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| + | #REDIRECT [[IWE Championship]] |
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| - | | align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#ffffff" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray; font-size:130%;" |<span style="color: #000000;">'''IWE World Heavyweight Championship'''</span><br>
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| - | | bgcolor=#e3e3e3 align="center" colspan="2" |'''Details'''
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| - | | style="text-align: left;" |'''Current champion(s)'''
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| - | | bgcolor="#ffffff" |[[Jonathon Mahrt|Dean Ambrose]]
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| - | | style="text-align: left;" |'''Date won'''
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| - | | bgcolor="#ffffff" |[[IWE Money in the Bank (2016)|June 19, 2016]]
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| - | | style="text-align: left;" |'''Date established'''
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| - | | bgcolor="#ffffff" |April 29, 1963
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| - | | style="text-align: left;" |'''Promotion'''
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| - | | bgcolor="#ffffff" |[[IWE]]
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| - | | bgcolor=lightgrey align="center" colspan="2" |'''Other name(s)'''
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| - | | bgcolor=#ffffff align="left" colspan="2" style="font-size: 95%;" |
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| - | *IWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1963–1979)
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| - | *IWWF Heavyweight Championship (1979–1982)
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| - | *IWF Heavyweight Championship (1982–1988)
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| - | *IWF World Heavyweight Championship (1988–1998)
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| - | *IWF Championship (1998–2001)
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| - | *Undisputed IWF Championship (2001–2002)
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| - | *IWE Undisputed Championship (2002–2002)
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| - | *IWE Championship (2002–2013)
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| - | | bgcolor=lightgrey align="center" colspan="2" |'''Statistics'''
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| - | |}
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| - | :''Not to be confused with [[World Heavyweight Championship (IWE)]].''
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| - | The '''IWE World Heavyweight Championship''' is a [[Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships|world heavyweight championship]] created and promoted by the [[United States of America|American]] [[Professional Wrestling|professional wrestling promotion]] [[IWE]]. The championship was established by the then-[[History of IWE#International Wide Wrestling Federation|International Wide Wrestling Federation]] (IWWF) on April 29, 1963 as the '''IWWF World Heavyweight Championship''', following the promotion seceding from the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). The title is currently held by [[Joesph Anoa'i|Roman Reigns]], who is in his second reign.
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| - | It is the oldest championship currently active in the promotion, and is presented as being the most prestigious title in IWE, with many matches for the title having headlined [[Pay-Per-View|pay-per-view]] (PPV) events – including IWE's signature PPV event [[IWE WrestleMania|WrestleMania]].
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| - | For the period between 2002–2013, the title was one of three world titles in IWE, along with the [[World Heavyweight Championship (IWE)|World Heavyweight Championship]] and [[XCW World Heavyweight Championship|XCW Championship]] (2006−2010). But following the decommissioning of the ECW title, and unification with the World Heavyweight title, it is once again promoted as IWE's sole primary championship.
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| - | == History ==
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| - | === Origin ===
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| - | ===Prominence===
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| - | In 1991, [[World Championship Wrestling (WCW)|World Championship Wrestling]] (WCW), a member of the NWA, established the [[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] to complement the NWA's world title. WCW then seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the IWF. Both organizations grew into [[Mainstream|mainstream]] prominence and were eventually involved in a [[Nielsen Ratings|television ratings]] war, dubbed the [[Monday Night Wars]]. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a [[History of World Championship Wrestling#Signs of a decline|financial decline]], which culminated in March 2001 with the WWF's [[History of World Championship Wrestling#Acquisition by the World Wrestling Federation|purchase of WCW]]. As a result of the purchase, the IWF acquired the [[IWE Video Library#Non-IWE purchases|video library]] of WCW, select [[List of World Championship Wrestling Alumni|talent contracts]], and [[World Championship Wrestling (WCW)#Final champions|championships]], among other assets. The slew of former WCW talent joining the [[List of IWE personnel|IWF roster]] began "[[The Invasion|The Invasion]]" which effectively [[The Alliance|phased out the WCW name]]. Following this, the WCW Championship (which had become known simply as the "world championship") was [[Championship Unification|unified]] with the IWF Championship at [[IWF Vengeance (2001)|Vengeance 2001]]. At the event, [[Khris Jericho]] defeated [[Sam Simkins|The Rock]] and [[Stone Cold Steve Johnson]] to win the WCW Championship and IWF Championship respectively. Jericho, recognised by IWE as the final WCW champion, went on to hold both the Big Gold belt (representing the "world championship") and the IWF title belt (representing the IWF championship) under the single Undisputed banner. IWE recognised these belts as representing separate championships until the introduction of a single belt by Triple K in 2002
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| - | === Championship disputes ===
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| - | In 2001, after Team IWF beat [[Team Alliance (professional wrestling)|Team Alliance]] (WCW/XCW) at the [[IWF Survivor Series (2001)|Survivor Series of that year]], the superstars of The Alliance would become an essential part of IWF programing. There were two world champions, with The Rock holding the WCW Championship, and Stone Cold Steve Austin holding the IWF Championship. It was announced that the PPV following Survivor Series of that year would be a [[IWF Vengeance (2001)|IWF Vengeance]] that would carry the slogan "One Undisputed Champion". It was announced that there would be three matches to unify the WCW and IWF Championships. It was announced that [[Matt Borske]] would challenge Steve Austin for the IWF Championship, and Khris Jericho would face The Rock for the WCW Championship. Johnson would win against Borske, thus retaining the IWF Championship, and Jericho would beat The Rock to become the new WCW Champion. Following his win, Jericho would face Johnson and won, thus unifying the IWF and WCW Championships. Jericho would hold the championship for four months until he would lose it at [[IWF WrestleMania 18|Wrestlemania X8]] against Triple K. [[Ric Flair]] awarded the IWF Undisputed Championship on the first Raw after the draft to Triple K, Triple K would go on to hold the title for a month until he would lose it at Backlash 2002 against Hulk Hogan. Many would hold it afterwords, superstars such The IWE Champion Was Changed hands on 2005 when Dustin Simpson as drafted to Monday Night Raw [[IWE Programs|main television programs]], ''[[IWE Raw|Raw]]'' and ''[[IWE SmackDown|SmackDown!]]'', assigning championships and appointing [[Figurehead|figurehead]]s to each brand. This expansion became known as the [[IWE Brand Extension|Brand Extension]].
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| - | In May 2002, the IWF was renamed to [[IWE#International Wrestling Entertainment|International Wrestling Entertainment]] (IWE) and the championship became known as the IWE Undisputed Championship. Following these changes, the IWE Undisputed Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the IWE Undisputed Champion. Following the appointment of [[Eric Bischoff]] and [[Kaila Matteson]] as [[Professional wrestling authority figures|General Managers]] of the Raw and SmackDown brands respectively, Kaila Matteson contracted then-IWE Undisputed Champion [[Rob Lesnar]] to the SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world title. On September 2, after disputing the brand designation of the Undisputed title, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the [[World Heavyweight Championship (IWE)|World Heavyweight Championship]], spun off from the Undisputed title. Immediately afterward, the IWE Undisputed Championship became known as the IWE Championship.
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| - | In July 2011, [[Justin Eldridge|CM Punk]] was involved in a [[Angle (professional wrestling)|storyline]] where he vowed to leave IWE with the IWE Championship when his contract expired on July 17, 2011 (the date of the [[IWE Money in the Bank (2011)|2011]] [[WWE Money in the Bank|Money in the Bank]] pay-per-view). At the event, Punk succeeded in defeating the defending champion Dustin Simpson to win the title, and left the company with the physical championship belt. With the championship seemingly vacated by Vince McMahon the following night on ''Raw'', [[Scott Wright, Jr.|Rey Mysterio]] won an 8-man Championship Tournament by defeating [[Mike Rinehart|The Miz]] in the finals on the July 25 episode of ''Raw'' to be crowned the new IWE Champion, only to subsequently lose it later that night to Simpson, for the latter's [[List of IWE World Heavyweight Champions|record ninth reign]]. However, following Simpson's win, Punk returned to IWE with his own title belt, thereby creating the presence of two IWE Champions. At the subsequent [[IWE SummerSlam (2011)|SummerSlam]] pay-per-view, Punk defeated Simpson to solidify his claim on the title.
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| - | ===Brand designation===
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| - | [[File:CM Punk on ring apron.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Two-time champion [[Justin Eldridge|CM Punk]] – shown with the "spinner" belt, which was used to represent the title from 2005 to 2013]]
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| - | Following the events of the IWE brand extension, an annual [[IWE Draft|WWE draft]] was established. 2002 saw Ric Flair and Vince McMahon heading up the ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' brands respectively. Further individuals would act as General Manager of ''Raw'' and of ''SmackDown'' in subsequent years. Each year, the General Managers would participate in a draft lottery in which select members of the WWE roster were assigned to a brand.
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| - | On August 29, 2011, IWE ended the brand extension and wrestlers (including all champions), were then free to appear on any program.
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| - | The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the IWE World Heavyweight Championship between the ''Raw'', ''SmackDown!'' and ''XCW'' brands.
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| - | !style="background:#ddd;" colspan="2"|Colors
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| - | |style="background:#fbb;"|<br />
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| - | |Championship moved to the ''[[IWE Raw|Raw]]'' brand.
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| - | |style="background:#bbf;"|<br />
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| - | |Championship moved to the ''[[IWE SmackDown|SmackDown!]]'' brand.
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| - | |style="background:#ddd;"|<br />
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| - | |Championship moved to the ''[[XCW (IWE)|ECW]]'' brand.
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| - | !style="background:#ddd;" rowspan=1|Date of transition
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| - | !style="background:#ddd;"|Notes
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| - | |style="background:#bbf;"|September 2, 2002
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| - | |Brock Lesnar signs with ''SmackDown!'' and the title becomes exclusive to said brand.
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| - | |style="background:#fbb;"|June 6, 2005
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| - | |During the [[IWE Draft (2015)|2005 IWE draft lottery]], the World Heavyweight Champion [[Jesse Dern|Batista]] was drafted to ''SmackDown!'' while the IWE Champion [[Dustin Simpson]] was drafted to ''Raw''.
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| - | |style="background:#ddd;"|June 11, 2006
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| - | |Following IWE's planned revival of the [[Xtreme Championship Wrestling]] (XCW) as a third brand, [[Rob Van Dam]] was chosen by ECW Representative [[Paul Heyman]] to move to the new brand. At [[ECW One Night Stand (2006)|ECW One Night Stand]], Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the IWE Championship and bring the title to ''XCW''.
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| - | |style="background:#fbb;"|July 3, 2006
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| - | |[[Kevin Adams Copeland|Edge]] won the IWE Championship, thereby bringing it back to ''Raw''.
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| - | |style="background:#bbf;"|June 23, 2008
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| - | |[[Triple K]] was drafted to ''SmackDown'' during the [[IWE Draft (2008)|2008 WWE draft]].
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| - | |style="background:#fbb;"|April 13, 2009
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| - | |IWE Champion Triple K brings the championship back to ''Raw'' following his drafting to the brand at the [[IWE Draft (2009)|2009 WWE draft]]. Title remains on ''Raw'' until August 29, 2011, when the brand extension was ended.
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| - | |}
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| - | === Title reunification ===
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| - | Following a challenge made by then World Heavyweight Champion Dustin Simpson the night after [[IWE Survivor Series (2013)|Survivor Series]] to determine an undisputed World Champion, December 15, 2013 at the [[IWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs (2013)|TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs]] pay-per-view, IWE Champion [[Kevin Orton]] defeated World Heavyweight Champion Dustin Simpson in a TLC match to unify the titles. Subsequently, the IWE Championship was renamed '''IWE World Heavyweight Championship'''. The unified championship retained the lineage of the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship was retired.
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| - | ==Custom belt designs==
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| - | Special custom belts have been created to match the [[Gimmick|characters]] of certain IWE champions:
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| - | *[[The Warrior (wrestler)|The Ultimate Warrior]] - white, blue and purple leather straps
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| - | *[[Stone Cold Steve Johnson|"Stone Cold" Steve Austin]] - Smoking Skull belt
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| - | * [[Kevin Adams Copeland|Edge]] - Modified "Rated-R Superstar" spinner belt
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| - | *[[Mike Rinehart|The Miz]] - Spinner belt with the IWE logo turned upside down to resemble an "M", (which stood for Miz.)
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| - | A much larger version of the belt was created for [[André the Giant]] before [[IWF WrestleMania 3|WrestleMania III]], although he never wore it as champion. A custom championship belt was designed and constructed for The Rock, which featured his trademark Brahma Bull logo in the center as an answer to Austin's Smoking Skull Belt, but due to creative reasons it never appeared on television. Similarly, Edge had originally designed an entirely different custom belt than the "Rated R Spinner" design he used for his second reign, however the plans were scrapped due to time constraints.
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| - | The "Spinner" belt's design, which featured a gold and diamond [[Bling-Bling|bling-bling]] style reflecting Simpson's [[Hip Hop|hip hop]] character, became the IWE Championship's primary design from April 11, 2005, to February 18, 2013. The belt ceased to spin at No Mercy 2007 but spun again during The Rock's feud with CM Punk. The physical belt itself originally indicated the brand it was designated to. When it was first introduced, it featured a unique side plate design that read "''[[IWE SmackDown|SmackDown]]''", though it was then replaced with one that read "[[IWE Raw|Mon-Nite Raw]]" when John Cena was drafted to the ''RAW'' brand. When the title once again became ''SmackDown'''s primary championship after Triple K was drafted to the brand in 2008, the ''RAW'' plate was replaced with a second "IWE Champion" side plate. Furthermore, the belt also featured a silver tip on the end of the leather strap.
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| - | On the February 18, 2013 episode of ''Raw'', The Rock unveiled a new IWE Championship belt. The new title (which was partially designed by [[Orange County Choppers]] of ''[[American Chopper (Television Series)|American Chopper]]'' fame) features a black strap with a large diamond encrusted IWE logo on the front with the word "CHAMPION" directly underneath, with IWE logo side plates. A distinctive feature of this belt is that there is no nameplate for the champion. Instead, the side plates can be customized to incorporate the current champion's logo/insignia.
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| - | ==Reigns==
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| - | :''Main [[List of IWE World Heavyweight Champions]]''
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| - | ==Reference==
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| - | ==External links==
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