World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)

Men's professional wrestling championship

This article is about WWE's world title established in 2023. For the title of the same name existing from 2002 to 2013, see World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2002–2013). For other WWE men's world championships, see WWE World Championship (disambiguation).

World Heavyweight Championship

The World Heavyweight Championship belt with default side plates

Details
Promotion| WWE
Brand| Raw
Date established| April 24, 2023
Current champion| Gunther
Date won| June 9, 2025
| Statistics

First champion| Seth "Freakin" Rollins
Most reigns| Gunther
(2 reigns)
Longest reign| Seth "Freakin" Rollins
(316 days)
Shortest reign| Drew McIntyre
(5 minutes and 45 seconds)
Oldest champion| Damian Priest
(41 years, 194 days)
Youngest champion| Gunther
(36 years, 349 days)
Heaviest champion| Drew McIntyre
(275 lb (125 kg))
Lightest champion| Seth "Freakin" Rollins
(225 lb (102 kg))

The World Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two men's world titles on WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Championship on SmackDown. The current champion is Gunther, who is in his record-setting second reign. He won the title by defeating Jey Uso on the June 9, 2025, episode of Raw.

The title's creation came as a result of Roman Reigns, who at the time jointly held both the WWE Championship and the WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. With the announcement of the 2023 WWE Draft, the World Heavyweight Championship was unveiled on the April 24, 2023, episode of Monday Night Raw and subsequently became exclusive to Raw after Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship became exclusive to SmackDown. The inaugural World Heavyweight Champion was Seth "Freakin" Rollins.

The title is distinct from WWE's previous World Heavyweight Championship that was contested from 2002 until 2013 when it was unified into the WWE Championship. Although the two titles share the same name, they do not have a direct lineage.[1] It is the fourth overall men's world championship to be created by WWE, after the WWE Championship (1963), the previous World Heavyweight Championship, and the Universal Championship (2016–2024).

## History

[edit]

Inaugural and longest-reigning champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

On the April 24, 2023, episode of WWE's flagship professional wrestling television program, Monday Night Raw, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque announced the 2023 WWE Draft, a process to assign performers to a brand. He then addressed Roman Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Since WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, Reigns had held and defended the promotion's two world championships, the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship, as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship across both the Raw and SmackDown brands. However, due to the terms of his contract, Reigns made infrequent title defenses. Triple H decided that Reigns and his undisputed championship would become exclusive to one brand and that a new World Heavyweight Championship would be defended on the other brand. It was also revealed that the inaugural champion would be crowned at Night of Champions on May 27, 2023.[2][3] During Night 1 of the draft on the April 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Reigns was drafted to SmackDown, subsequently making the World Heavyweight Championship exclusive to Raw.[4]

During the Backlash press conference on May 5, 2023, Triple H announced a tournament for the title including wrestlers from both brands with a bracket for each brand. The first round and semifinals for each bracket were scheduled for the May 8 and May 12 episodes of Raw and SmackDown, respectively. The first-round matches for each episode consisted of two triple threat matches with the respective winners advancing to the semifinals in a singles match the same night, with those respective winners advancing to the championship match at Night of Champions.[5] According to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, the reason that SmackDown wrestlers were included in the tournament was due to WWE's attempt to retain viewership for the May 12 episode of SmackDown, as it and other wrestling programs that week were going head-to-head with the 2023 NBA playoffs.[6]

The participants for the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament were revealed on May 7 on WWE's YouTube channel: Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest, Finn Bálor, Shinsuke Nakamura, and The Miz from Raw, and AJ Styles, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and Sheamus from SmackDown.[7] On the May 8 episode of Raw, Rollins defeated Nakamura and Priest in the first triple threat while Bálor defeated Miz and Rhodes in the second. Rollins subsequently defeated Bálor in the semifinals to win Raw's bracket.[8] On the May 12 episode of SmackDown, Styles defeated Edge and Mysterio in the first triple threat while Lashley defeated Sheamus and Theory in the second. Styles subsequently defeated Lashley in the semifinals to win SmackDown's bracket, thus setting up the tournament final between Rollins and Styles.[9] At Night of Champions, Rollins defeated Styles to become the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion.[10][11] The title was defended for the first time on the June 5 episode of Raw.[12]

## Tournaments

[edit]

### Inaugural Tournament

[edit]

| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| First round
Raw
(May 8, 2023)
SmackDown
(May 12, 2023)| | | Semifinals
Raw
(May 8, 2023)
SmackDown
(May 12, 2023)| | | Final
Night of Champions
(May 27, 2023)
| | |
| Damian Priest| —
| Seth "Freakin" Rollins| Pin| | |
| |
| Shinsuke Nakamura| 13:25[13]| | | Seth "Freakin" Rollins| Pin
| | | |
|  Raw | | | Finn Bálor| 13:30[8]| |
| | | |
| Cody Rhodes| —|
| Finn Bálor| Pin| | |
| |
| The Miz| 9:30[8]| | | Seth "Freakin" Rollins| Pin
| | |
| | | | AJ Styles| 20:40[11]
| | |
| AJ Styles| Pin|
| Edge| 16:00[14]| | |
| |
| Rey Mysterio| —| | | AJ Styles| Pin
| | | |
|  SmackDown | | | Bobby Lashley| 12:00[14]| |
| | | |
| Austin Theory| 13:00[14]|
| Bobby Lashley| Pin| |
| |
| Sheamus| —| |
| | | |

## Belt design

[edit]

Sting and Ric Flair (left) with the original Big Gold Belt and Damian Priest (right) with the current World Heavyweight Championship—designed in homage to the iconic Big Gold Belt.

The World Heavyweight Championship belt has a design that pays homage to the historic Big Gold Belt, which was used for WWE's previous World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013) as well as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship before that. It also features tributes to previous designs of the company's original world championship, the WWE Championship (1963–present).[15]

Like the historic Big Gold Belt, the title has three large gold plates on a black leather strap. All three plates include traditional filigree with each plate outlined in a rope trim to represent the three ropes of a wrestling ring. Like all of WWE's other championship belts, the side plates include a removable round center section which can be replaced with the reigning champion's logo in lieu of the nameplate that was found on the original Big Gold Belt; the default side plates feature a gold WWE logo over a globe (customizable side plates were introduced with the 2013–2014 version of the WWE Championship belt).[15]

At the center of the center plate, there is a large globe that has WWE's logo over top of it. The WWE logo is silver with black filled in the blank spaces of the globe. The globe itself represents that the title is defended around the world. Above the globe is a banner with the text "WORLD" written in silver with a banner below the globe that says "CHAMPION", also in silver. Also on the center plate are three lions, which represent the McMahon family crest (as WWE was founded and owned by the McMahon family until September 2023); there is a full-bodied lion on each opposing side of the globe facing outwards while the third is a lion's head at the very bottom of the center plate (the McMahon family crest was previously included on the side plates of the WWE Championship belts from 1998 to 2005). At the top of the center plate right above the "WORLD" banner is a crown, a nod to Bruno Sammartino's WWE Championship belt during his long reign (there was also a crown on the Big Gold Belt). Right above the crown is an eagle, which is an homage to the various WWE Championship belts that included an eagle up until 2013, most notably the Winged Eagle championship belt design (1988–1998). There are a total of 60 diamonds across the three plates; these were in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of WWE, as the company was founded in April 1963 and the title was unveiled in April 2023.[15]

## Reception

[edit]

The creation of the World Heavyweight Championship was met with mixed reception. Some liked the idea of the title, feeling that it would give new opportunities for several wrestlers, but others were critical. A segment of the fanbase were disappointed that it did not continue the titleholder lineage from the previous World Heavyweight Championship defended in WWE from 2002 to 2013.[16][17] Dave Scherer of PWInsider felt that since Roman Reigns was not in the inaugural tournament, it made the World Heavyweight Championship seem like a secondary title to his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.[18] Former WWE and Extreme Championship Wrestling wrestler Tommy Dreamer opined that the title's creation felt like a consolation prize, stating that it gave the impression that nobody could beat Reigns. Nonetheless, he praised the design of the belt.[16] Conversely, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T stated that he did not think it felt like a secondary title or consolation prize, agreeing with the sentiment that it would provide new opportunities, especially for younger wrestlers.[17]

WWE commentator Corey Graves said that having the title was great as it would allow Raw and SmackDown to identify as separate brands (as brand division had been lax over the preceding year), but he claimed that until Reigns was defeated, anyone holding the World Heavyweight Championship would feel inferior to Reigns.[19] Scherer also felt that whoever would finally beat Reigns, the impact would be lessened due to the existence of the World Heavyweight Championship.[20] Prior to competing in the tournament final, runner-up AJ Styles said that it was hard to argue that the new title was not secondary compared to Reigns' undisputed championship,[21] a sentiment shared by WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, who did, however, praise the design of the belt.[22]

## Reigns

[edit]

Record two-time and current champion Gunther

As of July 16, 2025, there have been six reigns between five champions. The inaugural champion was Seth "Freakin" Rollins. He also has the longest reign at 316 days, while Drew McIntyre has the shortest reign at 5 minutes and 46 seconds. Damian Priest is the oldest title holder at 41 years old while Gunther is the youngest at 36 years, 349 days. Gunther also has the most reigns at two.

Gunther is the current champion in his record-setting second reign. He won the title by defeating Jey Uso on the June 9, 2025, episode of Raw in Phoenix, Arizona.[23]

Key  No.  | Overall reign number

|

Reign  | Reign number for the specific champion
Days  | Number of days held
Days recog.  | Number of days held recognized by the promotion
<1  | Reign lasted less than a day
\+  | Current reign is changing daily
No. | Champion  | Championship change  | Reign statistics  | Notes  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

Date  | Event  | Location  | Reign  | Days | Days recog.
| WWE: Raw
1  | Seth "Freakin" Rollins | May 27, 2023 | Night of Champions | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 1  | 316 | 316  | The title was established and designated to Raw after the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship became exclusive to SmackDown following the 2023 WWE Draft. Rollins defeated AJ Styles in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion.  | [24][11]
2  | Drew McIntyre | April 7, 2024 | WrestleMania XL
Night 2 | Philadelphia, PA | 1  | <1 | <1  |  | [25]
3  | Damian Priest | April 7, 2024 | WrestleMania XL
Night 2 | Philadelphia, PA | 1  | 118 | 118  | This was Priest's Money in the Bank cash-in match.  | [25]
4  | Gunther | August 3, 2024 | SummerSlam | Cleveland, OH | 1  | 259 | 258  |  | [26]
5  | Jey Uso | April 19, 2025 | WrestleMania 41
Night 1 | Paradise, NV | 1  | 51 | 51  |  | [27]
6  | Gunther | June 9, 2025 | Raw | Phoenix, AZ | 2  | 37+ | 37+  |  | [23]

## Combined reigns

[edit]

†  | Indicates the current champion

|

<1  | Reign was less than a day
Rank  | Wrestler  | No. of
reigns  | Combined
days  | Combined days
rec by WWE

|
|
|
|

1  | Seth "Freakin" Rollins | 1 | 316
2  | Gunther † | 2 | 296+ | 295+
3  | Damian Priest | 1 | 118
4  | Jey Uso | 1 | 51
5  | Drew McIntyre | 1 | <1

## See also

[edit]

* World championships in WWE

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "World Heavyweight Title". WWE.
2. ^ Keller, Wade (April 24, 2023). "4/24 WWE Raw results: Keller's report on Triple H announcement, Bad Bunny appearing in person, Rey vs. Priest". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
3. ^ Casey, Connor (April 24, 2023). "Triple H Introduces WWE's New World Heavyweight Championship Title". ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
4. ^ Bath, Dave (April 28, 2023). "WWE SmackDown live results: The WWE Draft begins". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
5. ^ Tessier, Colin (May 5, 2023). "Triple H: World Heavyweight Title Tournament Will Begin On 5/8 WWE Raw, Continue On 5/12 SmackDown". Fightful. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
6. ^ Casey, Connor (May 9, 2023). "Why WWE Added SmackDown to the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament". ComicBook.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
7. ^ Carey, Ian (May 7, 2023). "WWE reveals participants for World Heavyweight title tournament". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
8. ^ a b c Keller, Wade (May 8, 2023). "WWE Raw Results (5-8-2023): Keller's report with analysis of World Title Tournament matches, Backlash fallout, Trish". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
9. ^ Powell, Jason (May 12, 2023). "5/12 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns' return, AJ Styles vs. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio, and Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus tournament matches, winners meet for a spot in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
10. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (May 27, 2023). "Seth Rollins Becomes Inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion At WWE Night Of Champions". Fightful. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
11. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (May 27, 2023). "WWE Night of Champions results: Powell's live review of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Asuka for the Raw Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
12. ^ Keller, Wade (June 5, 2023). "WWE Raw results (6/5): Keller's report with analysis of Seth defending World Title against Damian Priest, Cody Rhodes on Miz TV, MITB qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
13. ^ Powell, Jason (May 8, 2023). "5/8 WWE Raw results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest in a Triple Threat, Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz in Triple Threat, the Triple Threat winners meet for a spot in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Night of Champions, Trish Stratus appears". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
14. ^ a b c Keller, Wade (May 12, 2023). "WWE SmackDown Results 5/12: Keller's report on WWE World Title Tournament, Theory vs. Lashley vs. Sheamus, Styles vs. Edge vs. Mysterio". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
15. ^ a b c WWE (May 3, 2023). Get a closer look at the new World Heavyweight Championship. YouTube. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
16. ^ a b Rodriguez, David Gonzalez (April 28, 2023). "Tommy Dreamer thinks WWE's new championship looks like a consolation prize". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 9, 2023.
17. ^ a b Rodriguez, David Gonzalez (May 9, 2023). "Booker T doesn't think the new WWE Championship is a consolation prize". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 10, 2023.
18. ^ Scherer, Dave (May 10, 2023). "THE ONE PERSON WHO SHOULD BE IN THE WORLD TITLE TOURNEY BUT ISN'T, WWE IN NYC, THE WORLD IS VINCE'S OYSTER AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
19. ^ Jimenez, Mario (April 30, 2023). "Corey Graves believes the new world heavyweight champion will look inferior to Roman Reigns". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 9, 2023.
20. ^ Scherer, Dave (May 1, 2023). "IF I WERE CM PUNK THE ONLY PART OF MY BODY THAT I WOULD GIVE THE ELITE IS MIDDLE FINGER, WRESTLING JOURNALISM (OR LACK THEREOF), HHH'S REIGNS COMMENTS AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
21. ^ Lee, Joseph (May 22, 2023). "AJ Styles Says It's Hard To Argue WWE World Heavyweight Title Isn't Secondary". 411Mania. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
22. ^ Ranft, Shaun (May 25, 2023). "Kurt Angle Likes The New WWE World Heavyweight Title, But Says It's Definitely Secondary". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
23. ^ a b Powell, Jason (June 9, 2025). "WWE Raw results (6/9): Powell's live review of Jey Uso vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship, appearances by WWE Champion John Cena and MITB winner Seth Rollins, the return of Nikki Bella". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
24. ^ Miller, Gregory (April 24, 2023). "Triple H introduces the World Heavyweight Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
25. ^ a b Powell, Jason (April 7, 2024). "WrestleMania XL results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Universal Championship with Bloodline Rules, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
26. ^ Powell, Jason (August 3, 2024). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match for the WWE Championship, Damian Priest vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
27. ^ Powell, Jason (April 19, 2025). "WrestleMania 41 results: Powell's live review of night one with Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, Gunther vs. Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 19, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Official World Heavyweight Championship Title History

* v
* t
* e

Championships and accomplishments in WWE

Championships|

| Current|

| Raw|

* World Heavyweight
* Women's World
* reigns
* Intercontinental
* reigns
* Women's Intercontinental
* World Tag Team
* reigns

|

SmackDown|

* Undisputed WWE
* reigns
* WWE Women's
* reigns
* United States
* reigns
* Women's United States
* WWE Tag Team
* reigns

NXT|

* NXT
* reigns
* Women's
* reigns
* North American
* reigns
* Women's North American
* Heritage Cup
* Tag Team
* reigns

Evolve|

* Evolve
* Women's

Speed|

* Speed
* Women's Speed

ID|

* ID
* Women's ID

Shared|

* WWE Women's Tag Team
* reigns

Former|

| World|

* WCW (reigns) (2001)
* ECW (reigns) (2006–2010)
* World Heavyweight (original version) (reigns) (2002–2013)
* Universal (2016–2024)

|

Women's|

* WWE Women's (original version) (reigns) (1956–1990, 1993–1995, 1998–2010)
* Divas (reigns) (2008–2016)
* NXT UK Women's (2018–2022)

Secondary|

* NWA United States Television (1957–1962)
* United States Heavyweight (1960–1976)
* North American Heavyweight (1979–1981)
* International Heavyweight (1959–1963, 1982–1985)
* Canadian (1985–1986)
* European (reigns) (1997–2002)
* NXT United Kingdom (2017–2022)

Tag team|

* NWA World Tag Team (Northeast version) (1957–1961)
* United States Tag Team (1958–1967)
* International Tag Team (1969–1971, 1985)
* WWF Women's Tag Team (1983–1989)
* Intercontinental Tag Team (1991)
* World Tag Team (original version) (reigns) (1971–2010)
* WCW Tag Team (reigns) (2001)
* NXT UK Tag Team (2019–2022)
* NXT Women's Tag Team (2021–2023)

Weight class-specific|

* Junior Heavyweight (1965–1972, 1978–1985)
* Light Heavyweight (reigns) (1981–2002)
* Cruiserweight (reigns) (2001–2007)
* NXT Cruiserweight (reigns) (2016–2022)

Other|

* Martial Arts (1978–1989)
* Hardcore (reigns) (1998–2002)
* Million Dollar (1989–1991, 1995–1996, 2010, 2021)
* 24/7 (reigns) (2019–2022)

Accomplishments|

* Money in the Bank
* Awards
* Slammys
* NXT Year-End
* WWE Year-End
* Battle royals
* André the Giant Memorial
* Royal Rumble
* WrestleMania Women's
* Tournaments
* Cruiserweight Classic
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
* King of the Ring
* Mae Young Classic
* Mixed Match Challenge
* NXT Breakout
* Queen of the Ring
* Crown Jewel
* Women's Crown Jewel
* Grand Slam champions
* Triple Crown champions

* v
* t
* e

World Heavyweight Champions

2020s|

* Seth Rollins
* Drew McIntyre
* Damian Priest
* Gunther (current)
* Jey Uso

*[No.]: Number
*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template