List of WCW World Heavyweight Champions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is the title history of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Place: |
| Ric Flair | 1 | January 11, 1991 | East Rutherford, NJ (Defeated Sting for NWA World Heavyweight Championship) |
| Vacated (titles split) | July 1, 1991 | Flair leaves for the WWF | |
| Lex Luger | 1 | July 14, 1991 | Baltimore, MD (over Barry Windham) |
| Sting | 1 | February 29, 1992 | Milwaukee, WI |
| Big Van Vader | 1 | July 12, 1992 | Albany, GA |
| Ron Simmons | 1 | August 2, 1992 | Baltimore, MD |
| Big Van Vader | 2 | December 30, 1992 | Baltimore, MD |
| Sting | 2 | March 11, 1993 | London, England |
| Big Van Vader | 3 | March 17, 1993 | Dublin, Ireland |
| Ric Flair | 2 | December 27, 1993 | Charlotte, NC |
| Vacated | April 17, 1994 | Rosemont, IL (Title Held Up after Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat results in a double pin) | |
| Ric Flair | 3 | April 24, 1994 | Atlanta, GA (Defeats Steamboat in a rematch) |
| Hulk Hogan | 1 | July 17, 1994 | Orlando, FL |
| The Giant | 1 | October 29, 1995 | Detroit, MI (Defeated Hogan by DQ in a DQ=Loss match when Jimmy Hart interfered) |
| Stripped | November 6, 1995 | Stripped due to controversial finish of October 29 match | |
| Randy Savage | 1 | November 26, 1995 | Norfolk, VA (Won WCW World War 3 Battle Royal) |
| Ric Flair | 4 | December 27, 1995 | Nashville, TN |
| Randy Savage | 2 | January 22, 1996 | Las Vegas, NV |
| Ric Flair | 5 | February 11, 1996 | St. Petersburg, FL |
| The Giant | 2 | April 22, 1996 | Albany, GA |
| Hulk Hogan | 2 | August 10, 1996 | Sturgis, SD |
| Lex Luger | 2 | August 4, 1997 | Auburn Hills, MI |
| Hulk Hogan | 3 | August 9, 1997 | Sturgis, SD |
| Sting | 3 | December 28, 1997 | Washington, DC (Defeated Hogan with Bret Hart as referee) |
| Held Up | January 8, 1998 | Held up due to controversy over finish of December 28 match | |
| Sting | 4 | February 22, 1998 | San Francisco, CA (Defeated Hulk Hogan in rematch) |
| Randy Savage | 3 | April 19, 1998 | Denver, CO |
| Hulk Hogan | 4 | April 20, 1998 | Colorado Springs, CO |
| Goldberg | 1 | July 6, 1998 | Atlanta, GA |
| Kevin Nash | 1 | December 27, 1998 | Washington, DC |
| Hulk Hogan | 5 | January 4, 1999 | Atlanta, GA (Nash laid down for Hogan; see The Fingerpoke of Doom) |
| Ric Flair | 6 | March 14, 1999 | Louisville, KY |
| Diamond Dallas Page | 1 | April 11, 1999 | Tacoma, WA (won 4-way match with Flair, Sting & Hulk Hogan) |
| Sting | 5 | April 26, 1999 | Fargo, ND |
| Diamond Dallas Page | 2 | April 26, 1999 | Fargo, ND |
| Kevin Nash | 2 | May 9, 1999 | St. Louis, MO |
| Randy Savage | 4 | July 11, 1999 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
| Hulk Hogan | 6 | July 12, 1999 | Jacksonville, FL |
| Sting | 6 | September 12, 1999 | Winston-Salem, NC |
| Bret Hart | 1 | November 21, 1999 | Toronto, Ontario (Defeated Chris Benoit in tournament final) |
| Vacated | December 20, 1999 | Hart vacates title because of controversial match with Bill Goldberg | |
| Bret Hart | 2 | December 20, 1999 | Baltimore, MD (Defeated Goldberg in rematch) |
| Vacated | January 16, 2000 | Hart vacates the title due to injury | |
| Chris Benoit | 1 | January 16, 2000 | Cincinnati, OH |
| Vacated | January 17, 2000 | Benoit forfeits the title and leaves for the WWF after dispute with management | |
| Sid Vicious | 1 | January 24, 2000 | Los Angeles, CA (Defeated Kevin Nash) |
| Stripped | January 25, 2000 | Stripped by Commissioner Kevin Nash | |
| Kevin Nash | 3 | January 25, 2000 | Awards himself title as Commissioner |
| Sid Vicious | 2 | January 25, 2000 | Las Vegas, NV |
| Vacated | April 10, 2000 | All WCW Titles were declared vacant by Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff after WCW was rebooted. | |
| Jeff Jarrett | 1 | April 16, 2000 | Chicago, IL (Defeated Diamond Dallas Page) |
| Diamond Dallas Page | 3 | April 24, 2000 | Rochester, NY |
| David Arquette | 1 | April 25, 2000 | Syracuse, NY Def. Eric Bischoff(Got the deciding fall in a tag team match) |
| Jeff Jarrett | 2 | May 7, 2000 | Kansas City, MO |
| Ric Flair | 7 | May 15, 2000 | Biloxi, MS |
| Stripped | May 22, 2000 | Stripped by Vince Russo | |
| Jeff Jarrett | 3 | May 22, 2000 | Grand Rapids, MI (Awarded by Vince Russo) |
| Kevin Nash | 4 | May 23, 2000 | Saginaw, MI |
| Ric Flair | 8 | May 29, 2000 | Title given to him by Kevin Nash |
| Jeff Jarrett | 4 | May 29, 2000 | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Booker T | 1 | July 9, 2000 | Daytona Beach, FL The match was originally billed as Jarrett vs. Hogan (which Hogan won after Jarrett intentionally lays down for Hogan), but WCW head writer Vince Russo strips Hogan of the title and vacates it after cutting a shoot promo about him (Russo) getting frustrated with dealing with Hogan's backstage politics, and announced an impromptu match between Jarrett vs. Booker T for the vacant title |
| Kevin Nash | 5 | August 28, 2000 | La Cruces, NM |
| Booker T | 2 | September 17, 2000 | Buffalo, NY |
| Vince Russo | 1 | September 25, 2000 | Uniondale, NY |
| Vacated | October 2, 2000 | Russo decides he is not a wrestler and does not want the title | |
| Booker T | 3 | October 2, 2000 | San Francisco, CA (Defeated Jeff Jarrett) |
| Scott Steiner | 1 | November 26, 2000 | Milwaukee, WI |
| Booker T | 4 | March 26, 2001 | Panama Beach, FL WCW acquired by the WWF March 2001 |
| Kurt Angle | 1 | July 24, 2001 | Pittsburgh, PA First WWF wrestler to win the WCW Championship |
| Booker T | 5 | July 30, 2001 | Philadelphia, PA |
| The Rock | 1 | August 19, 2001 | San Jose, CA |
| Chris Jericho | 1 | October 21, 2001 | St. Louis, MO |
| The Rock | 2 | November 5, 2001 | Uniondale, NY After The Alliance's defeat at the 2001 Survivor Series, the WCW Championship was renamed the World Championship. |
| Chris Jericho | 2 | December 9, 2001 | San Diego, CA Jericho unified the title with the WWF Championship at Vengeance on December 9, 2001. |
In 2002, WWE introduced a title known simply as the World Heavyweight Championship which used a replica of the WCW World Championship belt to represent the title. There was an ongoing debate amongst wrestling fans on the internet whether or not this title has the same lineage as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. WWE's current stance is that the title is not the same as the WCW World Championship: World Heavyweight Championship title history on WWE.com
