WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
| WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The SmackDown Women's Championship belt with default side plates | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | August 23, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Naomi | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | April 2, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The WWE SmackDown Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two women's championships for WWE's main roster, along with the Raw Women's Championship on the Raw brand. The current champion is Naomi, who is in her second reign and is the longest reigning champion.
Unveiled on the August 23, 2016, episode of SmackDown Live, it was created to be the counterpart title to the then-WWE Women's Championship, which became exclusive to Raw as a result of the 2016 WWE draft.[1] That title was subsequently renamed after the crowning of the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion, Becky Lynch.
History
Following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016, WWE Women's Champion Charlotte was drafted to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a women's championship. Immediately following SummerSlam on the August 23, 2016, episode of SmackDown Live, SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan unveiled the SmackDown Women's Championship (Raw's title was subsequently renamed). A six-pack elimination challenge was then scheduled for Backlash on September 11, 2016, to determine the inaugural champion. The six women who competed at SummerSlam in the six-woman tag team match were chosen for the six-pack challenge: Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, and Nikki Bella.[2] Lynch became the inaugural champion when she last eliminated Carmella.[3]
The championship belt design is nearly identical to the Raw Women's Championship with the difference being that the background of the center plate and the default side plates' globes are blue (as opposed to red for both) to symbolize its exclusivity to SmackDown. As with the Raw's Women's Championship, the side plates can be customized with the champion's logo. During Naomi's second reign on the July 4, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live, strips of multi interchanging colored LED lights were placed around the outline of the WWE logo and the outline of the belt to go with her "glow" gimmick, making her the first female superstar to receive a customized title for a Women's Championship .
Inaugural championship match
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method of elimination | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexa Bliss | Naomi | Pinned after a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination with Natalya | 9:38 |
| 2 | Naomi | Natalya | Submitted to the Sharpshooter | 10:52 |
| 3 | Natalya | Nikki Bella | Pinned after a Rack Attack 2.0 | 12:00 |
| 4 | Nikki Bella | Carmella | Pinned with a roll-up | 12:08 |
| 5 | Carmella | Becky Lynch | Submitted to the Dis-arm-her | 14:40 |
| Winner | Becky Lynch | |||
Reigns
As of August 12, 2017, overall there have been 5 reigns between 3 champions and 1 vacancy. Becky Lynch was the inaugural champion. Naomi holds the record for both the longest reign and shortest reign at 132+ days and 9 days, respectively, as well as the longest combined reign at 141+ days. She is also tied with Alexa Bliss with the most reigns at two. Lynch is the oldest champion, having won the title 225 days after turning 29, while Bliss is the youngest at 25.
Naomi is the current champion in her record-tying second reign. She defeated Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, Natalya, and former champion Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida, in a six-pack challenge by making Bliss submit.
| Reign | The reign number for the specific champion listed |
|---|---|
| Location | The city in which the title was won |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won |
| — | Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign |
| + | Indicates the current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becky Lynch | 1 | September 11, 2016 | 84 | Richmond, VA | Backlash | Defeated Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, and Nikki Bella in a six-pack elimination challenge to become the inaugural champion. WWE recognizes Lynch's reign as lasting 85 days. |
[3] |
| 2 | Alexa Bliss | 1 | December 4, 2016 | 70 | Dallas, TX | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs | This was a tables match. | [4] |
| 3 | Naomi | 1 | February 12, 2017 | 9 | Phoenix, AZ | Elimination Chamber | [5] | |
| — | Vacated | — | February 21, 2017 | — | Ontario, CA | SmackDown Live | The championship was vacated due to Naomi suffering a knee injury, and not being able to defend the title within 30 days. | [6] |
| 4 | Alexa Bliss | 2 | February 21, 2017 | 40 | Ontario, CA | SmackDown Live | Defeated Becky Lynch to win the vacant title. WWE recognizes Bliss' reign as lasting 41 days. |
[6] |
| 5 | Naomi | 2 | April 2, 2017 | 132+ | Orlando, FL | WrestleMania 33 | This was a six-pack challenge, also involving Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, and Natalya. | [7] |
Combined reigns
As of August 12, 2017.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days | Combined days recognized by WWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naomi † | 2 | 141+ | |
| 2 | Alexa Bliss | 2 | 110 | 111 |
| 3 | Becky Lynch | 1 | 84 | 85 |
References
- ↑ Martin, Adam. "Daniel Bryan to reveal two new championships exclusive to Smackdown Live tonight from Connecticut". wrestleview.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ↑ Parks, Greg. "8/23 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- 1 2 Caldwell, James. "9/11 WWE Backlash Results – CALDWELL’S Complete PPV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell’s WWE TLC 2016 live review: AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose in a TLC match for the WWE Championship, The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "2/12 Powell’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 live review: John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- 1 2 Keller, Wade. "KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 2/21: Results of Battle Royal to determine a new no. 1 contender for WWE Championship at WrestleMania". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell’s WrestleMania 33 live review: Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns, Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon, Seth Rollins vs. Triple H in an unsanctioned match". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 2, 2017.