WWE (Smackdown) World Heavyweight Championship, 2002-
2002
-
This Championship (arguably) is the result of the unification of the titles listed below, over the course of many years:
- Catch-as-Catch-Can Heavyweight Title (1881-1887)
- American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Title (1880-1893)
- European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Title (1894-1902)
- American Heavyweight Title (1893-1906)
- New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Title (1928-1935)
- The World Heavyweight Title (Maryland Version) (1937-1946)
- National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title (1929-1948)
- Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title (1931-1948)
- The World Heavyweight Title (Los Angeles version) (1935-1952)
- The World Heavyweight Title (1901-1956)
- American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title (1928-1964)
- National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title (1948-1991)
- World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (1991-2001)
- World Heavyweight Championship (2001)
Also briefly unified with the WWF World Heavyweight Championship as:
- Undisputed (WWF) Heavyweight Championship (Dec. 2001 - May 2002)
- Undisputed (WWE) Heavyweight Championship (May 2002 - September 2002)
Now known as:
- WWE (Smackdown) World Championship (September 2002 - )
|
No. |
Champion |
Date won |
Location |
Reign |
Event |
Note |
| 1. | Brock Lesnar | 8/25/2002 | Uniondale, NY | 84 d | Summerslam 2002 | 1 |
| 2. | Big Show | 11/17/2002 | New York, NY | 28 d | Survivor Series 2002 | |
| 3. | Kurt Angle | 12/15/2002 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 105 d | Armageddon 2002 | |
| 4. | Brock Lesnar [2] | 03/30/2003 | Seattle, WA | 119 d | Wrestlemania XIX | |
| 5. | Kurt Angle [2] | 7/27/2003 | Denver, CO | 51 d | Vengenace 2003 | 2 |
| 6. | Brock Lesnar [3] | 09/16/2003 | Raleigh, NC |  -09/18/03 |
3 | |
| 7. | Eddie Guerrero | 02/15/2004 | San Francisco, CA | 133 d | No Way Out '04 | |
| 8. | John Bradshaw Layfield | 06/27/2004 | Norfolk, VA | 280 d | Great American Bash '04 | 4 |
| 9. | John Cena | 04/03/2005 | Los Angeles, CA | days | Wrestlemania 21 |
Notes:
1. Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Summerslam 2002. Shortly thereafter, Stephanie McMahon ruled that, as a member of the Smackdown roster, Lesnar could only defend the title on Smackdown. Eric Bischoff then reinstated the World Championship as the World title for the Raw roster, and awarded the title to HHH. Thus, Lesnar's formerly Undisputed Title was, again, disputed.
In reality, the lineage of the WCW World title would be found in the WWE (Smackdown) World Heavyweight Championship. However, the Raw World Title is being portrayed as the old WCW World Title.
2. Defeats Lesnar and the Big Show in 3-way match.
3. Defeated Angle 5-4 in an Iron Man Match. Match aired 18-Sep-2003.
4. Defeated Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Bull Rope Match. Eddie was originally declared the winner, but SmackDown GM Kurt Angle reversed the decision after viewing the replay.
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