Ric Flair won the NWA World Heavyweight Title from Sting and with
the NWA no longer operating, Flair was recognized as the first ever WCW
World Heavyweight Champion. Ric was stripped of the title on July 1,
1991 when he was fired by World Championship Wrestling.
Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham for the vacated Championship.
The title was held up after a match
involving Ricky Steamboat on April 23, 1994 in Rosemont, Illinois when
the match ended in a double pin.
The Giant won the title by
disqualification when Jimmy Hart signed the contract so the titles can
change hands on a DQ. The Giant was later stripped of the title when
WCW claimed the decision unfounded.
Randy Savage won a 60 man battle royal
for the Championship when he eliminated the One Man Gang. Hulk Hogan
was involved in the match but wasn't eliminated. WCW official Randy
Anderson claimed Hogan was eliminated, awarding the belt to Randy
Savage.
The belt was declared vacant on
January 8, 1998 in Daytona Beach, Florida by J.J. Dillon because of the
controversial ending in the match between Hulk Hogan and Sting on
December 28, 1997 in Washington, D.C. and in another contest on
December 29, 1997 in Baltimore.
Sting beat Hulk Hogan for the vacated belt.
Diamond Dallas Page defeated Ric
Flair, Hulk Hogan and Sting in a four man match in which the first to
get the pin, wins the Championship.
DDP defeated Sting, Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg in a four way match later on that night.
Randy Savage teamed with Sid Vicious
in a tag team match against Sting and Kevin Nash. Randy Savage won the
title when Savage pinned Nash.
The belt was declared vacant on October 25, 1999 when Sting attacked referee Charles Robinson the previous night.
Bret Hart beat Chris Benoit in a 32 man tournament final to capture the gold.
Bret Hart vacated the title on an edition of Nitro but defeated Bill Goldberg for the title in the main event.
The belt was vacated on January 15,
2000 due to Bret Hart's injury. Chris Benoit defeated Sid Vicious for
the vacant title but the title was revacated on January 17, 2000 due to
the fact that Chris Benoit decided to leave the company.
Sid Vicious defeated Kevin Nash for the belt but was later stripped of the title by Commissioner Nash.
Kevin Nash awards himself the title after stripping it from Sid Vicious.
Sid Vicious beat Kevin Nash and Ron Harris to win the belt.
Vince Russo vacated the title on
April 10, 2000 in Denver, Colorado to 'restart' the company. Jeff
Jarrett beat Diamond Dallas Page in a tournament final to win the
coveted title.
David Arquette pins Eric Bischoff in
a tag team match to win the title in a stipulation tag team match
between himself and DDP against Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff. The
Title was vacated on May 1, 2000.
Jeff Jarrett defeated David Arquette and Diamond Dallas Page in a triple cage match to win the belt.
Ric Flair was stripped of the title but the title was then awarded by Vince Russo.
Kevin Nash defeated Double J and Scott Steiner in a three way dance to win the belt.
Kevin Nash handed the title over to Ric Flair.
Hulk Hogan defeated Jeff Jarrett to
win the World Title but Vince Russo came out to the ring and explained
that he has been dealing with Hogan's politics since day one and gives
Hogan "his" WCW World Title belt as the Hulk Hogan memorial belt
because it doesn't mean squat. Russo claimed Jarrett is still the WCW
Champion but with a new belt and will defend his title against Booker
T, a man who according to Vince Russo has been "held back" by Hogan for
14 years. That night, Booker pinned Jarrett to become the WCW
Heavyweight Champion.
This was a steel cage match and the title was vacated by Vince Russo on October 2, 2000.
Booker T defeated Jeff Jarrett in a "San Francisco 49er box" match.
This is the first time the WCW World Heavyweight Title changed hands on WWE TV.
Chris Jericho unified the WCW World
Championship with the WWE Heavyweight Title on December 9, 2001 when he
defeated The Rock and Steve Austin on the same night to become the
first ever Undisputed Champion.
The World Title was brought back by
RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff when the Undisputed Champion, Brock
Lesnar was announced as being exclusive to the Smackdown! Brand.
Bischoff countered that move by reintroducing the World Title, making
the Undisputed title a disputed one. Triple H was announced as RAW's
first World Heavyweight Champion.
The World Title was vacated by Mr.
McMahon after a triple threat match on RAW in late 2005 between
champion, Triple H, Edge and Chris Benoit. Benoit forced Edge to tap
while Benoit was being pinned. General Manager Eric Bischoff then set
up an Elimination Chamber match to determine a new champion at New
Years Revolution. The participants were Triple H, Edge, Chris Benoit,
Chris Jericho, Batista and Randy Orton with Shawn Michaels as the
referee. Triple H pinned Orton to win the title.
Batista was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Title due to a triceps injury which required surgery. Kurt Angle won the vacated title that same night in a Battle Royal, last eliminating Mark Henry for the gold.
This was a triple threat match between World Champion Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. Mysterio pinned Orton for the gold.
Edge cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase that he won from Mr. Kennedy on RAW that very week and defeated The Undertaker in a very short match after the conclusion of a title defence against Batista in a cage during an episode of Friday Night SmackDown!
The Great Khali won a battle royal to be crowned new champion by eliminating Kane and Batista.
This was a triple threat match between Great Khali, Batista and Rey Mysterio. Batista pinned Khali to win the title.
GENERAL INFO
