world heavyweight championship wwe world heavyweight championship professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned wwe championships wwe established raw brand raw smackdown distinct brands wwe moved brands different occasions mainly result wwe draft august programming roster world heavyweight championship retired wwe tables chairs december unified title represented historic introduced heritage traced world heavyweight championship giving belt legacy years old oldest world history origin wwe introduced world heavyweight championship triple inaugural champion september origin attributed world heavyweight championship events began nwa different territorial promotions members late 1980s world championship wrestling member nwa having formed purchase absorbed nwa members aired programming time nwa world heavyweight championship world title soon established recognition awarded nwa world heavyweight champion flair nwa grew rival promotion world_wrestling_federation wwf member nwa organizations grew mainstream prominence eventually involved television ratings war dubbed monday night wars near end ratings war began financial decline culminated march wwf purchase selected assets result purchase wwf acquired video library select talent contracts championships assets talent joining wwf roster began invasion effectively phased following unified wwf world title vengeance december event decommissioned final subsequent undisputed wwf champion defeating rock respectively wwf title undisputed championship professional wrestling september creation world heavyweight championship spun successor creation wwe roster doubled size contracted workers result increase wwe divided roster main television programs raw smackdown assigning championships appointing brand expansion known wwf renamed world_wrestling_entertainment wwe following changes remained brand competitors brands challenge undisputed champion following appointment smackdown brands respectively contracted champion smackdown brand leaving raw brand september brand designation undisputed title announced creation world heavyweight championship awarded title triple previously scheduled opponent immediately undisputed championship returned historical lineage introduced new title wwe allusions titles including nwa history championship history belt represents affirmed wwe continuation successor way spun nwa world heavyweight championship relation titles lineage connected earliest recognized world heavyweight championship wwe released dvd set called history world heavyweight championship definitively linked title nwa titles brand designation history following list dates indicating transitions world heavyweight championship raw smackdown brands reigns inaugural champion triple different champions overall longest reigning champion held title april january total days triple holds record longest combined reigns days shortest reigning champion big officially held title seconds youngest champion randy_orton won title age oldest champion undertaker won age edge held title times seven championship reigns title history randy_orton final champion fourth reign defeated john_cena match tables chairs december houston texas unify wwe world heavyweight championships
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)