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WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title History
| Champion | Won From | Date | City/Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lex Luger | – | 1/1/1991 | –[1] |
| Sting | Steve Austin | 8/25/1991 | Atlanta, GA[2] |
| Rick Rude | Sting | 11/19/1991 | Clash 17[3] |
| Dustin Rhodes | Ricky Steamboat | 1/16/1993 | Saturday Night[4] |
| Dustin Rhodes (2) | Rick Rude | 8/30/1993 | Atlanta, GA[5] |
| Steve Austin | Dustin Rhodes | 12/27/1993 | Starrcade |
| Ricky Steamboat | Steve Austin | 8/24/1994 | Clash 28 |
| Steve Austin (2) | Ricky Steamboat | 9/18/1994 | Fall Brawl[6] |
| Jim Duggan | Steve Austin | 9/18/1994 | Fall Brawl |
| Vader | Jim Duggan | 12/27/1994 | Starrcade |
| Sting (2) | Meng | 6/18/1995 | Great American Bash[7] |
| Kensuke Sasaki | Sting | 11/13/1995 | Japan |
| One Man Gang | Kensuke Sasaki | 12/27/1995 | Starrcade |
| Konnan | One Man Gang | 1/29/1996 | Monday Nitro |
| Ric Flair | Konnan | 7/7/1996 | Bash at the Beach[8] |
| Eddie Guerrero | Diamond Dallas Page | 12/29/1996 | Starrcade[9] |
| Dean Malenko | Eddie Guerrero | 3/16/1997 | UnCeNSoReD |
| Jeff Jarrett | Dean Malenko | 6/9/1997 | Monday Nitro |
| Steve McMichael | Jeff Jarrett | 8/21/1997 | Clash 35 |
| Curt Hennig | Steve McMichael | 9/15/1997 | Monday Nitro |
| Diamond Dallas Page | Curt Hennig | 12/28/1997 | Starrcade |
| Raven | Diamond Dallas Page | 4/19/1998 | Spring Stampede |
| Bill Goldberg | Raven | 4/20/1998 | Monday Nitro |
| Bret Hart | Diamond Dallas Page | 7/20/1998 | Monday Nitro[10] |
| Lex Luger (2) | Bret Hart | 8/10/1998 | Monday Nitro |
| Bret Hart (2) | Lex Luger | 8/13/1998 | Thunder |
| Diamond Dallas Page (2) | Bret Hart | 10/26/1998 | Monday Nitro |
| Bret Hart (3) | Diamond Dallas Page | 11/30/1998 | Monday Nitro |
| Roddy Piper | Bret Hart | 2/8/1999 | Monday Nitro |
| Scott Hall | Roddy Piper | 2/21/1999 | Superbrawl IX[11] |
| Scott Steiner | Booker T | 4/11/1999 | Spring Stampede[12] |
| David Flair | – | 7/5/1999 | Monday Nitro[13] |
| Chris Benoit | David Flair | 8/9/1999 | Monday Nitro |
| Sid Vicious | Chris Benoit | 9/12/1999 | Fall Brawl |
| Bill Goldberg (2) | Sid Vicious | 10/24/1999 | Halloween Havoc |
| Bret Hart (4) | Bill Goldberg | 10/25/1999 | Monday Nitro |
| Scott Hall (2) | Bret Hart | 11/8/1999 | Monday Nitro[14] |
| Chris Benoit (2) | Jeff Jarrett | 12/19/1999 | Starrcade |
| Jeff Jarrett (2) | Chris Benoit | 12/20/1999 | Monday Nitro[15] |
| Scott Steiner (2) | Sting | 4/16/2000 | Spring Stampede[16] |
| Lance Storm | Mike Awesome | 7/18/2000 | Monday Nitro[17] |
| Terry Funk | Lance Storm | 9/22/2000 | Amarillo, TX |
| Lance Storm (2) | Terry Funk | 9/23/2000 | Lubbock, TX |
| General Rection | Lance Storm | 10/29/2000 | Halloween Havoc[18] |
| Lance Storm (3) | General Rection | 11/13/2000 | Monday Nitro |
| General Rection (2) | Lance Storm | 11/26/2000 | Mayhem |
| Shane Douglas | General Rection | 1/14/2001 | Sin |
| Rick Steiner | Shane Douglas | 2/5/2001 | Monday Nitro |
| Booker T | Rick Steiner | 3/18/2001 | Greed |
| WWE buys out WCW and the title becomes defended on WWE programming. | |||
| Kanyon | – | 7/26/2001 | Smackdown![19] |
| Tajiri | Kanyon | 9/10/2001 | Raw is War |
| Rhyno | Tajiri | 9/23/2001 | Unforgiven |
| Kurt Angle | Rhyno | 10/22/2001 | Raw |
| Edge | Kurt Angle | 11/12/2001 | Raw[20] |
Footnotes:
[1]: When WCW withdrew from the NWA in January 1991, Lex Luger’s NWA U.S. title reign carried over to become the first ever WCW U.S. title reign. After winning the WCW world title, Lex Luger had to vacate the U.S. title.
[2]: This was a tournament final.
[3]: In December 1992, Rude had to vacate the title due to injury.
[4]: This was a tournament final. During a controversial finish in May 1993, the U.S. title became vacant.
[5]: Rhodes regained the U.S. title in a rematch on 8/30/1993.
[6]: Austin was awarded the title after Steamboat was forced to vacate the title due to injury.
[7]: Vader was stripped of the title by WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel in April 1995. This was a tournament final.
[8]: Ric Flair had to vacate the title due to a shoulder injury in November 1996.
[9]: This was a tournament final.
[10]: Goldberg vacated the U.S. title once he won the WCW world title on 7/5/1998. Bret Hart and DDP were considered as the top two contendors to the U.S. title.
[11]: Scott Hall vacated the U.S. title after suffering an injury.
[12]: This was a tournament final.
[13]: WCW President Ric Flair stripped Scott Steiner of the title when he failed to defend it and awarded it to his son David.
[14]: This was a four-way ladder match which also included Sid Vicious and Goldberg. He would be stripped of the title due to an injury at Starrcade, setting up a ladder match between Benoit and Jarrett for the vacant title.
[15]: Once the Russo/Bischoff era started on 4/10/2000, all the titles were made vacant as they reset the company.
[16]: This was a tournament final. Steiner would be stripped of the title when he used the Steiner Recliner on Mike Awesome at Bash at the Beach which was a submission hold that had been banned from WCW.
[17]: This was a tournament final. During the Lance Storm title reigns, the U.S. title becomes unofficially known as the WCW Canadian Heavyweight title.
[18]: General Rection won the title in a handicap match by defeating both Lance Storm and Jim Duggan.
[19]: As the WCW world champion, Booker T awards the secondary WCW U.S. title to Kanyon.
[20]: At the Survivor Series PPV the following weekend, Edge defeated WWE Intercontinental champion Test to win the title and as the WCW U.S. champion, the WCW and WWE titles become unified for the first time ever.
Credit goes to: PWI Almanac, wrestling-titles.com, and ProWrestlingHistory.com
The Hart Foundation YouTube/DailyMotion MixTape
Arguably one of the greatest tag teams of the ’80s. Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jimmy Hart started from the bottom up and captured two WWF tag team championships in three years. Their battles with the Killer Bees, the Rougeau Brothers, the British Bulldogs and the Rockers are examples of tag team wrestling excellence. In 1997, the Hart Foundation became a stable and other members of the Hart family joined to compete against the best the WWF had to offer at the time as an anti-American group. By the end of 1997, Bret Hart was screwed out of the WWF title, Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart left the WWF, Brian Pillman passed away, and Owen Hart hung around in the mid-card – ending another successful run of the Hart Foundation. Read the rest of this entry
Clash of the Champions #29 (11.94)
WCW Clash of the Champions 29
November 16, 1994
Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville Coliseum
The current WCW Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hulk Hogan (7/17/1994)
WCW U.S. Champion: Jim Duggan (9/18/1994)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Pretty Wonderful (10/23/1994)
WCW World Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd (9/18/1994)
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan. Read the rest of this entry
Halloween Havoc 1994
WCW Halloween Havoc 1994
October 23, 1994
Detroit, MI
Joe Louis Arena
The current WCW Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hulk Hogan (7/17/1994)
WCW U.S. Champion: Jim Duggan (9/18/1994)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Stars & Stripes (9/25/1994)
WCW World Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd (9/18/1994)
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan. Read the rest of this entry
Bash at the Beach 1994
WCW Bash at the Beach 1994
July 17, 1994
Orlando, FL
Orlando Arena
The current WCW Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Ric Flair (12/27/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: Steve Austin (12/27/1993)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (5/22/1994)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (6/23/1994)
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan. At the time, this was the biggest PPV gate that WCW had ever generated with a crowd of 14,000. The previous record was the Great American Bash in 1988 with 13,000. Just a little bit of trivia there for you. Read the rest of this entry
World Heavyweight Title History (WWE)
| Champion | Won From | Date | City/Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triple H | – | 9/2/2002 | Raw[1] |
| Shawn Michaels | Triple H | 11/17/2002 | Survivor Series[2] |
| Triple H (2) | Shawn Michaels | 12/15/2002 | Armageddon |
| Goldberg | Triple H | 9/21/2003 | Unforgiven |
| Triple H (3) | Goldberg | 12/14/2003 | Armageddon[3] |
| Chris Benoit | Triple H | 3/14/2004 | WrestleMania XX[4] |
| Randy Orton | Chris Benoit | 8/15/2004 | SummerSlam |
| Triple H (4) | Randy Orton | 9/12/2004 | Unforgiven[5] |
| Triple H (5) | – | 1/9/2005 | New Year’s Revolution[6] |
| Batista | Triple H | 4/3/2005 | WrestleMania 21[7] |
| Kurt Angle | – | 1/10/2006 | Smackdown![8] |
| Rey Mysterio | Kurt Angle | 4/2/2006 | WrestleMania 22[9] |
| King Booker | Rey Mysterio | 7/23/2006 | Great American Bash |
| Batista (2) | King Booker | 11/26/2006 | Survivor Series |
| The Undertaker | Batista | 4/1/2007 | WrestleMania 23 |
| Edge | The Undertaker | 5/8/2007 | Smackdown![10] |
| The Great Khali | – | 7/17/2007 | Smackdown![11] |
| Batista (3) | The Great Khali | 9/16/2007 | Unforgiven[12] |
| Edge (2) | Batista | 12/16/2007 | Armageddon[13] |
| The Undertaker (2) | Edge | 3/30/2008 | WrestleMania XXIV[14] |
| Edge (3) | The Undertaker | 6/1/2008 | One Night Stand |
| CM Punk | Edge | 6/30/2008 | Raw[15][16] |
| Chris Jericho | Kane | 9/7/2008 | Unforgiven[17] |
| Batista (4) | Chris Jericho | 10/26/2008 | Cyber Sunday[18] |
| Chris Jericho (2) | Batista | 11/3/2008 | Raw |
| John Cena | Chris Jericho | 11/23/2008 | Survivor Series |
| Edge (4) | Rey Mysterio | 2/15/2009 | No Way Out[19] |
| John Cena (2) | Big Show | 4/5/2009 | WrestleMania XXV[20] |
| Edge (5) | John Cena | 4/29/2009 | Backlash |
| Jeff Hardy | Edge | 6/7/2009 | Extreme Rules |
| CM Punk (2) | Jeff Hardy | 6/7/2009 | Extreme Rules[21] |
| Jeff Hardy (2) | CM Punk | 7/26/2009 | Night of Champions |
| CM Punk (3) | Jeff Hardy | 8/23/2009 | SummerSlam |
| The Undertaker (3) | CM Punk | 10/4/2009 | Hell in a Cell |
| Chris Jericho (3) | The Undertaker | 2/21/2010 | Elimination Chamber[22] |
| Jack Swagger | Chris Jericho | 4/2/2010 | Smackdown! |
| Rey Mysterio (2) | Jack Swagger | 6/20/2010 | Fatal 4-Way[23] |
| Kane | Rey Mysterio | 7/18/2010 | Money in the Bank |
| Edge (6) | — | 12/19/2010 | TLC[24] |
| Dolph Ziggler | Edge | 2/18/2011 | Smackdown![25] |
| Edge (7) | Dolph Ziggler | 2/18/2011 | Smackdown![26] |
| Christian | Alberto Del Rio | 5/1/2011 | Extreme Rules[27] |
| Randy Orton (2) | Christian | 5/6/2011 | Smackdown! |
| Christian (2) | Randy Orton | 7/17/2011 | Money in the Bank |
Footnotes:
[1]: This title was awarded to Triple H by the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.
[2]: This was the first-ever elimination chamber match which also included Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Chris Jericho, and Kane.
[3]: This was a triple-threat match which also involved Kane.
[4]: This was a triple-threat match which also involved Shawn Michaels.
[5]: The belt was vacated the week after on December 6, 2004, because of a controversial finish during a triple-threat match which included the World Champion Triple H, Chris Benoit and Edge.
[6]: This was an elimination chamber match which also included Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Edge.
[7]: The title became exclusive to Smackdown on June 28, 2005, after Batista was drafted from Raw. He also had to vacate the title on January 13, 2006, because of an injury.
[8]: Angle won a 20-man battle royal to win the title.
[9]: This was a triple-threat match which also included Randy Orton.
[10]: Edge cashed in his “Money in the Bank” briefcase after a Batista/Undertaker steel cage match. He then had to vacate the title because of a pectoral injury.
[11]: Khali won a 20-man battle royal to win the title.
[12]: This was a triple-threat match which also included Rey Mysterio.
[13]: This was a triple-threat match which also included The Undertaker.
[14]: On May 2, 2008, Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero stripped The Undertaker of the championship because she felt his new choke hold was too dangerous to the Smackdown wrestlers.
[15]: Punk cashed in his “Money in the Bank” briefcase after Batista beat the crap out of Edge. As a result of CM Punk being a part of Raw, the World Title became exclusive to Raw again.
[16]: At Unforgiven, CM Punk suffered a concussion after a backstage beatdown at the hands of Randy Orton and could not compete later on in the night in the Championship Scramble match. While not the crowned champion at the time, Chris Jericho wrestled as his replacement.
[17]: According the Championship Scramble rules, the World Heavyweight title could change hands any time during the match with any one gaining a pinfall on any one else regardless of whether or not they are the current champion. This match included Chris Jericho, Kane, Batista, Rey Mysterio and JBL.
[18]: Steve Austin was chosen by the fans as the special referee in this match.
[19]: Just before the Raw Elimination Chamber match, Smackdown superstar Edge beat up Raw superstar Kofi Kingston and then locked himself inside the chamber to become part of the match. The other participants were World Champion John Cena, Mike Knox, Kane and Chris Jericho. After everyone else was eliminated, it came down to Edge pinning Rey Mysterio to win the title.
[20]: This was a triple-threat match which also included the World Heavyweight Champion Edge, although Big Show was the one pinned in the match.
[21]: As the 2009 winner of the ‘Money in the Bank’ match, CM Punk cashed in the title opportunity of his choice right after Jeff Hardy defeated Edge won the belt in a grueling ladder match.
[22]: Chris Jericho regained the World Heavyweight title in an Elimination Chamber match which also featured R-Truth, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio and CM Punk. During the final part of the match, Shawn Michaels entered the elimination chamber and delivered Sweet Chin Music to the Undertaker, which allowed Chris Jericho to score the easy pinfall on the Dead Man.
[23]: This was a fatal four-way match which also included CM Punk and the Big Show.
[24]: This was a four man Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match which also featured Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio.
[25]: On a February 18 2011 episode of Smackdown, acting Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero awarded the World Heavyweight title to Dolph Ziggler after Edge used the Spear on him during a title match.
[26]: On the same episode, the REAL Smackdown GM Teddy Long made his return and in his first act as the returning GM, gave the belt back to Edge. However, Edge would soon retire and vacate the title on an April 15 2011 episode of Smackdown.
[27]: This match was set in place to fill the title vacancy.
Credit goes to: PWI Almanac, wrestling-titles.com, and ProWrestlingHistory.com
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