IWE Championship

From Iwe

Not to be confused with World Heavyweight Championship (IWE) or IWE Universal Championship.

The IWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American Professional Wrestling Promotion IWE on the Raw brand. It is one of two world titles in the IWE, alongside the IWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 IWE draft. The title is currently held by Cody Rhodes.

The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-International Wide Wrestling Federation (IWWF) on April 25, 1963 as the IWWF World Heavyweight Championship, following the promotion seceding from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championship currently active in the IWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title, with many matches for the title having headlined pay-per-view events – including IWE's flagship event WrestleMania.

From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as IWE's sole primary championship. An additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-International Wrestling Federation's purchase of World Championship Wrestling in early 2001. The titles were later unified as the Undisputed Championship. After the first brand extension in 2002 and the promotion becoming the IWE, the championship became exclusive to SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw. XCW became a third brand in 2006, adding the XCW World Heavyweight Championship. Over the course of the first brand extension, the IWE Championship switched between brands, usually as a result of the annual draft. The XCW Championship was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the IWE Championship in 2013. The championship was again the sole world title of IWE until the reintroduction of the brand extension in 2016.

[edit] History

[edit] Origin

[edit] Monday Night Wars and title unification

[edit] Championship disputes

[edit] Title reunified and second brand split

[edit] Brand designation

Following the events of the IWE brand extension, an annual IWE 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 IWE roster were assigned to a brand.

On August 29, 2011, IWE ended the brand extension and wrestlers (including all champions), were then free to appear on any program.

The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the IWE World Heavyweight Championship (then IWE Championship) between the Raw, SmackDown! and XCW brands.

[edit] Championship belt designs

[edit] 1963–1982

[edit] 1982–2005

[edit] 2005–2014

[edit] Current design

[edit] Customized designs

[edit] Reigns

Main article: List of IWE Champions

[edit] Reference

[edit] External links