WWE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
As of March 14, 2012
# Wrestlers Reign Date Days Held Location Event
1 Triple H 1 September 2, 2002 76 Milwaukee, WI Raw
2 Shawn Michaels 1 November 17, 2002 28 New York, NY Survivor Series
3 Triple H 2 December 15, 2002 280 Sunrise, FL Armageddon
4 Goldberg 1 September 21, 2003 84 Hershey, PA Unforgiven
5 Triple H 3 December 14, 2003 91 Orlando, FL Armageddon
6 Chris Benoit 1 March 14, 2004 154 New York, NY WrestleMania XX
7 Randy Orton 1 August 15, 2004 28 Toronto, ON SummerSlam
8 Triple H 4 September 12, 2004 85 Portland, OR Unforgiven
— Vacated — November 29, 2004 — Baltimore, MD Raw
9 Triple H 5 January 9, 2005 84 San Juan, PR New Year's Revolution
10 Batista 1 April 3, 2005 282 Los Angeles, CA WrestleMania 21
— Vacated — January 10, 2006 — Philadelphia, PA SmackDown!
11 Kurt Angle 1 January 10, 2006 82 Philadelphia, PA SmackDown!
12 Rey Mysterio 1 April 2, 2006 112 Rosemont, IL WrestleMania 22
13 King Booker 1 July 23, 2006 126 Indianapolis, IN The Great American Bash
14 Batista 2 November 26, 2006 126 Philadelphia, PA Survivor Series
15 Undertaker 1 April 1, 2007 37 Detroit, MI WrestleMania 23
16 Edge 1 May 8, 2007 70 Pittsburgh, PA SmackDown!
— Vacated — July 17, 2007 — Laredo, TX SmackDown!
17 The Great Khali 1 July 17, 2007 61 Laredo, TX SmackDown!
18 Batista 3 September 16, 2007 91 Memphis, TN Unforgiven
19 Edge 2 December 16, 2007 105 Pittsburgh, PA Armageddon
20 Undertaker 2 March 30, 2008 30 Orlando, FL WrestleMania XXIV
— Vacated — April 29, 2008 — Atlantic City, NJ SmackDown
21 Edge 3 June 1, 2008 29 San Diego, CA One Night Stand
22 CM Punk 1 June 30, 2008 69 Oklahoma City, OK Raw
23 Chris Jericho 1 September 7, 2008 49 Cleveland, OH Unforgiven
24 Batista 4 October 26, 2008 8 Phoenix, AZ Cyber Sunday
25 Chris Jericho 2 November 3, 2008 20 Tampa, FL Raw
26 John Cena 1 November 23, 2008 84 Boston, MA Survivor Series
27 Edge 4 February 15, 2009 49 Seattle, WA No Way Out
28 John Cena 2 April 5, 2009 21 Houston, TX WrestleMania XXV
29 Edge 5 April 26, 2009 42 Providence, RI Backlash
30 Jeff Hardy 1 June 7, 2009 0 New Orleans, LA Extreme Rules
31 CM Punk 2 June 7, 2009 49 New Orleans, LA Extreme Rules
32 Jeff Hardy 2 July 26, 2009 28 Philadelphia, PA Night of Champions
33 CM Punk 3 August 23, 2009 42 Los Angeles, CA SummerSlam
34 Undertaker 3 October 4, 2009 140 Newark, NJ Hell in a Cell
35 Chris Jericho 3 February 21, 2010 37 St. Louis, MO Elimination Chamber
36 Jack Swagger 1 March 30, 2010 82 Las Vegas, NV SmackDown
37 Rey Mysterio 2 June 20, 2010 28 Uniondale, NY Fatal 4-Way
38 Kane 1 July 18, 2010 154 Kansas City, MO Money in the Bank
39 Edge 6 December 19, 2010 58 Houston, TX TLC:
Tables,Ladders & Chairs
40 Dolph Ziggler 1 February 15, 2011 0 San Diego, CA SmackDown
41 Edge 7 February 15, 2011 56 San Diego, CA SmackDown
— Vacated — April 12, 2011 — Albany, NY SmackDown
42 Christian 1 May 1, 2011 2 Tampa, FL Extreme Rules
43 Randy Orton 2 May 3, 2011 75 Orlando, FL SmackDown
44 Christian 2 July 17, 2011 28 Rosemont, IL Money in the Bank
45 Randy Orton 3 August 14, 2011 35 Los Angeles, CA SummerSlam
46 Mark Henry 1 September 18, 2011 91 Buffalo, NY Night of Champions
47 Big Show 1 December 18, 2011 0 Baltimore, MD TLC:
Tables, Ladders & Chairs
48 Daniel Bryan 1 December 18, 2011 105 Baltimore, MD TLC:
Tables, Ladders & Chairs
49 Sheamus 1 April 1, 2012 210 Miami, FL WrestleMania XXVIII
50 The Big Show 2 October 28, 2012 72 Atlanta, GA Hell in a Cell
51 Alberto Del Rio 1 January 8, 2013 90 Miami, FL SmackDown
52 Dolph Ziggler 2 April 8, 2013 69 East Rutherford, NJ Raw
53 Alberto Del Rio 2 June 16, 2013 82+ Rosemont, IL Payback
Notes
1 Triple H was awarded the championship by the on-screen General Manager Eric Bischoff, making him the inaugural champion in the process. Triple H defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Kane on October 20, 2002 at No Mercy to unify the Intercontinental Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship
2 This was the first ever Elimination Chamber match also involving Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Kane
3 This was a Three Stages of Hell match
4 This was a Career vs. Title match
5 This was a Triple Threat match also involving Kane
6 This was a Triple Threat match also involving Shawn Michaels
Vacated The championship was vacated after a double fall occurred in a Triple Threat match involving Chris Beniot, and Edge
9 Defeated Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Batista, and Edge in an Elimination Chamber match
10 Batista was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on June 30, 2005, making the title SmackDown! exclusive
Vacated Batista vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legitimate triceps injury. This episode aired on tape delay on January 13, 2006
11 Angle won the vacant championship in a 20 man battle royal. This episode aired n tape delay on January 13, 2006
12 This was a Triple Threat match also involving Randy Orton. The title is referred to as the "World Championship" during this and any other time Mysterio will hold the championship
16 Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to earn the right to challenge for the title. Edge, a Raw wrestler at the time, transferred to the SmackDown! roster shortly after the win. This episode aired on tape delay on May 11, 2007
Vacated Edge vacated the title after he was sidelined with a legitimate pectoral injury. This episode aired on tape delay on July 20, 2007
17 The Great Khali won the vacant championship in a 20 man battle royal. This episode aired on tape delay on July 20, 2007
18 This was a Triple Threat match also involving Rey Mysterio
19 This was a Triple Threat match also involving The Undertaker
Vacated SmackDown's General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered The Undertaker to relinquish the title because of the danger that his Hell's Gate choke hold caused. This episode aired on tape delay on May 2, 2008
21 Edge defeated The Undertaker in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the vacant title
22 Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract in order to challenge for the title. CM Punk was a part of the Raw brand, thus making the title Raw-exclusive again
23 Originally, CM Punk was to defend his title in a Championship Scramble match also involving John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Kane, but he was replaced by Jericho, who won the match and championship as a result of Punk sustaining a scripted injury
25 This was a Steel Cage match
27 This was an Elimination Chamber match also involving Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, and Kane. The title becomes SmackDown exclusive as a result of Edge being a part of the SmackDown roster
28 This was a Triple Threat match also involving The Big Show. Becomes exclusive to the Raw brand once again due to John Cena being a Raw brand wrestler
29 This was a Last Man Standing match. The championship becomes exclusive to the SmackDown brand due to Edge being a SmackDown wrestler
30 This was a Ladder match
31 Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract immediately after Hardy's victory to win the Championship
33 This was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match
34 This was a Hell in a Cell match
35 This was an Elimination Chamber match, also involving John Morrison, R-Truth, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio
36 Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to earn the right to challenge for the title. Signed to RAW at the time, Swagger transfers to SmackDown upon winning the title. This episode aired on tape delay on April 2, 2010
37 This was a Fatal 4-Way match, also involving The Big Show and CM Punk. The title was referred to solely as the "World Championship" during the reign
38 Kane cashed in his SmackDown Money in the Bank contract in order to challenge for the title
39 This was a Fatal 4-Way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also involving Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio
40 Edge was stripped as a result of using the spear (which had been banned) in a previous match by Vickie Guerrero, who then awarded the belt to Ziggler. This episode aired on tape delay on February 18, 2011
41 This episode aired on tape delay on February 18, 2011
Vacated Edge chose to vacate the championship due to injury and subsequent retirement. This episode aired on tape delay on April 15, 2011
42 Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder match to win the vacant world championship
43 This episode aired on tape delay on May 6, 2011
44 Defeated Randy Orton by disqualification after Orton gave him a low-blow in view of the official. The stipulations of the match allowed the title to change
45 This was a No Holds Barred Match
47 This was a chairs match. His title reign lasted exactly 1 minute and 53 seconds, the shortest reign in title history
48 Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Big Show who was knocked out by Mark Henry after the match
49 Won the title in 18 seconds.
51 This was a Last Man Standing match. Aired on tape delay on January 11, 2013
52. Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.