WWE World Heavyweight Championship History

The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. Currently, it is the highest ranked championship on the Raw brand.
The World Heavyweight Championship was introduced in 2002 with Triple H becoming the inaugural champion on September 2. It was created after Brock Lesnar won the WWE Undisputed Championship and was signed by SmackDown General Manager, Stephanie McMahon, to appear and defend the title only on the SmackDown brand, which left the Raw brand without a world title. As a result, Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff, disputed the title's "Undisputed" status and introduced the World Heavyweight Championship, commissioning it to be the main world title of the Raw brand. The new title was represented by the Big Gold Belt, an iconic championship belt that had previously represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and later the WCW Championship. Eric Bischoff awarded the new title to Triple H due to him previously being Brock Lesnar's next scheduled opponent for the WWE Undisputed Championship, also citing the fact that he was the last champion to use the Big Gold Belt as part of his previous Undisputed Championship reign. In March 2003, the Big Gold Belt was replaced with a similar design featuring the WWE logo at the top of the center plate.

The World Heavyweight Championship remained on the Raw brand until June 6, 2005 as a result of the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. The WWE Champion, John Cena, was drafted to the Raw brand with the WWE Championship, which left the two main world titles in WWE on that brand. This prompted SmackDown General Manager, Theodore Long, to attempt to introduce a third world title called the "SmackDown Championship". However this was deemed unnecessary when the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was drafted to the SmackDown brand with the World Heavyweight Championship on June 30, 2005. The title remained on the SmackDown brand until June 30, 2008, when Money in the Bank contract holder, CM Punk, who was a Raw superstar, cashed in his contract, and defeated the champion, Edge, who was a SmackDown superstar. As a result, the title was reinstated to the Raw brand.



List of World Heavyweight Champions

Triple H

Shawn Michaels

Triple H

Goldberg

Triple H

Chris Benoit

Randy Orton

Triple H

Triple H

Batista

Kurt Angle

Rey Mysterio

King Booker

Batista

The Undertaker

Edge

The Great Khali

Batista

Edge

The Undertaker

Edge

CM Punk

The Rock Profile

Dwayne Douglas Johnson(born May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California),also known by his former ring name The Rock, and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Johnson was also a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the Miami Hurricanes' national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season. This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.

He gained mainstream fame as a standout in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004. Johnson was quickly given a push in WWE, first as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock", a member of the Nation of Domination. Two years after he joined the WWE, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company for his engaging interviews. Since 2001, he has focused on an acting career, though he still makes occasional WWE appearances for promotional purposes.

Johnson was a nine-time world champion in his career, including a record-setting seven-time WWE Champion where he ties curent Champion Triple H in most reigns; his last reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion in 2002, and a 2 time WCW Champion. He also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and is a former five-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He also was the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.

Johnson is also an actor, with his first leading role in 2001, in The Scorpion King. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million. He has since starred in movies such as Be Cool, The Game Plan, Gridiron Gang, Doom, and Get Smart.



Statistics


Ring name(s)

Flex Kavana

Rocky Maivia

The Rock



Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Weight 260 lb (120 kg)

Debut 1995

Retired March 14, 2004

Brock Lesnar Profile

Brock Edward Lesnar (born July 12, 1977 in Webster, South Dakota) is an American mixed martial artist with the UFC as well as a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is well known for his professional wrestling career in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Before gaining prominence in WWE, Lesnar was an accomplished amateur wrestler, and won the 2000 NCAA wrestling championship. In WWE, Lesnar was the 2002 King of the Ring, and won the 2003 Royal Rumble. He is also a three-time WWE Champion, and is the second youngest WWE Champion in history.

After leaving WWE in 2004, Lesnar pursued a career in the NFL. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, before being cut from the team for no-showing at practices due to injuries.

Lesnar returned to professional wrestling at the end of 2005, and joined New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first wrestling match since leaving the WWE. He was stripped of the title in July 2005, although he held the physical belt until June 2007.

Lesnar started a career in Mixed Martial Arts, and had his first match, in June 2007. He has since signed with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).



Statistics


Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Weight 265 lb (120 kg)

Glodberg Profile

William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966) better known by his ring name Bill Goldberg (or simply Goldberg) is a commentator for the Mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC. He is also a retired/inactive American professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling from September 1997 to January 2001, as well as his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment from March 2003 to March 2004. He is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion.

During his successful career, Goldberg was booked to win several titles. He was a 1 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2 time United States Heavyweight Champion and 1 time World Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart in WCW as well as a 1 time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE.


Statistics

Ring name(s)

Bill Gold

Bill Goldberg

Goldberg


Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Billed weight 285 lb (129 kg/20.4 st)

Debut June 24, 1997

Umaga Profile

Edward Fatu (born March 28, 1973) is a Samoan professional wrestler better known by his ring names Jamal, Ekmo, and currently Umaga. He is presently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and performs on their SmackDown brand.

He is a member of the Anoa'i wrestling family, and before his current WWE role, he frequently worked as a part of a tag team — variously named The Island Boyz, the Samoan Gangstas, and 3-Minute Warning — with his cousin Matt Anoa'i.

Statistics

Ring name(s)

Ekmo Fatu

O.G. Ekmo

Ekmo

Jamal

Umaga


Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Billed weight 350 lb (160 kg/25 st)

Debut 1995