...
. WWE did not exist at that time, and although they did not create their own women's championship until 1984 with The Fabulous Moolah as the first WWF Women's Champion, they claim 1956 for the championship's establishment and do not recognize any title changes from when Moolah became champion in 1956 until she lost it in 1984. This made the Women's Championship the oldest active professional wrestling championship in WWE history until its retirement in 2010 after unification with the
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie ...
.
The final champion was
Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compos ...
.
A new
WWE Women's Championship
WWE (formerly the WWF, WWWF, and its predecessor, Capitol Wrestling) has maintained several women's professional wrestling championships since acquiring The Fabulous Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship in 1984. Whenever brand division has be ...
(now Raw Women's Championship) was created in 2016, and although both championships had shared the name and the original is considered to be the predecessor, the new championship does not carry the lineage of the original.
History
![Fabulous Moolah World Champ - Heavyweight Wrestling - 31 August 1970 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Fabulous_Moolah_World_Champ_-_Heavyweight_Wrestling_-_31_August_1970_%28cropped%29.jpg)
On September 18, 1956,
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah.
She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mild ...
became the third
NWA World Women's Champion
The NWA World Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The title was first won by Mildred Burke in 1937 def ...
. At that time, the
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 ...
did not exist and did not become a company until 1963, when it was established as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Moolah, who bought the rights to the championship in the 1970s, defended the championship as the NWA World Women's Champion up until May 19, 1984; by this time, the WWWF had been renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 1983, the WWF disaffiliated with the NWA and Moolah sold the championship's rights to the WWF in 1984, and she was recognized as the WWF Women's Champion. Instead of beginning her reign in 1984, the WWF claimed the lineage of her reign from when she first became champion in 1956. The preceding champions and the title changes between 1956 and when Moolah lost it in 1984 are not recognized by WWE (although they are recognized by the NWA). As a result, The Fabulous Moolah's first reign is considered to have lasted 28 years by the promotion.
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after
Rockin' Robin vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF. Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated with
Alundra Blayze
Debrah Ann Miceli (born February 9, 1964), better known as Madusa, is an Italian-born American monster truck driver and former professional wrestler. She is currently working for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as a producer. In 2015, she h ...
winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship. However, the Women's Championship became inactive again when Blayze was released from the WWF. Blayze, as Madusa, unexpectedly signed with
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...
in 1995 and threw the championship belt, which was still in her possession, in a trash can on an episode of ''
WCW Monday Nitro
''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...
'' (in Blayze's 2015
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...
speech, she "returned" the title).
The Women's Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 when
Jacqueline Moore
Jacqueline DeLois Moore (born January 6, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. She is best known for her time in WWE (known as the World Wrestling Federation until 2002) from 1998 to 2004, where she beca ...
defeated
Sable
The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...
to win the title.
[
]
After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship. With the WWE Brand Extension
The brand extension, also referred to as the brand split, is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE's roster of wrestlers (and, at various times, creative staff) into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's ...
in March 2002, the Women's Championship at first was still defended on both the Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and SmackDown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...
brands, while most titles were exclusive to one brand. In September, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the Raw brand. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, until July 4, 2008, when a counterpart to the championship, called the WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie ...
, was created for the SmackDown brand. On April 13, 2009, the Women's Championship became exclusive to the SmackDown brand when reigning champion Melina was drafted from Raw to SmackDown during the 2009 WWE Draft to replace the current WWE Divas Champion
The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Gu ...
Maryse Maryse is a given name. Notable persons with this name include:
*Maryse Alberti, cinematographer
*Maryse Condé, author
*Maryse Dauvray, actress
*Maryse Lassonde, neuropsychologist
*Maryse Liburdi (formerly Maryse Thomas), CEO
*Maryse Marpsat, soci ...
, who had been drafted to Raw.
The Women's Championship was unified with the Divas Championship at Night of Champions
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...
in September 2010, creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship and making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title followed the lineage of the Divas Championship; the title eventually dropped the "Unified" moniker.
On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last Wre ...
, a new WWE Women's Championship
WWE (formerly the WWF, WWWF, and its predecessor, Capitol Wrestling) has maintained several women's professional wrestling championships since acquiring The Fabulous Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship in 1984. Whenever brand division has be ...
(now called the Raw Women's Championship) was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship. This new title does not carry the lineage of either the Divas Championship or the original Women's Championship, but is acknowledged by WWE as the successor of both.
Tournaments
WWF Women's Championship Tournament (1993)
The WWF Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide the new WWF Women's Champion WWF may refer to:
Non-profit organizations
*World Wide Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund, a nature conservation group
*World Water Forum, an international forum for water issues
*Working Women's Forum, a training, trade and credit union in In ...
after the title was reinstated after three years of inactivity.
WWE Women's Championship Tournament (2006)
The WWE Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new WWE Women's Champion
WWE (formerly the WWF, WWWF, and its predecessor, Capitol Wrestling) has maintained several women's professional wrestling championships since acquiring The Fabulous Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship in 1984. Whenever brand division has ...
after champion Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Pe ...
retired from her wrestling career. The first round started on September 25, 2006, and ended at Cyber Sunday
WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, ...
when Lita, who Stratus defeated in her retirement match, defeated Mickie James
Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American professional wrestler and country singer. She is currently signed to Impact Wrestling. She has also had tenures in WWE and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA ...
.
* Melina defeated Wilson in a Lumberjill match.
* Maria defeated Candice, Victoria and Wilson in Bra and Panties Match.
* The final match between Lita and James was a Lumberjill match.
Brand designation history
Following the WWE brand extension
The brand extension, also referred to as the brand split, is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE's roster of wrestlers (and, at various times, creative staff) into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's ...
on March 25, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the Raw brand or SmackDown brand. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the Women's Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Reigns
As per WWE's official title history, the inaugural champion was The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah.
She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mild ...
, who defeated Judy Grable
Nellya Baughman (August 21, 1935 – May 11, 2008) was an American professional wrestler who was best known by her ring name Judy Grable. She was an active wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to her nickname "The Barefoot Contessa" d ...
on September 18, 1956 Moolah had the longest reign by holding it for 10 years, although the WWE considers it to be longer at 28 years, as title changes between 1956 and 1984 are not recognized by the promotion. The Fabulous Moolah is technically tied with Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Pe ...
for the most reigns with 7, but because the WWE does not recognize the title changes between 1956 and 1984, Moolah only has 4 and Trish has the most reigns with 7. Mickie James has the shortest reign with 1 hour. While in Paris on April 24, 2007, James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for Raw, said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch, which she won.
The only male Women's Champion was Harvey Wippleman
Bruno Lauer (born October 27, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, referee, and occasional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Harvey Wippleman and Downtown Bruno.
Wippleman began his career working in professional wrestli ...
. On January 31, 2000, Wippleman won the WWF Women's Championship from The Kat while he was in a disguise and used the name "Hervina" in a "Lumberjill Snow bunny" match; the match took place in a snow filled pool surrounded by female wrestlers whose purpose was to keep the competitors from leaving the pool.
The women's division was deemed inactive in 1990 during Robin's reign. Alundra Blayze won the Women's Championship after it was reactivated in 1993. Chyna
Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and television personality.
She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where s ...
departed from the company during her reign. Trish Stratus won her seventh title reign in her final match at Unforgiven
''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
in 2006 against Lita before retiring the same night, thus vacating the championship the next day. Michelle McCool unified the Women's and Divas Championships in Layla's place, thus leaving Layla the final and undefeated champion.
References
;Notes
;Footnotes
External links
Official WWE Women's Title History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wwe Women's Championship
WWE women's championships