List of WWE Champions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:22, 10 June 2025

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Record 14-time and current champion John Cena

The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand. It was the first world title established in WWE, at the time known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), having been introduced in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. The WWWF, a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory, did not recognize Lou Thesz's victory over reigning NWA champion Buddy Rogers and sought to create its own world title upon exiting the body.Template:Efn The WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971; however, one of the caveats of rejoining is that the championship would no longer be recognised as a "world championship", and only as a regional heavyweight championship.^[1] The promotion was renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 and ended its affiliation with the (NWA) in 1983, with the title also renamed to reflect the changes; it regained its world championship status upon leaving the NWA. In 2001, it was unified with the World Championship and became the Undisputed WWF Championship.^[2]^[3] In 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and split its roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown.^[4]^[5] The title, now renamed the WWE Championship, was then designated to the SmackDown brand while WWE established an alternate world title known as the World Heavyweight Championship for the Raw brand. A third alternate world title, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, was reactivated for the ECW brand in 2006. It was vacated and decommissioned when the ECW brand disbanded in 2010.^[6]

When WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event on December 15, 2013, in a Tables, ladders, and chairs match, the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship, resulting in the retiring of the former,^[7] as well as the renaming of the latter to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On June 27, 2016, the name was shortened back to the WWE Championship,^[8] before assuming the WWE World Championship name on July 26, when the brand split returned. It became designated to the SmackDown brand and WWE again established an alternate world title known as the WWE Universal Championship for the Raw brand. In December 2016, WWE again shortened the title's name back to WWE Championship.^[9] From April 2022 to April 2024, the title represented one-half of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, with the other half represented by the Universal Championship, but both titles retained their individual lineages. Under the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship moniker, the title was moved to SmackDown in the 2023 draft and Raw established a new World Heavyweight Championship as an alternative title.

The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name while others use their real name. John Cena is the current champion in his record-setting 14th reign. He won the Undisputed WWE Championship by defeating Cody Rhodes in a singles match at WrestleMania 41 Night 2 on April 20, 2025, in Paradise, Nevada.

As of December 24, 2025, there have been 148 recognized reigns between 55 recognized champions and 11 recognized vacancies (there are 4 reigns, 2 people, and 2 vacancies that are not recognized by the WWE). The first champion was Buddy Rogers, who was awarded the championship in 1963. The champion with the single longest reign is Bruno Sammartino with a reign of 2,803 days while the record for longest combined reign is also held by Sammartino at 4,040. John Cena has the most reigns with 14. Ten men in history have held the championship for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Bruno Sammartino (who achieved the feat on two occasions), Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, John Cena, CM Punk, AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes. Of those ten, four held the championship for a continuous reign of 1,000 days or more: Bruno Sammartino (who achieved the feat on two occasions), Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, and Hulk Hogan.^[10]

Title history

Names

Name	Years
WWWF World Heavyweight Championship	April 11, 1963 – February 8, 1971
WWWF Heavyweight Championship	February 8, 1971 – March 1, 1979
WWF Heavyweight Championship	March 1, 1979 – December 26, 1983
WWF World Heavyweight Championship	December 26, 1983 – May 27, 1989
WWF Championship	May 27, 1989Script error: No such module "Unsubst". – December 9, 2001
Undisputed WWF Championship	December 9, 2001^[3] – May 6, 2002^[4]
Undisputed WWE Championship	May 6, 2002^[4] – May 19, 2002
WWE Undisputed Championship	May 19, 2002 – September 2, 2002^[11]
WWE Championship	September 2, 2002^[11] – December 15, 2013
WWE World Heavyweight Championship	December 15, 2013 – June 27, 2016
WWE Championship	June 27, 2016^[12]^[13] – July 24, 2016
WWE World Championship	July 25, 2016^[14] – December 9, 2016
WWE Championship	December 10, 2016^[9] – present
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship	April 3, 2022 – April 7, 2024
Undisputed WWE Championship	April 7, 2024 – present

Reigns

Combined reigns

Template:Multiple image As of December 24, 2025.

Key
Rec	Recognized by the promotion
†	Current champion; reign changing daily
<1	Reign was less than a day

Rank	Champion	No. of reigns	Combined days
Rank	Champion	No. of reigns	Actual	Recognized by WWE
1	Template:Sortname	2	4,040
2	Template:Sortname	6	2,185
3	Template:Sortname	2	2,121	2,138
4	Template:Sortname †	14	Script error: No such module "age".+
5	Template:Sortname	1	1,027
6	Template:Sortname	4	853	850
7	Template:Sortname	7	823	828
8	Template:Sortname	10	680	675
9	Template:Sortname	5	654
10	Template:Sortname	9	610	609
11	Template:Sortname	6	529	528
12	Template:Sortname	2	520
13	Template:Sortname	2	511
14	Template:Sortname	2	462
15	Template:Sortname	3	396
16	Template:Sortname	1	378
17	Template:Sortname	8	367	373
18	Template:Sortname	1	358
19	Template:Sortname	2	311	298
20	Template:Sortname	4	297	295
21	Template:Sortname	1	296
22	Template:Sortname	1	293
23	Template:Sortname	2	280
23	Template:Sortname	1	280	279
25	Template:Sortname	4	238	237
26	Template:Sortname	2	221	220
27	Template:Sortname	2	217	215
28	Template:Sortname	4	210	207
29	Template:Sortname	3	183	181
30	Template:Sortname	1	180
31	Template:Sortname	1	170	169
32	Template:Sortname	2	168	167
33	Template:Sortname	4	139	135
34	Template:Sortname	1	133	132
35	Template:Sortname	2	118
36	Big E	1	110
37	Template:Sortname	1	98	97
38	Template:Sortname	2	97
39	Template:Sortname	2	84	82
39	Template:Sortname	1	84	83
41	Template:Sortname	2	78	77
42	Template:Sortname	1	64
43	Template:Sortname	1	49	48
44	Template:Sortname	3	47	36
45	Template:Sortname	1	42	41
46	Template:Sortname	2	37	36
47	Template:Sortname	1	36	21
48	Template:Sortname	1	28
49	Template:Sortname	1	22	21
50	Template:Sortname	1	21
51	Template:Sortname	1	9
—	Ted DiBiase	—	8	—
—	Antonio Inoki	—	6	—
52	Template:Sortname	1	6	4
53	Template:Sortname	1	1
54	Template:Sortname	1	<1
54	Template:Sortname	1	<1

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

External links

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List of WWE Champions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:22, 10 June 2025

Contents

Title history

Names

Reigns

Combined reigns

See also

Notes

References

External links

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List of WWE Champions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:22, 10 June 2025

Title history

Names

Reigns

Combined reigns

See also

Notes

References

External links

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