| WWE Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||||
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.png) The final belt design of the original WWE Women's Championship. (2002–2010) | |||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance (1950–1984) World Wrestling Entertainment (1984–2010) | ||||||||||||||||
| Date established | September 18, 1956 | ||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | September 19, 2010 (unified with theWWE Divas Championship) | ||||||||||||||||
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The 1956 to 2010 version of theWWE Women's Championship was awomen's professional wrestlingworld championship inWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The company claims a lineage that dates back to September 18, 1956, whenThe Fabulous Moolah became the thirdNWA World Women's Champion, although it had only been a part of the WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation; WWF) since 1984.
The World Wrestling Federation did not exist in its modern incarnation in 1956, but claim this year for the championship's establishment and do not recognize any title changes from when Moolah became champion until she lost it in 1984, toWendi Richter, prior to which Moolah sold the rights to the title to the WWF and it became the WWF Women's Championship. With the company claiming a lineage beginning in 1956, it made the Women's Championship the oldest active professional wrestling championship in WWE until its retirement in 2010 after it wasunified with theWWE Divas Championship, which briefly became known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship.[2] The final champion wasLayla.
A newWWE Women's Championship was created in April 2016, and although both championships share the same name and the original is considered to be the predecessor, the new championship does not carry the lineage of the original. In September 2016, the newer title was renamed as Raw Women's Championship but reverted to WWE Women's Championship in June 2023.
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On September 18, 1956,The Fabulous Moolah became the thirdNWA World Women's Champion.[3] At that time,WWE did not exist and would not become a company until 1963, when theCapitol Wrestling Corporation pulled out of theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to establish the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Moolah, who bought the rights to the championship in the 1970s, defended the championship as the NWA World Women's Champion up until May 19, 1984; by this time, the WWWF had been renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 1983, the WWF disaffiliated with the NWA and Moolah sold the championship's rights to the WWF in 1984, and she was recognized as the WWF Women's Champion.[4] Instead of beginning her reign in 1984,the WWF claimed the lineage of her reign from when she first became champion in 1956. The preceding champions and the title changes between 1956 and when Moolah lost it in 1984 are not recognized by WWE (although they are recognized by the NWA[5]). As a result, The Fabulous Moolah's first reign is considered to have lasted 28 years by the promotion.[6]
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive afterRockin' Robin vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF.[7][8] Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated withAlundra Blayze winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship.[9] However, the Women's Championship became inactive again when Blayze was released from the WWF. Blayze, as Madusa, unexpectedly signed withWorld Championship Wrestling in 1995 and threw the championship belt, which was still in her possession, in a trash can on an episode ofWCW Monday Nitro (in Blayze's 2015WWE Hall of Fame speech, she "returned" the title).[10] The Women's Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 during theAttitude Era whenJacqueline Moore defeatedSable to win the title.[10]
After theWWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship. With theWWE Brand Extension in March 2002, the Women's Championship at first was still defended on both theRaw andSmackDown brands, while most titles were exclusive to one brand. In September, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the Raw brand. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, until July 4, 2008, when a counterpart to the championship, called theWWE Divas Championship, was created for the SmackDown brand. On April 13, 2009, the Women's Championship became exclusive to the SmackDown brand when reigning championMelina was drafted from Raw to SmackDown during the2009 WWE Draft to replace the currentWWE Divas ChampionMaryse, who had been drafted to Raw.
The Women's Championship was unified with the Divas Championship atNight of Champions in September 2010, creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship and making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title followed the lineage of the Divas Championship; the title eventually dropped the "Unified" moniker.[2][11]
On April 3, 2016, atWrestleMania 32, a newWWE Women's Championship (called the Raw Women's Championship from September 2016 to June 2023) was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship. This new title does not carry the lineage of either the Divas Championship or the original Women's Championship, but is acknowledged by WWE as the successor of both.
The WWF Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide the new WWF Women's Champion after the title was reinstated after three years of inactivity.[12][13][14]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| Alundra Blayze | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Allison Royal | |||||||||||||
| Alundra Blayze | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Heidi Lee Morgan | |||||||||||||
| Black Venus | |||||||||||||
| Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Rusty Thomas | |||||||||||||
| Rusty Thomas | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Angie Marino | |||||||||||||
The WWE Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a newWWE Women's Champion after championTrish Stratus retired from her wrestling career.[13][15] The first round started on September 25, 2006, and ended atCyber Sunday whenLita, who Stratus defeated in her retirement match, defeatedMickie James.
| Quarterfinals Raw September 25 October 2, 9 and 15 | Semifinals Raw October 23 and 30 | Final Cyber Sunday | ||||||||||||
| Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Candice | 0:28 | |||||||||||||
| Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Maria | 2:19 | |||||||||||||
| Maria | Strip | |||||||||||||
| Candice Torrie Wilson Victoria | 1:14 | |||||||||||||
| Lita | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Mickie James | 8:09 | |||||||||||||
| Mickie James | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Victoria | 2:51 | |||||||||||||
| Mickie James | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Melina | 4:00 | |||||||||||||
| Melina | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Torrie Wilson | 2:43 | |||||||||||||
Following theWWE brand extension on March 25, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the Raw brand or SmackDown brand. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the Women's Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
| Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| September 23, 2002 | Raw | The WWE Women's Championship became exclusive toRaw. In 2008, theWWE Divas Championship was established forSmackDown as the counterpart to the Women's Championship. |
| April 13, 2009 | SmackDown | Women's ChampionMelina was drafted toSmackDown during the2009 WWE Draft. |
| September 19, 2010 | N/A | AtNight of Champions,Michelle McCool unified theDivas Championship with the Women's Championship. The Women's Championship was retired and the Divas Championship became briefly known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship and defended on bothRaw andSmackDown. |
Over the championship's fifty-six year history, there were 59 recognized reigns between 29 recognized champions and 4vacancies (there are 6 reigns and 3 people that are not recognized by the promotion). As per WWE's official title history, the inaugural champion wasThe Fabulous Moolah, who defeatedJudy Grable on September 18, 1956.[16] Moolah had the longest reign by holding it for 10 years, although the WWE considers it to be longer at 28 years, as title changes between 1956 and 1984 are not recognized by the promotion. The Fabulous Moolah is technically tied withTrish Stratus for the most reigns with 7, but because WWE does not recognize the title changes between 1956 and 1984, Moolah only has 4 and Stratus has the most reigns with 7. Mickie James's third reign is the shortest at less than 1 hour.[17] Only four women held the championship for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: The Fabulous Moolah (who achieved the feat on six separate occasions),Sensational Sherri,Rockin' Robin, andTrish Stratus.[18]
Despite the title being contested mainly by female wrestlers, the championship was once held by a male,Harvey Wippleman, who won it under the name "Hervina".[19]