IWE World Heavyweight Championship
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===Undisputed Championship=== | ===Undisputed Championship=== | ||
| + | In 2001, after Team IWF beat Team Alliance (WCW/XCW) at the 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 Johnson holding the IWF Championship. It was announced that the PPV following Survivor Series of that year would be a 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 Johnson 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 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 Monday Night Raw|Raw]]'' and ''[[IWE Friday Night 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|World 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 [[Stephanie McMahon|Kaila Matteson]] as [[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. | ||
===Brand designation=== | ===Brand designation=== | ||
Revision as of 11:32, 19 August 2013
| IWE Championship | |
| Details | |
| Current champion(s) | Kevin McAlmond |
| Date won | August 18, 2013 |
| Promotion | IWE |
| Brand | Raw |
| Date established | April 29, 1963 |
| Other name(s) |
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| Past designs | |
The IWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in IWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in IWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then IWWF in 1963. After Raw and SmackDown became distinct brands under IWE, the championship was moved between both brands on different occasions, mainly as a result of the IWE Draft. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches.
Contents |
History
Origin
The IWE Championship was introduced in 1963 with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers becoming the first champion. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which had various territorial member promotions. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was a member of the NWA and by 1963, CWC executives held a controlling stake over NWA operations. During this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship. Following a dispute over the result, CWC seceded from the NWA and became the International Wide Wrestling Federation (IWWF). The IWWF World Heavyweight Championship was then established as having spun off from the NWA title when the recognition was awarded to Buddy Rogers following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro, defeating Antonino Rocca in the finals. Affiliated with the NWA once again, the IWWF was renamed to International Wrestling Federation (IWF) in 1979, and after conclusively ending its affiliation with the NWA in 1983, the championship became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and later simply as the WWF Championship by the 1990s.
Prominence
In 1991, 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 prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war, dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline, which culminated in March 2001 with the WWF's purchase of WCW. As a result of the purchase, the IWF acquired the video library of WCW, select talent contracts, and championships, among other assets. The slew of former WCW talent joining the IWF roster began "The Invasion" which effectively phased out the WCW name. Following this, the WCW Championship (which had become known simply as the "world championship") was unified with the IWF Championship at Vengeance 2001. At the event, Khris Jericho defeated 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
Undisputed Championship
In 2001, after Team IWF beat Team Alliance (WCW/XCW) at the 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 Johnson holding the IWF Championship. It was announced that the PPV following Survivor Series of that year would be a 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 Johnson 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 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 main television programs, Raw and SmackDown!, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension.
In May 2002, the IWF was renamed to World 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 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, spun off from the Undisputed title. Immediately afterward, the IWE Undisputed Championship became known as the IWE Championship.
