The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first recognized

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 created in 1905 to identify the best catch as catch can wrestler in the world. The subsequent legacy of the championship is not linear, with the champion being disputed among various promotions until the formation of the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA) in 1948. The last several reigns are recognized by the NWA under the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...

. The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was

George Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt ( – 19 February 1968) was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman, professional wrestler, author, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion. Hack ...

, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The championship remained active for the next 51 years, with the last recognized reign being disputed between

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

and

Édouard Carpentier Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz (russian: Эдуард Виецз; July 17, 1926 – October 30, 2010) was a French-born Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Édouard Carpentier. Over the course of his career, Carpentier he ...

after a match between the two ended in a legitimate disqualification.

History

George Hackenschmidt won a world championship tournament to become the first champion. Hackenschmidt won several other tournaments in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

; Hamburg, Germany;

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

;

Elberfeld, Germany Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

; and Berlin, Germany in the same year. He also won the

European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship The World/American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship and the World/European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship was a Greco-Roman professional wrestling championship contested for throughout the continent of Australia, Europe and North Amer ...

title from Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902, in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. He won the recognition of being the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 30, 1904, in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

by defeating

Ahmed Madrali Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

. Hackenschmidt defeated American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins on May 4, 1905, in New York City to become the recognized world champion in North America.

Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch (April 27, 1877 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and he is credited for popularizing professi ...

won the title from Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, and he held the title for five years until his retirement on April 1, 1913. He was the sixth longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history behind

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...

Jim Londos Christos Theofilou ( el, Χρήστος Θεοφίλου; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos (Greek: Τζίμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most p ...

, Lou Thesz,

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling ...

(who all held their world titles for over seven years) and

Bob Backlund Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, wher ...

(who held his for nearly six years).

Joe Stecher Joe Stecher (April 4, 1893 – March 29, 1974), sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was an American professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Known for his ferocity, tremendous leg strength and extensive knowledge o ...

defeated American Heavyweight Champion Charlie Cutler to become the first widely recognized world heavyweight champion after the retirement of Frank Gotch. After

lost the title to Johan Olin by countout, Olin started his own line, with both iterations of the title being defended. Ed Lewis defeated Olin while

Earl Caddock Earl Caddock (February 27, 1888 – August 25, 1950) was an American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. As the first man to bill himself as "The Man of 1,000 Holds" ...

defeated Stecher. Lewis and

Wladek Zbyszko Władysław Cyganiewicz (November 20, 1891 – June 10, 1968), better known by the ring name Władek Zbyszko (), was a Polish catch wrestler, professional wrestler and strongman. "Zbyszko" was his older brother Stanislaus's childhood nickname, ...

traded the title on multiple occasions between 1917 and 1919, making Zbyszko a three-time unofficial champion and Lewis a two-time unofficial champion, while Caddock debatably held the title for a period of 23 days - 1,027 days, depending on which iteration of the title deemed official. Joe Stecher was able to defeat both Wladek Zbyszko and Ed Lewis to unify both titles in 1920. On April 15, 1925, Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated previous champion

Wayne Munn Wayne Munn (February 19, 1896 – January 9, 1931) was an American professional wrestler and collegiate football player from the University of Nebraska. As a wrestler, Munn was a World Heavyweight Championship (Original), World Heavyweight Champi ...

to win the championship. However, Munn continued to be recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Michigan and in Illinois. Ed Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928, in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship version. Joe Stetcher then defeated Zbyszko to become widely recognized champion. The dispute ended when Lewis defeated Stetcher on February 21, 1928. Gus Sonnenburg won the title from Lewis on January 4, 1929, but the recognition of being the world champion by the wrestling section of the

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

was withdrawn from Sonnenberg for failing to meet real title contenders. Lewis won the title again on April 13, 1931. Lewis was also AWA World Heavyweight Champion in Boston at the time, but lost that title by disqualification to

Henri Deglane Henri Deglane (22 June 1902 – 7 July 1975) was a French wrestler. He was an Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and AWA World Champion. In May 1931, Deglane faced Ed "Strangler" Lewis for the AWA World Heavyweight Champion ...

on May 4, 1931, in

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

. However, Lewis was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in Illinois. Lewis then defeated

(who was widely considered the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion) on November 2, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois, ending the dispute. Lewis then continued by winning the

New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship The NYSAC World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athlet ...

by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932, for the vacant title. but lost it to Jim Browning.

Danno O'Mahony Danno O'Mahony (9 September 1912 – 3 November 1950) was an Irish professional wrestler who enjoyed a brief but meteoric rise to massive popularity in the mid-1930s following a successful introduction to the Boston regional wrestling scene. Hi ...

won the title from Lewis on July 30, 1935. O'Mahony defeated Londos to win the New York State Athletic Commission world title. O'Mahony also won the AWA world title by defeating

Ed Don George Edward Nye "Ed Don" George Jr. (June 3, 1905 – September 18, 1985) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling promoter. A former Olympic freestyle wrestler, George competed in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and turned pro ...

on July 30, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts to become the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. On March 2, 1936,

Dick Shikat Richard I. Shikat (11 January 1897 – 3 December 1968) was a German professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. Shikat was considered to be one of the most dangerous 'hooker ...

beat O'Mahony in New York, but the AWA continued to recognize O'Mahony as champion, splintering the "undisputed" nature of the title once again.

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...

won the title on April 25, 1936. Four days later it was announced by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that Baba would not be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in New York State by the New York Athletic Commission. However, it was announced that Baba and Shikat would face each other on May 5, 1936, at the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

for the world title. Baba went on to win the bout and thus be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional w ...

won the title on June 29, 1937. Nagurski was recognized as the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion by ''The Ring'' magazine. Londos won the title again on November 18, 1938, and retired as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 28, 1946. Londos wrestled his last match on this date by defeating Lord Albert Mills. LouThesz

Lou Thesz won the title on May 21, 1952. Thesz unified three championships to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion in wrestling: the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship (which he won on July 20, 1948, by defeating

Bill Longson Willard Rowe Longson (June 8, 1906 – December 12, 1982) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Wild Bill Longson. He spent most of his career in St. Louis, Missouri. He perfected the role of the arrogant heel, and ...

), the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(which was awarded to him on November 27, 1949) and the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

version of the world title, Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium World Heavyweight Championship, which he won on May 21, 1952, by defeating Baron Michele Leone).

Whipper Billy Watson William John Potts, (June 25, 1915 to February 4, 1990) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name "Whipper" Billy Watson. He was a two-time world champion, having held both the National Wrestling Association title and the ...

won the title on March 15, 1956, by defeating Thesz by

countout 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 ...

. Thesz won the title back from Watson on November 9, 1956. Édouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification on June 14, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois once Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules stated that a title could not change on a disqualification and Carpentier awarded the NWA world title back to Thesz. Carpentier was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachusetts. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by Worldwide Wrestling Associates in Los Angeles, California. This ended the last time the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was unified and to date has never been fully unified again. The Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship was later unified with the

AWA World Heavyweight Championship The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight C ...

. Thesz defeated Carpentier in a rematch by disqualification on July 24, 1957, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title. The title was unofficially retired on July 24, 1957 and its lineage continued over to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship.

Reigns

There were a total of 28 reigns and 3 vacancies. The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City, New York, the championship remained active for the next 51 years with the last recognized reign beginning on November 9, 1956. Ed Lewis holds the record for most reigns as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion with four. Lewis also holds the record for most combined days as champion with 3,073 days, while Jim Londos holds the record for longest reign at 2,628 days. Stanislaus Zbyszko holds the record for shortest reign at 45 days and is also the oldest champion, winning at the age of 46 years, 15 days, while Joe Stecher is the youngest champion, winning at the age of 22 years, 103 days. The final reign was disputed between Lou Thesz and Edouard Carpentier. All matches were held at

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

Ed Strangler Lewis - 6 Jan 1942 Municipal Auditorium Wrestling Program

List of combined reigns (excluding unrecognised)

List of combined reigns (including unrecognised)

Belt designs

The standard Championship belt has three plates on a black leather strap.

Legacy

Various promotions have been home to world heavyweight championships with origins that can also be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

The National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship assumed the original world championship's position as the preeminent wrestling championship, and claimed its lineage. Most of the following championships, all based in North America, arose out of the NWA championship. "World" heavyweight championships in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and the US

Independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

were created ''ex novo'' after promotions started.

AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the NWA's Minnesota member territory withdrew from the NWA and established the American Wrestling Association. The first champion was Pat O'Connor, who was recognized upon the AWA's secession from the NWA as O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well, which he won on January 9, 1959. The creation of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship along with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship would pave the way for the creation of many other world championships in other wrestling promotions. The American Wrestling Association and the title became inactive in 1990 and the organization officially closed down in 1991 with the title also being decommissioned.

WWE Championship

The WWE Championship's origin can be traced back to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship after an incident in which the

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

at the time left the NWA to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). This was after the WWWF refused to recognize Lou Thesz as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion after he beat Buddy Rogers in a one fall match – the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title matches usually followed a best-of-three fall format –

Vincent J. McMahon Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), sometimes referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which was later renamed WWWF (World ...

, the WWWF's owner created the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship and awarded Rogers the championship belt proclaiming he won it in a (

apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

l) tournament in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He lost the championship to

a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match. To accommodate Rogers' condition, the match was booked to last under a minute. Sammartino would retain the title for seven years, eight months and one day (2,803 days), until losing it to

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was b ...

, making Sammartino's reign the longest continuous world championship reign in men's wrestling history.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship

The

WCW World Heavyweight Championship The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title of ...

's origin is traced back to a match which took place on January 11, 1991, where

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

defeated

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. When WCW pulled out of the NWA in early 1991, Flair was recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The

WCW International World Heavyweight Championship The WCW International World Heavyweight Championship is a defunct professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that was contested in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1993 and 1994. A popular misconception about the title was ...

can be traced back to an incident in WCW's final split with the NWA in 1993, when Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign continued to be recognized as the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. The two titles were unified in June 1994. The title was briefly defended in WWF following WWF's purchase of WCW in 2001 before being unified into the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

and retired.

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...

unified the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with the WWF Championship at

WWF Vengeance 2001 The 2001 Vengeance was the inaugural Vengeance professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on December 9, 2001, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. ...

ECW World Heavyweight Championship

The

ECW World Heavyweight Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW ...

's origin is attributed to a tournament which was held to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1994 in NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling. On August 27, 1994,

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

participated and won the tournament and discarded the NWA World Heavyweight Championship proclaiming himself the new Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion. After this event ECW withdrew from the NWA and renamed itself Extreme Championship Wrestling. The title was decommissioned after ECW's bankruptcy in 2001 and subsequent purchase by WWE, then reactivated and competed for on the ECW brand of WWE from 2006 to 2010 when it was retired for the final time.

WWE's World Heavyweight Championship

WWE created a new World Heavyweight Championship following its first brand split, when then-WWE "Undisputed" Champion

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

became exclusive to the

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 simulc ...

brand, refusing to face designated number one contender

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

, who was a member of the Raw brand. Triple H was awarded the newly established title. This championship was a successor to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, split via the WWE Championship. It was represented by the same ''

Big Gold Belt The Big Gold Belt is a historic professional wrestling championship belt that has represented multiple world championships throughout its history. Originally designed in 1985 by silversmith Charles Crumrine and commissioned by Jim Crockett Prom ...

'' once used for the WCW and NWA championships, and was awarded by Raw General Manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

, the former President of WCW. WWE asserts its legacy extends back to the title created in 1905. Like the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, the title was not prefixed with the name of a promotion, though the physical belt had the WWE logo on it. It would be reunified with the WWE Championship by

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...

on December 15, 2013.

Impact World Championship

The

Impact World Championship The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional w ...

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

, formerly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), can also be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. TNA formed in May 2002 and established a partnership with the NWA, allowing TNA control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

. On June 19, 2002, TNA crowned the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion under their banner after

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

won a

Gauntlet for the Gold A Gauntlet for the Gold match is a professional wrestling match used in Impact Wrestling. Match format Different from the other gauntlet matches, in which one competitor faces several others in turn, the Gauntlet for the Gold match is very simil ...

match at TNA's first weekly

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

. On May 13, 2007, the NWA severed ties with TNA after the then-current NWA World Heavyweight Champion,

Christian Cage William Jason Reso (born November 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Christian Cage. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Christ ...

, refused to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against wrestlers from other NWA

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

. A brand new TNA World Heavyweight Championship was first won by

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

who won it at the 2007 edition of Sacrifice by defeating Cage and Sting. This title however neither claimed lineage to nor was linked to the Original World Heavyweight Championship. The title would go on to be exchanged between multiple wrestlers on TNA and is currently known as the

References

{{reflist, 2 Professional wrestling championships