Championships are the ultimate prize in professional wrestling and without the championships there is no meaning of professional wrestling. WWE has a rich history of almost seventy years and a lot of championship came and gone in this long amount of time.
Currently, WWE championship is the oldest championship of WWE which was founded in 1963, late great Buddy Rogers was the first ever World Wrestling Federation champion. In those days, WWE was known as World Wide Wrestling Federation. However, WWE Women’s championship which was defunct in 2010 was the oldest title in the history of WWE. It was founded in 1956 and Fabulous Moolah won the title before anyone. There is a long history of these championship belts of World Wrestling Entertainment. Only five championships exist in the current page of WWE. WWE World Heavyweight championship is the last title to be defunct, or I would say, unified. Unification has been a good medium for the company to deactivate many titles.In this article, we will tell you the history of all those championship that have been defunct by WWE. We have arranged the championships by the days of deactivation in the ascending order. So here is the list as followed;
WWWF United States Tag Team Championship – This tag team championship was founded in July, 1958. Mark Lewin and Don Curtis was the first ever WWWF United States Tag team champions, they won the title by defeating Hans Schmidt and Dick the Bruiser. The championship changed hands for thirty times until it was finally defunct after ten long years, on July 24, 1967. Dr. Jerry Graham won this championship for most number of times, he won the title for six times.
WWWF United States Championship – This championship was founded in April 6, 1963. Bobo Brazil was the first ever WWWF United States champion. The championship changed hands for twelve times until it was finally defunct after ten long years, on March, 1976. Bobo Brazil won this championship for most number of times, he won the title for seven times.
WWF North American Heavyweight Championship – This championship was founded in February 13, 1979. Ted DiBiase was the first ever WWWF United States champion. The championship changed hands for only two times until it was finally defunct after two years, on March 20, 1981. The championship only changed hands for two times, and three superstars hold the glory. After Ted DiBiase, Pat Patterson and Seiji Sakaguchi crowned champions.
WWF International Heavyweight Championship – This championship was recognized by NWA Northwest, World Wrestling Federation, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Japanese UWF. It was founded in July, 1959. AntoninoRocca was the first WWF International champion. Later, in 1963 the championship was vacated and soon became inactive. After almost twenty years the championship returned and Toni Parisi won it. After a year, it was finally deactivated after the second reign of TatsumiFujinami. Fujinami is the only superstar to get more than one reign of this title.
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship – This championship was founded in September, 1965 and it existed over twenty years. This title was also recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Paul Degalles was the first ever WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion. The championship changed hands for nineteen times until it was finally defunct after twenty long years, on October 31, 1985. Johny De Fazio won this championship for most number of times, he won the title for six times. Not far behind are the Tiger Mask and Jackie Nicholas who won it three times.
WWF International Tag Team Championship – This tag team championship was founded in June, 1969. The Rising Suns (Toru Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa) was the first ever WWF International Tag Team Championship. The title was also recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship changed hands for eight times until it was finally defunct after sixteen long years, on October 31, 1985. Geto Mongol won this championship for most number of times, he won the title for three times.
WWF Canadian Championship – WWF Canadian championship existed for the shortest time in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation. Dino Bravo is the only superstar to have the reign of this title. Dino Bravo won this title on August 18, 1985. After Dino Bravo left WWF, the company decided to defunct the championship. So the title was officially deactivated on January 22. 1986.
WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship – Many would wonder that such a title would existed too. But it is true,WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship was founded in May 13, 1983. Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria won this titles for the first time. The Glamorous Girls (Leilani Kai and Judi Martin) was the last wrestlers to carry these titles. The titles were vacated and deactivated February 14, 1989. Velvet McIntyre, Leilani Kai and Judi Martin had two reigns of this title each.
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship – This title was founded in December 18, 1978. Vince McMahon sr. awarded this championship to AntoninoInoki,Inoki had a surprising and record breaking reign of three thousand seven hundred and eighty days reign of this title as he was finally defeated by ShotaChochishvili after ten long years. Inoki won the title back only after twenty one days. He had another two hundred and twenty one days reign. The title was defunct after that.
WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship – WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was a subordinate title to the WWF Tag team championship titles. Unlike the Canadian championship, WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship also existed for a very small time. PerroAguayo and Gran Hamada won the titles for the first and final time on January 7, 1991. They were actually awarded the titles. The titles were abandoned later in the year as WWF severed ties with Universal Wrestling Federation of Japan.
WCW Tag Team Championship – The World Championship Wrestling tag team championships became a property of World Wrestling Federation in January 2001 when WWF took over WCW. It was actually founded in 1975 when it was under NWA. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson) were the first WCW tag team champions who won the titles on January 29, 1975. The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash) were the last WCW tag team champions till WCW was independent. After WWF took over in 2001, Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Polumbo and Sean O’ Haire) won the title for the first time when it was all under WWF. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D Von Dudley) were the final WCW tag team champions under WWF and in the history. The titles were unified with the WWF tag team championship in Survivor Series pay per view on 2001 when the WCW tag team champions The Dudley Boyz defeated the WWF Tag team champions The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and the championships got unified. Booker T won this title for the highest number of times, he won the title eleven times.
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship – World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight championship was founded in March 26, 1981. PerroAguayo was the first ever WWF Light Heavyweight championship champion, he won the title by defeating Gran Hamada in a tournament final. The championship was recognized by Universal Wrestling Association and New Japan Pro Wrestling first. Then in 1997, World Wrestling Federation recognized it and took over it. Taka Michinoku won the titles for the first time after defeating Brian Christopher in an eight man tournament. ShinjiroOtani was the last Light Heavyweightchampion under New Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship changed hands for forty four times in total until it was finally defunct after twenty long years, on August 19, 2001. X Pac was the last Light Heavyweight champion under WWF. Dean Malenko and X Pac won this championship for most number of times under WWF, both won the title two times each. Gillberg had the longest reign for this championship under WWF, which is four hundred and fifty three days.
WCW Championship – The World Championship Wrestling world Heavyweight championship became a property of World Wrestling Federation in January 2001 when WWF took over WCW. It was actually founded in 1991 when it was under NWA. Ric Flair was the first WCW World Heavyweight champions who won the titles on January 11, 1991. Scott Steiner was the last WCW tag team champions till WCW was independent. After WWF took over in 2001, Booker T won the title for the first time when it was all under WWF. Chris Jericho was the final WCW World Heavyweight champion under WWF and in the history. The titles were unified with the WWF championship in Vengeance pay per view on 2001 when the WCW World Heavyweight champion Chris Jericho defeated the WWF champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and the championships got unified.Ric Flair won the title for most of the times which eight times.
WWE European Championship – This championship was founded in February 26, 1997. The British Bulldog was the first ever WWF European champion. The championship changed hands for thirty six times until it was finally defunct after ten long years, on July 22, 2002. Rob Van Dam was the last superstar to carry this championship (however, WWE.com does not recognize Rob Van Dam’s victory over Jeff hardy for the European Championship as a championship match). William Regan and D Lo Brown won this championship for most number of times, they won the title for four times each.
WWE Hardcore Championship – World Wrestling Entertainment’s Hardcore championship was one of the most popular championship since all the matches for this title were performed under Hardcore match rules. The championship was founded in November 2, 1998. The Hardcore changed hands for two hundred thirty three times in only four years of its existence which is a record till date. The Hardcore legend Mick Foley won this championship for the first time. Actually, he did not won it, he was awarded the championship by Vince McMahon. After that, a legacy was created. Winning this championship was never so difficult. Four female wrestlers including one of the hos the Godfather won this championship too. Raven won this championship for twenty seven times which is not only highest number of achievement for this championship, but also a record. The Hardcore championship has a record of changing hands for most of the times in one single day.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship – World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight championship was established in October 27, 2001. It was actually a replacement for the WWE Light Heavyweight championship which was defunct in August, 2001. This championship was actually a part of WCW in the earlier days. It was known as the WCW Light Heavyweight championship and later became the WCW Cruiserweight championship. In 2001, WWE took over WCW and the Cruiserweight championship became a property of WWE. Brian Pillman was the first ever WCW Light Heavyweight champion. After WWE took over, Shane Helms won the title under the new company for the first time in March 18, 2001. The Cruiserweight championship had been a very famous championship belt for six long years in WWE after it was finally deactivated in July 22, 2007. Hornswoogle was the last Cruiserweight champion. Rey Mysterio has the most number of reigns for this title which is eight.
ECW Championship – ECW championship was re founded in 2006 after WWE decided to restart ECW. Previously, it was won the first time ‘Super Fly’ Jimmy Snuka on April 25, 1992. Rhino was the last ECW World champion before WWE bought ECW. In 2006, ECW was re originated under WWE and Rob Van Dam who defeated John Cena for the WWE championship at ECW One Night Stand pay per view event in 2006 was awarded ECW World championship by Paul Heyman. The championship changed hands for fourteen times after it was restarted by WWE. Ezekiel Jackson was the last ECW champion under WWE. After the victory of Big Zik, Vince McMahon announced ECW was dissolved and NXT was the next project. The Sandman won the title for most of the times which is five times. And under WWE, Christian and Bobby Lashley won it twice each.
World Tag Team Championship – World Wrestling Entertainment World Tag Team Championship has a rich history in professional wrestling. In was founded in June 3, 1971. Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler was the first team to win these prestigious championships. They defeated Dick The Bruiser and The Sheik to win it for the first time. After that, the championships changed hands for one hundred and seventy five times in the long history of forty years. The Dudley Boyz had the most number of reigns as a team which is eight times. Not far behind are Edge and Christian and the Hardy boyz with six reigns. Individually, Edge won it for most of the times, he won it for twelve times. Not far behind are Billy Gunn who won it ten times and Kane who won it nine times. The championships were defunct in April 2010, The Hart Dynasty was the last World tag team champions.
WWE Women’s Championship – WWE Women’s championship was the oldest championship in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment. I think it was the worst decision by the company to dissolve such a championship which has a long history. It was founded in 1956, Fabulous Moolah won it for the first time by defeating Judi Grable. The championship changed hands for the time after ten years in 1966, however, WWE does not recognize any of the title changes before 1984, considering Moolah’s reign to be 10,170 days. By this means Moolah had a record breaking reign of over twenty eight years for this championship. Layla was the final champion before deactivation. Trish Stratus won the title for most of the times which is seven times in total.
Million Dollar Championship – The million Dollar championship is never been a competition. It was created by ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase. The title changed hands only once in a competition, in SummerSlam 1991, Virgil defeated Ted DiBiase to win the title. The Ringmaster (Stone Cold Steve Austin) and Ted DiBiase Jr. are the two other Million Dollar champions who were awarded the title by ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase. The title was defunct on November 15, 2010.
World Heavyweight Championship – World Heavyweight Championship is the latest championship to get deactivated by WWE. We all know how it got defunct, it has been unified with WWE championship at the TLC pay per view event last year. The title was created after the brand extension days started. It has been the ultimate prize of Monday Night Raw it has been equally valued as the WWE championship. Triple H was awarded the championship by Raw general manager Eric Bischoff on September 2, 2002. Edge has the most number of World Heavyweight Championship reigns, he has a total number of seven reigns.The championship changed hands for a total of fifty four times.
