The WWE in 2019 is radically different from the organization in the days when I started watching professional wrestling some 20 years ago. Back in 1998, you had one World title, one mid-card title, one set of tag team titles and maybe a smattering of other championships that didn’t have much shelf life.
How things have changed since that time. There are now so many championships in WWE that it’s hard to keep track.
For those of you who are recent wrestling fans, or wish to introduce friends or family members into the genre and need some way to explain the current crop of championships and titleholders, here is a “brief” rundown of the 17 active championships under the WWE umbrella on RAW, Smackdown Live, 205 Live, NXT and NXT UK.
RAW
WWE Universal Championship
This title was created during WWE’s second brand split in 2016. After a triple threat match at Battleground which resulted in the WWE championship going to Smackdown, RAW was in need of a world title of its own. The Universal Championship was unveiled by Stephanie McMahon and then GM Mick Foley, resembling the WWE championship except with a red strap to reflect the title being exclusively to RAW.
Finn Balor was the inaugural champion as is also the shortest reigning champion, having won the title at Summerslam 2016 but sustaining a shoulder injury which put him out of action for months. Subsequent titleholders include Kevin Owens, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reighs. Lesnar is the current champion and is also the longest reigning (his first reign was over 500 days).
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Perhaps the title with almost the longest uninterrupted lineage in WWE, the Intercontinental Championship was first conceived in 1979 and has since gone through a number of belt redesigns. The current design is a throwback to a design that was in existence a decade or so ago with the white strap.
Pat Patterson is WWE’s first Intercontinental Champion, and the title has been used to elevate superstars by providing them a stepping stone to future WWE title opportunities or to elevate their careers.
This doesn’t mean winning the Intercontinental title is an immediate indication that person will someday win the WWE title; many IC title holders have never been WWE champion. Past IC champions include a who’s who of WWE hall of famers: The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The Honky Tonk Man (who is one of the inductees in the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame) is recognized as the longest reigning IC champion, with an official 454 day reign. Currently, Chris Jericho has held the title the most times, with 9 reigns under his belt, followed by the Miz with 8.
WWE RAW Women’s Championship
The red brand’s primary female superstars championship, it was actually the successor to the former Divas championship, it replaced that title at Wrestlemania 32 in 2016 as the Women’s Championship. Charlotte Flair became its inaugural champion.
The title was renamed the RAW Women’s Championship after the 2016 brand split, and Smackdown created the Smackdown Women’s Championship as the red strap became exclusive to RAW. Flair and Sasha Banks are both tied with the most reigns (4) while other champions include Bayley, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax.
Former UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey is the current RAW Women’s Champion and currently has the second longest uninterrupted reign (over 205 days), and is on track to surpass Bliss’ first reign at champion at 222 days.
WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Originally introduced way back in 2002 as the WWE Tag Team Championship, these titles actually went over to Smackdown for a brief period while RAW had its own tag titles during the 2000s. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were crowded the inaugural champions. The titles were unified in 2009 but physically remained separate titles until one pair of them were deactivated a year later.
In the 2016 draft, the WWE Tag Team titles became exclusive to RAW when then champions the New Day were drafted to that brand. After losing to the then new tag team of Sheamus and Cesaro, the belts were switched out for more RAW oriented designs (specifically with the red background).
Some of the men who have held the RAW tag team champions are a who’s who of WWE in the late 2000s and from the past few years, such as Rey Mysterio, Batista, Chris Jericho, The Big Show, The Miz, all the members of the Shield, Sheamus and Cesaro and the New Day.
Of course, probably the most memorable title holders were Braun Strowman and a 10 year old kid named Nicholas (son of WWE referee Jon Cone) at last year’s Wrestlemania. They abdicated the titles a day later because, well, the kid had school and didn’t have time to defend it. (Yes, this actually happened).
Now onto the Smackdown Live set of championships…
WWE Championship
This title is the original one that has its lineage going back to 1963, when Buddy Rogers was the first recognized champion. One of the most memorable champions is the late Bruno Sammartino, who still holds the record for the longest reign in WWE history (some 4,000 days over a span of two reigns in 11 years).
The list of WWE champions runs through a gamut of some the most well known performers that has graced through the company: Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Triple H, John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and so on.
The WWE Championship also has the unique distinction of having customary designs during the reigns of some of those champions, such as Cena’s spinner belt or Austin’s smoking skull design. Current champion Bryan ‘disposed’ (kayfabe) the regular title and replaced it with a custom made title that looks the same, but made of hemp, to better reflect his character and an ‘eco-friendly’ champion.
WWE United States Championship
The only title that survived the transition from NWA/WCW into WWE, its lineage dates back to 1975 when Harley Race became the first US champion. Since that time, a slew of WCW’s most well known names have held the title, culminating in Booker T being the last WCW US title holder in 2001.
When the title was transferred over to WWE following their purchase of WCW’s assets, the United States Championship was a flagship mid-card first on Smackdown, then on RAW in 2009 during a draft. Currently, the title is on the blue brand and held by Samoa Joe.
Various superstars have held the title over the years including Kurt Angle, John Cena, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Dean Ambrose, MVP and many others. MVP and Ambrose hold the distinction of having the longest uninterrupted reigns with the US title in the WWE era of the championship.
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship
Until 2016, there was only one Women’s Championship exclusive to WWE. Since that year’s brand split, with the original women’s title staying on RAW, Smackdown came up with its own version of the women’s title. Becky Lynch won a six pack challenge at Backlash in September of 2016 to become the inaugural Smackdown Women’s Champion.
The women who have held the blue brand’s women’s title are Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte, Naomi, Natalya, Carmella and Asuka (who is the current champion).
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
A similar situation took place after the 2016 brand split when Smackdown and RAW became two different shows with the tag team titles. With the WWE Tag Team titles becoming exclusive to RAW, Smackdown created their blue versions of the tag belts and held a tournament to determine the inaugural champions at Backlash.
Heath Slater and Rhyno became the first Smackdown Tag Team Champions, followed by the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton), then American Alpha. But since then the titles have mainly been traded between the Usos and the New Day. When a superstar shakeup occurred last year, it brought over multiple RAW tag champs The Bar to the blue side, where they also ended up tag champions.
Just recently, the unlikely duo of The Miz and Shane McMahon held the tag titles before dropping them to the Usos. As of this writing, the brothers along with New Day are currently tied at 3 reigns apiece with the belts, making them the only teams on Smackdown to have been champions more than once.
This is all for the titles on the two main brands from WWE. Part 2 will look into the championships over on NXT, the Cruiserweight Championship and the newly introduced Women’s Tag Team Championships.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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