WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
1991 - 2005
NWA World Heavyweight Title belt 1985 - 1991, and 1992 - 1993,
"WCW International" World Heavyweight Title belt 1993 - 1994,
WCW World Heavyweight Title belt 1994 - 2001,
World Heavyweight Title belt 2001 - Present
NWA World Heavyweight Title 1948 - 1991,
WCW World Heavyweight Title 1991 - 2001,
World Heavyweight Title 2001 - Present
1991
Ric Flair
Ric Flair [7], 11/01/91, East Rutherford, NJ
Flair had won his 7th NWA Title from Sting on 11/01/91 in East Rutherford, NJ, then supposedly lost it to Tatsumi Fujinami under controversial circumstances on 21/03/91 in Tokyo, Japan, and regained it at Superbrawl on 19/05/01, in St. Petersburg, FL. However, this was not acknowledged by WCW. During this time the NWA Champion began to be referred to the as the WCW Champion as WCW did not consider the two titles to be separate at that time. Therefore Flair is recognised as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
Stripped on 01/07/91 when Flair fired by WCW, and the NWA World Heavyweight Title was vacant for the first time in its history.
WCW World Heavyweight Title belt 1991 - 1994
Lex Luger, 14/07/91, The Great American Bash, Baltimore, MD
Defeats Barry Windham for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Title, however was not recognised as the NWA Champion.
Masahiro Chono defeats Rick Rude for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title on 12/08/92 in Tokyo, Japan, at a tournament to crown a new Champion.
Lex Luger
1992
Sting
Big Van Vader, 12/07/92, The Great American Bash, Albany, GA
Ron Simmons, 02/08/92, Baltimore, MD
Ron Simmons
Big Van Vader [2], 30/12/92, Baltimore, MD
1993
Sting [2], 11/03/93, London, ENGLAND
Big Van Vader [3], 17/03/93, Dublin, IRELAND
Ric Flair, 27/12/93, Starrcade, Charlotte, NC
Although Flair had previously been recognised as the NWA Champion, this was his first reign since the title was recognised exclusively as the WCW World Heavyweight Title. Championship held-up after a match at Spring Stampede on 17/04/94, between Flair and Ricky Steamboat, ended as a double pin. Steamboat defeated in rematch, but not recognised as a title win as Flair never actually lost the Championship.
Defeated Sting on 23/06/94 to unify "WCW International" World Heavyweight Title (originally the NWA World Heavyweight Title Flair had won for an 8th time by defeating Barry Windham at Beach Blast on 18/07/93), however recognition was dropped in 09/93 after WCW withdrew from NWA and WCW continued to recognise Flair as the "WCW International" World Heavyweight Champion. Flair lost that title to the late Rick Rude at Fall Brawl on 19/09/93.
Rick Rude 1958 - 1999
1994
Hulk Hogan, 17/07/94, Bash at the Beach, Orlando, FL
Hulk Hogan (with Randy Savage)
1995
The Giant (Paul Wight), 29/10/95, Halloween Havoc, Detroit, MI
Wins via DQ, Jimmy Hart, Hogan's manager, signed the contract so that the title could change hands via DQ. Stripped on 06/11/95 when WCW claims decision was dubious.
Randy Savage, 26/11/95, World War 3, Norfolk, VA
Wins a 60-man, 3-ring battle royal, eliminating One Man Gang. Hulk Hogan was not thrown over the top rope, but referee Randy Anderson, believing Hogan was in fact eliminated, awarded the match to Savage after Gang was eliminated.
'Macho Man' Randy Savage
Ric Flair [2], 27/12/95, Starrcade, Nashville, TN
1996
Randy Savage [2], 22/01/96, Las Vegas, NV
Ric Flair [3], 11/02/96, Superbrawl VI, St. Petersburg, FL
The Giant [2], 22/04/96, Albany, GA
�Hollywood� Hogan [2], 10/08/96, Hog Wild, Sturgis, SD
'Hollywood' Hogan
1997
Lex Luger [2], 04/08/97, Auburn Hills, MI
�Hollywood� Hogan [3], 09/08/97, Road Wild, Sturgis, SD
Sting [3], 28/12/97, Starrcade, Washington, DC
Declared vacant on 08/01/98 in Daytona Beach, FL by J.J. Dillon, the chairman of the WCW Executive Committee, because of the controversial endings at the 28/12/97 card in Washington, DC and the 29/12/97 card in Baltimore, MD.
Sting
1998
Sting [4], 22/02/98, Superbrawl VIII, San Francisco, CA
Defeats �Hollywood� Hulk Hogan for the vacant title.
Randy Savage [3], 19/04/98, Spring Stampede, Denver, CO
�Hollywood� Hogan [4], 20/04/98, Colorado Springs, CO
Bill Goldberg, 06/07/98, Atlanta, GA
Kevin Nash, 27/12/98, Starrcade, Washington, DC
Kevin Nash
1999
�Hollywood� Hogan [5], 04/01/99, Atlanta, GA
Ric Flair [4], 14/03/99, Uncensored, Louisville, KY
Diamond Dallas Page, 11/04/99, Spring Stampede, Tacoma, WA
Defeats Flair, �Hollywood� Hogan, and Sting in a Four Corners match in which whoever gets the pin from anybody wins the title.
DDP (with Kimberly)
Sting [5], 26/04/99, Fargo, ND
Diamond Dallas Page [2], 26/04/99, Fargo, ND
Defeats Sting, Kevin Nash, and Bill Goldberg in a Four Way match having lost the title to Sting earlier in the evening.
Kevin Nash [2], 09/05/99, Slamboree, St. Louis, MO
Randy Savage [4], 11/07/99, Bash at the Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Teams with Sid Vicious in a tag team match and pins Nash, who teams with Sting.
Hulk Hogan [6], 12/07/99, Jacksonville, FL
Sting [6], 12/09/99, Fall Brawl, Winston-Salem, NC
Sting is referred to as an 9-time World Champion as he had defeated Ric Flair for the NWA Championship on 07/07/90, Rick Rude for the "WCW International" World title on 17/04/94, and Vader for the held-up "WCW International" World title on 22/05/94.
Declared vacant on 25/10/99 after Sting had attacked WCW referee Charles Robinson the previous night.
Bret Hart, 21/11/99, Mayhem, Toronto, ON
Defeats Chris Benoit in 32-Man tournament final. Vacates on 20/12/99 after title defence against Goldberg at Starrcade on 19/12/99 ends in a controversy.
Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
Bret Hart [2], 20/12/99, Baltimore, MD
Defeats Bill Goldberg. Stripped on 16/01/2000 due to injury.
2000
Chris Benoit, 16/01/00, Souled Out, Cincinnati, OH
Defeats Sid Vicious. Stripped the next day due to a controversial ending (Benoit cancels the show and vacates the title).
Sid Vicious, 24/01/00, Los Angeles, CA
Defeats Kevin Nash. Stripped on 25/01/00 by Nash, who is also WCW Commissioner.
Kevin Nash [3], 25/01/00, Las Vegas, NV
Nash awards himself the title after stripping it from Sid Vicious.
Sid Vicious [2], 25/01/00, Las Vegas, NV
Victorious in a triple threat match featuring Nash and Ron Harris. Declared vacant by WCW executives Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo on 10/04/00.
Sid
Jeff Jarrett, 16/04/00, Spring Stampede, Chicago, IL
Defeated Diamond Dallas Page.
Diamond Dallas Page [3], 24/04/00, Rochester, NY
David Arquette (An actor), 25/04/00, Syracuse, NY
Teams with Diamond Dallas Page in a tag team match and pins Eric Bischoff, who teams with Jeff Jarrett.
Jeff Jarrett [2], 07/05/00, Slamboree, Kansas City, MO
Defeats Arquette and Diamond Dallas Page in a Triple Cage match.
Ric Flair [5], 15/05/00, Biloxi, MS
Stripped by Vince Russo on 22/05/00.
Jeff Jarrett [3], 22/05/00, Grand Rapids, MI
Defeats Kevin Nash.
Kevin Nash [4], 23/05/00, Saginaw, MI
Defeated Jarrett and Scott Steiner in a triple threat match.
Jeff Jarrett [4], 29/05/00, Salt Lake City, UT
Hulk Hogan supposedly won the title at Bash at the Beach on 09/07/00 in Daytona Beach, FL, when Jarrett 'laid down' allowing himself to be pinned.
However, that same evening matchmaker Vince Russo stated that Jarrett was still the WCW Champion and would defend the title against Booker T.
Booker T, 09/07/00, Bash at the Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
Kevin Nash [5], 28/08/00, Las Cruces, NM
Booker T [2], 17/09/00, Fall Brawl, Buffalo, NY
Vince Russo, 25/09/00, Uniondale, NY
Escaped a Steel Cage during a title match. Vacates on 02/10/00.
Booker T [3], 02/10/00, San Francisco, CA
Defeats Jeff Jarrett.
Scott Steiner, 26/11/00, Mayhem, Milwaukee, WI
2001
Booker T [4], 26/03/01, Panama Beach, FL
Defeated Scott Steiner on the last Nitro to unify the U.S. and World Championships until 24/07/01, when he relinquished the U.S. Title.
Booker T
Kurt Angle, 24/07/01, Pittsburgh, PA
Kurt Angle
Booker T [5], 30/07/01, Philadelphia, PA
The Rock, 19/08/01, Summerslam, San Jose, CA
The Rock
Chris Jericho, 21/10/01, No Mercy, St. Louis, MO
The Rock [2], 05/11/01, Long Island, NY
Exclusively referred to as the 'World Title' from 19/11/01.
Chris Jericho [2], 09/12/01, San Diego, CA
Unified with WWF Championship in the same evening.
Chris Jericho
2002
Triple H, 02/09/02, Raw, Milwaukee, WI
As the WWE 'Undisputed' Champion, Brock Lesnar had signed an exclusive deal with SmackDown! The No. 1 contender, Triple H, could not face him for the title. Therefore as from 02/09/02 the WWE title was 'disputed' and Eric Bischoff, General Manger of RAW, named Triple H as that brands new World Heavyweight Champion using the old WCW belt.
Shawn Michaels, 17/11/02, Survivor Series, New York, NY
Shawn Michaels
Triple H [2], 15/12/02, Armageddon, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Triple H
2003
Goldberg [2], 21/09/03, Unforgiven, Hershey, PA
Goldberg
Triple H [3], 14/12/03, Armageddon, Orlando, FL
2004
Chris Benoit [2], 14/03/04, Wrestlemania XX, New York, NY
Randy Orton, 15/08/04, Summerslam, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Triple H [4], 12/09/04, Unforgiven, Portland, OR
Title declared vacant on 06/12/04 by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon following a controversial ending to a match on 29/11/04.
2005
Triple H [5], 09/01/05, New Year's Revolution, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Batista, 03/04/05, Wrestlemania 21, Los Angeles, CA
As from 30/06/05, World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, moved to SmackDown! via a draft lottery.
Batista was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury on 10/01/06 after a title reign of 282 days
Batista