WWE Women's Championship
Encyclopedia
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling
championship
in the World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification with the WWE Divas Championship
.
(NWA). In 1956, The Fabulous Moolah
became the inaugural champion on September 18 as recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE Women's Championship is descended from the original NWA World Women's Championship
of the National Wrestling Alliance, which is still active today. In 1983, the World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) disaffiliated with the NWA and recognized then-NWA Women's World Champion The Fabulous Moolah
as the promotion's World Women's Champion. Additionally, the WWF also recognized Moolah's reign at the time as a continuation of her first NWA World Women's Championship reign, which occurred in 1956, resulting in the promotion not recognizing other reigns that occurred during the title's existence in the NWA. Thus, The Fabulous Moolah's reign is considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion. The WWF soon renamed their recognition of the title as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Women's Championship.
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after Rockin' Robin
vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF. Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated with Alundra Blayze
winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship. The Women's Championship, however, became inactive again when Blayze unexpectedly signed with World Championship Wrestling
in 1995 while still champion, forcing her to relinquish the title. The Women's Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 when Jacqueline Moore
defeated Sable
to win the title.
After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship. With the WWE Brand Extension
, the WWE Undisputed Championship
and WWE Women's Championship became the only titles allowed to be defended on both the Raw
and SmackDown! brands, while all other titles were exclusive to a single brand. Later, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the Raw brand.
On June 24, 2007, Candice Michelle
became the first ever former WWE Diva Search
contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship by defeating then champion Melina
at Vengeance
. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, Until July 4, 2008 when a counterpart to the championship, called the WWE Divas Championship
, was created for the Smackdown brand. In effect, the WWE Women's Championship became exclusive to the Raw brand only and the WWE Divas Championship, to the Smackdown brand.
On April 13, 2009, the Women's Championship was transferred to the SmackDown brand when reigning champion Melina was drafted from Raw to SmackDown during the 2009 WWE Draft
. On June 28 at The Bash (2009)
pay-per-view, Michelle McCool
became the first ever Diva to hold both the WWE Women's Championship and the WWE Divas Championship
. Other divas that have held both the Women's and Divas Championship include Beth Phoenix
, Mickie James
and Melina
.
It was announced on the August 30 edition of Raw that the championship would be unified with its counterpart, the Divas Championship, at the Night of Champions
event. This match was won by Michelle McCool and unified both titles creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship, thus making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title follows the lineage of the Divas Championship.
who defeated Judy Grable
in September 1956 and she by far had the longest official reign by holding it for 27 years, 10 months, 5 days, or a total of 10,170 days. Trish Stratus
has had more reigns than anyone else, with seven. Mickie James has the shortest reign, while in Paris on April 24, 2007. James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for Raw said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch in which she won by having her feet on the ropes. Chyna, Trish Stratus (Last Reign) and Layla are the only undefeated champions in WWE history as Chyna retired during her first reign and Michelle McCool unified the Divas and Women's titles in Layla's place(Layla being the Womens Champion at the time). Rockin Robin was stripped of the title when she left and the title was deactivated.
Layla
(officially) was the final champion after she defeated Beth Phoenix
in a two-on-one handicap match, on the May 11, 2010 taping
of SmackDown, which aired on May 14. Overall, there have been a total of 29 recognized champions with 59 official WWE Women's Championship reigns combined.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
championship
Championship (professional wrestling)
A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...
in the World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification with the WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
.
History
The WWE Women's Championship was originally known as the NWA World Women's Championship of the National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
(NWA). In 1956, The Fabulous Moolah
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was an American female professional wrestler. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke, as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy...
became the inaugural champion on September 18 as recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE Women's Championship is descended from the original NWA World Women's Championship
NWA World Women's Championship
The NWA World Women's Championship is the National Wrestling Alliance's women's singles professional wrestling title. It is descended from the original Women's World Championship won by Mildred Burke in 1935 from Clara Mortensen. June Byers was then recognized as the succeeding champion after her...
of the National Wrestling Alliance, which is still active today. In 1983, the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF) disaffiliated with the NWA and recognized then-NWA Women's World Champion The Fabulous Moolah
The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was an American female professional wrestler. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke, as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy...
as the promotion's World Women's Champion. Additionally, the WWF also recognized Moolah's reign at the time as a continuation of her first NWA World Women's Championship reign, which occurred in 1956, resulting in the promotion not recognizing other reigns that occurred during the title's existence in the NWA. Thus, The Fabulous Moolah's reign is considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion. The WWF soon renamed their recognition of the title as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Women's Championship.
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after Rockin' Robin
Robin Smith (wrestler)
Robin Denise Smith , better known by her ring name Rockin' Robin, is a retired American professional wrestler. As the daughter of Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, she is a second generation wrestler. Her brother Sam Houston and half-brother Jake "The Snake" Roberts are also wrestlers. Smith worked for the...
vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF. Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated with Alundra Blayze
Debra Miceli
Debrah Ann Miceli is a Monster truck driver and former professional wrestler. She is best known under her ring names Madusa or Alundra Blayze. Her early career was spent in the American Wrestling Association, where she held the AWA World Women's Championship one time...
winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship. The Women's Championship, however, became inactive again when Blayze unexpectedly signed with World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in 1995 while still champion, forcing her to relinquish the title. The Women's Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 when Jacqueline Moore
Jacqueline Moore
Jacqueline DeLois Moore is an inactive American professional wrestler, who was most recently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
defeated Sable
Rena Mero
Rena Marlette Mero Lesnar , better known as Sable, is an American model, actress, and former professional wrestler. She is primarily known for her stints in World Wrestling Entertainment....
to win the title.
After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship. With the WWE Brand Extension
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
, the WWE Undisputed Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
and WWE Women's Championship became the only titles allowed to be defended on both the Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
and SmackDown! brands, while all other titles were exclusive to a single brand. Later, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the Raw brand.
On June 24, 2007, Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich better known as Candice Michelle or just Candice, is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment....
became the first ever former WWE Diva Search
WWE Diva Search
The WWE Diva Search is a talent competition held by World Wrestling Entertainment. The first winner was Jaime Koeppe, but she did not receive a contract like subsequent winners of the contest. Other winners included Christy Hemme, Ashley Massaro, Layla El, and Eve Torres. In addition to the winners...
contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship by defeating then champion Melina
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
at Vengeance
Vengeance: Night of Champions
Vengeance: Night of Champions was the seventh annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment within its Vengeance chronology, and the last to be promoted with the Vengeance name until 2011. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The...
. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, Until July 4, 2008 when a counterpart to the championship, called the WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
, was created for the Smackdown brand. In effect, the WWE Women's Championship became exclusive to the Raw brand only and the WWE Divas Championship, to the Smackdown brand.
On April 13, 2009, the Women's Championship was transferred to the SmackDown brand when reigning champion Melina was drafted from Raw to SmackDown during the 2009 WWE Draft
2009 WWE Draft
The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft was the seventh Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The Draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "Supplemental Draft", was held on April 15...
. On June 28 at The Bash (2009)
The Bash (2009)
The Bash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on June 28, 2009 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was the sixth and final show in WWE's production lineage for The Great American Bash event and the only one to...
pay-per-view, Michelle McCool
Michelle McCool
Michelle Leigh McCool , is a retired American professional wrestler who is best known for her time in WWE.McCool originally worked as a middle school teacher in Palatka, Florida. She joined WWE in 2004 after participating in the 2004 WWE Diva Search. In her initial on-screen role, she acted...
became the first ever Diva to hold both the WWE Women's Championship and the WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
. Other divas that have held both the Women's and Divas Championship include Beth Phoenix
Beth Phoenix
Elizabeth Kocianski is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE where she wrestles on the Raw brand under the ring name Beth Phoenix, where she is the reigning WWE Divas Champion....
, Mickie James
Mickie James
Mickie Laree James , better known simply as Mickie James, is an American professional wrestler and singer of mixed Native American-Caucasian descent, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where she is a former two-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion.James began her professional...
and Melina
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
.
It was announced on the August 30 edition of Raw that the championship would be unified with its counterpart, the Divas Championship, at the Night of Champions
Night of Champions (2010)
Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , that took place on September 19, 2010 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the third annual event to be promoted solely under the Night of Champions name and the tenth...
event. This match was won by Michelle McCool and unified both titles creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship, thus making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title follows the lineage of the Divas Championship.
Reigns
The inaugural champion was The Fabulous MoolahThe Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was an American female professional wrestler. She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke, as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy...
who defeated Judy Grable
Judy Grable
Nellya Baughman was an American professional wrestler who was best known by her ring name Judy Grable. She was an active wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s...
in September 1956 and she by far had the longest official reign by holding it for 27 years, 10 months, 5 days, or a total of 10,170 days. Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigias , better known by her ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and television personality currently signed with WWE. She is also a former fitness model....
has had more reigns than anyone else, with seven. Mickie James has the shortest reign, while in Paris on April 24, 2007. James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for Raw said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch in which she won by having her feet on the ropes. Chyna, Trish Stratus (Last Reign) and Layla are the only undefeated champions in WWE history as Chyna retired during her first reign and Michelle McCool unified the Divas and Women's titles in Layla's place(Layla being the Womens Champion at the time). Rockin Robin was stripped of the title when she left and the title was deactivated.
Layla
Layla El
Layla El is an English dancer, model and professional wrestler of Moroccan and Spanish descent. She is employed by WWE as a WWE Diva and appears on the SmackDown brand as Layla...
(officially) was the final champion after she defeated Beth Phoenix
Beth Phoenix
Elizabeth Kocianski is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE where she wrestles on the Raw brand under the ring name Beth Phoenix, where she is the reigning WWE Divas Champion....
in a two-on-one handicap match, on the May 11, 2010 taping
Broadcast delay
In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...
of SmackDown, which aired on May 14. Overall, there have been a total of 29 recognized champions with 59 official WWE Women's Championship reigns combined.