List of former championships in WWE

In professional wrestling, championships are competed for in scripted storylines by a promotion company's roster of contracted wrestlers.^[1] WWE is a Stamford, Connecticut-based sports entertainment company primarily focused on professional wrestling. The promotion was founded in 1952 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC).^[2] In the company's 50-year history, over twenty different unique championships have been operated and contended for. These titles consisted of divisional, special stipulations, and weight-class championships. Of these titles, nineteen have been retired and succeeded through replacement titles or title unifications. The first retired championship was in 1967 with the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (created in 1953), while the most recent was the WWE Divas Championship (created in 2008) in April 2016. The following is a compilation of the company's former championships that were once active and contended for by its roster.

History

1950–1969

In 1953, CWC became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). During this time, CWC wrestlers could compete for championships operated by the NWA.^[3] In 1958, the CWC created the United States Tag Team Championship (the first title ever owned by WWE), which inaugural champions Mark Lewin and Don Curtis won in April of that year.^[4] In 1963, CWC was renamed as the WWWF and ended its partnership with the NWA.^[5] To reflect the changes, the WWWF introduced its world heavyweight championship (WWE's second overall championship and current WWE World Championship),^[6] while the WWWF acronym was added to the United States Tag Team Titles. The titles were disbanded in 1967 without a formal announcement by the WWWF, and thus, the first tag team championship (and first championship overall) to be retired by the promotion.^[4] Ten years later, the company retired its first individually contested title, the WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship, also without a formal announcement.^[7]

1970–1999

The WWWF formed a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) between the 1970s and 1980s, and as a result, created and lent titles to these promotions.^[8][9][10] In 1979, the promotion renamed itself to the WWF and six years later ended its partnerships with NJPW and UWF.^[2][11] This resulted in the retirement of one UWF and three NJPW lent titles: the WWF International Heavyweight Championship (UWF),^[8] WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship,^[12] WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship,^[a][13] and WWF International Tag Team Championship (NJPW).^[10] The company also ceased operations of three short-lived titles: the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship (1979–1981),^[14] WWF Canadian Championship (1985–1986),^[15] and WWF Women's Tag Team Championship (1983–1989).^[16] Despite their names, the geographic-name-based titles were not restricted to wrestlers from that location.^[14][15] During the 1990s, the WWF ended its relationship with the UWA; as a result, the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship^[17] was abandoned, while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (which UWA possessed) was reactivated in the United States for use by the WWF.^[9] In 1996, the Million Dollar Championship, a title created by Ted DiBiase, was retired, although it was never sanctioned by the WWF, but was reintroduced briefly in 2010 by Ted DiBiase Jr.^[18]

2000–present

In March 2001, the WWF acquired all assets of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including its championships.^[19] Of these titles, the WWF operated the WCW World Heavyweight,^[20] World Tag Team,^[21] and Cruiserweight championships.^[22] In late 2001, the WWF discontinued the WCW World Heavyweight (which was unified with the WWF Championship) and Tag Team Championships^[20][21] while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was retired in favor of the Cruiserweight, which would also be retired in 2007. In 2002, WWF was renamed to WWE,^[23] and during this year, WWE discontinued the WWE Hardcore and European Championships after they were unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship.^[24][25]

WWE also acquired all assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003, and implemented the ECW brand in 2006, along with the reactivated the ECW World Heavyweight Championship;^[26] however, when the brand closed in 2010, the title was retired after Ezekiel Jackson became the last champion on the final episode of the ECW on Syfy series.^[27] The World Tag Team Championship, established in 1971, and WWE Tag Team Championship, introduced in 2002, were unified on April 9, 2009, maintaining separate title histories as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship". However, on August 16, 2010, the older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole tag team championship contended for in WWE. The champions, The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) were awarded a new set of belts that represented the 2002 championship, and were thus recognized as the final holders of the original World Tag Team Championship.^[28][29]

The original WWE Women's Championship, established in 1956, and the WWE Divas Championship, introduced in 2008, were unified on September 19, 2010, maintaining the title history of the Divas Championship. The older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole championship contended for in WWE by the Divas. The self-professed co-Women's Champion Michelle McCool defeated Divas Champion Melina at Night of Champions to become the unified champion, thus making Layla the final holder of the Women's Championship.^[30][31] On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, Divas Champion Charlotte was originally scheduled to defend her title in a triple-threat match. At the event, however, the Divas Championship was replaced with a new WWE Women's Championship, with the winner of the triple-threat match becoming the inaugural champion, thus Charlotte was the final holder of the Divas Championship.

The World Heavyweight Championship was established in 2002 as a second world championship in WWE during the time of the first brand extension. During this period, the World Heavyweight Championship would be the primary championship for either the Raw or Smackdown brand, with the WWE Championship on the other. The brand extension ended in 2011, allowing both championships to appear on both shows. On December 15, 2013, World Heavyweight Champion John Cena faced WWE Champion Randy Orton in a match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship as Orton defeated Cena. At the event, it was announced that the unified titles would be called the "WWE World Heavyweight Championship". WWE officially recognized Orton as the final World Heavyweight Champion, and retired the title.

Defunct championships

The World Heavyweight Championship (shown being worn by record seven-time champion Edge) served as a second world championship in WWE from 2002-2013.

The ECW Championship (shown being held by two-time champion Christian) served as a third world championship in WWE from 2006-2010, primarily in the ECW brand.

The World Tag Team Championship (shown being worn by two-time champion John Cena) was active from 1971 to 2010.

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship (shown being held by former champion Matt Hardy) was officially recognized as established in 1991 by WCW, brought to WWE in 2001 following its purchase of WCW, and remained active until 2007.

The Million Dollar Championship (shown being worn by Ted DiBiase Jr.) was active from 1989 to 1992, 1995 to 1996, and in 2010.

The WWE Divas Championship (shown being held by three-time champion AJ Lee) was active from 2008 to 2016.

See also

• List of current champions in WWE

Footnotes

• A:^{a b} – The title was officially abandoned by the WWF in 1989, though it was revived by NJPW for use in its promotion only; it was discontinued by NJPW in 1992.^[13]
• B:^{a b c} – This is the date the WWF acquired WCW, in which WCW's assets were also acquired by WWF, including its titles.^[19]
• C:^{a b c} – The final champion(s) recognized by WCW before the WWF bought WCW,also recognized as the first champion(s) in which the title was operated in the WWF as a part of The Invasion storyline.^[20][21]
• D:^a – This is the date the WWF began operating the title in the United States after ending its partnerships with the UWA and NJPW.^[9]
• E:^a – This is the date the WWE launched the ECW brand, in which Rob Van Dam was awarded the title as a result of winning the WWE Championship on June 11, 2006.
• F:^a - This is the date upon which WWE consolidated the unification of both its tag team championships, and continued to recognize only one championship to be contended in its tag team division.

References

Further reading

• Duncan, Royal (2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Gary Will (4 ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 

External links

• WWE Official website
• WWE retired championship histories
• Wrestling-Titles.com: WWE

1. ↑ The title was deactivated from February 1992 to December 1995, from May 1996 to April 2010, and from November 2010 onward.