| WWE Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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.jpeg) The current WWE Women's Championship belt with default side plates (2023–present) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | April 3, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Jade Cargill | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | November 1, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | |||||||||||||||||||
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TheWWE Women's Championship is awomen's professional wrestlingworld championship created and promoted by theAmericanpromotionWWE, defended on theSmackDownbrand division. It is one of two women's world titles for WWE's main roster, along with theWomen's World Championship onRaw. The current champion isJade Cargill, who is in her first reign. She won the title by defeating previous championTiffany Stratton atSaturday Night's Main Event on November 1, 2025.
Established on April 3, 2016, atWrestleMania 32, it replaced theDivas Championship and has a unique title history, separate fromWWE's original Women's Championship and the Divas Championship.Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion. As a result of the2016 WWE Draft, the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed theRaw Women's Championship while SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as its counterpart. As a result of the2023 WWE Draft, the Raw and SmackDown women's championships switched brands, with the Raw Women's Championship reverting to its original name of WWE Women's Championship, while the SmackDown Women's Championship became the Women's World Championship. The WWE Women's Championship is the third overall women’s singles championship to be created by WWE, after the Divas Championship and theNXT Women's Championship.
The title was the first women's championship to headline aWWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event, which occurred atHell in a Cell in 2016. It also headlined WWE's first all-female event,Evolution in 2018. Along with the SmackDown Women's Championship at the time, it was also defended in the main event match of the35th edition of WWE's flagship event,WrestleMania, in 2019.
The championship was established on April 3, 2016. During theWrestleMania 32 pre-show that day,WWE Hall of FamerLita appeared: after recapping the history ofwomen's professional wrestling inWWE, she declared that WWE's women would no longer be referred to as WWE Divas, but as "WWE Superstars" like their male counterparts.[1] The term "Diva" had been criticized by some commentators, fans, and several past and present female wrestlers, including reigningDivas ChampionCharlotte,[2] as diminishing the athletic abilities of female wrestlers and relegating them to "eye candy".[3][4] Lita also unveiled a new title belt and revealed that the Divas Championship would be retired in favor of a new WWE Women's Championship. The inaugural champion was determined by atriple threat match between Charlotte,Becky Lynch, andSasha Banks later that night, which was originally scheduled for the Divas Championship.[5][6] Charlotte, the final Divas Champion, became the first WWE Women's Champion by winning that match.[7]
The title shares its name with theoriginal WWE Women's Championship. However, the newer title does not share the same title history as the original, which was unified with the Divas Championship in 2010 and subsequently retired. WWE acknowledges the original championship as its predecessor,[1] and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back toThe Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.[5]
Following the reintroduction of thebrand split in July 2016, reigning champion Charlotte wasdrafted to theRaw brand, making the championship exclusive to Raw. It was subsequently renamed the Raw Women's Championship afterSummerSlam in August, whenSmackDown created theSmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title.[1] 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.[8] However, this recognition was reversed when NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand in September 2021.[9]
The championship was the first women's title to be defended in the main event of aWWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event, which was atHell in a Cell in October 2016; this was also the first-ever women'sHell in a Cell match and the first women's match to main event a WWEpay-per-view andlivestreaming event. At the event, Charlotte (whose ring name was lengthened to Charlotte Flair) defeated Sasha Banks to become a three-time champion.[10] After two years, it was again featured in the main event match of a pay-per-view and livestreaming event, which was the first-ever all-women's eventEvolution in October 2018, whereRonda Rousey retained the title againstNikki Bella.[11] Rousey then defended the title in awinner takes all triple threat match against SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in the main event ofWrestleMania 35 in April 2019, which Lynch won. This was the first women's match to main event aWrestleMania – WWE's flagship event.[12][13] On May 10, 2020, the championship became the first in history to be directly rewarded as a result of winning theMoney in the Bank ladder match (taped April 15, 2020), which was revealed when the briefcase was opened by Becky Lynch the following night onRaw. Lynch announced that she was forfeiting the title due to pregnancy and announced the Money in the Bank match winner, Asuka, as the new champion.[14]
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 Raw Women's Championship being on SmackDown was then resolved on the June 9, 2023, episode ofSmackDown. That night, WWE officialAdam Pearce unveiled a new championship belt to reigning championAsuka, with the title subsequently reverting to its original name WWE Women's Championship as to when Lita first introduced it at WrestleMania 32.[15][16][17] The SmackDown Women's Championship subsequently became the Women's World Championship on June 12.[18]
When the championship was unveiled, thebrand extension was not in effect as that had ended in August 2011. From its inception until the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, reigning champion Charlotte defended the title on bothRaw andSmackDown.
| Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| July 19, 2016 | Raw | WWE Women's ChampionCharlotte was drafted toRaw during the2016 WWE Draft. The title was renamed to Raw Women's Championship on September 5, 2016, afterSmackDown introduced theWWE SmackDown Women's Championship.[19] |
| May 8, 2023 | SmackDown | Raw Women's ChampionBianca Belair was drafted toSmackDown during the2023 WWE Draft. The title reverted to its original name of WWE Women's Championship on June 9, 2023.[15][16][17] |
The WWE Women's Championship belt uses the "Network Logo" design that was first used by theWWE Championship when it wasintroduced in August 2014 with a few notable differences. When it was originally unveiled, the die-cut WWE logo in the center plate sat on a red background, as opposed to black, while the small print below the logo read "Women's Champion", and the strap was smaller and white as opposed to black. The belt featured the same side plates, divided from the center plate by gold divider bars. In what has become a prominent feature on all of WWE's championship belts, the side plates feature a removable center section, which can be customized with the reigning champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. This was the first women's title in WWE with customizable side plates. The title retained this design when it was renamed as Raw Women's Championship in September 2016.[5]
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On the June 9, 2023, episode ofSmackDown, WWE official Adam Pearce unveiled a new design for the title which reverted to being called the WWE Women's Championship. It uses the same "Network Logo" design, but with similarities to the men'sWWE Championship that was unveiled on the previous week's episode ofSmackDown. It retains the smaller white strap and the side plates of the previous design, but in matching the men's title, the WWE logo is now encrusted with black diamonds on a gold nugget-textured background while the small print below the logo now reads "Women's Undisputed Champion" (although it was never contested in aunification match to bear the name "Undisputed", it simply appears on the belt to match its male counterpart).[16][17][20]
In what has become a tradition since fall 2014, WWE has presented custom WWE Championship belts to winners in both male and female professional sports with the side plates commemorating the achievement.[21] In September 2018, WWE began presenting custom Women's Championship belts to winners in just female sports. The first of these was given to theSeattle Storm for winning the2018 WNBA Finals.[22] Custom Women's Championship belts (originally the red design, but then the gold version beginning in 2023) have since been presented to theUnited States Women's National Soccer Team for winning the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup,[23] a team that previously received a custom WWE Championship for this feat in 2015,[24] toBianca Andreescu for winning the2019 Women's US Open,[25] and to theChicago Sky andLas Vegas Aces for winning the2021 and2023 WNBA Finals, respectively.[26][27]
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As of November 24, 2025, there have been 31 reigns between 14 champions.Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion. She also has the most reigns at six.Bianca Belair's first reign is the longest at 420 days (419 days as recognized by WWE), while her second reign is the shortest at 1 minute and 35 seconds.Becky Lynch has the longest combined reign across her two reigns at 535 days (559 days as recognized by WWE).Asuka is the oldest champion, winning the title at the age of 41, whileSasha Banks is the youngest when she won the title at 24 years, 181 days old. Only two women have held the title for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair.
Jade Cargill is the current champion in her first reign. She defeatedTiffany Stratton atSaturday Night's Main Event on November 1, 2025, inSalt Lake City, Utah.[28]
Lita introduced the all-new WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania, and revealed that Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch will compete for this title tonight.
Media related toWrestlers as the WWE Raw Women's champion at Wikimedia Commons