List of WWE Champions

thumb|Three-time and current champion [[Cody Rhodes]]

The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand. It was the first world title established in WWE, at the time known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), having been introduced in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. The WWWF, a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory, did not recognize Lou Thesz's victory over reigning NWA champion Buddy Rogers and sought to create its own world title upon exiting the body. The WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971; however, one of the caveats of rejoining is that the championship would no longer be recognized as a "world championship", and only as a regional heavyweight championship.

The WWWF was renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 and ended its affiliation with the NWA in 1983, with the title also renamed to reflect the changes; it regained its world championship status upon leaving the NWA. In 2001, it was unified with the World Championship and became the Undisputed WWF Championship. In 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and split its roster into two brands (named after their television show): Raw and SmackDown. The title, now renamed the WWE Championship, was then designated to the SmackDown brand while WWE established an alternate world title known as the World Heavyweight Championship for the Raw brand. A third alternate world title, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, was reactivated for the ECW brand in 2006. It was vacated and decommissioned when the ECW brand disbanded in 2010.

When WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event on December 15, 2013, in a TLC match, the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship, resulting in the retiring of the former, as well as the renaming of the latter to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On June 27, 2016, the name was shortened back to the WWE Championship, before assuming the WWE World Championship name on July 26, when the brand split returned. It became designated to the SmackDown brand and WWE again established an alternate world title known as the WWE Universal Championship for the Raw brand. In December 2016, WWE again shortened the title's name back to WWE Championship. From April 2022 to April 2024, the title represented one-half of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, with the other half represented by the Universal Championship; both titles retained their individual lineages. Under the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship moniker, the title was moved to SmackDown in the 2023 WWE Draft and Raw established a new World Heavyweight Championship as an alternative title.

The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name while others use their real name. The current champion is Cody Rhodes who is in his third reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion Drew McIntyre on the March 6, 2026, episode of SmackDown.

Title history

Names

{|class="wikitable"

!Name

!Years

|WWWF World Heavyweight Championship

|April 25, 1963 – February 8, 1971

|WWWF Heavyweight Championship

|February 8, 1971 – March 1, 1979

|WWF Heavyweight Championship

|March 1, 1979 – December 26, 1983

|WWF World Heavyweight Championship

|December 26, 1983 – May 27, 1989

|WWF Championship

|May 27, 1989 – December 9, 2001

|Undisputed WWF Championship

|December 9, 2001

|WWE Championship

|September 2, 2002 – August 15, 2011

|WWE World Heavyweight Championship

|December 15, 2013 – June 27, 2016

|WWE Championship

|June 27, 2016 – July 24, 2016

|WWE World Championship

|July 25, 2016 – December 9, 2016

|WWE Championship

|December 10, 2016<br /><br />