WWE Championship

Lore & Background

The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963, as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after the promotion seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) following a dispute over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. In 1971, it lost its world title recognition as the company rejoined the NWA, but regained the status when they conclusively left the NWA in 1983. Since its inception, the title has underwent many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest active championship in WWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title, with many matches for the title having headlined pay-per-view and livestreaming events—including the company's flagship event WrestleMania. In professional wrestling in general, it is considered to be one of the most prestigious championships of all time.

Reader's Guide

From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWE's sole primary championship. An additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in early 2001. The titles were later unified as the Undisputed WWF Championship. After the first brand split in 2002 and the promotion being renamed to WWE, the championship became exclusive to SmackDown, dropping the 'undisputed' moniker, while the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) was created for Raw. ECW became a third brand in 2006, adding the ECW Championship. That title was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified into the WWE Championship in 2013. The WWE Championship was again the sole world title of WWE until the introduction of the WWE Universal Championship with the 2016 brand split and then a new World Heavyweight Championship in 2023. From April 2022 until April 2024, the WWE and Universal titles were held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, maintaining their individual lineages until the Universal title was deactivated in April 2024, with the WWE title subsequently referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship. During both brand splits, the WWE Championship has switched brands, usually as a result of the WWE Draft; the 2023 WWE Draft moved it back to SmackDown.

Did You Know?

• Bruno Sammartino's first reign is the longest at 2,803 days.
• The title was unified with the WCW Championship in December 2001 to create the Undisputed WWF Championship.