| Women's World Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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_2023.jpeg) The current Women's World Championship belt with default side plates (2023–present) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | Raw | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | August 23, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Stephanie Vaquer | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | September 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | |||||||||||||||||||
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TheWomen's World Championship is awomen's professional wrestlingworld championship created and promoted by theAmericanpromotionWWE, defended on theRawbrand division. It is one of two women's world titles for WWE's main roster, along with theWWE Women's Championship onSmackDown. The current champion isStephanie Vaquer, who is in her first reign. She won the vacant title by defeatingIyo Sky atWrestlepalooza on September 20, 2025; previous championNaomi relinquished the title due to going on maternity leave.
Established as theSmackDown Women's Championship, it was unveiled on the August 23, 2016, episode ofSmackDown as the counterpart to the WWE Women's Championship, which became exclusive to Raw as a result of the2016 WWE Draft and renamed as Raw Women's Championship. The inaugural champion wasBecky Lynch. As a result of the2023 WWE Draft, the Raw and SmackDown women's championships switched brands, with the SmackDown Women's Championship subsequently renamed as the Women's World Championship, while the Raw Women's Championship reverted to its original name of WWE Women's Championship. It is the fourth overall women’s singles championship to be created by WWE, after theDivas Championship, theNXT Women's Championship, and the current WWE Women’s Championship.
The title has been contested in the main event of fiveWWE pay-per-view and livestreaming events:TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2018 and, along with the Raw Women's Championship at the time, WWE's flagship eventWrestleMania 35 in 2019, and by itself on Night 1 ofWrestleMania 37 in 2021,Elimination Chamber in 2024, andEvolution in 2025. It was also the first women's professional wrestling championship to be defended inSaudi Arabia, which occurred atSuper ShowDown in 2020.
The Women's World Championship was originally established as the SmackDown Women's Championship on August 23, 2016. Its creation came as a result of the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE reintroducing thebrand extension, where the company again divided its roster between theRaw andSmackDown brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform; the first brand split ended in August 2011. During the2016 draft, reigningWWE Women's ChampionCharlotte was drafted to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a women's championship. Immediately followingSummerSlam on the August 23, 2016, episode ofSmackDown, SmackDown commissionerShane McMahon and general managerDaniel Bryan unveiled the SmackDown Women's Championship (Raw's title was subsequently renamed as Raw Women's Championship).[1][2]
Asix-pack elimination challenge was then scheduled forBacklash on September 11, 2016, to determine the inaugural champion. The six women who competed at SummerSlam in thesix-woman tag team match were chosen for the six-pack challenge:Alexa Bliss,Becky Lynch,Carmella,Naomi,Natalya, andNikki Bella.[3] Lynch became the inaugural champion when she last eliminated Carmella.[4] TheNXT Women's Championship would become WWE's third main women's title whenNXT, the promotion'sdevelopmental brand, became recognized as WWE's third major brand in September 2019 when it was moved to theUSA Network.[5] However, this recognition was reversed when NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand in September 2021.[6]
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method of elimination | Times[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexa Bliss | Naomi | Pinfall | 9:38 |
| 2 | Naomi | Natalya | Submission | 10:52 |
| 3 | Natalya | Nikki Bella | Pinfall | 12:50 |
| 4 | Nikki Bella | Carmella | 12:58 | |
| 5 | Carmella | Becky Lynch | Submission | 14:40 |
| Winner | Becky Lynch | |||
The title headlined aWWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event for the first time atTLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December 2018, where Becky Lynch defended it in atriple threatTables, Ladders, and Chairs match against Charlotte Flair andAsuka, which Asuka won; this was also the first women's TLC triple threat match.[7] The title was then on the line in awinner takes all triple threat match in the main event ofWrestleMania 35 in April 2019, where Flair defended the title against Raw Women's ChampionRonda Rousey and Lynch, who won the match. This was the first women's match to main event aWrestleMania – WWE's flagship event.[8][9] AtSuper ShowDown in February 2020, the title became the first women's championship to be defended inSaudi Arabia, whereBayley retained the title over Naomi; this was only the second women's match contested in the country.[10] The title would again be on the line in the main event of a WrestleMania, this time Night 1 ofWrestleMania 37 in April 2021 whereBianca Belair defeatedSasha Banks to win the title;[11] this was also the first time that two African-Americans headlined a WrestleMania and only the second women's match to main event the annual show.[12] The title was defended for a second time in Saudi Arabia atCrown Jewel in 2021, where Becky Lynch retained against Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks in a triple threat match.[13]
As a result of the2023 WWE Draft, the Raw and SmackDown women's championships switched brands and there were no title changes for either championship before draft results went into effect on May 8. The issue of the SmackDown Women's Championship being on Raw was then resolved on the June 12, 2023, episode ofRaw. That night, WWE officialAdam Pearce unveiled a new championship belt to reigning championRhea Ripley, with the title subsequently renamed as the Women's World Championship. This came shortly after the Raw Women's Championship reverted to its original name of WWE Women's Championship on June 9.[14]
The championship was established to be exclusive to its namesake brand, SmackDown. An incident occurred in the2021 WWE Draft where both the Raw and SmackDown women's champions were drafted to the opposite brands. To keep the titles on their respective brands, the champions swapped titles.[15] However, this same incident occurred in the 2023 draft, but the champions instead kept their titles, thus the titles changed brands despite their namesakes. This issue would be resolved as the titles were subsequently renamed to remove the brands.[14]
| Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| August 23, 2016 | SmackDown |
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| May 8, 2023 | Raw |
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As the SmackDown Women's Championship, the title was represented by a belt using the same "Network Logo" design as the WWE Women's Championship, with the only difference being that the background of the center plate and the default side plates' globes were blue (as opposed to red) to symbolize its exclusivity to SmackDown. In what has become a prominent feature on all of WWE's championship belts, the side plates could be customized with the reigning champion's logo. During Naomi's second reign with the SmackDown Women's Championship belt in 2017, strips of multi interchanging coloredLED lights were placed around the outline of the WWE logo and the outline of the belt to go with her "glow" gimmick.[16]
When the title was renamed the Women's World Championship in June 2023, it adopted a near-identical design to the men'sWorld Heavyweight Championship that had been introduced in April, albeit smaller, on a white strap, and with a small banner above the "World" banner that says "Women's". It also retains the customizable side plates.[14]
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As of February 16, 2026, there have been 32 reigns between 15 champions and 3vacancies. Becky Lynch was the inaugural champion. Charlotte Flair has the most reigns at seven. Bayley's second reign and Rhea Ripley's first reign are tied for the longest singular reign at 380 days (379 days for both as recognized by WWE), while Flair's fourth reign is the shortest at 4 minutes and 55 seconds. Bayley has the longest combined reign across her two reigns at 520 days (519 days as recognized by WWE). Naomi is the oldest champion, having won the title at 37 years, 225 days old, while Alexa Bliss is the youngest when she won it at 25. Only two women have held the title for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Bayley and Rhea Ripley.
Stephanie Vaquer is the current champion in her first reign. She defeated Iyo Sky to win the vacant title atWrestlepalooza on September 20, 2025, inIndianapolis, Indiana; previous champion Naomi relinquished the title due to going on maternity leave.[17]
A historic main event, two African-American[s] headlining WrestleMania for the first time...
Media related toWrestlers as the WWE SmackDown Women's champion at Wikimedia Commons| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | WWE's top women's championship 2016–present | Succeeded by Current |
