World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13)

On this page, you find the full Title History for the World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13), with all Championship Info, Statistics, the Belt Design changes through the years, and the full list of Title Reigns, along with dates, events, and reign durations.

The World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13) was a World Title contested in World Wrestling Entertainment, by men wrestlers.

The championship was first established on September 22, 2002, and the inaugural champion was Triple H.

This is a newer version of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, with its own distinct lineage.

The World Heavyweight Championship was brought to Raw by former General Manager Eric Bischoff after WWE Champion Brock Lesnar became exclusive to SmackDown.

The World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13) was retired on December 15, 2013, when it was unified into the WWE Championship, with the final champion being Randy Orton.

A similar championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, has been later introduced, which does not share the lineage with this title.

World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13): Title History

For the Title History of the newer version of this championship, see the page for the World Heavyweight Championship.

For the Title History of the championship in which this title was unified into, see the page for the WWE Championship.

World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13): Title Reigns

N.	Image	Champion	Reign
World Wrestling Entertainment
	Unified into the WWE Championship December 15, 2013 Houston, TX \| WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2013 Then-WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated John Cena to unify the World Heavyweight Title with the WWE Title. The World Heavyweight Title was retired.
55		Randy Orton 4 December 15, 2013 Houston, TX \| WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2013	0 days
54		John Cena 3 October 27, 2013 Miami, FL \| WWE Hell in a Cell 2013	49 days
53		Alberto Del Rio 2 June 16, 2013 Rosemont, IL \| WWE Payback 2013	133 days
52		Dolph Ziggler 2 April 8, 2013 East Rutherford, NJ \| Raw Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract.	69 days
51		Alberto Del Rio 1 January 11, 2013 Miami, FL \| SmackDown	87 days
50		Big Show 2 October 28, 2012 Atlanta, GA \| WWE Hell in a Cell 2012	75 days
49		Sheamus 1 April 1, 2012 Miami, FL \| WWE WrestleMania 28	210 days
48		Daniel Bryan 1 December 18, 2011 Baltimore, MD \| WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2011 Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract.	105 days
47		Big Show 1 December 18, 2011 Baltimore, MD \| WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2011	0 days
46		Mark Henry 1 September 18, 2011 Buffalo, NY \| WWE Night of Champions 2011	91 days
45		Randy Orton 3 August 14, 2011 Los Angeles, CA \| WWE SummerSlam 2011 On August 29, 2011, the brand extension ended, allowing the World Heavyweight Title to be defended on both Raw and SmackDown.	35 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: SmackDown
44		Christian 2 July 17, 2011 Rosemont, IL \| WWE Money in the Bank 2011	28 days
43		Randy Orton 2 May 6, 2011 Orlando, FL \| SmackDown	72 days
42		Christian 1 May 1, 2011 Tampa, FL \| WWE Extreme Rules 2011 Defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant title.	5 days
		Vacant April 15, 2011 Albany, NY \| SmackDown Edge relinquished the title when he announced his immediate retirement as a result of being diagnosed with spinal stenosis.	16 days
41		Edge 7 February 18, 2011 San Diego, CA \| SmackDown	56 days
40		Dolph Ziggler 1 February 18, 2011 San Diego, CA \| SmackDown SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero awarded Ziggler the title.	0 days
		Vacant February 18, 2011 San Diego, CA \| SmackDown Edge was stripped of the title by SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero as a result of using the spear (which had been banned).	0 days
39		Edge 6 December 19, 2010 Houston, TX \| WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2010	61 days
38		Kane 1 July 18, 2010 Kansas City, MO \| WWE Money in the Bank 2010 Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract.	154 days
37		Rey Mysterio 2 June 20, 2010 Uniondale, NY \| WWE Fatal 4-Way The title was referred to as the "World Championship" due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight.	28 days
36		Jack Swagger 1 April 2, 2010 Las Vegas, NV \| SmackDown Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract. Swagger transferred from Raw to SmackDown upon winning the title.	79 days
35		Chris Jericho 3 February 21, 2010 St. Louis, MO \| WWE Elimination Chamber 2010	40 days
34		The Undertaker 3 October 4, 2009 Newark, NJ \| WWE Hell in a Cell 2009	140 days
33		CM Punk 3 August 23, 2009 Los Angeles, CA \| WWE SummerSlam 2009	42 days
32		Jeff Hardy 2 July 26, 2009 Philadelphia, PA \| WWE Night of Champions 2009	28 days
31		CM Punk 2 June 7, 2009 New Orleans, LA \| WWE Extreme Rules 2009 Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract.	49 days
30		Jeff Hardy 1 June 7, 2009 New Orleans, LA \| WWE Extreme Rules 2009	0 days
29		Edge 5 April 26, 2009 Providence, RI \| WWE Backlash 2009 The title returned exclusive to SmackDown due to Edge's status as a SmackDown wrestler.	42 days
28		John Cena 2 April 5, 2009 Houston, TX \| WWE WrestleMania XXV The title became exclusive to the Raw brand due to Cena's status as a Raw wrestler.	21 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: Raw
27		Edge 4 February 15, 2009 Seattle, WA \| WWE No Way Out 2009 The title became exclusive to SmackDown due to Edge's status as a SmackDown wrestler.	49 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: SmackDown
26		John Cena 1 November 23, 2008 Boston, MA \| WWE Survivor Series 2008	84 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: Raw
25		Chris Jericho 2 November 3, 2008 Tampa, FL \| Raw	20 days
24		Batista 4 October 26, 2008 Phoenix, AZ \| WWE Cyber Sunday 2008	8 days
23		Chris Jericho 1 September 7, 2008 Cleveland, OH \| WWE Unforgiven 2008 Jericho replaced champion CM Punk, who was attacked prior to the match, in a Championship Scramble to win the title.	49 days
22		CM Punk 1 June 30, 2008 Oklahoma City, OK \| Raw Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract. The title became exclusive to RAW due to Punk's status as a Raw wrestler.	69 days
21		Edge 3 June 1, 2008 San Diego, CA \| WWE One Night Stand 2008 Defeated The Undertaker in a TLC match to win the vacant title.	29 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: SmackDown
		Vacant May 2, 2008 Atlantic City, NJ \| SmackDown SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero stripped The Undertaker of the title for using the Hell's Gate submission hold, which she deemed to be dangerous.	30 days
20		The Undertaker 2 March 30, 2008 Orlando, FL \| WWE WrestleMania XXIV	33 days
19		Edge 2 December 16, 2007 Pittsburgh, PA \| WWE Armageddon 2007	105 days
18		Batista 3 September 16, 2007 Memphis, TN \| WWE Unforgiven 2007	91 days
17		The Great Khali 1 July 20, 2007 Laredo, TX \| SmackDown! Won a 20-man battle royal for the vacant title.	58 days
		Vacant July 20, 2007 Laredo, TX \| SmackDown! Edge vacated the title after he was sidelined with a pectoral injury.	0 days
16		Edge 1 May 11, 2007 Pittsburgh, PA \| SmackDown! Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract. Following the win, Edge transferred from Raw to SmackDown!	70 days
15		The Undertaker 1 April 1, 2007 Detroit, MI \| WWE WrestleMania 23	40 days
14		Batista 2 November 26, 2006 Philadelphia, PA \| WWE Survivor Series 2006	126 days
13		King Booker 1 July 23, 2006 Indianapolis, IN \| WWE The Great American Bash 2006	126 days
12		Rey Mysterio 1 April 2, 2006 Rosemont, IL \| WWE WrestleMania 22 The title was referred to as the "World Championship" due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight.	112 days
11		Kurt Angle 1 January 13, 2006 Philadelphia, PA \| SmackDown! Won a 20-man battle royal for the vacant title.	79 days
		Vacant January 13, 2006 Philadelphia, PA \| SmackDown! Batista vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legit triceps injury.	0 days
10		Batista 1 April 3, 2005 Los Angeles, CA \| WWE WrestleMania 21 The title became exclusive to SmackDown! following the 2005 WWE draft lottery.	285 days
World Wrestling Entertainment: Raw
9		Triple H 5 January 9, 2005 San Juan, PR \| WWE New Year's Revolution 2005 Defeated Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Batista and Edge in an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant title.	84 days
		Vacant December 6, 2004 Baltimore, MD \| Raw The title was vacated after a double fall occurred in a triple threat title match.	34 days
8		Triple H 4 September 12, 2004 Portland, OR \| WWE Unforgiven 2004	85 days
7		Randy Orton 1 August 15, 2004 Toronto, Ontario, Canada \| WWE SummerSlam 2004	28 days
6		Chris Benoit 1 March 14, 2004 New York, NY \| WWE WrestleMania XX	154 days
5		Triple H 3 December 14, 2003 Orlando, FL \| WWE Armageddon 2003	91 days
4		Goldberg 1 September 21, 2003 Hershey, PA \| WWE Unforgiven 2003	84 days
3		Triple H 2 December 15, 2002 Sunrise, FL \| WWE Armageddon 2002	280 days
2		Shawn Michaels 1 November 17, 2002 New York, NY \| WWE Survivor Series 2002	28 days
1		Triple H 1 September 2, 2002 Milwaukee, WI \| Raw After the WWE Undisputed Title became exclusive to SmackDown!, Raw GM Eric Bischoff created the World Heavyweight Championship (a revived WWE version of WCW World Heavyweight Championship) to be the world title of Raw and awarded it to Triple H. At No Mercy, Triple H unified the Intercontinental Title into the World Heavyweight Title.	76 days

For the Title History of the previous version of this championship, see the page for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13): Names & Belt Designs

- World Heavyweight ChampionshipJuly 23, 2006December 15, 2013
- World ChampionshipApril 3, 2006July 22, 2006
- World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeptember 2, 2002April 2, 2006

World Heavyweight Championship ('02-'13): Statistics

Promotions History

Promotion	from	to
PromotionWWE	August 29, 2011	December 15, 2013
PromotionWWEBrand SmackDown	April 26, 2009	August 28, 2011
PromotionWWEBrand Raw	April 5, 2009	April 25, 2009
PromotionWWEBrand SmackDown	February 15, 2009	April 4, 2009
PromotionWWEBrand Raw	June 30, 2008	February 14, 2009
PromotionWWEBrand SmackDown	June 30, 2005	June 29, 2008
PromotionWWEBrand Raw	September 2, 2002	June 29, 2005

Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
TerritoryWorld Tier 1
DivisionPrimary
GenderMale
Date EstablishedSeptember 22, 2002
Preceded By WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Date RetiredDecember 15, 2013
Unified Into WWE Championship
Followed By World Heavyweight Championship

First ChampionTriple H
Final ChampionRandy Orton

Most Number of Reigns

Rank	Wrestler	Reigns
	Edge	7
	Triple H	5
	Batista	4
	Randy Orton	4
	The Undertaker	3
6	CM Punk	3
7	John Cena	3
8	Chris Jericho	3

Most Combined Days

Rank	Wrestler	Days
	Triple H	616
	Batista	510
	Edge	412
	Alberto Del Rio	220
	The Undertaker	213

Longest Reigns

Wrestler	Reign	Days
Batista	April 3, 2005 - January 13, 2006	285
Triple H	December 15, 2002 - September 21, 2003	280
Sheamus	April 1, 2012 - October 28, 2012	210
Kane	July 18, 2010 - December 19, 2010	154
Chris Benoit	March 14, 2004 - August 15, 2004	154