List of WWE Champions

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 Sami Zayn who is in his second reign. He won the title by defeating CM Punk on the September 11, 2026, episode of SmackDown in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, Mexico. As of , , there have been 154 recognized reigns between 56 recognized champions and 11 recognized vacancies (there are 4 reigns, 2 people, and 2 vacancies that are not recognized by WWE). The first champion was Buddy Rogers, who was awarded the championship in 1963. The champion with the single longest reign is Bruno Sammartino, the second title holder whose first reign lasted 2,803 days (7 years, 8 months, and 1 day) while the record for longest combined reign is also held by Sammartino at 4,040 days across his two reigns. Cena has the most reigns with 14. Ten men in history have held the championship for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Sammartino (who achieved the feat on two occasions), Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, John Cena, CM Punk, AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes. Of those ten, four held the championship for a continuous reign of 1,000 days or more: Sammartino (who achieved the feat on two occasions), Morales, Backlund, and Hogan.

Title history Names NameYearsWWWF World Heavyweight ChampionshipApril 25, 1963 – February 8, 1971WWWF Heavyweight ChampionshipFebruary 8, 1971 – March 1, 1979WWF Heavyweight ChampionshipMarch 1, 1979 – December 26, 1983WWF World Heavyweight ChampionshipDecember 26, 1983 – May 27, 1989WWF ChampionshipMay 27, 1989 – December 9, 2001Undisputed WWF ChampionshipDecember 9, 2001 – May 6, 2002Undisputed WWE ChampionshipMay 6, 2002 – May 19, 2002WWE Undisputed ChampionshipMay 19, 2002 – September 2, 2002WWE ChampionshipSeptember 2, 2002 – December 15, 2013Undisputed WWE ChampionshipAugust 14, 2011 – August 15, 2011WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipDecember 15, 2013 – June 27, 2016WWE ChampionshipJune 27, 2016 – July 24, 2016WWE World ChampionshipJuly 25, 2016 – December 9, 2016WWE ChampionshipDecember 10, 2016 – presentUndisputed WWE Universal ChampionshipApril 3, 2022 – April 7, 2024Undisputed WWE ChampionshipApril 7, 2024 – present

Reigns As of ,

Combined reigns

As of , + KeyRecRecognized by the promotion†Current champion; reign changing daily<1Reign was less than a day RankChampionNo. ofreignsCombined daysActualRecognizedby WWE1 2 4,0402 6 2,1853 2 2,121 2,1384 14 1,3605 1 1,0276 4 853 8557 7 823 8288 10 680 6859 5 65410 3 65011 9 609 60512 6 529 528 3 52914 2 52015 2 51116 3 396178367377 3 35719 1 35820 4 297 29521 1 29622 1 29323 2 280 1 280 27925 4 238 23726 2 221 21927 2 217 21528 4 210 20929 3 183 18230 1 18031 1 170 16932 2 168 16733 4 139 13534 1 133 13235 2 11836 1 11037 1 98 9738 2 9739 2 84 82 1 84 8341 2 78 7742 1 6443 1 49 4844 3 47 36451462146 1 42 4147 2 37 3648 † 2 +49 1 2850 1 22 2151 1 2152 1 9— — 8 —— — 6 —53 1 6 454 1 155 1 <1 1 <1

List of WWE Champions

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