Will Mark Henry Be One Of The Great Black World Champions?

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Neither is the WHC title... it's very clear it's a secondary title to the WWE title... esp. when it is defended or the champion is on raw.

Wrong, but its ok.

The World Heavyweight Championship is the Old WCW Title. You remember that time when the WCW Title and the WWE Title were merged into one Title and Chris Jericho became the Undisputed Champion. Anyhow the history is on the internet Id suggest you look it up.

Back to the topic at hand, in the WWE, the NWA championship doesn't mean anything. If it didn't happen in the WWE, or WCW it didn't happen. If that weren't the case Christian would be a 4 time World Champion (actually 6x but the ECW Title REALLY DOESN'T COUNT) rather than a 2 time World Champion. Henry would be a 2 time World Champion 1 WHC run, 1 ECW run (and again the ECW TITLE DON'T MEAN A THING!)

 

[sikkbones]

Wrong, but its ok.

The World Heavyweight Championship is the Old WCW Title. You remember that time when the WCW Title and the WWE Title were merged into one Title and Chris Jericho became the Undisputed Champion. Anyhow the history is on the internet Id suggest you look it up.

Back to the topic at hand, in the WWE, the NWA championship doesn't mean anything. If it didn't happen in the WWE, or WCW it didn't happen. If that weren't the case Christian would be a 4 time World Champion (actually 6x but the ECW Title REALLY DOESN'T COUNT) rather than a 2 time World Champion. Henry would be a 2 time World Champion 1 WHC run, 1 ECW run (and again the ECW TITLE DON'T MEAN A THING!)

No the WW title is the one that should have both lineages... the smackdown title was just introduced after they merged the titles so that they could have a chmapion on a show Hunter couldn't be bothered with.

as far as im concered its as meanigless a title as the WWECW one, the US title (wwe version.), and anything connected to TNA.

Rhyno was the last ECW champ not Zeke.

 

[IT Factor]

Your right. Race has nothing to do with Mark Henry winning a world championship. But the point that I was pointing out is that a african-american wrestler is a minority in pro wrestling, as you can see by the list of former black champions. I think that it's really good that Mark Henry has finally won the big one (no pun intended)!

I agree that Henry winning was a great move. Although I think you've clearly had different motives than me for saying it. I believe Henry is great because he's worked hard to become champion. You are saying he can be a "great black champion" because you are black yourself and feel that he's in the minority. The racism game is as old as time itself. And you are not helping with making statements like those. If you wanna change things, you do it by changing yourself first. If not, you come off sounding like an ignorant rascist yourself.

But do you think that it's kinda of strange that in all wrestling history that there's only been five world champions that are african-american? So I'm not playing the race card. The promoters are! Going back to the days of Ernie Ladd. He would have made a grand world champion. But there's racism everywhere I guess.

Again, your agenda here is clear. Complain that the race card is an issue. It's not the WWE's fault that there have been substantially less minorities in their company. Or wrestling in general for that matter. I do agree that some of the other black wrestlers like Faarooq[Ron Simmons], Rocky Johnson, and Tony Atlas should've all been used better than they were. And some of that was WWE's fault for being afraid to use them because of race perception. I truly believe your arguement for today's WWE being rascist is without merit. Especially when guys like The Rock, Ron Simmons, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, and The Godfather were all prominently featured in the last 10 or 15 years. Probably alot of others I'm missing. There's only racism where people want to see it. Other minority groups like the Samoans also could whine and complain that Deuce wasn't the next Jimmy Snuka and claim racism as well. But, you don't see them complain that less than 5 Samoans have been World Champions do ya? My problem is that guys like you use bullshit logic and wanna play the race card to somehow support a biased and narrow-minded opinion. Stop being racist yourself and maybe you won't be called out for it as well.

Didn't people learn anything from Jackie Robinson breaking racial gates in sports (entertainment)?

No doubt that racism was an issue in the past. Bringing it up in today's time is pretty ridiculous to me and I fail to see where it fits into Mark Henry being a "great black World Champion". Yeah, he's black and he's a great World Champion. No arguement from me there. You could just as easily omit the word "black" from that topic name and still have a correct statement. He's a great champion and that would be true whether he's black, white, samoan, indian, or chinese. The difference with me & you on this topic is that I don't harp on there being a racism problem where it clearly doesn't exist.

 

[CM Steel]

I agree that Henry winning was a great move. Although I think you've clearly had different motives than me for saying it. I believe Henry is great because he's worked hard to become champion. You are saying he can be a "great black champion" because you are black yourself and feel that he's in the minority. The racism game is as old as time itself. And you are not helping with making statements like those. If you wanna change things, you do it by changing yourself first. If not, you come off sounding like an ignorant rascist yourself.



Again, your agenda here is clear. Complain that the race card is an issue. It's not the WWE's fault that there have been substantially less minorities in their company. Or wrestling in general for that matter. I do agree that some of the other black wrestlers like Faarooq[Ron Simmons], Rocky Johnson, and Tony Atlas should've all been used better than they were. And some of that was WWE's fault for being afraid to use them because of race perception. I truly believe your arguement for today's WWE being rascist is without merit. Especially when guys like The Rock, Ron Simmons, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, and The Godfather were all prominently featured in the last 10 or 15 years. Probably alot of others I'm missing. There's only racism where people want to see it. Other minority groups like the Samoans also could whine and complain that Deuce wasn't the next Jimmy Snuka and claim racism as well. But, you don't see them complain that less than 5 Samoans have been World Champions do ya? My problem is that guys like you use bullshit logic and wanna play the race card to somehow support a biased and narrow-minded opinion. Stop being racist yourself and maybe you won't be called out for it as well.



No doubt that racism was an issue in the past. Bringing it up in today's time is pretty ridiculous to me and I fail to see where it fits into Mark Henry being a "great black World Champion". Yeah, he's black and he's a great World Champion. No arguement from me there. You could just as easily omit the word "black" from that topic name and still have a correct statement. He's a great champion and that would be true whether he's black, white, samoan, indian, or chinese. The difference with me & you on this topic is that I don't harp on there being a racism problem where it clearly doesn't exist.

You mis-spelled racist there Storm.

Man why are you getting upset about a thread topic that you really couldn't understand? If I were a racist, then I wouldn't have typed this thread. Mark Henry is wayyyy over due for a world title run in my opinion!

And the adjustive to the title of this thread is "black" not Samoan. So where does Jimmy Snuka family tree comes into fold at? Like justtxyank said earlier, it doesn't matter if MH is black or white or whatever. He has worked his ass off to get where he is right now as a world champion in the WWE. And who invent this whole "race card" saying anyway?

Storm, if your not feeling my thread or how the WWE is running there company in giving there superstars a good run with a title? Then maybe you should just keep TNA wrestling with yourself, Storm.

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

The main problem with this thread is that it tends to imply that somehow black guys in wrestling were held down. A point I might actually agree on back in the 70's, or even the 80's. In today's wrestling though, there's no need to claim WWE is racist, based on the fact that there have only been 5 "African American" World Champions. As far as I'm concerned, the "black" guys that have won the belt actually earned it and shouldn't be labelled or limited due to one guy's opinion. I'm sorry, but guys like Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas were groundbreakers for black guys in wrestling, but sure didn't have the charisma or in ring work to be pushed as top guys.

And I think Mack Swagger is taking some of these posts way too personally. It's not a big issue anymore, so why claim that it is? Today in wrestling, if you are someone talented enough, you'll get noticed where you label someone "black" or not. The Rock, Booker T and Mark Henry are all examples of guys that made themselves valuable to WWE and therefore earned their spots. I wouldn't care if any of those guys were black or not, I'd still pay money to see them wrestle. That's really all that should matter.

While I can understand pointing out the obvious, I'm not getting why the OP felt the need to create a "one of the great black World Champions" thread. He could have easily achieved the same effect without labelling Mark Henry as a black competitor and just a guy who worked his ass off to win ppl's respect. He certainly has earned mine in every sense of the word. And it has nothing to do with race, it has more to do with busting his ass off and becoming a more complete wrestler. I'm just surprized that Mark Henry wasn't made champion back in 2006, when he had a similar push with different results.

 

[IT Factor]

You mis-spelled racist there Storm.

It's called a typo. And from the looks of things, you have made them before too.

Man why are you getting upset about a thread topic that you really couldn't understand? If I were a racist, then I wouldn't have typed this thread. Mark Henry is wayyyy over due for a world title run in my opinion!

I couldn't understand? Why? Because you're black and I'm white? That sounds racist to me. And everything you've said in this thread has stood to support that. You claim that Mark Henry is a great black world champion and that he is. My problem is how you come off sounding arrogantly smug and racist in the process of stating what you believe. I guess I can't understand it though. Racist ass. This stopped being an intelligent discussion just as soon as you turned it into something it should've never been to begin with.

And the adjustive to the title of this thread is "black" not Samoan. So where does Jimmy Snuka family tree comes into fold at? Like justtxyank said earlier, it doesn't matter if MH is black or white or whatever. He has worked his ass off to get where he is right now as a world champion in the WWE. And who invent this whole "race card" saying anyway?

There's that typo thing again, Mack. I think you meant adjective and not "adjustive".

I compared the Samoans to the Africans because it is an analogy. You do understand, don't you? The Samoans, much like the African Americans were also mis-used and held down in their paths to wrestling. Yet you don't see people of Samoan descent on this forum whining that Deuce should've made a "great Samoan World champion". Of course, you don't see past the whole black thing in this topic, so it's pointless to try and rationally explain anything to you. Justtxyank was accurate in saying that Mark Henry is a great champion reguardless of color, which I have been saying since the beginning. You instead focused on me because you wanted to go on some kind of racial tirade that had nothing to do with Mark Henry or his current work. Nice.

Storm, if your not feeling my thread or how the WWE is running there company in giving there superstars a good run with a title? Then maybe you should just keep TNA wrestling with yourself, Storm.

Just like any narrow-minded racist person, when you come across someone who disagrees you react like a 5-year old. I'm not "feeling" your thread because it is only encouraging racism when you are advocating against it. Don't you find that abit[no, ALOT] ironic? I'm not looking for you to agree with me here. Nor do I care whether you like me or not. I'm here like every other fan to add my opinion to the pile. If you're not "feeling" that then feel free to ignore what I post and move on. Anything other than that is ignorant trolling and just trying to boost this topic into more ignorance. With each reply you've shown exactly where you stand and how your thinking is. It seemingly has nothing to do with liking Mark Henry and instead seems to be some kind of point to grandstand on about race[more particularly focusing on some kinda wrong done to black superstars]. I'm simply pointing out how ignorant it is for you to keep dragging this moot point out.

 

[gamma2008]

Hm...ok, I'm just gonna throw my two cents in on the matter.

I have said in other threads that I became a Mark Henry fan since he moved to the blue brand. I think his monster heel push was done about as well as any push can be done. He wasn't forced down our throats like Del Rio, he wasn't shoved into the main event light immediately like R Truth after his heel turn.

As for a great black champion? Well it's a short list so if we do see more black men enter the main event scene and reach that point in the future I wouldn't have a problem talking about the push. But if his title reign ends tomorrow after the PayperView, I don't see how you could do it. There are rumors that due to the reaction he is getting and how well he is doing this that his reign will be longer than originally planned. If he gets 3 months out of it, and things remain similar, I could definitely say that.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

the WHC championship is meaningless... it's obvious that the WWE Title is the only one that matters.. and i honestly doubt Vince would ever let a black man win that title... he let a mexican win it for how many minutes? Has anyone of any other race than white won the WWE title and had a decent run with it Excluding the rock?

Well, Vince bases it off who is over, so Vince isn't racist, the audience is. If Mark was John Cena over, he'd have the WWE title. He's not.

Also, the WHC isn't a "meaningless title". Not everything needs to be the best and forefront and if something isn't that doesn't mean it's meaningless. Ask Peyton manning how "meaningless" those "nameless" offensive linemen are. Same thing here. Every part of the show is important. Stop being a simpleton.

 

[sikkbones]

just to prove my point what was defended early tonight in the show? is there a reason the smackdown title was defended before the Shows secondary title?

yeah it looks real prestigous when even the bathroom match (diva's) happens after it does...

and then cody comes out and defends the second title... after the smackdown main event?

this is why i dont respect the WHC championship.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

just to prove my point what was defended early tonight in the show? is there a reason the smackdown title was defended before the Shows secondary title?

yeah it looks real prestigous when even the bathroom match (diva's) happens after it does...

and then cody comes out and defends the second title... after the smackdown main event?

this is why i dont respect the WHC championship.

Thats not the first time the WHC has been defended earlier on a PPV this year. The card only had 5 matches on it to start with, the IC and Tag Title Matches were added last minute to the show (again).

The WWE has done this several times this year, where the card is short, so at the last minute they add several matches to beef it up.

It also plays more into the Triple H is a bad COO storyline, by having Cody at the PPV, and then forcing him into a match last minute. Lets remember thats the 3rd time in the past week that Rhodes was made to defend his title. It helps build into that story

They also try and space the main attraction matches out, do you really want to watch two HIAC matches back to back?

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

nope, i would prefer one championship... remeber the linage of smackdowns title includes David arquette so aside from being a title that is basiclly passed around to everyone who has had a good trnue in the E... an actor won it in WCW

You complain about the WHC when only 4 people have held the title this year. Edge, Christian, Orton, and Henry.

Edge vacated the title, Christian won the title, Christian dropped it to Orton, Orton dropped it to Christian, Christian dropped it back to Orton, and Henry squashed Orton for it. 4 champs in 9 months, not bad


If you want to complain about the linage of a title go complain about the WWE title changing hands more than 6 times within the past few months.

Orton to Miz, Miz to Cena, Cena to Punk, Rey to Cena, Cena back to Punk, Punk to Del Rio, Del Rio to Cena, Cena back to Del Rio....
10 champs in 10 months, ummm?

The linage of the WHC is solid. Sure David Arquette has held the title, but so have fluke champions like Jack Swagger, and so have Legends like Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lenser, Triple H, Undertaker, down the line further Hogan, Flair, Jericho and Booker T. David Arquette winning the title was a dark period of time, but the amount of actual wrestlers with talent and wrestling legends that have held the title have made up for it.

Hell Vince is a former WWE Champion, so that title has a fucking blemish on it as well. The WHC isn't going anywhere anytime soon. GTFOI

 

[One to Remember]

There ard several issues here i want to address. The first, since i consider myself the quentesential historian on alll things wcw, the wwe whc is NOT AT ALL the WCW title which itself was never the nwa world's championship. The whc's lineage dates to the undisputed title which was the wwf title and the wcw title. You cant seem to understand the difference between the undisputed title being deunified and the title being splintered.. THE BIG GOLD BELT IS NOT A TITLE. TITLE LINEAGES ARE NOT DIVIDED BY DESIGNS AND BELTS AND PLATES!! JUST BECAUSE WCW AND THE NWA WERE ARROGANT ENOUGH TO NOT PUT THEIR RESPECTIVE ACRONYMS ON THE BELT THAT SIMPLY SAID "WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION" does not mean that belt or that title is the sports original top title. That ceased to exist in the forties and the nwa did not become its keeper, i mean that in a heritage and legal and traditional sense!!

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

There ard several issues here i want to address. The first, since i consider myself the quentesential historian on alll things wcw, the wwe whc is NOT AT ALL the WCW title which itself was never the nwa world's championship. The whc's lineage dates to the undisputed title which was the wwf title and the wcw title. You cant seem to understand the difference between the undisputed title being deunified and the title being splintered.. THE BIG GOLD BELT IS NOT A TITLE. TITLE LINEAGES ARE NOT DIVIDED BY DESIGNS AND BELTS AND PLATES!! JUST BECAUSE WCW AND THE NWA WERE ARROGANT ENOUGH TO NOT PUT THEIR RESPECTIVE ACRONYMS ON THE BELT THAT SIMPLY SAID "WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION" does not mean that belt or that title is the sports original top title. That ceased to exist in the forties and the nwa did not become its keeper, i mean that in a heritage and legal and traditional sense!!

Big Show clearly stated on Smackdown this past Friday that the Title Henry currently holds, is the same Title Big Show held when he was 23...

"The Giant won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At 23 years old, The Giant became the youngest WCW World Heavyweight Champion"

You can claim to be a historian all you want, but Big Show and many others have pointed out that the WHC is the old WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Booker T states weekly how he's a former 6 time WHC, 5 of those title wins were won in WCW when it was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and one was in the WWE as the World Heavyweight Championship.

As for the NWA linkage to the title, I do not care whatsoever, due to TNA holding control over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for several years.

 

[One to Remember]

The next issue, are the two titles equals? Yes and no depending on when aand where. The whc has the name it does and the belt design it does and origins as the "Raw World title" and HHH as its inaugral holder because it was not deemed equal during its foundation. All those factors were to compensate. But even being on raw could not take attention off the perceived "newness" of the title which is now nine yrs old. The wwe championship should also be considered nine..

The next issue pertains to Blacks getting the Whc vs the wwe title. I take issue with it because of the perception you all have of the titles equity with the wwe title. I think its a definite blow when booker t. Cant have his name on the same roll call as Hulk hogan, sammartino, ROgers, Andre, Austin, and Backlund. It severs their link to Wwe's early years and overall history. WHC's roll call features the likes of Benoit and mysterio and orton but only triple h, hbk, and taker can even be considered legendary. Then i have to remove hbk and taker from that list because those two are closely associated with the WWF Title.. the caliber of wrestlers holding and being associated with the WHC are contributing to its credibility issues hurting its newer holders.

The final issue which is one thats been annoying me since i joined this forum is the outragious outpouring always associated with these threads. Just like there is a race card so to is there a race card card. Theres more ppl on this board playing the latter.

The op asked how he compared to other Blacks or mixed World champions.. its fine and natural to compare his reignand career to say booker t.'s in wcw or WWE. Its fine to crunch numbers and analyze fan reaction. Its okay to ask if mark henry did better as a bad guy then ron simmons did as WCW's head band lovin proud american promoting good guy... the black champions remain good case studies and we dont need to hear some white guy say he doesnt care if blah blah blah is black, white, pink, or indigo. Each and everytime the topic comes up. Spare us the tired maxims and zingers.


There is racialism in this sport andbringing it up or discussing how it effects the writing department is fair game. This aint boxing or mma where regardless of what you think of a fighter or his race his raw strength may still put him at the top spot. Because unlike other combat sports there are varying non sport factors factors and variables that go into an athletes spot and position in this "sport" we can insert social issues

 

[One to Remember]

Big Show clearly stated on Smackdown this past Friday that the Title Henry currently holds, is the same Title Big Show held when he was 23...

"The Giant won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At 23 years old, The Giant became the youngest WCW World Heavyweight Champion"

You can claim to be a historian all you want, but Big Show and many others have pointed out that the WHC is the old WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Booker T states weekly how he's a former 6 time WHC, 5 of those title wins were won in WCW when it was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and one was in the WWE as the World Heavyweight Championship.

As for the NWA linkage to the title, I do not care whatsoever, due to TNA holding control over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for several years.

Okay i would like an complete and accurate quote. If big show said anything close to that it was to show were he was in wrestling as opposed to henry c. 1996, it was to show that it did take mark henry awile, he is old for a FIRST time champion and the big show was in his twenties. He diddnt say it the way your making it sound.

As far as the Book is concerned he started the five time five time statements in wcw and used it in the WWF whenever he was regarded as an outsider and lesser wrestler. When WWE elevated him he simply state that hes held six top titles in the sport. Its not organization specific.. the WWE Website starts its history at 2002 not 1990 or '91..

Seriously though did you forget that in sports in general world heavyweight title is a generic term!? Are u so much of a wwe mark that you think whenever the phrase "world heavyweight title" is used that it refers to that title Henry,khali, and Christian wore exclusively?? U think wwe could copyright those 3 words lmao really? Really..?

Oh and also based on your logic i guess masa chono, ronnie garvin, rick rude and one of them windham boys can say they held that title too? Wtf does TNA Haveto do with garvin who held the big gold belt in 1986?! Or RUDE in'93

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Okay i would like an complete and accurate quote. If big show said anything close to that it was to show were he was in wrestling as opposed to henry c. 1996, it was to show that it did take mark henry awile, he is old for a FIRST time champion and the big show was in his twenties. He diddnt say it the way your making it sound.

As far as the Book is concerned he started the five time five time statements in wcw and used it in the WWF whenever he was regarded as an outsider and lesser wrestler. When WWE elevated him he simply state that hes held six top titles in the sport. Its not organization specific.. the WWE Website starts its history at 2002 not 1990 or '91..

Seriously though did you forget that in sports in general world heavyweight title is a generic term!? Are u so much of a wwe mark that you think whenever the phrase "world heavyweight title" is used that it refers to that title Henry,khali, and Christian wore exclusively?? U think wwe could copyright those 3 words lmao really? Really..?

Oh and also based on your logic i guess masa chono, ronnie garvin, rick rude and one of them windham boys can say they held that title too? Wtf does TNA Haveto do with garvin who held the big gold belt in 1986?! Or RUDE in'93

I watched Smackdown, I listed to the Promo twice, thats why I brought it up.

Big Show clearly stated the title Henry currently holds was the title Big Show won when he was 23. The WCW World Heavy Weight Championship. He didn't say it to state that it took Henry longer to win his first World Championship, he said it because the WHC is the WCW World Heavy Weight Champion title belt. Its the same title now as it was when Big Show won it. Its the same title that Booker T won 6 times, 5 times in WCW 1 time in the WWE.

The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was Unified with the WWE Title when Jericho beat the Rock for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, then beat Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE Title at Vengeance in the same night to be come the WWE Undisputed Champion.

Here's what the Wiki says, but I mean you can keep being wrong if you'd like.

Origin
WWE introduced its World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, with Triple H becoming the inaugural champion on September 2. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a promotion with various subsidiaries. In the early 1990s, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was a subsidiary to the NWA. During this time, WCW used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as its world title. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was soon established when the recognition was awarded to then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in 1991. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), itself a former subsidiary to the NWA. Both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline culminated in March 2001 with the WWF's purchase of WCW.[1] As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired the video library of WCW, select talent contracts, and championships among other assets. The slew of former WCW talent joining the WWF roster began "The Invasion" which effectively phased out the WCW name. Following this, the WCW Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, the WWF's world title, at Vengeance 2001 in December.[2] At the event, the WCW title was decommissioned with Chris Jericho becoming the final WCW Champion and the subsequent Undisputed WWF Champion after defeating The Rock and Steve Austin respectively.[3] The WWF title became the Undisputed Championship in professional wrestling until September 2002 with the creation of this World Heavyweight Championship, spun off from the WWE Undisputed Championship as the successor to the WCW title.[4]

Creation
By 2002, the WWF roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers. As a result of the increase, the WWF divided the roster through its two main television programs, Raw and SmackDown!, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension.[5] In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Following these changes, the WWE Undisputed Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the WWE Undisputed Champion. Following the appointment of Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon as General Managers of the Raw and SmackDown brands respectively, Stephanie McMahon contracted then-WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar to the SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world title.[6][7] On September 2, after disputing the brand designation of the Undisputed title, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship. Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H due to previously being Lesnar's scheduled opponent. Immediately afterwards, the WWE Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship.[8]

Historical lineage
Since its creation, the championship's history and reigns are often confused with other titles primarily because the championship does not bear the name of its designated organization. Contributing to this is the common usage of the terms "world championship" or "world heavyweight championship" in general for all acknowledged world titles. This results in allusions often being made to other titles including those of WCW and the NWA, amalgamating the history of this championship with the history of the belt that represents it.[9][10] As affirmed by WWE, the World Heavyweight Championship is not a continuation of the WCW Championship, but rather its successor by way of the WWE Undisputed Championship, just as the WCW Championship spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Due to its relation to both titles, its lineage is connected with the earliest recognized world heavyweight championship.[11]

Brand designation
Following the events of the WWE Brand Extension, an annual WWE Draft was established, in which select members of the WWE roster are reassigned to a different brand.[12] After three years on the Raw brand, the World Heavyweight Championship switched brands during the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, in which the WWE Champion John Cena was drafted to Raw while the World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown.[13] After the 2008 WWE Draft, the WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to SmackDown, returning the WWE Championship to the SmackDown brand.[14] On June 30, 2008, CM Punk used his Money in the Bank contract for a World Heavyweight Championship match against the World Heavyweight Champion Edge. The holder of the contract is guaranteed a WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship match at anytime of their choosing. This was done after Punk was drafted to Raw from the ECW brand, a WWE brand established in 2006 from purchased assets of the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. Punk defeated Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship, moving the title to the Raw brand.[15] The title remained on Raw until February 15, 2009 at No Way Out, when Edge won an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, with Edge being a member of the SmackDown brand at the time, the title was moved to SmackDown.[16] On April 5 at WrestleMania XXV, the title returned to Raw after John Cena, a member of the Raw brand, defeated Edge and The Big Show in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[17][18] However, less than a month later at Backlash, Edge defeated Cena, bringing the title back to SmackDown.[19] Since then, the title has not changed brands. When Jack Swagger, who was at the time a member of the Raw roster, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho on the April 2, 2010 episode of SmackDown, the belt remained exclusive to the SmackDown brand, and Swagger was transferred to the SmackDown roster.

Belt design

The World Heavyweight Championship belt is designed after the Big Gold Belt, an iconic championship belt that had previously represented the WCW and NWA World Heavyweight Championships. It features a black leather strap with buckles to wrap around the waist of the wrestler who wears it, and three pieces made of gold. Originally the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt represented the WWE World Heavyweight Championship until March 2003 where WWE had their own Belt designed. In the middle of the strap is a large center piece, which features a design of a crown on top of a globe in the center. At the top of the piece, the WWE logo and the words "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" are engraved, while a nameplate, which has the name of the champion etched, is located at the bottom of the piece. In addition, the entire piece is engraved with a unique fleuron pattern that is surrounded by red gemstones. Along the strap, on both ends, are two smaller side pieces which follows the same fleuron design pattern as seen in the center piece. Since July 19th, 2011 (aired on the July 22nd edition of SmackDown), the leather on the back of the strap has featured a ruby color.

Reigns

Main article: List of World Heavyweight Champions (WWE)
The inaugural champion was Triple H, who was awarded the championship by Eric Bischoff on the September 2, 2002 edition of Raw. Batista has the longest reign as champion with his first reign, from April 3, 2005 to January 10, 2006, lasting 282 days. Jeff Hardy's first reign was the shortest reign to date, lasting just over 3 minutes. The youngest champion is Randy Orton, winning the title at the age of 24. The oldest champion is The Undertaker, who won the title at age 44. The record for most individual reigns currently belongs to Edge, with seven. Mark Henry is the current champion and is in his first reign, defeating Randy Orton for the championship on September 18, 2011 at Night of Champions. There have been 46 World Heavyweight Championship reigns and 21 total champions.[20]

 

[One to Remember]

First of all i find it rediculous the big show is being cited for infornation on anything wcw when he spent about ten years in wwe pretending that he was never the giant or never held gold before his wwf debut. The only other time we hear him reference the wcw title is when he and the announcers boast he was the first guy to hold the ecw, wcw, and WWF titles. Ron simmons is not referedd to as a former WHC holder.. if vader has a wwe.com profile im sure hes not either. Ditto for DDP. ANGLE and the Rock probabbly also are listed as forner WCW champions or holders of the "World championship" not the WHC. The wwe championship and WHC trace their lineage to the undisputed title.. the wcw title was absorbed into the WWF title.. the primary lineage of the two brand titles dates back to the WWWF title..

Listen carefully to this last bit, WHEN THE TITLES ARE REUNIFIED THE NAME WILL BE THE "WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP"


LOOK AT THE FOUR TERMS ABOVE IN QUOTES. if one were to split a title into two and have them considered equal he would take the "world heavyweight" out put that on one belt then work with the terms you have left.. WWE Championship.. the reason why a stupid name that generic works is because it makes direct reference to the old WWWF/WWF heavyweight title.. thd generic WHC designation screams top tier in ALL COMBAT SPORTS..



I dont care what Big Show says and i will be editing that wikipedia article..

 

[Canadian_SXE]

the WHC championship is meaningless... it's obvious that the WWE Title is the only one that matters.. and i honestly doubt Vince would ever let a black man win that title... he let a mexican win it for how many minutes? Has anyone of any other race than white won the WWE title and had a decent run with it Excluding the rock?

To answer your question let me run throught the list. Bruno Sammartino was Italian and is the longest reigning champion in history. Pedro Morales who is Puerto Rican held it for nearly 3 years. Yokozuna who is Samoan held it for nearly 10 months. Eddie Guerrero a Mexican American reigned for a good 4 nearly 5 months. Let's see Batista is Filipino, Iron Sheik was Iranian, Alberto Del Rio the current champion is Mexican and so is Rey Mysterio all wrestlers who arent a white american guy holding the title grantes some not as long as others but race really doesnt matter in the WWE. Oh yeah even though already mentioned The Rock who is both black and Samoan. Oh by the way to the original poster you missed Ron Killings who is a 2 time NWA World Heavyweight champion, so making Mark Henry the 6th black champion if you count Brazil's reign which most don't including the NWA

 

[rmr21ela]

Mark Henrys reign came 2-4 years to late IMO but mark henry in such a short amount of time he has become [sorry to bring race] the best black wrestler since booby lashley and booker t.. rock is always going to be considered the best and IMO booker will be number 2 but henry is starting to make himself #3 i just hope the title on him until wrestlemania.

 

[sikkbones]

To answer your question let me run throught the list. Bruno Sammartino was Italian and is the longest reigning champion in history. Pedro Morales who is Puerto Rican held it for nearly 3 years. Yokozuna who is Samoan held it for nearly 10 months. Eddie Guerrero a Mexican American reigned for a good 4 nearly 5 months. Let's see Batista is Filipino, Iron Sheik was Iranian, Alberto Del Rio the current champion is Mexican and so is Rey Mysterio all wrestlers who arent a white american guy holding the title grantes some not as long as others but race really doesnt matter in the WWE. Oh yeah even though already mentioned The Rock who is both black and Samoan. Oh by the way to the original poster you missed Ron Killings who is a 2 time NWA World Heavyweight champion, so making Mark Henry the 6th black champion if you count Brazil's reign which most don't including the NWA

Eddie was WHC not WWE champion, Pedo was WWWF champion so that wasn't vinces decision it was vince Srs, Hell i'm Italian does that make me Non white?

so we have A guy that had the belt for a month because Backlund wouldnt job to Hogan, a guy that was Somoan pretending to be Japanese, and Batitsta who looks like likes he's white to the average consumer? isn't Hogan Panamanian? so he's not white either?

so we have a couple of mexicans, one black guy and who else as WWE champion?

Next you'll be telling me that John Cena Was a great Black Champion because he represented the ghetto with his Wigger gimmick.

 

[Canadian_SXE]

Eddie was WHC not WWE champion, Pedo was WWWF champion so that wasn't vinces decision it was vince Srs, Hell i'm Italian does that make me Non white?

so we have A guy that had the belt for a month because Backlund wouldnt job to Hogan, a guy that was Somoan pretending to be Japanese, and Batitsta who looks like likes he's white to the average consumer? isn't Hogan Panamanian? so he's not white either?

so we have a couple of mexicans, one black guy and who else as WWE champion?

Next you'll be telling me that John Cena Was a great Black Champion because he represented the ghetto with his Wigger gimmick.

Okay first of all Eddie was WWE champion he beat Lesnar. And I included Sammartino and not guys like Hogan, Savage, and Cena, all who have Italian heritage because he was actually born in Italy. And Batista doesn't look white at all.

 

[One to Remember]

Pedro Morales is the only WWE champion of color that wasn't some type of stereotypical joke..not really fair though since the WWWF had different management in those days so kinda an invalid reference..


Bruno Sammartino has this in common with Robert de Nero, Madonna, il Duce, and Columbus, they all are Italian and THEY ALL ARE FREAKIN WHITE!!!

Iron Sheik is Persian, was a transitional champion between a five year Backlund reign and a four year Hogan reign, had to be Ayatola esque, won his title in a fashion not seen even in boxing since the thirties, and would be mandated by the census to list himself as White anyways!!!

Antonio Inoki is not even permitted to call himself a WWF champ even though he beat Backlund for it in 1976.. but hey it was a bicentenial year and he was a cocky tojo i guess they figured..

Jimmy Snuka can't even be mentioned because even tho he jumped twenty feet off a cage, the brass found it preferable that he fall on his face instead of his opponent, Mr. Backlund..

Randy Savage, the guys 1/4 Black, half jewish, yet we just see him depicted as an Italian. I wonder if the other three quarters of his heritage were just bad for business?

Batista like a good deal of other Eurasians has come out more White then not.. See Michelle Branch or Rick Steamboat Jr. For other examples of that pheonomana..
If the flag of the Philipines was not beside the flag of Greece on his bicep you all would be none the wiser..

Latino Heat was a clown compared to the Eddie Guerrero that formed the LWO..
Where were the world title oppurtunities then!? He had to do the cliche gig first..

The Rock is not Black nor was he ever. I used to argue in school with a redneck all day long about this. He said the Rock was Mexucan then Apache or something and I would always say "your wrong cuz i saw his dad run out to the ring once to help him and he was Black!" But we were both wrong.. He is a polynesian like his mom. Him heading the Nation of Domination does not change that in the least..

Rey Mysterio won the WWE title at like 10:28 pm and had lost it to john cena by the end of Raw..

Yokazuna was the only Samoan to not have to act "wild", the ring accomanied by tribal drums, or wear a bone thru his nose. This is mostly because he was too busy pretending to be an oriental sumo wrestler from the mean streets of dojo obsessed Jappan.. Pedro Morales is the only WWE champion of color that wasn't some type of stereotypical joke..not really fair though since the WWWF had different management in those days so kinda an invalid reference..


Bruno Sammartino has this in common with Robert de Nero, Madonna, il Duce, and Columbus, they all are Italian and THEY ALL ARE FREAKIN WHITE!!!

Iron Sheik is Persian, was a transitional champion between a five year Backlund reign and a four year Hogan reign, had to be Ayatola esque, won his title in a fashion not seen even in boxing since the thirties, and would be mandated by the census to list himself as White anyways!!!

Antonio Inoki is not even permitted to call himself a WWF champ even though he beat Backlund for it in 1976.. but hey it was a bicentenial year and he was a cocky tojo i guess they figured..

Jimmy Snuka can't even be mentioned because even tho he jumped twenty feet off a cage, the brass found it preferable that he fall on his face instead of his opponent, Mr. Backlund..

Randy Savage, the guys 1/4 Black, half jewish, yet we just see him depicted as an Italian. I wonder if the other three quarters of his heritage were just bad for business?

Batista like a good deal of other Eurasians has come out more White then not.. See Michelle Branch or Rick Steamboat Jr. For other examples of that pheonomana..
If the flag of the Philipines was not beside the flag of Greece on his bicep you all would be none the wiser..

Latino Heat was a clown compared to the Eddie Guerrero that formed the LWO..
Where were the world title oppurtunities then!? He had to do the cliche gig first..

The Rock is not Black nor was he ever. I used to argue in school with a redneck all day long about this. He said the Rock was Mexucan then Apache or something and I would always say "your wrong cuz i saw his dad run out to the ring once to help him and he was Black!" But we were both wrong.. He is a polynesian like his mom. Him heading the Nation of Domination does not change that in the least..

Rey Mysterio won the WWE title at like 10:28 pm and had lost it to john cena by the end of Raw..

Yokazuna was the only Samoan to not have to act "wild", approach the ring accomanied by tribal drums, or wear a bone thru his nose. This is mostly because he was too busy pretending to be an oriental sumo wrestler from the mean streets of dojo obsessed Jappan..

But hey atleast Yoko still got to wear those classic capri pants those guys from the islands love to sport...

 

[Skinsley]

Based on ONE HeavyWeight Title reign?
Erm...NO!

Mark Henry is doing GREAT in WWE right now...currently in my eyes the best thing currently going strong in the WWE is the way Mark Henry is using this opertunity..and I certainly hope that this reign lasts another 3 or 4 months....WISHFULL THINKING!
But until he has spent a few years at the top With and Without the title he cant go down as a GREAT anything.

But seriously...Great BLACK world champions? By that argument would anyone agree that Hornswoggle will go down as one of the GREAT midget cruiser weight champions?

 

[Kane666]

Mark Henry has been in the WWF/E for a very long time. He is now the 5th world champion ever of African-American decent. We can run down a list...


-Bobo Brazil: Became the first African-American to win the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Chmapionship, also making him the first African-American World Champion in professional wrestling history.

-Ron Simmons: The (so-called) first world champion of African-American decent, back in the old WCW.

-The Rock: Some see him as African-American, some see him as just mixed. But a icon! The WWF/E's Barack Obama during the Attitude Era years.

-Booker T: First won a world title in WCW.Hulk Hogan's backstage politics, and announced that Jarrett was still the champion (nullifying the result of the Hogan match) and would defend the title in an impromptu match against Booker T.

And now over 11 years now. Mark Heny is now on that list as a black world champion. (Sorry ECW doesn't count)

He won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton at Night of Champions. Now how well will Mark Henry defend the world title. By the way the face card is going on Smackdown. Randy Orton gets another crack at MH. Sheamus is a contender. And what if the Undertaker returns by the Survivor Series pay per view? Because Mark Henry isn't going to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion going into 2012.

But Will Mark Henry be one of the great black World champions that we'll remember?

You left out R-Truth or Ron "The Truth" Killings as he was known in TNA.He won the world title twice when he was with them.Anyways i think Henry's run will be remembered.No this run isn't gonna last long but just the build-up and beating Orton twice will make his title run memorable.

 

[XXJJ]

Their have been plenty of non white champs. Vince is about making money.
Rock is half black.. I dont get how people are saying that doesnt count.