Every World Champion in history

[NegativeFeedback]

I made a clunky list here where I include every world champion in wrestling history. I think it's a pretty inclusive list as of now of 349 different champions who together have 979 reigns.

The titles included are:

• USA: AAC, AWA(x2), CWA, ECW, NWA(x2), NWA, NYSAC, PWG, ROH, WCW(x2), WCWA, WWA(x2), WWE(x2)
• Japan: AJPW, IWE, IWGP, NWA Int., NOAH, PWF, Zero1
• Mexico: AAA, CMLL, IWC, UWA, WWA
• Australia: IWA, WWA

I'd like some help in figuring out the next titles to add. Here are the titles I'm considering and why I have reservations as to add them:

• MWA Championship- The best bet of them all for inclusion on the list. I need to do some research before adding it though.

• USWA Unified World Hvt title- Lawler held it like 30 times. I just feel that it will screw up the rankings by adding so many numbers to him.

• WWC Universal Hvt title- Same as above. Carlito held it 13 times and his dad held it 26. It doesn't feel like a legit list when Carlito and Ray Gonzalez are ranked above Ric Flair and Sting.

• Evolve and WNC Championship- I think they are too young. I wonder if that should be a factor.

• Open the Dragon Gate and Open the Freedom Gate- I don't know if they've ever been referred to as World titles.

• UWF and SMW Championships- They were both short-lived and I don't really know if SMW was ever called a World title anyway.

• CZW Championship- There's hardly any champion "cross over". All these guys are champs only in CZW and nowhere else. Only exception is Chris Hero. It just feels way too "minor league" for inclusion.

So what do you guys think? Which ones should I add, which ones should I ignore??

You like the list?? It's pretty huge. Some might argue that the WWECW title should be removed, but to form this list objectively, I had to work under the assumption that once the title is declared a world title, it's ALWAYS a world title. I don't want to pick and choose reigns.

So just as some nice trivia, here are the top 60 rankings in order of most title reigns to least:

1. Ric Flair and Verne Gagne (16)
3. El Canek and Sting (15)
5. John Cena (14)
6. Dick the Bruiser, Jeff Jarrett and Triple H (13)
9. Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton (12)
11. Edge and Kurt Angle (11)
13. Giant Baba, The Rock, Lou Thesz and Stan Hansen (10)
17. Big Van Vader and Harley Race (9)
19. Jumbo Tsuruta, Keiji Mutoh, Mitsuharu Misawa and Tatsumi Fujinami (8)
23. Big Show, Billy Robinson, Bret Hart, CM Punk, Kensuke Sasaki and Undertaker (7)
29. Adam Pearce, AJ Styles, Batista, Bobo Brazil, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Daniel Bryan, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jeff Hardy, Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Nash, Killer Kowalski, Mad Dog Vauchon, Randy Savage, Spiros Arion, Steve Austin, Steve Casey and Toshiaki Kawada (6)
48. Alberto Del Rio, Dory Funk Jr., Genichiro Tenryu, Jerry Lawler, El Mesias, Perro Aguayo, Riki Choshu, Rusher Kimura, The Sandman, Satoshi Kojima, Shane Douglas and Shinya Hashimoto (5)

 

[ABMorales787]

WWE, TNA & ROH are major companies who's champions, as well as the company travel around the world. So I would say their World titles count as World titles by following it's straight definition.

CMLL has mutliple "World" titles. None should count though because they are divisional titles. Like in MMA. They do hold an annual tournament to crown a "Universal" Champion. It pits the champions and contenders.

AAA's World title is a pretty big one. It was make out of a variety of Mexican World titles. About 4 if memory serves. So it's a pretty major title. Same as the IWGP title in Japan.

WWC is a joke. Seriously. That title earned it's status via a cheap cop-out. Ric Flair dropped the NWA title to WWC Champion Carlos Colon without NWA's consent so they never acknowledged it. WWC though, rebranded their title the "WWC Universal Championship" instead. But come on. That thing changes every other weekend and to anyone that's around.

I would not consider anything under WWE, TNA, ROH, AAA or NJPW a genuine World Championship. For one they would lack the notoriety as well as any sense of prestige.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If you want to be strictly, 100% technical, anybody company or organization can declare their championships to be "World Championships" no matter what how large or small said company/organization is. Technically, the championships are property of the company and can be used & promoted by the company that owns them in any manner they choose. So if a rinky dink indie company that's lucky if it draws 50 people to its shows decides to declare its top singles and tag team titles "World Championships", nobody can legally stop them from doing so. It's far easier to get away with in pro wrestling due to pro wrestling not being a legitimate sport.

However, even if legitimate sports, a championship is still generally the property of the organization or body that promotes it. The World Boxing Association, for instance, is the oldest and original sanctioning body of pro boxing. It began in 1921 operating under the name of the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962. This is the organization that had control of the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship won by the likes of Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano; as well as various other legendary champions in numerous weight classes. However, organizations like the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation came along in 1963 and 1983 respectively. They'd declare their own champions as "World Champions" and WBA reps couldn't tell these other bodies what they could or couldn't do with their own property.

In pro wrestling, whether or not these other "World Championships" are viewed with as much relevance or prestige in the eyes of fans and insiders alike is all a matter of personal perspective. Because of its level of success and international renown, the WWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship is going to be viewed as a top title, if not THE singular top title in professional wrestling. Is it a World Championship in the sense that every pro wrestler in the world is eligible to wrestle for it? Of course not. Neither is any other wrestling championship for that matter, which goes back to the notion of pro wrestling not being a legit sport, thereby rendering the championships as truly pieces of property.

At the same time, however, there are many legit sports who's top prize winners are often called "World Champions" despite the fact that not everyone in their respective sports are eligible to compete. For instance, Major League Baseball has the World Series, but every baseball team in the world doesn't participate, yet the winning team is frequently referred to as a "World Champion"; the same thing goes for the National Basketball Association and the National Football League.

All in all, however, when you think of the top championships in pro wrestling, I'd say the ones that spring to the minds of most fans, to one degree or another, are:

WWE World Heavyweight Championship
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
ROH World Championship

 

[Shadowmancer]

There is a basis for a title to be a world title in wrestling. It is the fact that it must be fought in a match in at least 3 continents, and regularly defended. It should also be the top title in an organisation. Technically speaking all wrestlers are eligible for the world title if they could be contracted by the company that holds it.

Saying that restricting what is classified as a world title because of not being contracted to a company instantly makes UFCs titles not World Championship titles.

 

[thebarber]

I made a clunky list here where I include every world champion in wrestling history. I think it's a pretty inclusive list as of now of 349 different champions who together have 979 reigns.

The titles included are:

• USA: AAC, AWA(x2), CWA, ECW, NWA(x2), NWA, NYSAC, PWG, ROH, WCW(x2), WCWA, WWA(x2), WWE(x2)
• Japan: AJPW, IWE, IWGP, NWA Int., NOAH, PWF, Zero1
• Mexico: AAA, CMLL, IWC, UWA, WWA
• Australia: IWA, WWA

I'd like some help in figuring out the next titles to add. Here are the titles I'm considering and why I have reservations as to add them:

• MWA Championship- The best bet of them all for inclusion on the list. I need to do some research before adding it though.

• USWA Unified World Hvt title- Lawler held it like 30 times. I just feel that it will screw up the rankings by adding so many numbers to him.

• WWC Universal Hvt title- Same as above. Carlito held it 13 times and his dad held it 26. It doesn't feel like a legit list when Carlito and Ray Gonzalez are ranked above Ric Flair and Sting.

• Evolve and WNC Championship- I think they are too young. I wonder if that should be a factor.

• Open the Dragon Gate and Open the Freedom Gate- I don't know if they've ever been referred to as World titles.

• UWF and SMW Championships- They were both short-lived and I don't really know if SMW was ever called a World title anyway.

• CZW Championship- There's hardly any champion "cross over". All these guys are champs only in CZW and nowhere else. Only exception is Chris Hero. It just feels way too "minor league" for inclusion.

So what do you guys think? Which ones should I add, which ones should I ignore??

You like the list?? It's pretty huge. Some might argue that the WWECW title should be removed, but to form this list objectively, I had to work under the assumption that once the title is declared a world title, it's ALWAYS a world title. I don't want to pick and choose reigns.

So just as some nice trivia, here are the top 60 rankings in order of most title reigns to least:

1. Ric Flair and Verne Gagne (16)
3. El Canek and Sting (15)
5. John Cena (14)
6. Dick the Bruiser, Jeff Jarrett and Triple H (13)
9. Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton (12)
11. Edge and Kurt Angle (11)
13. Giant Baba, The Rock, Lou Thesz and Stan Hansen (10)
17. Big Van Vader and Harley Race (9)
19. Jumbo Tsuruta, Keiji Mutoh, Mitsuharu Misawa and Tatsumi Fujinami (8)
23. Big Show, Billy Robinson, Bret Hart, CM Punk, Kensuke Sasaki and Undertaker (7)
29. Adam Pearce, AJ Styles, Batista, Bobo Brazil, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Daniel Bryan, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jeff Hardy, Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Nash, Killer Kowalski, Mad Dog Vauchon, Randy Savage, Spiros Arion, Steve Austin, Steve Casey and Toshiaki Kawada (6)
48. Alberto Del Rio, Dory Funk Jr., Genichiro Tenryu, Jerry Lawler, El Mesias, Perro Aguayo, Riki Choshu, Rusher Kimura, The Sandman, Satoshi Kojima, Shane Douglas and Shinya Hashimoto (5)

Hulk Hogan was the first ever IWGP Heavyweight Chmapion, so he would be a 13 time champion. Ric Flair has held 21 NWA/WCW/WCW International Heavyweight Titles. This is a pretty poor list, I am sure if I delved further more inaccuracies would be found

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Hulk Hogan was the first ever IWGP Heavyweight Chmapion, so he would be a 13 time champion. Ric Flair has held 21 NWA/WCW/WCW International Heavyweight Titles. This is a pretty poor list, I am sure if I delved further more inaccuracies would be found

You could technically count Ric Flair to have held 25 title reigns. But the following were either reversed or retroactively unrecognized:

• NWA World title, 09 Feb 1982: "The Midnight Rider" beats him, but is forced to give the title back to Flair due to a rule stating masked wrestlers can't hold the title.
• NWA World title, 28 Nov 1985: Dusty Rhodes beats Flair for the title in the original, but the decision is changed to a DQ. This is the original "Dusty Finish".
• NWA World title, 19 May 1991: Tatsumi Fujinami beats Flair for the title at a big New Japan/WCW show, but then loses it back to him at SuperBrawl.
• WCW World title, 21 Apr 1994: The title is held up after a double pin with Steamboat. Flair gains it back in a rematch.

Similarly, these others were local treats for the crowds that weren't ever recognized by the NWA. You could still count them if you want to, but I'm only counting the official ones:

• NWA World title, 07 Sep 1982: Jack Veneno beats Flair at Dom. Rep. over fear that the crowd would riot had Veneno lost. Veneno unceremoniously just gives it back.
• NWA World title, 23 Jan 1982: Carlos Colón beats Flair for the title in Puerto Rico and Flair takes it back a few days later in Miami.
• NWA World title, 08 Feb 1983: Victor Jovica beats Flair for the title in Trinidad, but the title is given back to Flair due to Victor's feet being on the ropes.
• NWA World title, 23 Mar 1983: Harley Race beats Flair for the title at a live event and loses it back 2 days later.

That drops the numbers down to 17. Now, that last one that WWE doesn't count is a little fishy. And that would be

• WCW International World title, 23 Jun 1994: Ric Flair beats WCW IN Champ Rick Rude in a unification match.

They count the title as part of Rick and Sting's world title wins, as evidenced in their alumni pages, but they don't count it for Ric Flair. In fact, I think this is the only unification match for which they didn't count the usurped title as a title reign. Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Carlito and Primo were all credited with a 1-day reign by WWE, but not Ric.

So you could count that one because of logic, and that would make Ric a 17-time champ. But anything more than that would just be disregarding the NWA's booking. And if we decide the booking doesn't matter, then there's no point in counting reigns, is there?

Oh, and also, Hogan won the International Wrestling Grand Prix Tournament. The belt he was holding didn't actually become the IWGP Heavyweight Championship until years later.