World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)

This article is about WWE's old world title made in 2002. For WWE's current World Heavyweight Championship created in 2023, see World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2023–present).

The World Heavyweight Championship was one of the top professional wrestling championships in WWE, along with the WWE Championship. It was created on Raw to match SmackDown's WWE Championship in August 2002. Some of the past champions include Edge, Triple H, The Undertaker, Booker T, Batista, and Kurt Angle.

World Heavyweight Championship
Three-time Champion CM Punk
Details
Promotion	WWE
Date established	September 2, 2002
Date retired	December 15, 2013 (unified with the WWE Championship)
Statistics First champion(s) Triple H Final champion(s) Randy Orton Most reigns Edge (7 reigns) Longest reign Batista (282 days)[a 1] Shortest reign Randy Orton (1 minutes)[a 2] Oldest winner The Undertaker (44 years, 334 days) Youngest winner Randy Orton (24 years, 136 days) Heaviest champion Big Show (441 lb (200 kg)) Lightest champion Rey Mysterio (175 lb (79 kg))

The World Heavyweight Championship was brought to Raw by then-General Manager Eric Bischoff after WWE Champion Brock Lesnar became exclusive to SmackDown. Bischoff awarded the championship to Triple H, but he had to defend it against his then-best friend, Ric Flair. Triple H was successful and has held the championship on five different occasions. Other holders of this prestigious championship include John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, and more.

The last champion was Randy Orton. He beat then-champion John Cena on December 15, 2013 at TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs. He was already WWE Champion when he won the championship and unified the World Heavyweight Championship with the WWE Championship to make the "WWE World Heavyweight Championship".^[1] The World Heavyweight Championship was retired the next day.^[2]

In 2023, a new World Heavyweight Championship was made, but it does not continue the history of the old title.^[3]

Reigns

Main article: List of World Heavyweight Champions (WWE)

Footnotes

1. 281 days as listed by WWE
2. WWE lists Randy Orton's final reign, and the championship's unification with the WWE Championship, as lasting for one minute.